The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 25

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Page 17
Issue No : 23
Email: editor@canadianparvasi.com Contact Number : 905-673-0600 December 15, 2017 | Pages 24
Mississauga,
Markham to have
DriveTest centres
The Canadian Parvasi
MISSISSAUGA: Ontario will
open two new DriveTest Centres
in Mississauga and Markham to
deal with rush and extend service
hours at high-demand centres.
A government press release
said the Mississauga centre from
summer 2018 will serve about
300,000 customers and reduce
wait-times at seven other centres.
The Markham centre will
serve about 100,000 customers and
reduce wait-times at eight nearby
centres by 2019.
The release says that more
staff and longer hours will be
available at 13 high-demand
DriveTest Centres in the province.
Continued on page 02
BJP will win Gujarat,
Himachal: Exit polls
Jagmeet makes light of bypoll
results, says playing long game
The Canadian Parvasi
OTTAWA: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh isn't
reading too much into his party's dismal showing
in a series of recent byelections, insisting
he's playing a long game as he works to shore
up support across Canada in preparation for the
2019 federal election.
And the newly minted leader is waving off
suggestions that he didn't do enough to help an
NDP candidate in the suburban Toronto riding
of Scarborough-Agincourt, holding a so-called
"Jagmeet-and-greet" — billed by the candidate
himself as a byelection campaign event — well
outside the actual riding where Brian Chang
was trying to win a seat.
"I didn't expect that in two months I could
turn the ship around," Singh said Wednesday
4 killed in Hydro One copter crash
after his party's weekly caucus meeting on
Parliament Hill. On Monday, Liberal Jean Yip
retained Scarborough-Agincourt, a riding that
had been held by her husband, Arnold Chan,
until his death from cancer in September. She
captured 49.4 per cent of the vote, followed by
Conservative Dasong Zou who pulled in 40.5
per cent. Chang wound up with just 5.1 per cent,
down almost three percentage points from the
NDP's already poor showing in the riding during
the 2015 general election. He scraped together
fewer than 1,000 votes.
The NDP share of the vote similarly declined
in the other three ridings where byelections
were held Monday, as it did in two October
byelections held about a month after Singh took
the helm of the party.
Continued on page 02
Wynne assures
Brampton on
new university
Agencies
NEW DELHI: All exit
polls on Thursday predicted
a clean sweep for
the BJP in the Assembly
elections held in Gujarat
and Himachal Pradesh, in
both of which it was virtually
a direct fight between
the two parties.
While one channel
gave a maximum of 135
seats to the BJP in the
182-member Gujarat Assembly,
the lowest of 99-
113 was given by another
in the state which has
been ruled by the party
for the last 22 years.
The ABP-CSDS Lokniti
exit poll showed the
BJP winning a maximum
of 117 seats and Congress
64. The India Today-Axis
poll predicted 99-113 seats
for the BJP and 68-82 seats
for the Congress.
Continued on page 11
The Canadian Press
TWEED: Four Hydro One employees
were killed Thursday in a helicopter
crash in eastern Ontario,
police and the utility reported.
The crash occurred about noon
in Tweed, north of Kingston, provincial
police said.
Homeowner Kim Clayton said
hydro crews had been working on
her property for weeks and she
was used to hearing them fly back
and forth. The loud crash shook
the house, sending her to a window,
where Clayton said she saw
part of the chopper in the trees in
the distance by an open field.
"My heart started pounding in
my chest," said Clatyon, 45. "I was
in panic mode."
She said she feared for the
worst when she saw ambulances
turn away without transporting
any of the crew.
"I then said to myself, 'they're
not coming out of this.'"
The Tweed fire department
confirmed it was on the scene of
the crash. Ontario's air ambulance
service responded to the scene but
said it did not transport any patients.
Continued on page 07
The Canadian Parvasi
BRAMPTON: Premier Kathlen Wynne
faced some tough questions during her
town-hall meeting with residents of Brampton
on Wednesday.
Over 250 attendees listened to the Premier
as she was questioned about the lack
of civic utilities in the city.
When Dr Parminder Singh asked her
about the proposed new university in
Brampton, she said it is a done deal.
Community activist Jotvinder Sodhi
asked the Premier that Brampton, with a
population of almost 600,000, should have
two full-fledged hospitals. The Premier responded
by saying that the additions were
being made at Peel Memorial Hospital. But
people told her that it was not a full-fledged
hospital, Wynne said her government was
working on the problem.
Continued on page 07
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The International News Weekly REGIONAL
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 02
Punjabi truck driver, woman held for trying
to smuggle 100kg cocaine into Alberta
Agencies
TORONTO: In the biggest-ever haul of cocaine in Alberta,
a Punjabi truck driver and a woman passenger
from California have been arrested for trying to smuggle
almost 100 kg of cocaine into Canada.
Gurminder Singh Toor, 31, and Kirandeep Kaur
Toor, 26, from California were arrested on the US-Alberta
border just after midnight on December 2 when
the two were trying to smuggle 99.5 kg cocaine in a
semi-trailer.
The value of cocaine is estimated to be $8 million.
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers at
Coutts intercepted the commercial vehicle that was
supposed to be hauling produce from California for an
Alberta business. But when CBSA officers inspected
the cab of the vehicle, they found 84 bricks of cocaine
weighing 99.5 kilograms, a press release by the CBSA
said. The truck driver and the woman were arrested
and handed over to the RCMP.
They have been charged with four counts each under
the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The greedy mentality to become rich quickly among
a section of the Indo-Canadians has led to many such
arrests in recent years, tarnishing the reputation of the
whole Indo-Canadian community.
Mississauga, Markham to have
DriveTest centres
Continued from page 01
The centres at Brampton, Etobicoke, Newmarket,
Downsview, Hamilton, Toronto Metro East, Ottawa
Walkley, Kitchener and Port Union locations will remain
open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, starting from
December 18.
The Oakville, Windsor, and Orangeville locations will
also be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays by the end of
January 2018, and on Saturdays starting February 3, says
the press release.
The London centre location will be open from 7 a.m. to
7 p.m. on weekdays by the end of January.
There will also be a no-wait dropbox service for some
medical reporting transactions at 25 drive centres in the
province to avoid waiting in line for these services.
A new Ontario Drive app will help prepare new drivers
for their G1 written test. The Ministry of Transportation
is looking at options to reduce wait-times and better serve
customers across Ontario.
Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation, was
quoted as saying, ``We know that people in Ontario
deserve better levels of service at our DriveTest locations.
That’s why our government is taking action to reduce wait
times by adding new DriveTest Centres, extending hours
of operation, and committing to service enhancements to
help people access the services they need faster.”
Jagmeet makes light of bypoll
results, says playing long game
Continued from page 02
Singh noted that
the party has been on a
downward slide for the last
two years and argued it's
unrealistic to think he could
reverse that trend in just
two months.
"I'm in this for the
long-term. I know it's not a
sprint, it's a marathon and
I'm committed to doing the
hard work. I don't expect it
to happen overnight but I'm
looking forward to working
hard to ensure we see the
results.
The most jarring
byelection result for New
Democrats was likely in
Lac-Saint-Jean, a Quebec
riding in which the party
had finished a close second
in 2015 but wound up a
distant fourth in October as
the Liberals stole the riding
from the Conservatives. It
seemed further evidence
that the tide has gone out on
the orange wave that swept
the province in 2011 under
Jack Layton.
But the dismal showing
in Scarborough-Agincourt
is arguably more significant.
It is precisely the kind
of riding in which New
Democrats had hoped Singh
Sex-ed to be compulsory in Quebec
Agencies
QUEBEC: All students in Quebec
primary and secondary schools will
be taught sexual education as of
September, Premier Philippe Couillard
told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.
Education Minister Sebastien
Proulx has been trying for two years to
gradually introduce voluntary sex-ed
courses in schools but without much
success.
Most schools have balked at his
could make inroads to make
up for any losses in Quebec:
predominant immigrant
population, sizable South
Asian community and, as an
added bonus, located in the
area where the leader had
grown up.
As for suggestions he
campaigned for Chang in the
wrong riding, Singh said his
meet-and-greet at a cafe in a
neighbouring Scarborough
riding was never intended
to be a byelection campaign
event. Indeed, he said it had
been scheduled before the
byelection was called; once
it was called, Chang was
invited to attend.
"We had already planned
a 'Jagmeet-and-greet' for
Scarborough; we were doing
a bit of a homecoming tour,"
said Singh, who was born in
the suburb. "We had already
selected the location and
we invited the candidate;
naturally, we were having
a byelection and we wanted
the candidate to be there."
Singh did not explain
why the party would have
planned a Scarborough
event outside the riding for
which a byelection call was
imminent.
Nor did he explain why
in numerous social media
posts Chang himself billed it
as a campaign event — and
in his riding.
"When our leader comes
to Scarborough-Agincourt,
he actually talks to people,"
Chang said in one Twitter
post at the time, under a
photo of Singh meeting
proposal, while teachers' unions have
been critical of the government's
approach and what they perceive as a
lack of training. The September courses
will be for about one million students
from Grade 1 through Grade 11.
The information they receive will
be based on their age and will deal
with sexuality, anatomy, body image,
sexual assault, love, sexual relations,
stereotypes and sexually transmitted
infections.
"I'm convinced the great majority
supporters at the cafe.
Singh did not answer
when asked Wednesday if
he paid a campaign visit
to the actual riding of
Scarborough-Agincourt
at some other time. A
spokesman later said Singh
did not campaign in the
riding.
In an email blast
Tuesday night seeking
donations, NDP digital
director Nader Mohamed
put the party's "hard losses"
in Monday's byelections
down to one thing: money.
"We had four great
candidates with incredible
teams and so many
dedicated volunteers — but
we were outspent," he said
in the email, headlined "This
WON'T happen again."
Quebec New Democrat
MP Matthew Dube offered
another reason: the party is
still making the transition
to a new leader and that will
take time.
"Certainly, no one was
under any illusion ... even
in a riding like Scarborough
that it was going to happen
overnight," he said, adding
New Democrats will have to
"look at where things could
have maybe gone better."
of Quebecers want this (and) that we're
clearly there," Couillard said in an
interview, adding he is aware it is still a
delicate topic that "sparks certain social
tensions."

The International News Weekly December 15, 2017 | Toronto
03
Last Christmas on Aga Khan
island still haunts Trudeau
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA: When Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau
planned his holiday trip
a year ago, he would have
had no reason to fear that
the Ghost of Christmas Past
would still be haunting him
a year later.
Trudeau, his family and
some friends, including MP
Seamus O'Regan, now the
minister of veterans affairs,
spent their 2016 Christmas
vacation on a private island
in the Bahamas owned
by the Aga Khan, the
billionaire spiritual leader
of the Ismaili Muslims.
The Prime Minister's
Office initially tried to play
down the trip, refusing to
say where Trudeau would
spend the holiday. When
it came out early in the
new year that he spent the
vacation in a Caribbean
hideaway owned by the
wealthy philanthropist, the
opposition pounced.
They asked why
Trudeau accepted a free
vacation from a rich
man whose charitable
organizations, in some
cases, relied on Canadian
government help. The
prime minister tried to
brush things off, saying the
Aga Khan is an old friend
of his family — indeed,
Trudeau wished him a
happy birthday Wednesday
— as well as a leader and a
partner in the fight against
world poverty.
He also pointed out that
the Aga Khan is an honorary
Canadian citizen and an
honorary Companion of the
Order of Canada, but none
of that carried any weight
with his political foes.
The saga has lingered
to this day — when the
government announced a
new ethics commissioner
earlier this week, it
rekindled memories of the
controversy, since Trudeau
and his officials had to
recuse themselves from
the selection process, since
he was the subject of an
inquiry.
Wednesday's statement
surely didn't help, either.
"I am proud to call His
Highness both a friend and
a mentor," Trudeau said
in his birthday wishes.
"Canada and the world are
stronger and richer because
of his commitment to
diversity and inclusion, and
to finding common ground.
"Today, Sophie and I
thank the Aga Khan for
all that he has done to help
those in need, and wish
him continued health and
happiness for years to
come."
Trudeau had flown most
of the way to the Bahamas
on a government aircraft,
but did the last leg on a
private helicopter owned by
his host — a no-no according
to government rules that
prohibit ministers of the
Crown from using private
aircraft except when no
other options exist.
Trudeau insisted that
the helicopter was the only
way to reach the hideaway,
but then it emerged that
some of his technical staff
reached Bell Island on
another aircraft.
The costs climbed in
fits and starts as various
expense accounts were
reported.
The opposition kept
the issue going, dragging
its ghostly chains through
question period for weeks.
U.S.-bound flights delayed
after customs breach
Agencies
TORONTO: One of Canada's busiest airports says
there were delays for passengers departing to the
United States after a customs breach.
Toronto Pearson International Airport said
Wednesday afternoon that U.S.-bound passengers
departing from Terminal 3 had to be reprocessed after
a customs breach was identified.
The airport says the issue has been resolved
and staff members are working to resume normal
operations. Passengers are advised to check their flight
status before heading to the airport. The airport did not
provide specifics on what caused the customs breach.
3,000 international
students get tuition refund
Agencies
TORONTO: About 3,000 international students attending
Ontario's colleges asked for a tuition refund after a faculty
strike, according to new figures released by the provincial
government.
The number represents roughly five per cent
of the approximately 58,000 full time international
students enrolled in the system. In comparison, of the
approximately 192,000 full time domestic college students,
just over 22,600 — nearly 12 per cent — asked for and
received the tuition refund. Advanced Education Minister
Deb Matthews said the international student figures,
which are still preliminary and could change, make sense
given the substantial costs incurred by international
students to attend Canadian post-secondary institutes.
The government says that overall, 10.3 per cent of full time
students — 25,700 students — sought the refunds.
BC, Punjab assemblies
to sign partnership
Agencies
CHANDIGARH: Raj
Chouhan, Deputy Speaker
of Canada's British
Columbia Legislative Assembly,
called upon Punjab
Speaker Rana K.P.
Singh here and discussed
the possibility of establishing
a partnership
agreement between the
two assemblies.
He also conveyed congratulations
to Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh on
behalf of British Columbia
Premier John Horgan
for winning the elections
early this year.
During the half an
hour interaction, Chouhan,
legislator from Burnaby-Edmonds
in Vancouver,
handed over a draft
partnership agreement to
his counterparts besides
discussing various issues
being faced by both houses,
a Punjab government
statement said.
He also conveyed that
the Speaker and the Clerk
of Legislative assembly of
British Columbia would
like to visit Chandigarh
to meet Rana K.P. Singh
to finalise the agreement.
Chouhan said Horgan is
interested in strengthening
the bilateral ties,
trade relations and cultural
relations between
the two states.
Welcoming Chouhan,
the Punjab Speaker said
it was a matter of pride
that Punjabis like him attained
height in various
fields at Canada.
He said the initiative
taken by the British Columbia
Speaker would be
a learning experience for
both states as legislatures
of the both states can
learn many things from
each other.

The International News Weekly REGIONAL
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 04
Quebec's population
hits 8.4 million
Agencies
MONTREAL: Quebec's population rose slightly in 2016
to hit 8.35 million, the province's statistics institute said
Tuesday.The increase of 68,500 people came from 22,800
more births than deaths, net migration of 33,600 people
and 12,100 more non-permanent residents.
The Institut de la statistique du Quebec also said the
fertility rate in Quebec stood at 1.59 per woman in 2016,
down from 1.73 in 2008 and 2009.
The organization quoted Statistics Canada figures
that indicate Quebec had 22.9 per cent of the Canadian
population last year, compared with 38.5 per cent for Ontario.
That represents a drop of five percentage points in
Quebec since 1971 and an increase of nearly three percentage
points in Ontario over the same period.
Indian film wins award
at Vancouver festival
Agencies
VANCOUVER: Indian film "The
School Bag" has bagged the Best Short
Film award at the Vancouver Golden
Panda International Film Festival.
The fiction film, directed by Dheeraj
Jindal, is based in Peshawar, Pakistan.
"When we set out to make the film,
we had no idea that it would win so
many awards. What started as a strong
belief took a beautiful shape and has now reached out and
touched so many lives. We are overwhelmed. Thank you
Vancouver," Jindal said in a statement.
The prize includes a seven-day all paid filmmaker's
trip to China. The award ceremony was held on December
10.
New CPP changes end age
restrictions on survivor benefits
Agencies
OTTAWA: Samantha
MacDougall thought her
fight to get her late partner's
Canada Pension Plan
benefits would take years.
The government ended
the fight for her.
Newly approved changes
to the Canada Pension Plan
will mean widows and
widowers, regardless of age,
will receive full survivor
benefits, changing five
decades of federal policy.
The changes mean
anyone under age 35 without
children or a disability
will receive benefits
immediately, rather than
having to wait to age 65, and
will end benefit clawbacks
for survivors under age 45.
Anyone previously
denied survivor benefits
because of the age rule
will be able to re-apply for
benefits when the rules
take effect in 2019. Those
receiving a reduced benefit
will automatically see
their benefits recalculated
upwards.
The government
estimates the changes will
affect 40,000 people, about
half of them being young
survivors like MacDougall.
"It is the right thing to
do and seeing as the change
is being made, I must not
be the only one who thinks
so," said MacDougall, whose
partner, Greg Weeks, died in
2013.
"It is exciting that no one
else, including myself, is
going to have to waste any of
their precious living hours
having to fight this (rule)
any longer."
Federal research found
the tight rules disqualified
about one-third of widowed
Canadians from immediate
benefits, such as Jilian
Derksen who was told she
would have to wait until
she turned 65 to collect
payments.A federal tribunal
rejected her appeal of the
decision, saying she had no
hope of winning.
Derksen said she
planned to submit anew her
application for the benefits
accrued by her husband
Daniel, who died in 2016.
"This is great news, just
when I thought rules can't be
broken," she said.
For decades, the
government maintained the
age restrictions reflected
the fact that a survivor with
no children or disability
ought to be able to adapt
financially to the loss of a
partner by going back to
work. The benefits were
paid out when the surviving
spouse turned 65.
An official from the
Finance Department said
the changes recognized
survivors of any age
face financial difficulties
following the death of a
spouse.
The change to survivor
benefits was one of several
that Finance Minister Bill
Morneau and his provincial
counterparts agreed to
during a two-day meeting
this week and one that had
broad support from labour
groups and opposition
parties. But those same
groups are withholding
judgment on other changes
designed to boost retirement
benefits for parents and
those with disabilities.
The finance ministers
agreed to a formula to assign
income for years when
someone was out of the
workforce to raise a child
or because of disability — a
drop-in amount based on an
average of previous years'
earnings. The provision
differs from what exists
in the base CPP, where
recipients can drop years
of lower earnings from
the calculation of their
retirement pension.
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The International News Weekly CANADA
05
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
Hotstar Presents The
Anokhi Awards 2017
TORONTO: ‘Hotstar Presents
The ANOKHI Awards 2017’
rolled out the red carpet to welcome
some of the most renowned
names in business, media, entertainment,
crusader, and glamour,
at Toronto’s historic Liberty
Grand Entertainment Complex
on November 28.
The evening began with a sizzling
red carpet reception with
over 30 celebrities and personalities
making the fateful walk
down a 36 foot red carpet, which
included ANOKHI Pulse Tv's famous
gold couch lounge against
the backdrop of music by DJ
Fizza.
This was followed by a 2.5-
hour auditorium style awardsfashion-entertainment
show with
18 awards honours, 4 live musical
performances, and a first of its
kind fashion runway show, and
hosted by 6 prominent personalities
in media and entertainment.
The master of ceremonies,
actor, comedian, and CBC radio
host, Ali Hassan opened the show
with a comedic monologue followed
by ANOKHI MEDIA’s CEO
and brand ambassador’s opening
remarks that highlighted this
year as the awards show’s 10th
year that saw a record breaking
nominations for Canadian South
Asians.
Raj spoke about the importance
of the awards show, The
ANOKHI List 2017 coffee table
book, the vision behind the brand
and the importance of recognizing
and celebrating community
achievements. She also thanked
the event’s presenting sponsor
Hotstar, followed by name mentions
of the various sponsors and
partners that helped make the
event a great success.
[free-them]’s founder and
CEO Shae Invidiata spoke on the
initiative’s dedication to raising
awareness and funds to abolish
human trafficking in Canada and
abroad by partnering with people,
organizations, & businesses
to fight human trafficking.
The night ended with an exclusive
post show soiree with DJ
Amita Handa entertaining the
guests until midnight.
The event unveiled the 3rd
edition commemorative coffee table
book, The ANOKHI List 2017,
featuring an eclectic array of 30
personalities from around the
world. Over 600 guests attended
the glamorous event and were all
gifted a complimentary copy of
the book as they left for the night.
The 18 awards presented honoured
the following who were inducted
into the global ANOKHI
honourees fraternity:
PRESENTED BY HOTSTAR,
MEDIA AWARDS: HOSTED BY
ANGIE SETH, News Anchor,
Global TV
• Babbu The Painter: Most
Promising Artist 2017
• Hatecopy: Media Influencer
Of The Year 2017
• Jake Dheer: Excellence In
Broadcast Media 2017
PRESENTED BY HOTSTAR,
CRUSADER AWARDS: HOSTED
BY HINA P. ANSARI, Editor-in-
Chief, The ANOKHI List 2017
• Niam Kumar Jain: Most
Promising Autism Crusader
2017
• Arshad Khan: LGBTQI Crusader
Of The Year 2017
PRESENTED BY HOTSTAR,
ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS:
HOSTED BY MOHIT RAJHANS,
Principle & Creative Director,
Think Start Inc.
• YouTwoTV: Comedic Performers
Of The Year 2017
• Asad Mecci: Performer Of
The Year 2017
PRESENTED BY HOTSTAR,
BUSINESS AWARDS: HOSTED
BY JAKE DHEER, Senior Manager,
Omni TV
• Reetu Gupta: Business Executive
Of The Year 2017
• Naveen Prasad: Excellence
in Film Entrepreneurship
2017
• Monika Deol: Excellence In
Brand Entrepreneurship
2017
• Robin Sharma: Excellence
In Wealth Entrepreneurship
2017
GLAMOUR AWARDS:
HOSTED BY TRAVIS DHAN-
RAJ, Anchor-Reporter, CP24
&Co-host, CP24 BREAKFAST
WEEKEND
• Saman Munir: Beauty Influencer
Of The Year 2017
• Nindy Kaur: Excellent In
Style Innovation 2017
• Ali Xeeshan: Excellence In
Fashion Design 2017
MUSIC AWARDS: HOSTED BY
DEVO BROWN, Host & Personality,
City TV
• Mili Soch: Most Promising
Musical Artist 2017
• Roveena: Female Musical
Artist Of The Year 2017
• Deep Jandu: Male Musical
Artist Of The Year 2017
• Raxstar: Excellence In Music
Performance 2017
The 4 live musical performances
were are eclectic as the
genres of music showcased:
PERFORMANCES BY:
• Mili Soch, Desi Hip-Hop Artist
• Roveena, Award-Winning
Singer-Songwriter
• Raxstar, Award-Winning
Rap Artist
• Deep Jandu, Popular
Bhangra Singer
First-time Canadian showcase
of Pakistan’s number one
bridal and celebrity fashion designer:
• Ali Xeeshan, Celebrity &
Bridal Fashion Designer
ANOKHI MEDIA's personalities
also participated in the evening:
• Opening remarks by Raj
Girn, Founder, President &
CEO, ANOKHI MEDIA
• Ruchika Bindra, ANOKHI
Pulse Tv Lounge Host
• Vasudha Sharma, ANOKHI
Spotlight Tv Host
• Kartikey Bhargava, ANOKHI
MEDIA Facebook Live Host
Pre & Post Show Soiree performances
by:
• DJ Fizza, Celebrity Deejay
• DJ Amita, Celebrity Deejay
(Press release)
Electric cars will be cheaper than gas models
Agencies
OTTAWA: A Canadian energy think
tank says the world is less than a decade
away from the tipping point at
which electric cars will cost the same
as conventional gas-powered vehicles.
Clean Energy Canada says the price
of electric batteries is plunging every
year, representing an opportunity for
everyone from auto parts makers to
mineral mines.
But it says Canada is lagging behind
the rest of the world in both electric
vehicle purchases and production.
Canada doesn't produce any mass-market
electric vehicles, fewer than half
of Canadian dealerships from brands
that have electric vehicle models even
sell them and supply is so limited here
it can take months for a Canadian who
wants an electric vehicle to actually be
able to drive it off the lot.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau
is in the midst of developing an EV
policy now and Quebec's provincial
standard requiring a certain percentage
of electric vehicles be sold kicks in
January 1.
But Clean Energy Canada says this
is not going to be a case where slow and
steady wins the EV economic race.
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The International News Weekly REGIONAL/CANADA
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 06
Which fighter jets will Canada buy?
Agencies
OTTAWA: There are five
potential replacements
for Canada's aging CF-18
fleet. Here's a closer look
at what's known about the
contenders:
F-35 — Lockheed Martin, U.S.
Largely overlooked in
Tuesday's news about a new
competition to find a CF-18
replacement was confirmation
that the F-35 is back in
the running. The move represents
the latest twist in
the stealth fighter's history
in Canada, which included
a promise by the previous
Conservative government
to buy it in 2010 and Justin
Trudeau's promise in 2015
to do precisely the opposite.
The F-35 continues to
face some developmental
challenges and questions
about cost, but a number of
allies are already receiving
it. For all those reasons and
more, the stealth fighter
can again be considered a
front-runner.
Super Hornet — Boeing, U.S.
The Super Hornet is a
newer, larger and much
more modern variant of the
CF-18s that Canada operates,
and is primarily used
by the U.S. Navy and Australia.
It was first flown in
the 1990s; proponents note
that, unlike the F-35, it has
a proven track record. That
appeared to sell the Liberal
government, which
planned to buy "interim" 18
Super Hornets until Boeing
launched a trade complaint
against Canadian rival
Bombardier. Now, because
of its older technology
and uncertain production
future, and the aforementioned
trade dispute, the
Super Hornet could be in
for a tough battle in what
promises to be a lengthy
competition.
Typhoon — Eurofighter, European
consortium
The Typhoon has largely
flown under the radar,
but is built by a consortium
of European companies
that includes Airbus,
which recently offered to
buy a majority stake in
Bombardier's C-Series passenger
jets. It's too early to
tell whether that will be an
advantage, but it can't hurt.
Still, the Typhoon, which
is operated by Germany,
Spain, Italy, the U.K. and
several Middle Eastern
countries, doesn't have a
long track record.
Rafale — Dassault, France
The Rafale has been
used by the French military
since the mid-2000s, and
was recently sold to India,
Egypt and Qatar. The aircraft
has flown missions in
Afghanistan, Libya, Mali,
Iraq and Syria. Dassault's
main pitch is offering to
transfer intellectual property
and create manufacturing
jobs in Canada. But
dissenters have questioned
the Rafale's compatibility
with North America's air
defence system, Norad, as
well as its cost.
Gripen — Saab, Sweden
The Gripen was built
almost entirely in Sweden
and is likely the dark horse
in a competition to replace
the CF-18s. The aircraft
does not have a long operational
history and is not
widely used outside of Sweden,
but is said to be relatively
inexpensive to operate.
Like with the Rafale,
there are questions about
compatibility with Norad.
Class 8 student gangraped
and set ablaze dies in MP
Indo-Asian News Service
SAGAR (Madhya Pradesh): A Class 8 girl, who
battling for her life for a week after she was gang-raped
and then set on fire, died in a hospital in this Madhya
Pradesh district on Thursday, police said.
The 15-year-old victim, who had been admitted to
the Medical College Hospital, succumbed to her injuries
on Thursday morning, Bhangarh police station chief
Ravi Bhushan Pathak told IANS.
Both the rape accused, who tried to burn her alive
to conceal the crime, have been arrested.
The crime took place in Deval village of the district
on December 7 when the girl was alone at home. The
two youth barged in and after raping her, poured
kerosene on her and set her ablaze.
The girl, who was found in a critical condition,
was brought here for treatment. Madhya Pradesh
Home Minister Bhupendra Singh has announced Rs
2 lakh for her family. As the girl's death came on the
day Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was to be
felicitated in the assembly following the passage of the
bill making death sentence mandatory for rape, Leader
of Opposition Ajay Singh raised questions about the
safety of women in the state.
When the Chief Minister is being honoured, the last
rites of the girl, who was raped and then set on fire, will
be held, he said in a tweet.
Canadian families to pay $348
more for food in 2018: Study
Agencies
MONTREAL: Canadians
are eating out more and
can expect to pay extra to
do so in 2018, suggests a
forward-looking report into
food prices.
Food inflation overall
is expected to rise between
one and three per cent next
year, says Canada's Food
Price Report, which was
crafted jointly for the first
time by researchers at Dalhousie
University and the
University of Guelph.
For an average family
of four, that represents an
increase of $348 to about
$11,948 for the year.
About 59 per cent of the
expected hike — $208 —
will come from consumers
eating out and opting for
prepared food.
"Most of (the increase)
will come from food service
which would make some
consumers a bit vulnerable
— particularly those who
don't cook or (who) eat out
a lot," lead researcher Sylvain
Charlebois said in an
interview from Halifax.
Restaurant and store
owners recognize the demand
for eating out and
ready-to-eat products is a
robust one. In the United
States, the divide between
grocery expenditures and
those types of eating out
reached a 50-50 split in 2016.
Charlebois said a fastfood
culture has been successfully
cultivated over
the past 50 years in the
United States, but Canada
could reach that split by
2035 at its current pace.
Canadians now spend
about 30 per cent of their
food budget on eating out
and consuming prepared
meals. The report suggests
different parts of the country
will feel different impacts
at the checkout line
next year.
Atlantic Canada is expected
to see above average
increases — with prices
bouncing back after consumers
in the region enjoyed
lower prices in 2017.
British Columbia too is
expected see increases, due
to inflation.
But increased competition
in Alberta and Ontario
means consumers will see
below average price hikes,
while Quebec, Manitoba
and Saskatchewan are expected
to remain steady.
Canadian Muslims want no-fly list scrapped
Agencies
OTTAWA: Reform of national
security agencies —
not just more oversight and
review — is needed to rebuild
confidence and trust, a
national Muslim group says.
The National Council of
Canadian Muslims told MPs
studying the Liberal government's
wide-ranging national
security bill Tuesday that
new watchdog powers won't
fix the "culture of impunity"
and systemic ills within Canadian
security agencies.
The council's executive
director, Ihsaan Gardee, said
the bill strengthens the security
establishment, even as
the available evidence suggests
disarray — bias and
top-down bullying — within
the institutions that carry
out intelligence-gathering
and enforcement.
"Oversight of those agencies
is not sufficient," Gardee
said during a meeting of the
House of Commons public
safety committee. "Real reform
is necessary."
Conservative MP Pierre
Paul-Hus, the party's public
safety critic, challenged
Gardee to provide some specific
examples of the lack of
confidence.
Gardee pointed to highprofile
cases of Canadian Arabs,
including Maher Arar,
being subjected to abuse
abroad, with the actions of
Canadian agencies being
partly to blame.
The Liberal government's
security legislation
revises elements of a contentious
omnibus bill brought
in by the Harper Conservatives
after a gunman killed
a sentry at the National War
Memorial and rushed on to
Parliament Hill in 2014.
The bill would limit, but
not eliminate, powers that
allow the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service to actively
disrupt terror plots.
A new super-watchdog
— the National Security and
Intelligence Review Agency
— would oversee the intelligence
activities of well over
a dozen federal agencies.
In addition, an intelligence
commissioner would authorize
some intelligence and
cybersecurity activities in
advance — a measure the
government says is intended
to build public confidence.
Another change takes
aim at the recurring problem
of mistaken no-fly list name
matches involving youngsters,
allowing the public
safety minister to inform
parents that their child is not
on the roster.
Under a revised appeal
process, someone's name
would be dropped from the
no-fly list if the minister does
not deal with their appeal
within 120 days. However,
the minister would be able
to extend the deadline before
the first 120-day period expires.
The government says
the changes are steps toward
a longer-term solution to nofly
list headaches.
Faisal Bhabha, legal adviser
for National Council of
Canadian Muslims, said the
no-fly list should be scrapped.
"No amount of tinkering
can solve the underlying
problem, which is that the
no-fly list is one of the most
damaging instruments of
racial and religious profiling
currently in place in this
country," he testified.
"It was an interesting
experiment but its time has
come to an end."
Zamir Khan, whose
three-year-old son Sebastian
often has difficulties at
the airport because of the
list, said some families have
missed flights and children
shy away from air travel for
fear of stigmatization.
"This is not a future I
want for my son," he told the
MPs.

The International News Weekly REGIONAL/CANADA
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
07
Top court to decide validity of
internet law to lure children
Agencies
TORONTO: The validity of
a law against luring a child
into sexual activity via the
internet and its one-year
mandatory minimum sentence
will now be decided
by Canada's top court.
In a decision Thursday,
the Supreme Court of Canada
agreed to hear appeals
of a lower court ruling that
struck down part of the law
and the minimum punishment
it calls for as unconstitutional.
The earlier ruling was
the latest in a string of
court decisions that have
struck down tough-oncrime
provisions enacted
by the former Conservative
government under Stephen
Harper.
The current case involves
Douglas Morrison,
a Toronto-area man in his
late 60s who posted an ad
on Craigslist in 2013: "Daddy
looking for his little girl
to meet and have some fun
with him."
Morrison, a golf-course
groundskeeper in a longterm
common-law relationship,
ended up having sexually
explicit conversations
by computer with "Mia,"
who was in fact a police officer
claiming to be a 14-yearold
girl, according to court
records. He suggested at
one point they meet up, but
that didn't happen.
Police charged him
with child luring via computer.
At trial, Morrison
said he believed Mia was
an adult woman and that
they were engaged in roleplaying.
Craigslist rules
required users to be 18 or
older. He also attacked the
constitutionality of the law
for presuming an accused
knows a victim is underage
— unless they can show
they took reasonable steps
to find out otherwise.
Ontario court judge
George Gage ruled part of
the law unconstitutional
— for imposing a presumption
of guilt — but upheld
the requirement for an accused
to try to check the
age of the other person.
Gage convicted Morrison
in January 2015, saying
there was no need to presume
him guilty. Instead,
he found Morrison had
failed to take steps to verify
how old Mia actually was.
The judge then refused
Group violence in Brampton plaza parking
The Canadian Parvasi
BRAMPTON: Violence erupted at a
commercial plaza in Brampton when two
groups of men fought each other earlier this
week. The violence which happened in the
plaza on McLaughlin Road and Steeles Avenue
West in Brampton was captured on a
video posted online on Tuesday.
The video shows a group approaching
the other armed. People were bewildered as
the two groups took on one another. After
the violence, the two groups – who spoke a
foreign language – dispersed.
Commenting on the incident, Peel police
Const. Bancroft Wright was quoted as saying
in media reports, “We’ve had similar
incidents in the past where guys, for whatever
reason, post videos without contacting
police,” he said. “Unless one of them (people
involved) comes forward and admits their
involvement, or says they were injured, it’s
going to be tough to find out who those individuals
are.” The plaza, which is opposite
Sheridan College’s Davis Campus, witnessed
a huge fight in its parking last year.
to sentence the man of otherwise
unblemished character
to the one-year minimum
on the grounds that it
would amount to cruel and
unusual punishment. Gage
imposed a four-month term
and probation as more appropriate
in the circumstances.
Morrison and the
prosecution both appealed.
He argued the verdict was
unreasonable given his
position on the age-verification
requirement of the
law. The Crown argued the
law was designed to protect
vulnerable children and
its minimum sentence was
constitutional. It wanted an
even stiffer penalty.
Substance use among
Ontario students down
Agencies
TORONTO: Ontario adolescents are drinking, smoking
and using cannabis and other recreational drugs at the
lowest rates since the late 1970s, suggests a biennial survey
of Grade 7 to 12 students by the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health.
But the 2017 survey released Thursday turned up a
disturbing finding: almost one per cent of respondents in
Grades 9 to 12 reported having taken illicit fentanyl in the
previous year, raising a red flag given the opioid's involvement
in hundreds of overdose deaths across the country.
Robert Mann, a senior scientist at CAMH and co-author
of the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey
(OSDUHS), said declines over time in the proportion of
adolescents using tobacco, alcohol and cannabis are a positive
sign that public health messaging about the harms of
such substances are getting through to young people.
In the last 20 years, the proportion of students who
reported ingesting alcohol dropped to almost 43 per cent
from 66 per cent, while smoking rates fell to seven per cent
from 28 per cent, and cannabis use dropped to 19 per cent
from 28 per cent. Non-medical use of prescription opioids,
monitored since 2007, declined to almost 11 per cent from
about 21 per cent among those surveyed.
"One of the things we also see is that the onset of (substance)
use is being delayed until later years. Now the onset
tends to occur in later grades," said Mann, noting that
about 37 per cent of 12th graders reported using marijuana.
"And that's a very positive thing because we know that
the later that young people start using alcohol and other
drugs, the less likely they are to develop problems with
that use, either currently or in the future."
Such long-term drops in usage point to successful efforts
by parents, educators, public health officials — and
students themselves — to address substance use and the
problems it can create, agreed co-author Hayley Hamilton,
a CAMH scientist.
UNWRAP
MORE GIGS.
4 killed in Hydro One copter crash
Continued from page 01
In a statement, Hydro One expressed its condolences. "We are deeply saddened to confirm
that an incident involving one of our helicopter aircraft occurred in the Tweed area and has
resulted in four fatalities," Hydro One said in a statement. "Names will not be released as next
of kin are being notified." The utility also said it would do what it could to help employees
and their families affected by the tragedy. A spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board
said a team of investigators was en route to the crash site and was expected to arrive by late
afternoon. Board spokesman Alex Fournier said the chopper was a 1999 AS350 B2 — a singleengine
helicopters often used for corporate purposes.
• 10GB of data
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Premier grilled at Brampton town-hall
Continued from page 01
When she was asked about the high hydro
rates, the Premier again said her government
is trying to reduce the burden on people.
When some angry residents brought to her
notice that the high auto insurance rates,
the premier said the government was working
with insurance companies and claimed
that rates have come down up to six percent
in some cases. When the audience protested
that the rates haven’t come down at all, the
Premier try to wriggle out of the situation
by repeating that her government will work
with insurance companies on it.
It was also brought to Wynne's notice that
in Brampton auto insurance rates were set on
the basis on postal code and it was an unfair
practice, the Premier promised to look into it.
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2017-11-29 5:57 PM

The International News Weekly EDIT
08
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
The
w w w . canadianparv asi. c o m
Publisher & CEO
Associate Editor
Editor (India)
Online
Graphic Designer
Official Photographer
Contact
Editorial
Sales
Rajinder Saini
Meenakshi Saini
Gursheesh
Kshitiz Dalal
Naveen
Bashir Nasir
editor@canadianparvasi.com
sales@canadianparvasi.com
How immigrant children
struggle to fit in at school
Over 50,000 children who arrive in Canada each year are often unsure
Joyeeta Dutta Ray
Contributing Editor
of how they will fit in
Ontario rules
Syrian refugee Yaser Nadaf, has come to
Canada as a refugee. Back home, he says, he
drove a truck to support his family.
As is the rule in Ontario, he, like most
new immigrants, has to pass the G1 and
G2 driving tests and then wait for one year
before he can get his G licence.
Since he cannot quickly get his G licence,
he argues, he cannot drive big-haul truck,
Uber cars, etc.
So what Nadef has done is: challenge the
Ontario rule in the Ontario Human Rights
Tribunal.
Now the Ministry of Transportation
in Ontario exempts the waiting period if
immigrants provide authenticated proof
of their previous driving experience from
their home country. Since this Syrian
refugee cannot provide proof of that because
of what he says chaotic conditions, he says
the Ontario rule must be changed so that he
can start earning quickly.
Fair enough.
But this gentleman must also remember
that rules are for a purpose and they
apply to everyone. Ontario authorities
cannot let someone drive on its highways
and jeopardize lives without putting that
person through standard tests. The safety
of people comes first than this gentleman’s
grievances.
Lots of people come to Canada on
temporary visa or work permit, and they
also have to qualify for permanent residence
status by going through various tests and
regulations.
You cannot land here on fine morning
and then start making demands on
the system so that it changes to suit
your requirements. That’s what many
immigrants to this country have been doing
for some time now. This kind of attitude
only leads to backlash and hardening of
attitudes towards immigrants.
Luckily, Canada is a very tolerant
country and it should be respected for it.
Thought for the week
A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile
can work wonders and accomplish miracles.
~William Hazlitt
Diana Nayel immigrated to
Toronto from Sweden with her sister
in June 2012, leaving behind all
things familiar. She started her first
day of grade 5 at Toronto’s Westway
Junior School in the city’s west
end feeling a bit lost. No one spoke
Swedish in her class. She was unsure
of her English skills. How long would
it take to fit in, she wondered.
Muntasir Mohammed arrived
from Dacca, Bangladesh, in 2011.
Although his English fluency helped
him adapt faster to his grade 5
classmates in Etobicoke, he was
uncomfortable carrying homemade
curries to school. His lunchbox
always contained cookies or chicken
nuggets, compromising nutrition for
the need to fit in.
Salma Syed (whose has been
name changed for privacy) wears
her hijab with pride, like many of
her grade 7 classmates at Toronto’s
Islington Junior Middle School, but
is quick to take it off when she’s out
with her friends in an effort to blend
in with society at large. Her parents
immigrated from Dacca, Bangladesh
in 1999.
For 12-year-old Aneeka Ray (full
disclosure: she is my daughter),
she arrived in Toronto in 2013 from
Bangkok, Thailand, and being a
newcomer made her the easy target
of a cyber bully. She was not the first
one, either. According to her friend,
other shy newcomers had faced
similar experiences at school.
Finding ways to assimilate
Each year, over 50,000 children
arrive in Canada, and like Nayel,
Mohammed, Syed and Ray, they are
unsure of how they will fit in.
Some are war refugees or typhoon
victims. Some have parents with low
literacy levels. Others are financially
challenged. And the education
system itself is unfamiliar.
Their parents or guardians often
get sucked into their new world of
struggle, leaving children to fend for
themselves. Kids are whisked off to
a neighbourhood school, expected
to take to it like fish to water, even
though it is difficult to find their
bearings.
Canadian schools offer free
education and equal opportunities.
But is the system doing enough to
ensure newcomer children a chance
at educational success?
“In many schools a sizeable
number of students are naturalized
Canadians from various ethnic
backgrounds,” explains Manoshi
Chatterjee, who teaches in an
elementary school in York region.
“Once a new child sees a peer group of
the same ethnicity, they are quicker
to form a bond. Group activities help
them participate and assimilate.”
This was true for Nayel. Even
though she isn’t of Somali descent
herself, when she started a new
school her second year of being in
Canada where there were many
Somali Canadians, the setting felt
more familiar.
“My school in Sweden was in a
Somali neighbourhood,” explains
Nayel. “My new friends made me feel
much more at home (in Canada).”
For Nayel, English as Second
Language (ESL) classes helped
polish her linguistic skills, which
she initially felt insecure about.
“ESL programs play a pivotal
role for immigrant students who
struggle with reading, writing or
communicating in the language,”
explains Chatterjee whose school
(she didn't want to disclose the
name for privacy), like most others,
champions the program.
Supporting newcomer students
Jane Chandler, an elementary
school teacher with the Peel Board
District Board in Mississauga,
says that schools play a vital role
in helping students adjust. She
highlights the Peel board’s parenting
centres, where adults are encouraged
to participate with their children, as
a prime example of this.
“This acts as a wonderful
platform,” Chandler says. “The
family gets to know the culture
of Canadian schools. Parents get
opportunities to share stories about
their own culture and learn from
others. We encourage students to
speak their own language at home.
This may slow down the English
learning process, but in the long
run, it (multilingualism) has several
benefits.”
Keya Ghosh, an elementary
school supply teacher for the Toronto
District School Board (TDSB), hones
in on diversity.
“Our schools play a critical role
in making students appreciate their
differences,” Ghosh says. “[Students]
are taught to value the richness of
their own culture and at the same
time develop respect for others.”
Ghosh points to special events
celebrated across TDSB schools
like African Heritage Month and
‘multicultural day’ as examples of
this.
Outside of the Greater Toronto
Area, initiatives like Newcomers’
Orientation Week, which was held
by one Windsor, Ont. high school,
help to put anxious newcomers at
ease.
Canadian schools among top in the
world
The efforts Canadian schools
make to support newcomer and
culturally diverse students are
perhaps a reflection of the country’s
education system in fairly good
shape.
According to an international
education survey reported by CBC,
Canadian schools are among the top
globally, right after China (Shanghai
province), Korea, Finland, Hong
Kong and Singapore.
The report states, “Students
in Canada tend to perform well
regardless of their socio-economic
background or the school they
attend.” On a regional level, Ontario,
Alberta and British Columbia rank
highest in reading skills.
“A quality and free education
helps every new immigrant family
get equal opportunity in one of the
best school systems in the world,”
says Chatterjee. “It is one of the
major factors that have helped
newcomers integrate into Canadian
society.”
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The International News Weekly INTERVIEW/OPED
09
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
My thoughts on Military Literature
Festival in Chandigarh
Brig Nawab Heer and
Ms Preet Heer
It was for the first time that
the Military Literature Festival
was held in India, thanks to
Punjab Governor VP Singh
Badnore, and Chief Minister
Capt Amrinder Singh. It is also
for the first time that Punjab
has realized the human resource
potential of Punjabi veterans.
Capt Amrinder Singh had
earlier initiated the concept
of guardians of governance
for deploying veterans in each
village to monitor and provide
direct feedback to CM’s office.
Considering that young
children of Punjab today are not
that much inclined to join armed
forces, such events will motivate
them to opt for defense forces as
a career.
The Military Literature
Festival at Chandigarh went
beyond literature and became
a motivational event. The
organizational skills of General
Maun Shergill, Advisor to CM
Punjab, must be lauded for
putting together a dedicated
team which fine-tuned the event
with military precision in a
civilian milieu. Above all, it was
all voluntary work that helped
stage the inaugural event on a
shoe-string budget.
The most heartening feature
of the festival was its childrenoriented
program and its
motivational message. The idea
of decorated soldiers interacting
with the youth was very
interesting and it proved to be
very useful. There were sessions
on Anglo-Sikh wars, diplomacy
and the military. The canvas was
large, with the common thread
being military.
It was a treat to hear Capt.
Amarinder Singh, Lt Gen
Mukerjee, Maj Gen Shivdev
Singh and Brig Popsy Gill
and Brig IS Gakhal. Harish
Khare, editor of The Tribune,
moderated discussion on the
first War of Independent India
(1947-48 Kashmir War). The
role of 1/11 Sikh Regiment and
1 Rajendra Infantry (1 Patiala)
was prominently highlighted.
For me, it was an educative and
rewarding exposure.
Since the sessions were
simultaneously run at three
venues named after battle
honors, one had to be selective.
We missed portions of Kargil
war and IKPF discussions to
attend Vir Sanghvi-moderated
discussion on Mil Historians
and authors...Thomas Fraser,
Allan Jefferys, Ed Haynes, Capt
Amarinder and Gen Shergill.
A very interesting session
on emerging India’s military
history interest.
Another interesting Vir
Sanghvi-moderated session
that followed was on `Indian
Military and Society’ in which
five eminent Lt Generals lauded
the military’s role in enriching
society. The last session on the
first day that I attended was
CI Ops in J& K. The challenges
and opportunities in J& K were
adequately highlighted.
The session on Anglo
Sikh Wars was moderated by
Mandeep Rai and the panel
included William Dalrymple,
Amarpal Sidhu, Dr Sukhmani
Riar and Anantbir Singh. It was
of interest to me as a history
student. We followed Gen VP
Malik from his Diplomacy
session to the one on National
Security Strategy chaired by
GOC- in- C Western Command
General Surinder Singh.
General VP Malik, Lt Gen
Vijay Oberoi and Lt Gen Aditya
Singh were very forthright in
demanding that a long- term
National Security Document be
produced so that each component
of power is clear about its role
and responsibilities in order to
make India great.
The session on the Indo-Pak
War 1971, moderated by Maj Gen
Amarjit Singh, saw interesting
narrations by Brig Sukjit MVC,
Maj Gen Abdo Sandhu, and Ajai
Shukla.
Mrs Verma, daughter of Gen
Bhagat, gave a moving account
of the psyche of a soldier who,
even when hospitalized, wants
to get back to the battlefield.
She was choking with emotions
during her narration.
The last session was on the
Sino- Indian conflict another
Vir Sanghvi moderated panel
discussion where after the
overall operational scenario
by Capt Amarinder Singh,
personal accounts by Brig Behl,
Brig Gosal, Brig Khullar and
Gen SS Brar participants in
the infamous war added that
much more authenticity to our
knowledge. Gen Brar drew
attention to the current status
of military preparedness in
comparison to the 1962 scenario,
with most in the audience hoping
that it better not be true.
On the negative side, it was
not heartening to see that only
half o the veterans of Chandigarh
( tricity) attended this important
event. Let us that things will be
better at the next event.
Finally, volunteers must be
thanked for making the event a
huge success. I can also name
a few more who remained back
stage. Thank you, Mandeep
Bajwa, Paddy Grewal, Col Bath
and countless more. And above
Alma Gen Maun Shergill...Until
next year.
(Brig Nawab Heer can be
contacted at nawabheer@gmail.com)
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The International News Weekly india
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 10
Delhi women more scared 5 years
after Nirbhaya gangrape
Indo-Asian News Service
NEW DELHI: Five years
after 23-year-old Nirbhaya
was brutally raped and
murdered by five men on
December 16, earning Delhi
an epithet of "rape capital"
of India, has the national
capital become any safer for
women?
According to National
Crime Records Bureau
(NCRB) data for 2016-17,
Delhi reported the highest
crime rate (160.4) compared
to the national average rate
of 55.2.
IANS spoke to few women,
coming from different
professional background
about how safe they feel in
the city.
Sumitra Girotra, a
Haryana girl who works
in Noida but lives in a hostel
in Delhi, feels "palpably
unsafe even in the so-called
posh areas of the city".
"It may be strange to
read about women getting
molested in the broad daylight
but it is certainly not
strange to be verbally molested
or to get rape threats
while walking down the
roads in Delhi. I have been
a victim many times," Girotra
said, recalling an incident
when she asked a
drunk man to stop staring
at her near Mandi House,
a few steps away from her
hostel.
It was 8.30 p.m.
"He was peeing and staring
at me. When I objected,
he turned towards me with
his zip down and started
abusing me with rape
threats. I gave it back to
him and tried fighting back.
Dragged him to the hostel
and called the guard for
help. He refused saying it
is dangerous to fight them.
I called up police and by the
time they came, the guy had
disappeared.
"Police instead of looking
for the guy asked me
to register a case, give my
name and other credentials.
I mean it gets more frustating
and worse after you suffer.
"The mindset is certainly
universal but the situation
here in Delhi is just
too bad. I have travelled to
other parts of the country...
but never felt so unsafe."
Utkarsha Dixit, a
24-year-old Gurgaon based
designer, said it was "indeed
scary" for a woman to
remain outside home after
9 p.m., even if it is a public
space.
"You never know which
men standing next to you
and looking at you can be a
potential molester. And taking
an auto or travelling in
a cab is now even more of
a nightmare. I personally
never feel safe without my
pepper spray, at least it's an
immediate option to protect
myself. I cannot depend on
police as most of the time
their helpline number
doesn't work," Dixit said.
Sukanya Ghosh, 28, an
art designer at an advertising
firm, echoed. She noted
that strange fear of travelling
alone is palpable even
during the day time.
"I cannot even imagine
of going out at night with
only girls. I always prefer
male friends to accompany
me, just for the sake of safety.
"Even travelling in the
general coaches in metro
has often turned into a
nightmare with terrifying
incidents of being physically
molested, that too in
public space.
"So, I really don't know
where I can claim myself to
be in the safe zone," Ghosh
noted.
Neha Nar, a medical
practitioner from Mumbai
who came to Delhi three
years ago, said ironically it
is a woman and her attire
that is often blamed for her
ordeal and that makes it
worse.
"Questions have always
been raised on dress code
for a woman. I have been a
victim of molestation even
after wearing so-called "decent"
dress. A molester will
anyway harass a woman no
matter what she wears. But
yes, now I have become conscious
of what to wear," she
said.
Tiasha Dutta Gupta, a
PR professional who shifted
to the national capital five
years ago, shared her experience
of living in Delhi.
"After Nirbhaya incident,
we had regained
our faith that things will
change. But little has happened.
Police still have a
laid back attitude, women
are not comfortable to lodge
a complaint, I still feel shivers
down my spine when at
late nights a car passes by
or comes close to me when
I am standing alone.
"I still panic when the
cabbie takes the lonely dark
road. And, I can assure it's
not just me, but any other
girl in the city would resonate,"
she said.
Exit polls done under BJP
pressure: Congress
Inflation rate in India rises as
food, fuel prices accelerate
Agencies
Agencies
NEW DELHI: Rubbishing
the exit polls which
predicted a clean sweep for
the BJP in both the Gujarat
and Himachal Pradesh
assembly elections, the
Congress on Thursday
said they were done under
pressure from the BJP and
were "absolutely wrong".
"Exit poll came in
Bihar, Goa, Punjab and
Delhi as well.
This is the same kind
of exit poll, which has been
shown under pressure
from the BJP," Gujarat
Congress chief Bharatsinh
Solanki told IANS.
"As the elections were
conducted under pressure
from the BJP government
in Gujarat, likewise
the exit poll was also
done under pressure,"
he added.
Solanki said the
Bharatiya Janata Party
will be washed out in
Gujarat.
"The exit polls are
absolutely wrong. We will
win 120-125 seats."
NEW DELHI: An exponential
rise in food and fuel prices
especially those of onions
and diesel pushed India's annual
rate of inflation based
on wholesale prices higher
to 3.93 per cent for November,
official data showed on
Thursday.
According to data from
the Ministry of Commerce
and Industry, the wholesale
price index (WPI) accelerated
to 3.93 per cent in November
from 3.59 per cent
during October and 1.82 per
cent during the corresponding
month of 2016.
Reacting to the data,
India Inc. said the rise in inflation
was mainly driven
by vegetables, onions, eggs,
meat and fish, minerals, petrol
and high speed diesel due
to a decline in production
and the resultant fall in the
supply side.On a sequential
basis, the expenses on primary
articles, which constitute
22.62 per cent of the
WPI's total weightage, edged
higher by 5.28 per cent, from
an increase of 3.33 per cent in
October.
The prices of food articles
rose by 6.06 per cent from a
rise of 4.30 per cent in October.
In terms of food prices,
the YoY (Year-on-Year)
wholesale inflation rate for
onions was higher by 178.19
per cent, whereas for potatoes
it plunged by (-)40.73 per
cent.
In contrast, the overall
vegetable prices in November
rose by 59.80 per cent,
against a fall of (-)17.31 per
cent in the same month a
year ago. As per data, wheat
became cheaper by (-)5.75
per cent on YoY basis and
the prices of pulses came
down by (-)35.48 per cent, but
paddy became dearer by 2.90
per cent. On the other hand,
protein-based food items
such as eggs, meat and fish
became expensive by 4.73 per
cent during the month under
review.
Prices of the other major
group under the WPI, manufactured
products, which
comprise nearly 64.23 per
cent of the index, recorded
a 2.61 per cent rise. The subcategory
of manufactured
food products registered a
rise of 0.47 per cent. Similarly,
fuel and power prices
accelerated by 8.82 per cent.
Product-wise, the price
of high-speed diesel rose by
11.63 per cent during November
while that of petrol
climbed by 10.57 per cent and
for LPG by 31.30 per cent.
Expressing concern
over the rise in wholesale
inflation, industry body Assocham's
Secretary General
D.S. Rawat said: "The continuous
increase in the prices of
petrol and high speed diesel
due to rise in prices of crude
oil globally have to be taken
care of by the policy makers
since it may have impact on
import bills and subsequent
impact on exchange rates."

The International News Weekly india
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
11
CBI seeks seven-year jail for Jharkhand ex-CM
Agencies
NEW DELHI: The CBI on
Thursday urged a court here
to award the maximum seven-year
jail term to former
Jharkhand Chief Minister
Madhu Koda and others who
have been convicted for corruption
in a coal block allocation
case.
Special Judge Bharat
Parashar was also told by
the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) that they are
criminals holding high office
and considering their official
position and conduct, there
was no sufficient ground for
leniency.
The convicts however
sought leniency from the
court.
The court will pronounce
order on quantum of sentence
on December 16. The
court on December 13 had
held Koda, his close aide Vijay
Joshi, former Coal Secretary
H.C. Gupta, Jharkhand's
then Chief Secretary A.K.
Basu, and private company
Vini Iron and Steel Udyog
Ltd (VISUL) guilty of criminal
conspiracy and cheating
under the Prevention of
Corruption Act. The court's
order came in the case related
to Jharkhand's Rajhara
North coal block allocation to
VISUL.
The judge, however,
acquitted four persons -- VI-
SUL's Director Vaibhav Tulsyan,
two public servants
Basant Kumar Bhattacharya
and Bipin Bihari Singh,
and Chartered Accountant
Navin Kumar Tulsyan -- of
all charges.
The CBI had alleged that
Koda and others conspired to
favour VISUL in getting the
coal block.
Japanese tourist drugged, robbed in UP
Agencies
LUCKNOW: A Japanese
tourist was on Thursday
robbed in Sarnath, a
Buddhist holy place near
Varanasi, police said.
Akeero Tanaka (20)
hails from Tokyo and is
an engineer by profession.
He told the police
that he made friends with
a local person named Ramesh
and they together
had food where he was
apparently drugged.
Ramesh decamped
with his passport, visa,
other documents, cash
and personal belongings.
People found him unconscious
and helped him by
hiring an auto and sending
him to Mughalsarai
from where he was sent
to the Tourist Information
Centre in Varanasi.
A Sub-Inspector with
the Railway Police Force
(RPF), J.K. Singh said
that a report had been
lodged with the Sigma
Police Station and they
were trying to locate the
lost items of the Japanese
tourist.
"Till the time he gets
back his belongings, the
police will look after
him," Singh added.
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BJP will win Gujarat, Himachal: Exit polls
Continued from page 01
The Times Now and India TV-
VMR exit poll predicted the BJP
will win 113 and the Congress 66.
In the 2012 assembly elections, the
BJP had won 115 seats and the Congress
61 while the others got six.
The Republic-Jan Ki Baat survey
put the number for the BJP at
108 and the Congress at 74. The predictions
by NewsX-CNX placed the
BJP on the top with 110-120 seats
and the Congress between 65 and
75.
The poll by News24-Chanakya
predicted 135 for the BJP and 47 for
the Congress in Gujarat.
In Himachal Pradesh, where
the Congress was in power for the
last five years, the exit polls showed
the BJP wresting the power with
India Today-Axis giving it 47-55 in
the 68-member assembly.
The ruling Congress is likely
to get 13-20 seats. Republic TV-Jan
Ki Baat gave the BJP 41 and the
Congress 25. The NewsX-CNX poll
predicted that the BJP will get 42-50
and the Congress 18-24 seats.
The survey by ABP-CSDS in
Himachal Pradesh showed the BJP
may get 38 and the Congress 29.
The poll by News24-Chanakya predicted
55 for the BJP and 13 for the
Congress.
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The International News Weekly INDIA
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 12
Modi unveils India's first homebuilt
Scorpene submarine
Agencies
MUMBAI: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Thursday
commissioned the
country's first indigenouslybuilt
Scorpene-class submarine
INS Kalvari into the
Indian Navy.
He formally unveiled
the commissioning plaque
and shook hands with naval
officers, before taking a
quick voyage in the submarine.
It is named after the
first Foxtort-class submarine
- INS Kalvari - which
was inducted into the Navy
on December 8, 1967. This
indigenous version comes
days after the golden jubilee
of the Navy's submarine
wing.
This is the first conventional
submarine to be
inducted into the Indian
Navy. Kalvari means Tiger
Shark.
Modi was received at
the Naval Dockyard by
Navy Chief Sunil Lanba and
presented a 100-man Guard
of Honour.
He thanked France for
its help and collaboration
in developing the Scorpene
submarines, which encompass
superior stealth and
combat capabilities.
"It signifies strengthening
of the growing strategic
ties between India and
France," Modi said.
The Scorpenes were being
built by the Mazagaon
Dockyard Ltd (MDL) here
under Project 75 with transfer
of technology from a foreign
collaborator -- DCNS
of France. He said the INS
Kalvari will provide a significant
boost and synergise
the country's defence, economic,
technical and international
powers, along with
people power on the global
arena.
It will play a crucial role
in India's security and regional
stability, he added.
Modi said India was
fully alert with regard to
its global, strategic and economic
interests in the Indian
Ocean.
INS Kalvari is manned
by a team comprising eight
officers and 35 sailors with
Captain S.D. Mehendale at
the helm.
The second in the series
of six submarines in this
project, INS Khanderi is
currently undergoing sea
trials and all the submarines
are due to be inducted
gradually into the Indian
Navy by 2020.
The state-of-the-art features
of the Scorpenes include
superior stealth and
ability to launch crippling
attacks with precision-guided
weapons.
The attacks can be carried
out with torpedoes both
while submerged or on the
surface -- in all war theatres
including the tropics, giving
it an unmatched invulnerability.
The submarine
has an overall length of 67.5
metre and a height of about
12.3 metres. The hull form,
fin and hydroplanes are
specifically designed to produce
minimum underwater
resistance.
Lucknow's Jitesh
Singh Deo wins
Mr. India World 2017
Agencies
MUMBAI: Jitesh Singh Deo from Lucknow on Thursday
bagged the Mr. India World 2017 title. He will represent
India at the Mr World competition.
The finale of the gala sponsored by Peter Engand, was
held at Bandra Fort here. It was judged by Bollywood's
"Queen" Kangana Ranaut, designer Manish Malhotra
and tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi among others. Kangana
announced Deo as the winner.
An actor, he loves travelling, swimming, and outdoor
sports, and he believes in the mantra, "Be the change
you want to see in the world", according to the pageant's
official website. Abhi Khajuria from Chandigarh was
the first runner-up and Mumbai's Pavan Rao, an actor,
dancer and model, was named the second runner-up.
Prathamesh Maulingkar, a model and entrepreneur
from Goa, won the Mr India Supranatural 2017 title.
They will all compete at different international pageants.
The winners were chosen from 16 finalists, who
walked the ramp in wardrobe designed by Malhotra,
fashion director Nivedita Saboo and Peter England.
The contestants underwent rigorous training and
workshops under the mentorship and guidance of Rohit
Khandelwal, who was the winner of the contest last year
and went on to win the Mr. World 2017.Khandelwal said
in a statement: "It has been a wonderful journey. All the
boys are winners in their own right. However, there can
be only one winner. "The winner is very deserving. I am
looking forward to the prestigious Mr. World pageant
and hope that we bring the crown home again."
India to spend Rs 1,054 cr on paramilitary forces
Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi : The Union
Home Ministry is set to
spend Rs 1,054 crore in the
next two years on the procurement
of modern weapons,
vehicles and other
equipment for central paramilitary
forces, an official
said on Thursday.
To help the law enforcement
agencies in detecting,
arresting and prosecuting
criminals expeditiously,
the official said three more
central forensic laboratories
will start functioning
in Pune, Bhopal and
Guwahati by next March.
Agencies
NEW DELHI: After a long
legal battle, two Parsi women
- Goolrokh M. Gupta and
Shiraz Rajiv Patodia - who
had married outside the
religion got the right to enter
fire temples in Valsad
and attend the last rites of
their parents, including the
ritual bath in the Tower of
Silence as and when they
pass away.
The constitution bench
headed by Chief Justice
Dipak Misra passed the
order after senior counsel
Gopal Subramanium, appearing
for the Valsad Anjuman
Trust, told the court
According to the official,
the decision was taken at a
high-level meeting chaired
by Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh.
Of the Rs 1,054 crore approved
by the Central government
under Phase 3 of
the police modernisation
scheme, half of the amount
will be spent on the Central
Reserve Police Force, while
the rest will be spent on six
other central armed police
forces -- the Border Security
Force, the Central Industrial
Security Force, the
Indo-Tibetan Border Police,
the Sashastra Seema
Bal, the National Security
that the trust has agreed to
permit the two sisters to
participate in their parents'
last rites.
However, the larger
question of the rights of
Parsi women to enter the
Anjuman and the temple
even after marrying outside
the community, has
been kept open and would
be heard on January 17.
The Supreme Court had
on November 7 asked the
Parsi Anjuman in Gujarat's
Valsad to consider the plea
of woman from the community
seeking to attend the
funeral of her father as and
when he passes away.
The court asked the
Guard and the Assam Rifles,
the official said.
The official said that
only Rs 200 crore was allotted
for the seven paramilitary
forces every year
under Phase 2 scheme of
the modernisation scheme
which is scheduled to be
completed by December.
The Home Ministry
also enhanced the financial
powers of the Director General
of each of the central
armed police forces from
Rs 15 crore to Rs 20 crore
per year, the official said.
The Ministry has also
issued guidelines for the
implementation of an over
Rs 25,000 crore mega internal
security scheme,
approved by the Union
Cabinet in September, to
strengthen the country's
law and order mechanism,
mordernise police forces
and effectively fight against
terrorism.
This is the biggest ever
internal security scheme in
the country and the financial
outlay for the scheme
over the three years period
is Rs 25,060 crore, out of
which the Central government
share will be Rs 18,636
crore and the states' share
will be Rs 6,424 crore, the
official said.
2 Parsi women married outside religion allowed temple entry
Parsi Anjuman Trust to
consider the plea of the two
sisters as it had observed
both have not surrendered
their affection to their father
and that "DNA does
not evaporate" after marrying
outside the religion.
Gupta had moved the
top court seeking a declaration
from the court that
she would not be barred
from attending the funeral
of her father merely because
she has married outside
the religion.
Having married outside
Parsi religion under
the Special Marriage Act,
she had contended that
merely this would not result
in her excommunication
from Parsi religious
activities.
Having married a non-
Parsi in 1991 and subsequently
denied entry into
the Parsi fire temple or
against participating in
other rituals, Gupta has
challenged the Gujarat
High Court's 2012 judgment
which says that after marrying
a person of another
religion under the Special
Marriage Act, her identity
would merge in the identity
of her husband.
Besides Goolrokh, her
sister Shiraz too has moved
the top court against the
High Court verdict.

The International News Weekly India
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
13
Muslims should gift Ayodhya, Kashi
and Mathura mosques to Hindus
By Saeed Naqvi
The 25th anniversary of
the Babri Masjid demolitionlast
week rekindled debate:
Why was it demolished,
historical wrongs, Mandal
Commission inviting a Mandir
backlash, Hindu yearning
for a Ram temple and
so on. But the clinching evidence
judges of the Supreme
Court, steeped in the case,
might find interesting is a
video recording of celebrations
at ground zero, the site
of the demolition soon after
the traumatic event.
The first scene opens
with a number of girls in a
circle, clapping in unison
and singing a song with the
following refrain: "Ab yeh
jhanda lehraayega saarey
Pakistan pe"
(Now this flag will flutter
over Pakistan)
The next scene shows a
group of young men, delirious
with excitement, wearing
bandanas around their
heads, carrying lances. They
lunge towards the camera,
shouting:
"Bomb girega Pakistan
pe Bomb girega Pakistan pe"
(Bombs will fall on Pakistan)
Third scene consists of
a handsome Swami with
wavy hair. In his booming
voice he spells out:
"Abhi hamein Lahore
jana hai, Rawalpindi jana
hai..."
The final scene has the
late Bal Thackeray predictably
announcing in very
matter of fact tones, from
his Mumbai residence: "We
are going to build the Ram
Temple, and if the Muslims
don't like it, they can go to
Pakistan."
There was no mention
of Ram or a temple, only a
frenetic triumphalism over
Pakistan. In the context of
the demolition of a mosque
which carried the name of
the first Moghul Emperor,
the celebrations appeared
to settle multiple scores
against a long chain of Muslim
"marauders" and Muslims
who mushroomed under
their auspices and who
eventually walked away
with an independent country.
Worse, they left behind
almost as many of their coreligionists
in this country.
No one ever disputed
the primacy of Ram in the
Hindu belief system, but the
demolition of the mosque
was an instance of faith being
placed in the service of
politics. L.K. Advani's 1990
Rath Yatra was designed to
neutralise caste divisions
aggravated by the Mandal
Commission. Its purpose
was to compact the Hindu
caste pyramid teetering
because of excessive exposure
to identity politics. The
mosque and, by extension,
the Muslim, was to be the
foil in this primary enterprise.
This was the cement
that would be filled into the
crevices to stabilise the pyramid.
In this masonry for
compacting Hindu society,
heavy collateral damage
would have to be borne by
the Muslim. This collateral
damage, in other words, was
to be no meager side show.
The scaling down of a thousand
years of civilisation associated
with the "invaders"
would be cathartic, even exhilarating
for the majority.
By that very token, it would
be degrading for the largest
minority ever in history.
Pakistan had become
a part of the country's internal
politics even before
the 1965 war when Prime
Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri
upturned Nehruvian
secularism by seeking RSS
volunteers for Civil Defence
Duty. Indira Gandhi, Prime
Minister after Shastri, felt
the heat when she lost the
1967 elections in eight states.
Even during electoral
adversity in the north, Indira
Gandhi felt reasonably
secure so long as her charisma
lasted in the southern
states of Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh. When
these states were lost in 1982,
she realised that Congress
rule could not be secured in
the north without recourse
to a shade of saffron. This
shade she brought into play
during the 1983 Jammu elections,
harnessing Hindu
sentiment against the Khalistan
movement next door.
The 404 seats in a House of
533 that Rajiv Gandhi won
in 1984, after Indira Gandhi's
murder, were interpreted by
the Congress as Hindu consolidation
against minority
communalism. From the
Sikh minority to the Muslim
minority was an easy conceptual
leap.
It was a moment of reckoning
for the BJP, smarting
with only two seats in 1984. It
could not allow the Congress
to steal the Hindu platform.
Congress too would not give
up the advantage. In 1986 it
arranged for the locks of the
Ram temple to be opened,
having earlier pleased the
obscurantist Muslims by
upturning the Shah Bano
judgement which provided
maintenance to a divorced
woman.
Then Rajiv Gandhi began
the 1989 election from
Ayodhya with a promise
that he would usher in Ram
Rajya. He allowed bricks to
be laid for the temple's foundation,
exactly where the
VHP had planned to.
To win this competition
in Hindu radicalism, Advani's
Rath Yatra provided
the BJP with an occasion to
raise the stakes beyond the
Congress reach. While Rajiv
stood on a saffron platform,
he was careful not to overtly
offend the Muslims.
P.V. Narasimha Rao as
Prime Minister reversed
this ambidextrous approach.
He slept while the
Kar Sevaks pulled down the
mosque. There was no ambiguity
now. It was straightforward
Hindu-Muslim polarisation.
And now as the 2019 elections
approach, what should
the Muslims do? My mother,
who died three years ago,
had accompanied my wife,
daughter and me to Ayodhya
to see the 1989 Shilanyas
(brick laying). She lived in
Lucknow and we were there
only for two days. This way,
she thought, she would see
more of us and also inform
herself about the mosque
in the news. After watching
the grotesque drama this is
what she said:
"A mosque of 'fitna' (conflict)
is not an auspicious
place of worship. In any
case, a Muslim can spread
his prayer mat anywhere
in the direction of Kaaba
and say his namaz. A Hindu
consecrates his idols in a
temple."
Muslims should, as an
act of generosity, gift the disputed
mosques in Ayodhya,
Kashi and Mathura. "Hindu
masses would be ecstatic." I
chose not to argue.
Maulana Kalbe Sadiq
of the Personal Law Board,
echoes the same sentiment.
"Even if Muslims win the
case in the Supreme Court,
they should make a gift of
the land to the Hindus." The
Supreme Court can be the
guarantor that communalism
would not claim more
monuments. Masses will be
electrified and communalists
on all sides will be defeated,
he says.
(Saeed Naqvi is a senior
commentator on political and
diplomatic affairs)
69 percent turnout in Gujarat second phase
By Amit Cowper
Gandhinagar : The second and
final phase of the Gujarat Assembly
elections on Thursday saw 68.70 per
cent ballotting across 14 districts of
the northern and central regions of
the state, to pick 93 lawmakers.
Though voting in the second
phase was a bit higher than the first
phase, it is still less than the previous
elections.
All eyes now await December 18
when the results of the polls will be
declared.
The second phase was to pick 93
seats, out of the total 182 constituency
seats. There were 851 candidates
in the fray and around 2.23 crore voters.
The first phase on December 9
saw 66.75 per cent ballotting from
the Suarashtra-Kutch and southern
regions of Gujarat. The combined
figures of the state assembly elections
stands at around 67.75 per cent
-- lower than the 72 per cent of the
2012 Assembly elections.
The maximum polling was
registered in Sabarkantha district
with 77 per cent, and the minimum
in Dahod district with 60 per cent.
Surprisingly, both the districts are
dominated by tribal population.
While both the main political
parties claimed to have an upper
hand in the results of the elections,
most of the electronic media channels
ran exit polls showing the ruling
BJP once again forming the government.
The second phase also saw some
controversy, as Congress created a
furore over Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's "road show" in Ahmedabad
during polling. Modi, registered
as a voter in the Ranip area of
Ahmedabad, exercised his right at
the polling booth at Nishan Vidyalaya
in Ranip region of the city. After
casting his vote, Modi stood on
the steps of his vehicle and held out
his inked finger for people to see, for
quite a distance, and waved to the
crowd. He even walked on the road
with his voting finger raised and
later climbed on his vehicle, as he
continued to acknowledge the crowd
shouting "Modi, Modi...". This, Congress
complained, was nothing but
a road show and against the model
code of conduct.
According to the Chief Electoral
Officer (CEO), Gujarat office, B.B.
Swain, the elections were relatively
peaceful, barring a few complaints of
skirmishes reported from places like
Anand, Vadodara, Mehsana and
Dahod. An incident of group clash
between two groups of different political
parties was reported at Nana
Arad, near Dharamshala in Anand
district, where complaints of bogus
voting was reported. According to
the CEO, the situation was brought
under control.
In Ranavav, Rabaari Mohalla in
Vankaner in Bhadarva police stations
in Vadodara district, the police
registered a criminal complaint
against two groups that clashed.
According to the CEO, the incident
had nothing to do with elections. In
another incident of two groups of
communities clashing was reported
in Hassanpur village in Visnagar
town, Mehsana district, where four
persons were injured and admitted
in Visnagar general hospital. The
police is in the process of registering
a complaint in the incident.
In Patadra village, Fatehpura
in Sukhsar police station in Dahod
district, a criminal offence was registered
by police against a person,
Sureshbhai Ramsinh Baraiya, and
10 others for insisting that people
vote for a particular political party,
which led to an altercation with a
person, Badrabhai Kalubhai Dangi.
"The elections overall remained
peaceful throughout and we thank
all those who helped us, cooperated
with us including the media. The
first phase problems helped us in
improving and reducing the EVMs
and VVPATs to be replaced. On
Thursday, we only had to replace
0.8 per cent Ballot Units, 0.6 per cent
Control Units and about 1.86 per cent
VVPATs," said Swain.
The Gujarat Assembly polls
were being seen not just as a prestige
battle between the Prime Minister
and Congress president-designate
Rahul Gandhi but also as a mini referendum
on Modi's three and a half
year rule at the Centre, especially in
the wake of issues like demonetisation,
implementation of the Goods
and Services Tax (GST), rising unemployment
and the Minimum Support
Price (MSP) for farm commodities
dominating most part of the
campaign discourse initially.

The International News Weekly India
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 14
Gurbir Grewal first Sikh to be nominated
as state attorney general in US
By Arul Louis
NEW YORK: The Supreme
Court on Thursday said that
the Lt. Governor does not
have the jurisdiction to pronounce
if the Delhi government's
decisions are correct
or not as he can only, in the
situation of disagreement,
refer the matter to the President
for decision.
In a historic first, a
distinguished Sikh public
prosecutor "who has experienced
hate and intolerance
first-hand" has been nominated
to be the next attorney
general of the US state of
New Jersey.
If Gurbir S. Grewal's
nomination by Democrat
Governor-elect Phil Murphy
is approved by the State Senate
early next year, he will
be the first Sikh to assume
the top state law enforcement
position in the United
States and the second Indian-American,
after Kamala
Harris, who held the position
in California before her
election to the US Senate.
Announcing the nomination
in the state capital,
Trenton, on Tuesday, Murphy
said: "In light of all that
is being thrown at us by the
president, we need an attorney
general unafraid to join
our fellow states in using the
law to protect all New Jersey
residents."
Grewal, 44, is the prosecutor
of Bergen County, an
important district across the
river from New York city.
He was appointed to by the
current Republican Governor
Chris Christie and that
is likely to mute any opposition
the senate.
Symbolic of the public
acceptance of minorities
despite scattered incidents
of bigotry, two Sikhs were
elected mayors last month,
Ravi Bhalla in Hoboken,
New Jersey, and Preet Didbal
in Yuba City, California.
Vin Gopal, who became
the first Indian-American
to be elected to the New
Jersey State Senate last
month, said that Grewal
is someone "not only eminently
qualified, but who
will bring a perspective to
the office that is diverse
and long-overdue."
After Murphy made
the announcement, Grewal
said: "I wanted to give back
to a country that has given
us and other immigrant
families like us so much."
Turning to his three
daughters, Kyrpa, Mayher
and Mahek, who were with
him, he said: "As someone
who has experienced hate
and intolerance first-hand
throughout my life, I wanted
to work to ensure we all
live in and that the three of
you grow up in a fair and
just society."
Grewal added: "I wanted
to perhaps also show people
that while I and others like
me may look different or
worship differently, that we,
too, are committed to this
country."
Hailing Grewal's nomination,
Rajwant Singh, the
co-founder of the National
Sikh Campaign, said: "These
are exactly the kind of role
models our youngsters need
to feel proud of being a Sikh
and an American."
"While America could be
seen having a very polarized
situation politically and yet
there are some very shining
moments to show that
people of all backgrounds
can aspire for top positions,"
he added.
Hindu groups
protest Amarnath
cave mantra ban
Agencies
NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT)
on Thursday clarified that it did not declare the Amarnath
cave shrine a silent zone and that silence has to be
maintained only in front of the ice shivlingam (the idol).
Considered one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism,
the Amarnath shrine, located in the Himalayas in Jammu
and Kashmir, is visited by lakhs of people during
the pilgrimage season in the monsoon.
Declaring the shrine a silent zone on Wednesday,
the Tribunal had barred bells, chants and religious offerings
beyond the entry point.
The directions by a bench, headed by NGT Chairperson
Justice Swatanter Kumar, were aimed at avoiding
avalanches, maintaining the pristine nature of the
holy cave and the eco-sensitivity of the region.
The decision attracted protests from Hindu groups
who called the order a diktat. A detailed order is awaited.
The Tribunal, which on November 15 appointed a
committee to look at environment protection during
the annual Amarnath Yatra, had asked the authorities
to ensure that the directions come into effect before
January 18, the next date of hearing. This year the annual
pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine saw over 2.6
lakh pilgrims over 40 days between June 29 and August
7. The dates for pilgrimage in 2018 are awaited though
expected to be between July 2 and August 26.
Indian doctor faces 10-year
jail for healthcare fraud in US
Indo-Asian News Service
WASHINGTON: An Indian
American cardiologist based in the
US state of Nevada has been arrested
on 39 charges of unlawful distribution
of prescription opioids and healthcare
fraud, officials said.
Devendra Patel, 58, allegedly prescribed
opioids such as fentanyl, hydrocodone
and oxycodone without
legitimate medical cause on a routine
basis from May 2014 to September
2017, according to an announcement
made by US Attorney General Jeff
Sessions and other law enforcement
officials.
As per the indictment, the physician
fraudulently billed Medicaid and
Medicare for medical tests he did not
Agencies
WASHINGTO: A 21-yearold
Indian-origin student has
pleaded guilty of executing
a series of cyber attacks on
the Rutgers University computer
network in the US, authorities
said.
Paras Jha of New Jersey
along with two others
-- Josiah White of Pennsylvania
and Dalton Norman of
Louisiana -- also admitted on
Wednesday to creating and
operating two botnets which
targeted "Internet of Things"
perform. Patel was also accused of
presenting patients with fraudulent X-
rays to convince them they had heart
conditions and coax them into seeking
treatment from him.
He appeared in a federal court in
Reno city of Nevada on Wednesday
and pleaded not guilty, the US media
reported. "Dr Patel is the first person
to be charged in Nevada since the formation
of the Justice Department's
Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection
Unit," Acting US Attorney Steven
(IoT) devices, the US Justice
Department said.
A botnet is a network of
private computers infected
with malicious software and
controlled as a group without
the knowledge or permission
of the computers' owners.
The multiple cyber attacks
were launched between November
2014 and September
2016. "Paras Jha has admitted
his responsibility for
multiple hacks of the Rutgers
University computer
system," Acting US Attorney
Fitzpatrick said. "These
computer attacks shut down
the server used for all communications
among faculty,
staff and students, including
assignment of course work
to students, and students'
submission of their work to
professors to be graded.
"The defendant's actions
effectively paralyzed the system
for days at a time and
maliciously disrupted the
educational process for tens
of thousands of Rutgers' students,"
said Fitzpatrick.
"The defendant has admitted
his role in this criminal
Myhre said. The maximum penalty
for distribution of a controlled substance
is 10 years in prison. The maximum
penalty for healthcare fraud is
also 10 years in prison.
"Today we are facing the worst
drug crisis in American history, with
one American dying of a drug overdose
every nine minutes," Sessions
said. "This summer, I ordered the creation
of the Opioid Fraud and Abuse
Detection Unit, which brings together
data analysts and Assistant US Attorneys
from throughout the country to
prosecute doctors engaged in opioidrelated
healthcare fraud. … We will
file many more charges in the months
to come," he said.
Patel is scheduled to appear in
court again on January 25.
Indian student pleads guilty in US cyber attacks
offence and will face the legal
consequences for it," he added.
Jha pleaded before US District
Judge Michael Shipp in New
Jersey's Trenton federal court
to violating the Computer
Fraud & Abuse Act.
He executed a series of
attacks on the networks of
Rutgers University that shut
down the institution's central
authentication server, which
maintained, among other
things, the gateway portal
through which staff, faculty
and students delivered assignments
and assessments.

The International News Weekly WORLD
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
15
Trump says US will ban family immigration
Indo-Asian News Service
NEW YORK: A Swedish
man has been found guilty
of raping young girls, including
one Canadian victim,
strictly on the basis
of his threatening and coercive
online interactions
with them.
Blaming a "lax" immigration
system for the
bomb attack here by a Bangladeshi
immigrant, US
President Donald Trump
has renewed calls for the
US Congress to end immigration
based on family
ties.
Calling Monday's
bombing at a New York
transportation hub by
Akayed Ullah "attempted
mass murder", Trump
said: "Today's terror suspect
entered our country
through extended-family
chain migration, which is
incompatible with national
security."
He demanded that Congress
should end chain
migration, the process
by which relatives of
immigrants can be sponsored
for immigration
by their relatives, and can,
in turn, sponsor other relatives.
According to police, Ullah
has told them that he
was inspired by the Islamic
State (IS) terror group
and that he wanted to
avenge the US attacks on
IS in Syria and elsewhere.
Officials described the
explosive device he crafted
as a "low-tech" pipe bomb,
which he strapped to himself
with velcro to carry out
a suicide attack. However,
the bomb only wounded
him severely and caused
light injuries to three others
when it went off in an
underground passageway
at the Times Square metro
station connecting trains
and the nearby interstate
bus terminal.
Officials said that he
was radicalised through
the Internet.
Ullah's attack was the
second terrorist attack in
New York in less than two
months.
On October 31, an immigrant
from Uzbekistan
drove a small truck into
pedestrians near the World
Trade Centre killing eight
people.
"America must fix its
lax immigration system,
which allows far too many
dangerous, inadequately
vetted people to access our
country," Trump said in
his statement.
Although Trump mentioned
his ban on people
coming to the US from
eight countries as important
for keeping America
safe, neither Uzbekistan
nor Bangladesh is on his
list.
Trump announced immigration
reform proposals
in August that would
end chain immigration
and a green card lottery
system that allows people
from some countries like
Uzbekistan and Bangladesh
to immigrate without
sponsorship or professional
qualification.
Sayfullo Habibullaevich
Saipov, 29, who carried
out the truck attack,
had come to the US in 2011
through the lottery.
Bangladesh police
arrest wife, in-laws of
New York bomber
Agencies
DHAKA: Bangladesh Police detained the wife and inlaws
of New York's 'attempted suicide bomber' Akayed
Ullah for questioning in Dhaka, the media reported.
The counter-terrorism unit detained the three
from Zigatala's Moneshwar Road.
"The three have been brought in for questioning,"
Counterterrorism Unit Deputy Commissioner Saiful
Islam told bdnews24.com.
Akayed's wife Jannatul Ferdous and their sixmonth-old
child live with her parents at a home on
Moneshwar Road. Akayed, 27, who hails from Chittagong,
has lived in the US for seven years. US police
officials say he started as a cab driver and then became
an electrician
at a real estate company
after 2015.
New York City
police detained
Akayed after he had
injured himself after
detonating a pipe
bomb at the crowded
Port Authority Bus
Terminal in Manhattan. He was later admitted to hospital.
US police officials say the bomb was tied to his
body.
They claim Akayed had been inspired by Islamic
State propaganda. Bangladesh police began searching
for Akayed's family after his identity was confirmed.
An official from the counterterrorism unit said
they found the address of Akayed's in-laws on Tuesday
afternoon. Akayed's father-in-law Zulfikar Haider,
mother-in-law Mahfuza Akhtar and their children
rented the house.
The Bangladesh embassy in Washington DC reiterated
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina government's
'zero tolerance' policy against terrorism.
"A terrorist is a terrorist irrespective of his or her
ethnicity or religion, and must be brought to justice,"
the embassy said in a statement.
"Government of Bangladesh is committed to its
declared policy of 'Zero Tolerance' against terrorism,
and condemns terrorism and violent extremism in
all forms or manifestations anywhere in the world,
including Monday morning's incident in New York
City."
World sets record of tall buildings in 2017
Agencies
WASINGTON: More skyscrapers
were built in 2017
than during any other year
in history, according to a report
released by the Council
of Tall Buildings and Urban
Habitat (CTBUH).
A total of 144 buildings
measuring 656 feet or taller
were completed in the world
this year, up on 2016's record
by more than 13 per cent,
CNN quoted the report as
saying on Wednesday.
China dominated the list
accounting for more than
half of this year's global total,
with 77 of the structures
located in 36 different cities,
the Chicago-based CTBUH
said in the report.
Agencies
VANCOUVER: Hillary Clinton says
the Democratic party's surprise win in
Alabama during Tuesday's senate race
in the United States marks a "turning
point" for Americans who are opposed
to President Donald Trump.
Clinton told a crowd of more than
5,000 people gathered in Vancouver on
Wednesday that the Democrats' electoral
upset in the heart of Republican
territory has made her feel "a tiny bit
less" concerned about the future of her
country. "For me, this was a very important
turning point in basically holding
President Trump and his most vitriolic,
destructive advisers, led by Steve Bannon,
accountable," she said.
"People seem to be turning against
the Trump philosophy and ideology,"
she added. "So it's a good sign but it's by
no means the end of the story."
The former U.S. secretary of state
Of them, the southern
metropolis of Shenzhen was
responsible for the highest
number of new skyscrapers.
Topping the CTBUH's list for
the second consecutive year,
the city saw the completion
of 12 such buildings in 2017 --
more than the entire US.
Shenzhen is also home to
this year's biggest new skyscraper,
the 1,966-foot Ping
An Finance Centre, now
the fourth tallest building in
the world. The city of Nanning
in CGuangxi province,
was ranked second, having
completed seven new tall
structures, while Chengdu
tied with Indonesia's capital,
Jakarta, on five.
The Chinese cities of
Changsha and Wuhan were
joined by New York, Toronto,
South Korea's Busan and
the North Korean capital,
was in Canada to promote her new
memoir, "What Happened," which
chronicles her experience running as
the Democrat nominee in the 2016 presidential
race as well as the aftermath of
her loss. Clinton attributed this week's
election outcome in Alabama in part
to the calibre of Democratic candidate
Doug Jones, as well as a large electoral
turnout among African-American voters
and the scandals that bogged down
Republican nominee Roy Moore, a former
chief justice of the state's Supreme
Court.
Moore was hounded by sexual misconduct
allegations, but was endorsed
by Trump after beating the president's
Pyongyang, with four each.
But while the global
trend is headed skywards,
the market for high-rises
is changing, according to
Shawn Ursini, editor of the
CTBUH's Skyscraper Center
database.
"Residential is taking up
an increasingly big share
of buildings measuring at
least 200 meters in height,"
he told CNN. "If you go back
to the latter end of the 20th
century, you could almost
assume that any building of
that magnitude would be an
office building."
Of this year's 10 tallest
new structures, five have
provisions for residential
use, including Dubai's 1,394-
foot Marina 101.
Dem win in Alabama a 'turning point' against Trump: Hillary
first choice for the Republican nomination.
Moore denied the allegations
against him.
Clinton expressed concern about
Trump's impulsive social media habits
and how unsuited he is to the nuanced
diplomacy necessary to deal with the
nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
She poked fun at Trump's reported
love of Diet Coke. "Apparently he drinks
a dozen of them a day," she said to laughter
from the audience. "I don't know
what that does to your brain."
Clinton pledged to remain part of
the debate about the future of the U.S.
"I'm going to keep fighting for what I
think is right," she said.
The sold-out crowd included several
groups of women wearing so-called
pussy hats — pink knitted toques associated
with advocacy for women's issues.
Another group wore shirts with the
words Nasty Woman printed inside a
pink heart.

The International News Weekly OFF-BEAT
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 16
4 tips to maintain your skin during winter
Agencies
Ready with your new winter
look but not ready to deal with
the harsh winter weather?
While winter is all about
snuggling into cozy quilts, sitting
by the heater and sipping
hot drinks, it is also about dealing
with dry skin, chapped lips,
and cracked heels. Dr. Chandrika
Mahendra, Principal Scientist,
Personal Care, The Himalaya
Drug Company, shares her expertise
on keeping your skin healthy
during winter.
*Nourish the skin from within
Moisturising your dry skin
every now and then during winter
can be a little annoying. All
you need to keep your skin soft
and supple is an intensive skin
care product that is enriched
with the goodness of cocoa butter.
Cocoa contains antioxidants that
help repair skin cells.
* Keep yourself hydrated
While your skin needs essential
minerals and vitamins, drinking
water is a must to keep your
body adequately hydrated. We
are less likely to feel thirsty during
winter. However, consuming
warm water will help in flushing
out toxins and enhancing blood
circulation. So, ensure you drink
two to three liters of water a day.
* Say goodbye to chapped lips
Dry weather and chapped lips
go together. Therefore, it is important
to keep your lips moisturized
and healthy during the winter
months. For soft and smooth
lips, look for herbal products
with 100 per cent natural color,
antioxidants, and Vitamin E.
* Follow your workout routine
Winter can often make you
lazy and drowsy. It is crucial to
stay active and fit to speed up
your metabolism for a healthy
body and skin. Regular workouts
increase your body's strength,
boost your energy levels, and improve
skin health. So, make time
for a quick run, join a gym, or take
a stroll in the garden, but don't let
winter hinder your schedule.
Canola oil may be
harmful for the
brain: Study
Agencies
LONDON: Two tablespoons of canola oil daily may
worsen memory, learning ability as well as cause
weight gain in people with Alzheimer's disease,
claims a study.
The study, conducted on mice, suggested that the
long term consumption of the vegetable oil which is
often promoted as a healthy cooking oil may actually
harm the brain.
Mice fed on the canola oil-enriched diet weighed
significantly more than mice on the regular diet.
Canola oil, or canola for short, is a vegetable oil derived
from rapeseed.
Consuming canola oil for over a period of six
months also led to impairments in working memory.
Additionally, maze tests showed that short-term
memory, and learning ability also suffered damages.
"Even though canola oil is a vegetable oil, we need
to be careful before we say that it is healthy," said Domenico
Pratico, Professor at the Temple University
in Pennsylvania.
"Based on the evidence from this study, canola oil
should not be thought of as being equivalent to oils
with proven health benefits," Pratico said, in the paper
published in the journal Scientific Reports .
Moreover, brain tissues from the mice on canola
diet revealed that these animals had greatly reduced
levels of amyloid beta 1-40.
Amyloid beta 1-40 is the more soluble form of the
amyloid beta proteins and is generally considered to
serve a beneficial role in the brain. It acts as a buffer
for the more harmful insoluble form, amyloid beta
1-42.
"Amyloid beta 1-40 neutralises the actions of amyloid
1-42, which means that a decrease in 1-40, like the
one observed in our study, leaves 1-42 unchecked,"
Pratico explained.
"In our model, this change in ratio resulted in
considerable neuronal damage, decreased neural
contacts, and memory impairment."
Soy, broccoli cut side-effects
of breast cancer treatment
Agencies
Agencies
NEW YORK: An MRI every six
months could be far more effective in
detecting breast cancer in younger
women with a high-risk genetic profile
than an annual mammogram, according
to researchers.
The findings showed that undergoing
a dynamic contrast-enhanced
magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-
MRI) every six months helped "downstage"
aggressive breast cancer by
finding small early lesions in women
with high-risk mutations -- that are
crucial to improving outcomes.
The DCE-MRI scans detected
node-negative, invasive tumours less
than one centimetre and performed
especially well in young women with
BRCA1 mutation -- which increases
the risk for aggressive subtypes of
NEW YORK: Consuming
soy foods such as soy milk
and tofu and cruciferous
vegetables such as cabbages,
kale and broccoli
may help reduce common
side effects of treatment in
breast cancer survivors,
researchers say.
Treatments designed
to prevent breast cancer
recurrence often inhibit
the body's production or
use of oestrogen -- the hormone
that can fuel breast
cancer growth.
As a result, such patients
often experience hot
flushes and night sweats,
among other side effects
that are commonly post
menopause.
The findings, led by
researchers from Georgetown
University, showed
that intake of cruciferous
vegetables and soy foods
were associated with fewer
reports of menopausal
symptoms.
Higher soy intake was
also associated with less
reported fatigue.
Phytochemicals, or
bioactive food components,
such as isoflavones
in soy foods and glucosinolates
in cruciferous
breast cancer.
"Mammograms remain important
for most women. But for women
at high risk who are getting a DCE-
MRI every six months, annual mammograms
could probably be eliminated,"
said Olufunmilayo Olopade,
Professor at the University of Chicago.
"For this group of younger women
at significantly elevated risk,
especially those with a BRCA1 mutation,
we strongly support getting
vegetables may be the
source of the benefit, the
researchers said.
While isoflavones bind
to oestrogen receptors
and exert weak oestrogenic
effects, glucosinolates
in cruciferous vegetables
influence levels of metabolising
enzymes that
can modulate inflammation
and levels of oestrogen,
possibly attenuating
treatment-related symptoms.
The study addresses an
important gap in research
on the possible role of lifestyle
factors, such as dietary
habits, in relation to
side effects of treatments,
said lead author Sarah Oppeneer
Nomura from the
University's Georgetown
Lombardi Comprehensive
Cancer Center.
"These symptoms can
adversely impact survivors'
quality of life and
can lead them to stopping
ongoing treatments," Nomura
said.
"Understanding the
role of life style factors is
important because diet
can serve as a modifiable
target for possibly reducing
symptoms among
breast cancer survivors,"
she added.
Bi-annual MRIs helps high-risk breast cancer patients
a DCE-MRI every six months," Olopade
added, in the paper presented at
the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer
Symposium.
Between 2004 and December 2016,
the researchers enrolled 305 women
into a clinical trial with a lifetime
breast cancer risk greater than 20
per cent, who were scheduled to
undergo a clinical breast examination
and a DCE-MRI scan every six
months, and a digital mammogram
every 12 months.
The DCE-MRI curtailed the
spread of the cancers to the lymph
nodes as well as detected tumours
smaller than a centimetre.
"This study demonstrates, for the
first time, that aggressive breast cancers
can be caught early, without excessive
recalls or biopsies," Olopade
said.

The International News Weekly VIEW
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
17
My goal is to win Olympic gold : Mary Kom
By Ajeyo Basu
NEW DELHI: She has
achieved almost everything
that women's boxing
can offer, but five-time
World Champion M.C.
Mary Kom is still yearning
for the greatest accolade in
the world of sports -- winning
gold at the Olympics.
Mary's only appearance
at the Olympics came
at the London Games in
2012 when women's boxing
was introduced for the
first time at the quadrennial
sports spectacle. Having
moved up to the 51 kg
category, she had ended up
with a bronze medal.
She had admitted later
that it was difficult to move
out of her favourite 48 kg
category -- in which she
had won her five world
titles -- but the change had
to be made as it was not included
at the Olympics or
the Asian Games.
However, with the International
Boxing Association
(AIBA) debating over
the prospect of including
the 48 kilogram division at
next year's Asian Games
and probably the 2020
Olympics, Mary is filled
with renewed hope.
"I still have not won an
Olympic gold. That is my
ultimate target. I am working
very hard with the 2020
Olympics in mind. I am trying
my best. The rest is up
to God," the Manipur icon
told IANS.
"As long as I am alive,
winning gold at the Olympics
will always be my
greatest dream. That will
remain a target till the end
of my career," she added.
Mary added another
title to her already overflowing
trophy cabinet recently
by winning gold at
the Asian Women's Boxing
Championship -- her fifth title
at the continental level --
and has now set her sights
on defending her Asian
Games title next year.
That may prove to be
By 2022, 37% of India's
workforce would be in new jobs
Indo-Asian News Service
NEW DELHI: Around 37 per cent of the country's
workforce would be employed in new job roles by 2022,
a report said here on Wednesday. The joint report by
Ficci-Nasscom and EY said by 2022, nine per cent of
the country's 600 million estimated workforce would be
deployed in jobs that do not exist at present.
According to the report -- which provided insights
into the future of jobs and vision of change for the job
market in India by 2022 -- exponential technologies in
advanced markets is expected to improve productivity
by 15-20 per cent in the next five years.
The joint report said 60-65 per cent of the Indian
workforce in the IT-BPM would be deployed in jobs that
have radically changed skill sets, followed by 55-60 per
cent in BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance)
and 50-55 per cent in the automotive sector.
It highlighted the impact that various primary forces
such as globalisation, demographics, and Industry 4.0/
exponential technologies, are expected to have on the
key sectors of the economy. "Today, the adoption of
exponential technologies by companies in advanced
markets is affecting the future of jobs in India. By
2022, new business process offshoring opportunities
in North America/European markets are expected to
become insignificant," said Arunkumar Pillai, Partner
- Skill Development, Government and Public Services,
EY. "Hence, the need of the hour is to collaborate with
and incentivise industry for skilling in exponential
technologies to create an Industry 4.0 ready workforce,"
he added.
The report also provided an overview of the job
creation rates across various sectors and the new jobs
that will emerge in the next few years. "In the organised
manufacturing and service sector, the employment is
expected to increase from the current 38 million to 46-48
million by 2022," the report said.
It added that all the new forms of employment are
expected to add a further 20-25 per cent to the workforce
of the current "organised" sector in 2022. "This would
increase the share of the organised sector in the overall
economy to 10 per cent from current level of eight per
cent which is approximately 60 million in a workforce of
600 million," the report noted.
a tall task for the average
athlete, specially at 35, an
age widely considered old
and over the hill for a physically
demanding sport like
boxing.
Mary, however, does
not let such mundane details
distract her from her
goal. She is determined to
overcome the problem of
advancing age just as she
has defeated every other
obstacle that has come her
way since childhood.
"My real strength is
my will power. An athlete
needs to be mentally strong.
This is more so in my case
as I have had to prove myself
to people right from the
beginning.
"I have had to face a lot
of obstacles. First of all I am
a girl, and as a result I had
to fight initial disaproval
from my family and society
in general when I took up
boxing. Then I got married
which meant I had to adjust
By Sugandha Rawal
NEW DELHI: Neha Dhupia
feels '#MeToo' -- the
campaign to raise awareness
about sexual harassment
-- is not only valid for
people associated with the
entertainment industry,
but for everyone. The actress
says a victim should
not hesitate to share one's
ordeal, and instead save innocents
from facing same
fate by talking about it.
Life is getting more and
more gender neutral, Neha
said, adding that there are
still miles to go.
"Things are changing
for women. They are getting
a position of power,
and professionally they are
doing exceptionally well.
They are getting roles with
projects like 'Secret Superstar',
'Tumhari Sulu' or
'Padmavati' that are made
around women. There are
many films which I can
name. Life is getting more
and more gender neutral,"
Neha told IANS over phone
from Mumbai.
"It is getting better,
but unfortunately there
is always that question of
#MeToo and there is a Harvey
Weinstein that comes
across."
Neha was referring
to the slew of sexual misconduct
allegations levied
against the Hollywood
mogul. Numerous leading
men from Hollywood like
Ben Affleck, Brett Ratner,
Charlie Sheen, Dustin
Hoffman, James Toback
and Kevin Spacey, have
been accused for sexually
harassing people associated
with showbiz.
The controversy has
rocked the entertainment
industry the world over.
Like many other actors,
Neha too asserted
that harassment is not restricted
to showbiz.
"I promise you that is
not just in this business.
But it is about women
across whatever profession
they are in. This is
happening to them at their
home. Anybody could be
a victim. My plea is that
if you are a victim come
out and talk about it
because you are not
only just protecting
yourself but you
are also putting a
lot of other innocent
women in
danger.
" T a l k -
ing about it
doesn't make
you weak. It
makes you
brave, so be
my schedule and lifestyle.
Then I became a mother
which meant more adjustment,"
Mary said.
"Now I am fighting
against age. At my age, it
is a challenge to maintain
fitness and compete against
younger opponents. Now
I have grown old for this
sport. I have achieved a lot
in my career. I have nothing
left to prove. But I will
keep on competing as long
as my passion is alive. I
the braver one in this situation,"
said the actress,
who has never shied away
from calling a spade a
spade.
Neha, a former Miss India
who eventually turned
to Bollywood, said: "Life
is getting better, but there
are things that are being
questioned and it is a good
thing that people are talking
about it."
The actress pointed out
how people accused the
"House of Cards" star Spacey
of sexual misconduct after
31 years of the incident.
"The fact is why stay
want to wear the India jersey
and contribute towards
my country. I want to win
medals for the country,"
she added.
With India winning five
gold and two bronze medals
at the AIBA Women's
Youth World Championships
last month, Mary is
confident that changing
social attitudes will see the
country achieving even
more glory in women's boxing
in future.
"Social attitudes towards
female participation
in sports is changing
slowly. Earlier girls from
the north, specially Haryana
and even those from
the south, used to face a
lot problems from their
families while taking up
boxing. This is true even
now to some extent. But attitudes
have changed," she
asserted.
"People should let their
daughters play sports. Only
then we will win medals at
the Olympics."
If you're a sexual victim, speak
about it: Neha Dhupia
quiet for that long. You
need to speak up sooner."
Neha started her Bollywood
innings with "Qayamat:
City Under Threat"
in 2003. Since then, she
has featured in "Julie",
"Kyaa Kool Hai Hum",
"Chup Chup Ke", "Singh Is
Kinng", "Ungli", "Qarib Qarib
Singlle" and "Tumhari
Sulu".
Talking about her aspiration,
Neha said: "My biggest
aspiration is to get up
and go to work everyday.
The larger aspiration in
my life is being very content
and happy in the job
that I am in.
"Go to bed happy and
sleep well. I shouldn't lose
my sleep over small things.
There is always a level of
dissatisfaction that 'I wish
I had done this, I wish I
had done that', but nothing
about going to work makes
me unhappy."
The actress, who hosts
TV shows and a radio
show, said she has immense
gratitude for
where she comes from
and what she has
achieved.
"I am working
on all mediums. I am
happy in the position I
am in, but yes, there is
greed to do more."

The International News Weekly MONEY/REAL ESTATE
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 18
5% drop in home sales forecast in 2018
The Canadian Press
TORONTO: The Canadian
Real Estate Association
(CREA) has cut its home
sales forecast for next year
due to the impact of tighter
mortgage regulations
that come into effect New
Year's Day, which are expected
to rein in spending
for some buyers.
CREA said in an updated
projection Thursday
the banking regulator's
revised mortgage underwriting
guidelines, which
include a stress test for uninsured
mortgages, will reduce
sales activity across
the country, particularly
in and around Toronto and
Vancouver. The association
now forecasts a 5.3 per
cent drop in national sales
to 486,600 units next year.
That new estimate shaves
about 8,500 sales from its
previous 2018 forecast.
The national home
price is expected to slip
by 1.4 per cent in 2018 to
$503,100.
"With some homebuyers
likely advancing their
purchase decision before
the new rules come into
effect next year, the 'pullforward'
of these sales
may come at the expense
of sales in the first half of
2018," CREA said in a statement.
"Meanwhile, other potential
homebuyers are
anticipated to stay on the
sidelines as they save up
a larger down payment
before purchasing and
contributing to a modest
improvement in sales activity
in the second half of
2018."
In November, the number
of homes sold through
its Multiple Listing Service
rose by 3.9 per cent
compared with October,
led by a 16 per cent sales
spike in the Greater Toronto
Area. Sales were up
2.6 per cent from last November,
marking the first
year-over-year increase
since March. That helped
send the national home
price up 2.9 per cent, yearover-year,
to $504,000.
The number of newly
listed homes rose 3.5 per
cent in November, which
reflected a large increase
in new supply across the
GTA.
In October, the Office
of the Superintendent of
Financial Institutions announced
the final version
of its revised guidelines,
called B-20. The new rules,
which come into effect on
Jan. 1, require would-be
homebuyers to prove they
can still service their uninsured
mortgage at a qualifying
rate of the greater of
the contractual mortgage
rate plus two percentage
points or the five-year
benchmark rate published
by the Bank of Canada.
CREA argues the new
guidelines make it tougher
for potential buyers with
more than a 20 per cent
down payment to qualify
for a mortgage. These lowratio
mortgages comprise
the vast majority of Canadian
mortgage originations,
it added.
The association also
narrowed its forecast for
national sales activity
this year. It expects sales
to decline four per cent to
513,900 units in 2017 due to
weak activity in Ontario,
after the province in April
announced measures such
as a foreign buyers tax to
cool the market.
However, the association
expects the national
average price of a home to
rise this year to $510,400,
up 4.2 per cent compared
to 2016.
Canadian households in $2.1-trillion debt
Agencies
OTTAWA: The amount
Canadians owe relative
to their income hit a new
high in the third quarter.
Statistics Canada said
Thursday that household
credit market debt as a proportion
of household disposable
income increased
to 171.1 per cent, up from
170.1 per cent in the second
quarter.
That means there was
$1.71 in credit market debt,
which includes consumer
credit and mortgage and
non-mortgage loans, for every
dollar of household disposable
income. Benjamin
Reitzes, Canadian rates
and macro strategist at the
Bank of Montreal, said the
upward trend in household
debt continues unabated.
"And, with homebuyers
rushing to get into the
market ahead of the new
OSFI rule change that
takes effect on Jan. 1, 2018,
we could see a further
increase in Q4," Reitzes
wrote in a report.
"However, that suggests
we could see some
flattening out of the ratio
in 2018 — though don't bet
on it as housing has been
persistently resilient."
Household debt is often
cited as a key risk to the
Canadian economy by the
Bank of Canada and others.
In a report last month,
the OECD said high house
prices and associated debt
levels remain a substantial
financial vulnerability in
Canada.
"A disorderly correction
would adversely impact
growth and could
threaten financial stability,"
the organization said.
Statistics Canada said
the household debt service
ratio, measured as
total obligated payments
of principal and interest as
a proportion of household
disposable income, was
relatively flat at 13.9 per
cent, while the interestonly
debt service ratio was
6.3 per cent, down from 6.4
per cent in the previous
quarter.
The Bank of Canada
has raised its key interest
rate target twice this year,
moves that have led to increases
in the prime rates
at the country's big banks
used to set loans like variable-rate
mortgages.
Bank economist Josh
Nye noted the debt service
ratio will increase as the
Bank of Canada continues
to gradually raise interest
rates.
Total household credit
market debt grew to $2.11
trillion in the third quarter,
up 1.4 per cent from
the previous quarter. The
increase came as mortgage
debt increased 1.5 per cent
to $1.38 trillion, while consumer
credit rose 1.2 per
cent to $620.7 billion.
Meanwhile, the total
net worth of the household
sector edged down 0.1 per
cent to $10.61 trillion in the
third quarter.
The move lower was
due to a drop in home values
as housing resale prices
weakened. The value of
household financial assets
edged up 0.1 per cent.
35% Indian businesses
pay no tax
Agencies
NEW DELHI: Around 4
lakh people contribute 95
per cent of GST collections,
while 35 per cent of those
who have filed returns
mostly paid no tax, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley said
on Thursday.
He provided these figures
emerging from studies
in response to a query
at industry chamber Ficci's
90th AGM here on whether
the Goods and Services Tax
(GST) is proving a burden
for small businesses. "According
to studies done on
GST collections, of all those
who have registered in the
new regime, 95 per cent
of the taxes comes from
400,000 people, who are paying
irrespective of the procedure
involved," he said.
"For 35 per cent of the
returns, the tax paid is either
mostly nil, or negligible,"
he said. Admitting
that the return compliance
burden was a legitimate issue
being examined by the
GST Council, Jaitley said
this "federal institution"
had successfully managed
to rationalise the rates for
many items "in a span of 3-4
months".
"It is important that
we continue the structural
changes towards greater
formalisation of the economy
and more rationalising
of GST looking at global tax
rates," he said addressing
the Ficci's AGM.
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Artificial intelligence coming to
70% Indian companies by 2020
Indo-Asian News Service
BENGALURU: As firms' appetite
for the adoption of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) grows,
a report on Thursday said 68.6
per cent Indian organisations
might deploy it before 2020.
The Intel India commissioned
report, undertaken by
the International Data Corporation
(IDC) that surveyed 194
Indian organisations across
sectors, said 71 per cent are
looking at increased process
automation as a key benefit
which could drive spike
spends on this technology by
2020.
The report also said that
nearly 75 per cent of the firms
surveyed anticipate benefits
in business process efficiency
and employee productivity
with the use of AI.
While 64 per cent of the
respondents believe that this
technology can empower
them in revenue augmentation
through better targeting
of offers and improved sales
processes, 76 per cent of the
companies are or believe that
they will face a shortage of
skilled personnel to harness
the power of AI.
"This research is a small
step towards comprehending
this knowledge, and enabling
companies, such as ours,
shape strategy and move
ahead in the right direction,"
Prakash Mallya, Managing
Director, Sales and Marketing
Group, Intel India, said in
a statement.
Intel currently powers 97
per cent of data centre servers
running AI workloads worldwide
and has been investing
in the development of the ecosystem
in India.
"Indian enterprises have
been quick to adopt AI in
the recent past, with nearly
one in five organisations
(22.2 per cent) across the four
verticals surveyed implementing
the technology in
some way.
This number is anticipated
to soar considerably by
mid-2019 with nearly seven in
10 firms (68.6 per cent) anticipated
to deploy (it)," the company
said.
Retail and BFSI organisations
are leveraging AI to
increase efficiency in their
sales and marketing function,
which has emerged as the second
most popular use case.

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The International News Weekly ENTERTAINMENT
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 20
I have myself as the first
priority: Kangana
Bollywood actor-director Neeraj Vora, 54, passes away
Agencies
MUMBAI: Bollywood's multi-faceted
talent Neeraj Vora, an actor, writer
and director known for his humorous
streak on and off screen, died here early
on Thursday, months after being comatose,
his family member said.Vora's
younger brother Uttank Vora told IANS
that he died at 4 a.m. at a Andheri hospital.
Vora was 54. "He will be taken to
Firoz Nadiadwala's house Barkat from
where he will be taken to the Santa Cruz
Electric Crematorium at 3 p.m.," Uttank
Vora said. Neeraj Vora wrote "Rangeela",
directed "Phir Hera Pheri" and acted
in "Bol Bachchan" among several other
projects. For months altogether, a room
in filmmaker Firoz Nadiadwala's home
was converted into a fully functional
ICU for Vora.
Nadiadwala mourned his demise,
saying: I've lost the battle to save my
brother and friend from the clutches
of death. His health had improved so
much. But it deteriorated suddenly on
Friday (December 8).
"He had to be shifted to hospital. But
it was of no use. We lost him."
Born in a Gujarati family, Vora
came to be known in the film industry
for the way he tackled humour through
his acting, writing and directorial projects.
He was also closely associated with
theatre. In fact, "Golmaal: Fun Unlimited",
which started the hit comedy franchise,
was based on the Gujarati play
"Aflatoon" by Mihir Bhuta and Neeraj.
They had adapted from it from Harsh
Shivsharan's original Marathi play
"Ghar-Ghar" Neeraj had an acting stint
on television with shows like "Circus"
and "Naya Nukkad", while on the film
front, he made the audience laugh with
roles in "Daud: Fun on the Run", "Hello
Brother", "Bol Bachchan" and "Welcome
Back".
As a writer, he worked on films like
"Rangeela", "Akele Hum Akele Tum",
"Josh", "Badshah", "Chori Chori Chupke
Chupke", "Awara Paagal Deewana",
"Deewane Huye Paagal", "Ajnabee" and
"Hera Pheri" and "Phir Hera Pheri".
His directorial projects include "Khiladi
420" and "Phir Hera Pheri". He was
to direct "Hera Pheri III", but uncertainty
loomed large over the project after he
suffered a stroke in October 2016.
Weinstein threatened to kill me for refusing his advances: Salma
Agencies
LOS ANGELES: Actress Salma Hayek
says disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey
Weinstein is a rage-fuelled "monster"
who sexually harassed and tried
to kill her. Weinstein denied the charge.
In an emotional New York Times
piece published on Wednesday, the
51-year-old Mexican actress detailed her
experiences with Weinstein through the
course of the making of "Frida" -- a 2002
biopic on Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
She claimed he once threatened to
kill her when she refused his advances.
Hayek said Weinstein told her: "I will
kill you, don't think I can't."
"I don't think he hated anything
more than the word 'no,'" Hayek wrote.
"And with every refusal came Harvey's
Machiavellian rage."
Dozens of actresses, including Rose
McGowan, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth
Paltrow, have accused Weinstein of similar
impropriety. He has denied all the
allegations of non-consensual sex.
Weinstein's spokesperson said: "All
of the sexual allegations as portrayed
by (Hayek) are not accurate and others
who witnessed the events have a different
account of what transpired."
The Oscar-nominated actor
wrote that she spent years saying
'no' to the disgraced producer following
his demands for sexual
activity with her. "No to me
taking a shower with
him. No to letting
him watch me take
a shower. No
By Nivedita
NEW DELHI: : The quintessential heroine -- on
and off screen -- is not for actress Kangana Ranaut.
"I have myself as the priority always. I do not
subscribe to the theory that good girls don't think
about themselves and they are all for sacrifice. My
life is my life and I want to make the most of it,"
Kangana told IANS over phone from Mumbai when
asked about the learnings that she wants girls to
draw from her life.
"I want to utilise my potential and see who I am.
It's not just about my brother, son, husband or my
mother. Somewhere, I do not subscribe to the quintessential
heroine, who is an ultimate Indian woman
who puts everyone before her and she comes in
the end for herself," added the three-time National
Award winner, who is also the brand ambassador of
Reebok India.
In that capacity, she attended the second edition
of the brand's FitToFight Awards, which felicitated
select women for their spirit and courage.
Coming from a small town in Himachal, Kangana
made her debut in Bollywood with "Gangster - A
Love Story" in 2006. Even though her style and accent
were criticised initially, she made a mark with
to letting him give me a massage. No
to letting a naked friend of his give me
a massage. No to letting him give me
oral sex. No to my getting naked with
another woman," she wrote. She accused
him of threatening to shut "Frida"
down unless she filmed a nude sex scene
with another actress. "I had to take
a tranquilizer, which eventually
stopped the crying
but made the vomiting
worse," she wrote of
her emotional turmoil
at filming a scene she
thought unnecessary.
"As you can imagine,
this was not sexy,
but it was the only
way I could get
through the scene."
her strong performances in films like "Fashion",
"Queen", "Tanu Weds Manu" and "Tanu Weds Manu
Returns".
Her next project is "Manikarnika - The Queen of
Jhansi", a biopic on Rani of Jhansi.
Off screen, she has been actively talking about
her struggle in the industry -- professionally and
personally. So bold and fearless is the actress that
she openly tagged filmmaker Karan Johar as a
"flagbearer of nepotism" during his own chat show,
sparking a debate in the industry.
It has been a challenge for her to face the bitter
realities of society.
"It was most definitely very challenging for me
to come from a small town which anyway is not
very tolerant to aspirational women, especially ambitious
women. You are seen as a vamp if you are
ambitious, if you want to make your own money or
if you don't want to be dependent.
"Women who make their choices and who fight
for their rights will always be the ones who will be
seen as rebels," she said.
But she feels that "as long as you don't think you
are doing something wrong, it is absolutely fine".
"I never judge myself for my instincts and for my
fighting spirit," she said.
Tiger Zinda Hai
banned in Pakistan
Agencies
NEW DELHI : Bollywood film "Tiger Zinda Hai", which
has been refused the No-objection Certification for import
into Pakistan, shows the country's national security and
law enforcement institutions and agencies in a demeaning
manner, according to the Pakistan censor board chief.
Pakistan's Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, National
History and Literary Heritage on Thursday refused the
grant of the NoC to the local distributor, Geo TV Network,
for "Tiger Zinda Hai" on the recommendation of the Central
Board of Film Censors (CBFC), thereby banning the
movie in the country.
"As per synopsis, reviews and trailers of the film available
in media, in the said feature film, our national security
and law enforcement institutions, agencies, individuals
and certain state symbols are being shown in a demeaning
manner on which we have a 'no-compromise policy',"
CBFC's chief Mobashir Hasan told IANS via social media
from Islamabad.
The Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer is a sequel
to the thriller "Ek Tha Tiger", which too was not released
in Pakistan. "(The) first film 'Ek Tha Tiger' was also banned
in 2012 as it blatantly flouted the Code of Censorship of
Films, 1980 under MPO (Maintenance of Public Order),
1979," Hasan said. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced
by Yash Raj Films (YRF), "Tiger Zinda Hai" takes
forward the story of two spies -- one Indian and the other
Pakistani -- Tiger and Zoya, who join forces to battle terrorism.
It is slated for worldwide release on December 22.

The International News Weekly Sports
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
21
208 against SL in 2014 was special for me: Rohit
Indo-Asian News Service
MOHALI: India skipper Rohit
Sharma (208 not out), who
slammed his third double ton
to pilot India to a mammoth 392
against Sri Lanka on Wednesday,
said the innings which he played
against Sri Lanka in 2014 was
very close to him.
Rohit played a brilliant knock
of 264 in 173 balls in the fourth
One-Day International against
Sri Lanka in Kolkata, making
him the highest individual ODI
scorer.
His first double tom came
against Australia in 2013.
Chris Gayle becomes
king of T20
Agencies
"I think that 264 is very close
to me. People keep asking me to
pick one but I really cannot pick
one. That one against Australia
was the series decider, the one
against Sri Lanka earlier was one
where I was coming back from a
three-month long injury and this
one was necessary to keep the
series alive after a humiliating
loss," Rohit said after the match.
Commenting on the match,
Rohit said: "It was a great day.
Winning the game was important
for me and for the team. After the
loss at Dharamsala it was necessary
to come back, and what a
comeback it was,"
The Mumbai batsman also
praised Shikhar Dhawan and
Agencies
Shreyas Iyer along with debutant
Washington Sundar.
"Shikhar gave us a perfect
start and Shreyas Iyer, playing
his second match, just didn't look
like he was playing only his second
match. It was great to get the
total we got because there was a
bit of dew in the end," Rohit said.
"Not the ideal conditions for
him (Sundar) to debut but this
is how he will learn. He has the
talent and he has shown it in the
IPL. As a team management we
want to back players like him
and do not want to put any undue
pressure on him. I am sure
he must have learnt a lot playing
with the wet ball and I wish him
all the luck," he added.
Bolt could have bettered my record: Powell
DHAKA: West Indies star
Chris Gayle toppled several
records on his way to
a match winning performance
for Rangpur Riders
in the final of the Bangladesh
Premier League
(BPL) cricket tournament
here on Tuesday.
Gayle smashed 18 sixes
-- the most in a Twenty20
innings -- on his way to an
unbeaten 146 runs off just
69 balls as Rangpur defeated
Dhaka Dynamites by 57
runs.
The West Indies icon
broke his own previous
record of 17 sixes in an innings
which he had set
against Pune Warriors
while representing Royal
Challengers Bangalore in
the Indian Premier League
(IPL). Gayle now has 801
T20 sixes to his name.
The 38-year-old from
Jamaica also crossed the
landmark of 100 sixes in
the BPL.
Gayle, who hit five
boundaries during his innings,
also became the
first batsman to cross the
milestone of 11,000 runs in
T20 cricket. Veteran New
Zealand star Brendon Mc-
Cullum is next on the list
with 8,526 runs in 309 T20
matches.
Gayle also posted the
highest individual score in
a final of a T20 league and
is the only batsman to post
20 centuries in the shortest
format of the game.
Gayle's power-packed
hitting saw the visitors
posting 206/1 in their 20
overs before restricting
Dhaka to 149/9.
Gayle did get a lucky
break while on 22 as he
was dropped at extra cover
by Dhaka captain Shakib
al Hasan in the third ball of
the sixth over.
KOLKATA: Putting Usain Bolt
alongside legendary track and field
athletes Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens
as one of the greatest of all time,
long jump world record holder Mike
Powell said on Thursday that the Jamaican
star would have bettered his
26-year-old mark if he had trained for
it.
Powell, whose record jump of
8.95 metres was set at the 1991 World
Championship in Tokyo, was asked
to choose the greatest athlete of all
time between Carl Lewis and Usain
Bolt on the sidelines of a promotional
event for the SK 25K marathon run
here.
"I think potentially Usain Bolt. I
think that he could have long jumped
nine metres had he trained for it,"
Powell said.
"But I will have to give to Carl
but maybe even Jesse Owens cos he
broke four world records in one afternoon.
But you talk about great athletes
and three of them are definitely top
of the list," the 54-year-old brand ambassador
of the event added.
Powell is best known for his duel
with the legendary Lewis at the 1991
Championships. Lewis had three of
the best jumps of his career and one
wind-aided attempt beyond American
legend Bob Beamon's mark of
8.90m, but still finished second to
Powell.
Asked what will happen to the
sport now that Bolt has called it a
day, Powell said he is hoping that
there will be many new faces to take
up the mantle from the superstar. He
also opined that it will be good for
the sport to break the monopoly of
one athlete.
Day-Night Tests will be a reality soon: Ganguly
Agencies
KOLKATA: Former India
captain Sourav Ganguly
on Thursday backed Day-
Night Test cricket, saying
it is inevitable in the face
of the longest version of the
game struggling for its existence.
"It is inevitable, it
has to happen someday. It is
very simple, a pink ball will
be used instead of the red
cherry and people will come
and watch in the evening,"
Ganguly said on the sidelines
of a promotional event
here. The former left-handed
batsman also heaped
praise on Rohit Sharma for
scoring his third ODI double
century, but felt "sorry"
for the Sri Lankans.
"I feel sorry for the Sri
Lankans. Earlier it was (Virender)
Sehwag, (Sachin)
Tendulkar and now it's (Virat)
Kohli and Rohit Sharma,"
Ganguly said.
"It was a remarkable innings.
He took just 36 balls
to convert his century into
a double. I was watching
the Sri Lankan bowlers and
I said Jesus! He just kept
sweeping them into the
stands," he said.
"Time has changed with
T20 format. He is a serious
player. His one-day record
this year is probably the
best in the world along side
David Warner and Virat
Kohli. I expect him to play
the same way."
Argentina in better shape for 2018 World Cup: Messi
Agencies
RIO DE JANEIRO: Argentina
will be a better team at the
2018 World Cup than the one
that struggled during the South
American qualifying tournament,
according to Lionel Messi.
The two-time World Cup
champions avoided missing
football's biggest event for the
first time since 1970 when a
Messi hat-trick ensured a 3-1
victory over Ecuador in the
final CONMEBOL zone qualifier
in October.
Argentina have been drawn
in the same group as Croatia,
Iceland and Nigeria for the June
14-July 15 tournament in Russia.
"We'll be in good shape when
we get there because we're still
growing," the Barcelona forward
told FIFA.com, Xinhua reported
on Wednesday.
"We had to go through something
that we didn't expect or
deserve, because we had earlier
matches against Venezuela and
Peru that we could have won easily.
If we had, then we wouldn't
have had to go through what we
did at the end.
"We've had four competitive
matches with a new coach (Jorge
Sampaoli), but the national
team's going to change now that
the Ecuador game is behind us.
We're going to grow and get
rid of all the tension and fear we
felt because of that match and because
of the risk of not achieving
our objective."
The 30-year-old admitted the
scars left by the team's extratime
loss to Germany in the final
of the 2014 World Cup are yet to
disappear.

The International News Weekly December 15, 2017 | Toronto 22

The International News Weekly December 15, 2017 | Toronto
23

The International News Weekly December 15, 2017 | Toronto 24
Lata Mangeshkar on her association with Raj Kapoor
By Lata Mangeshkar
(To mark the 93rd birth
anniversary of late actor Raj
Kapoor, a special book -- an
experiment between a biography
and an autobiography --
was launched by his children
Randhir Kapoor, Ritu Nanda,
Rishi Kapoor, Rima Jain and
Rajiv Kapoor on Thursday
evening. Presented here is an
exclusive extract from "Raj
Kapoor: The One And Only
Showman" where noted singer
Lata Mangeshkar writes on
her association with the late
actor)
It was sometime in
1948 I was recording a
song at the Famous recording
studio for music
director Anil Biswas. At
that time, Raj Kapoor had
a very small office on the
second floor in the same
building. Anil Biswas
contacted him and asked
him to come down to the
studio and listen to my
voice. I sang and he listened.
There was no reaction.
He listened and left!
Next day, Anil Biswas
called and said that Raj
Kapoor has called you at
the Mahalaxmi office.
In Kohlapur, I had
seen Prithviraj Kapoor's
film "Sikandar" fifteen
times. I was a great fan
of his. He was tall and
so handsome. I thought
it might be a good opportunity
to meet my
favourite star's son, Raj
Kapoor.I accepted the
invite and went. Raj Kapoor
was sitting on his
desk in his office. I sat
across the table. He said
‘I want you to sing for my
film,' and asked me what
that would cost him. I responded
by saying any
amount that he gave me
would be acceptable. He
replied by offering me rupees
500 for the same. At
this time, Ram Ganguly
was the music director
and both Shankar and
Jaikishen were music arrangers.
They all worked
together at Prithvi Theatres.
Shankar was on the
tabla and Jaikishen on
the harmonium. They
sang and taught me the
song ‘Jiya bekarar hai'
for the film "Barsaat."
It was after this recording
that Raj Kapoor
took the decision that the
music director for the
film would be Shakar-
Jaikishen and not Ram
Ganguly. This was the
historic decision, with
Shailendra and Hasrat
Jaipuri handling the
lyrics, that created the
evergreen music of R.K.
Films. I also recall Raj-ji
cautioning Jaikishen. He
was concerned about my
ability to sing commercial
film songs, being a
classical singer. Hearing
this I was naturally very
upset. I was new and had
not worked in the film
industry. I sang all the
songs in Barsaat. It was
very gratifying for me
to hear of a request from
Raj saab for a bhairavi
alaap in a certain song
in Barsaat. I sang it and
he loved it and was very
happy. The music of this
film was very successful.
Later, for the following
films, he would leave
the details of the melody
to me. But he always
wanted an alaap which
would touch the hearts of
millions of people.
I recall a time when
we were recording the
famous song in Awara,
‘Ghar aaya mera pardesi',
with Manna Dey accompanying
me. We
reached the recording
theatre. Shankar and
Jaikishen made us learn
the lyrics and the melody
of the song, but Raj saab,
who came later, rejected
our entire day's work. He
said to Jaikishen, ‘I don't
want a popatiya song!' He
changed the whole song.
He also added an alaap
to the song! All this went
on till 3 a.m. and only
after it was done did he
say, ‘Now let us eat!' He
had arranged food for the
entire unit. I remember
the entire team sat in the
middle of the road and
ate. There was almost no
traffic those days, particularly
at 3 a.m. A sheet
was spread on the road
where we all ate and left
for home.
This was his way of
working…
I was also bad tempered.
I used to fight. I
was recording with his
son Randhir Kapoor for
his film "Kal Aaj Aur
Kal". Raj-ji had come for
the recording. There, he
told me that he was soon
starting his next film
called "Satyam Shivam
Sundaram" for which
he wanted my brother
Hridaynath Mangeshkar
to score the music. I replied
to him saying that
I would ask my brother. I
managed to persuade my
brother who was not really
interested in scoring
scores for films…
I left for my US trip
where I was shocked to
hear from Mukesh, ‘Hridaynath
ki picture gayi
(Hridaynath has lost
the film)!' Hridaynath
called and said that he
had accepted the film
because of me but
the newspapers were
writing otherwise. He
was offended and embarrassed.
I was very angry with
Raj-ji. On my return, I
called him and said, ‘why
did you do this?' I had
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persuaded him because
you had asked me to!'
(Extracted from "Raj
Kapoor: The One And Only
Showman" presented by his
daughter Ritu Nanda, with
permission from HarperCollins
India)
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