The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 43

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Page 14 

Issue No : 43 

Email: editor@canadianparvasi.com Contact Number : 905-673-0600 April 27, 2018 | Pages 16 

Toronto mourns after van attack that killed 10 

The Canadian Press 

TORONTO : The shock of a 

horrific van attack that left 

10 people dead sent Canada's 

most populous city into 

mourning on Tuesday, as 

residents and officials alike 

tried to come to terms with 

the tragedy. 

A makeshift memorial 

at the scene of the incident 

continued to grow as investigators 

nearby blanketed 

a desolate stretch of 

once-busy Yonge Street 

where a van had mounted a 

sidewalk and rammed into 

pedestrians a day earlier. 

Fourteen people were also 

injured in the incident. 

Alek Minassian, the 

man accused in the rampage, 

was charged with 

10 counts of first-degree 

murder and 13 counts of 

attempted murder Tuesday 

morning. Police said 

an additional attempted 

murder charge would be 

laid against the 25-year-old 

from Richmond Hill, Ont., 

by day's end. 

None of those slain in 

the attack were identified 

by authorities, but other 

sources indicated the dead 

included a woman with a 

love of volunteering, a college 

student, and citizens of 

both South Korea and Jordan. 

Police also said those 

killed and injured were 

"predominantly women," 

but didn't offer further details. 

Those in the typically 

bustling neighbourhood 

where the attack took place 

said they were struggling to 

make sense of the violence. 

"You feel for this community 

considering that 

you live here, you shop 

here, you laugh with the 

people here, you go out 

here," said resident Don- 

Antonio Andrew. 

Continued on page 02 

Too soon to talk motive, 

PM on van attack 


OTTAWA : All the answers Canadians are seeking about 

this week's deadly rental-van attack in Toronto may not 

be forthcoming, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said 

Wednesday, as he once again offered his condolences to 

the families of the victims. 

But when asked about the emerging theory that misogyny 

may have played a role, Status of Women Minister 

Patty Hajdu responded by saying it's time Canadians 

speak up about what she called a troubling trend of hate 

directed at women. 

While questions still persist about why a man used a 

rental van to ram pedestrians on a busy stretch of Yonge 

Street sidewalk, killing 10 and injuring 14, the families of 

the victims might not get the answers they want to questions 

of motive, Trudeau said. 


Asaram convicted, sentenced to 

life in 2013 case of minor's rape 

Jodhpur: Self-styled godman 

Asaram Bapu was on 

Wednesday convicted by a 

Jodhpur court for raping 

a minor girl at his ashram 

here in Rajasthan in 2013 

and sentenced to a life term. 

The judgment was pronounced 

by Special Judge 

for Scheduled Caste and 

Scheduled Tribe cases, 

Madhu Sudan Sharma, inside 

the Jodhpur Central 

Jail, where Asaram Bapu is 

lodged. 

The 77-year-old godman 

was convicted under Section 

376 of the Indian Penal 

Code, the Protection of Children 

from Sexual Offences 

(Pocso) Act and the Juvenile 

Justice (JJ) Act. Two co-accused 

were also convicted in 

the case. 

The police chargesheet 

against Asaram Bapu and 

four other co-accused Shiva, 

Shilpi, Sharad and Prakash 

was filed on November 6, 

2013, under the Pocso Act, 

the Juvenile Justice Act and 

the IPC. 


Spouses of H-1B visa holders may no 

longer be able to work legally in US 


New Delhi: The Trump administration 

is planning to end allowing 

spouses of H-1B visa holders, 

a significant number of 

whom are high-skilled professionals 

from India, to work legally 

in the United States, a top 

federal agency official has told 

lawmakers. 

A news report carried by a TV news 

channel, said the move could have an 

impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visas 

holders who have work permits. H-4 is issued 

to the spouse of H-1B visa holders. 

More than 100,000 H-4 visa holders have 

benefited from this rule. A 

2015 rule issued by the Obama 

administration allows work 

permits for spouses who otherwise 

could not be employed, 

while H-1B visa holders seek 

permanent resident status, a 

process that can take a decade 

or longer. The Trump administration is 

planning to terminate this provision. 


Sikh body upset over 

SC's views on turban 

Agencies 

NEW DELHI: The 

Sikh Forum on Friday 

slammed the Supreme 

Court’s unprecedented 

questioning of the Sikh 

turban, saying it was the 

last thing expected from 

the highest judicial institution 

of a country that 

is constitutionally bound 

to protect religious freedom 

and tenets of all its 

people. 

“It’s not the judiciary’s 

job to investigate 

and decide on religious 

codes, articles, dresses 

and tenets. Why is it then 

dabbling into a domain 

that’s deeply entrenched 

in culture, faith and belief 

systems?” wondered 

Sikh Forum president 

Pushpindar Singh. 


Canadian authorities grill Nijjar, a ‘Most Wanted Khalistani’ 

New Delhi: ‘Most Wanted 

Khalistani’ Hardip 

Singh Nijjar was rounded 

up by the Canadian authorities 

for allegedly running 

camps to train the terrorists. 

Nijjar was nabbed 

for his alleged links with 

Pakistan’s notorious spy 

agency Inter Services 

Intelligence (ISI), mediaperson 

reported. The Punjab 

Police have declared 

Nijjar as one of the ‘most 

wanted Khalistanis’. Nijjar’s 

name was in the list 

of nine wanted Khalistanis 

handed by Punjab Chief 

Minister Amarinder Singh 

to Canadian PM Justin 

Trudeau during his India 

visit last month. 


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The International News Weekly REGIONAL 

April 27, 2018 | Toronto 02 

BC set to introduce pot laws, but 

years of fine tuning likely: Horgan 

The Canadian Parvasi 

VICTORIA : Incoming marijuana 

legislation heralds momentous 

change for the approach to pot, but 

British Columbia Premier John Horgan 

questions if everyone will buy 

into the new legal system this summer. 

Legislation regulating recreational 

marijuana in B.C. is expected 

to be introduced Thursday. The 

province is one of the last in Canada 

to table its marijuana rules as the 

country adapts to legalized pot. 

Horgan said he expects the 

country to go through an extensive 

marijuana learning curve that will 

see some embracing the ability to 

purchase pot legally at private or 

government stores while others may 

stick to illegal suppliers. "This is a 

massive change in how the people of 

B.C. and the people of Canada, in this 

case, interact with what has been to 

this point in time a controlled substance," 

said Horgan. 

He said he expects the government 

will have to amend and modify 

its regulations as people get used to 

the new legal marijuana market. 

Horgan said he's curious to see 

if people accept the new regulations 

and buy from government-sanctioned 

suppliers or if they continue 

to seek out local dealers, making a 

reference to a fictional character 

who sells pot named Betty. 

He said some people may say "I'd 

prefer to support Betty rather than 

Shoppers Drug Mart or the dispensary 

X or Y. There are going to be 

people who hold fast to their traditional 

ways." 

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth 

said the province's legislation 

will not be set in stone. 

"This is not something that is going 

to end with the introduction and 

passage of legislation, but rather is 

going to be an ongoing evolutionary 

issue for quite some time to come," 

he said.Farnworth said the marijuana 

regulations will require periods 

of fine tuning. The B.C. government 

has already announced that marijuana 

sales will be allowed through both 

public and private stores to buyers 

who are at least 19 years old. Retailers 

will be prohibited from selling 

marijuana in stores that also sell 

alcohol and cigarettes. Farnworth 

said the legislation in B.C. will not 

include a definitive pricing policy. 

Bashir Makhtal, Canadian 

man imprisoned in Ethiopia 

for 11 years, back in Canada 


TORONTO : Amnesty International says a Canadian 

man who was held in an Ethiopian prison for more than 

11 years has arrived in Toronto after 

being released earlier in the 

week. Bashir Makhtal was sentenced 

to life in prison on terrorism-related 

charges in 2009 following 

a trial that was denounced by 

Amnesty International as "unfair" 

and "a political exercise". 

The aid organization says 

Makhtal is one of thousands released from Ethiopian 

prisons in recent months amid a shifting political climate. 

Makhtal, who came to Canada as a refugee in 1991 

and became a citizen three years later, was in Somalia 

in December 2006 on business when Ethiopian troops 

invaded the country. He was arrested as he tried to flee 

across the border to Kenya.He was then deported to 

Ethiopia. Amnesty International says Makhtal reported 

torture and ill-treatment during his imprisonment. 

Makhtal arrived in Canada Saturday on a flight 

from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, and was greeted 

by friends and family at the airport. 

Toronto mourns after van attack that killed 10 

Continued from page 01 

"It's a very traumatic 

time for this area." 

Andrew, who said one 

pedestrian got hit directly in 

front of his apartment building, 

was among hundreds 

who laid flowers, candles 

and other tributes around 

the crime scene near Yonge 

Street and Finch Avenue. 

Claire Hurley, who was 

making her own floral contribution, 

said the fatal attack 

was difficult to reconcile with 

the safe community she's 

come to know. 

"It was a big shock," she 

said, wiping away tears. 

"Everyone was out enjoying 

the sunshine, and enjoying 

life. I guess you just have to 

... enjoy every day." Across 

the city, Minassian made a 

brief appearance in a packed 

courtroom. Clad in a white 

jumpsuit, he looked around 

and said little other than his 

name before charges were 

announced. His next court appearance 

is slated for May 10. 

A man police identified 

as Minassian's father was in 

court. When asked if he had 

a statement to offer to the 

victims' families, he simply 

replied "I'm sorry." Little is 

known about Minassian, but 

the Canadian Armed Forces 

said he served a brief stint as 

a recruit from late August to 

late October 2017. 

A source with the military 

told The Canadian Press 

that Minassian did not receive 

any weapons training 

and was assessed as a belowaverage 

recruit. The source 

noted that there were no red 

flags to suggest something 

like the van incident Minassian 

is accused in was coming. 

Toronto police homicide 

Det. Sgt. Graham Gison offered 

few details about Minassian's 

activities before his alleged 

attack, but said the van 

involved was rented from just 

north of the city shortly before 

the incident. 

Gibson also made note of 

a largely incoherent, widely 

circulated Facebook post on 

Minassian's account. 

The post openly praises 

Elliot Rodger, a man who 

killed six people and then 

himself at the University of 

California in 2014. The post 

also references involuntary 

celibacy, colloquially referred 

to as "incel." 

"The accused is alleged to 

have posted a cryptic message 

on Facebook minutes before 

he began driving the rented 

van," Gibson said at a news 

conference. "It's something 

that we'll take into account." 

Ontario's Chief Coroner Dirk 

Huyer said investigators had 

yet to formally identify those 

killed, citing the complexity 

of the investigation and the 

size of the crime scene, which 

spans nearly a kilometre 

along one of Toronto's busiest 

streets. 

"We're always balancing 

the need to know and the 

desire to know quickly to 

ensure that we have 100 per 

cent accuracy," he said. "That 

takes time and that time can 

be very frustrating." 

But identities began to 

emerge from other quarters. 

Tennis Canada said longtime 

volunteer Anne Marie 

D'Amico was among those 

killed. She worked at Invesco 

Canada, a U.S.-based investment 

firm with offices close to 

the crime scene. 

D'Amico was a cheerful 

and familiar presence at 

the Rogers Cup tournament, 

where she started volunteering 

at age 12, said Gavin Ziv, 

Tennis Canada's vice-president 

of national events. 

"She was a really friendly, 

warm person...always caring 

for other people ahead of 

herself," he said. Seneca College 

said another one of the 

victims was a female student, 

but didn't offer further details. 

A South Korean news agency 

said two unnamed Korean nationals 

were also among those 

killed. And Jordan's state-run 

Petra news agency said one of 

that country's citizens, Munair 

Najjar, who was in Toronto 

visiting relatives, also died 

in the attack. Throughout the 

day, tributes poured in from 

politicians at home and farther 

afield. Prime Minister 

Justin Trudeau, who noted 

there's no evidence to suggest 

there was a "national security 

element" to the incident, 

called the attack "senseless" 

and "horrific." "The entire 

community of Toronto has 

shown strength and determination 

in the face of this 

tragedy," Trudeau said. "All 

Canadians stand united with 

Toronto today." Toronto Mayor 

John Tory said the city will 

recover. "Toronto was a great 

city yesterday, it is a great 

city today and it will be a 

great city tomorrow," he said. 

"The people who call this city 

home are shaken right now 

but we are not broken and we 

will not be broken." 

Tory said the city is establishing 

a fund for families of 

attack victims. Dubbed #TorontoStrong, 

it builds upon 

a previous crowd-funding effort 

that had already raised 

nearly $100,000. 

Toronto Police Chief 

Mark Saunders said police 

are continuing their investigation, 

adding hot lines have 

been established for collecting 

public tips and offering 

support to those who need it. 

"Community safety is not 

just a matter of saving lives, 

it's a matter of well-being," 

he said. "I don't want people 

walking away thinking, 'I 

need help but I can't afford 

it,' or 'I need help but I wasn't 

part of this investigation.'" 

For at least one of the 

mourners, the safety of the 

city he now calls home had 

not been compromised by 

Monday's events. 

"This was a one-off situation," 

said Andrew, who calls 

the Yonge and Finch area 

home. "I wouldn't feel unsafe. 

This is Toronto, this is Canada. 

We love each other here." 

Too soon to talk motive, 

PM on van attack 


"Obviously, the investigation is ongoing and I'm not 

going to comment on various aspects of it," the prime minister 

said as he entered the weekly caucus meeting on Parliament 

Hill. "But a lot of people have questions as to why, 

and there may or may not be actual answers," he warned. 

Police are investigating a message allegedly posted by 

the 25-year-old suspect, which suggests the attacker may 

have been targeting women. Alek Minassian is charged 

with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted 

murder, with a 14th attempted murder charge 

possible, pending further investigation. Hajdu, who was 

at the caucus meeting along with Trudeau, said people are 

too silent about misogyny and it's time society spoke up. 

"From my perspective, we have to have a conversation 

about misogyny, about the rise in hate and the connection 

to what some call the alt-right," said Hajdu. 

"I think it's a conversation that's just not being had 

loudly enough in our society." A statement from Hajdu's 

office later sought to distance her remarks from the ongoing 

investigation. "The minister respects the ongoing 

investigation the police are doing and agrees it is inappropriate 

to comment on it," Carlene Variyan said in an 

email. "She was simply speaking in broad terms, from 

her experience as status of women minister, about the impacts 

of misogyny on society writ large. She was not commenting 

on the ongoing investigation." 

Authorities have not yet released the names of the 10 

people killed in the attack. Trudeau wouldn't say whether 

he would attend a weekend memorial for the victims, but 

does plan to visit once he feels he would not distract from 

the investigation.

The International News Weekly REGIONAL 

April 27, 2018 | Toronto 

03 

Ontario PC candidate Sandhu opens campaign office 

Community leader Baljit Singh 

honors Ontario's Attorney 

General Yasir Naqvi during an 

event in Nirvana Restaurant at 

Mississauga on passed Monday. 

Some key people along with 

eminent lawyers were also 

present during the occasion. 

Brampton: On Saturday 

April 21st Ontario Progressive 

Conservative Party 

candidate for Brampton 

East, Simmer Sandhu, celebrated 

his official campaign 

office opening. The 

event was attended by 

over 250 local residents. PC 

leader Doug Ford was also 

in attendance. Mr. Ford 

outlined his party’s commitment 

to creating over 

15,000 long term care beds, 

providing an $850 tax credit 

to low-income Ontarians 

and reducing the provin- 

cial corporate tax rate by 1% to 

stimulate job creation in the province. 

Mr. Sandhu is a lifelong 

Bramptonian and lives in the riding 

with his wife and young son. 

He reiterated his support for helping 

his local community thrive. 

'I couldn't move my body': Humboldt 

Broncos player recalls bus crash 

The Canadian Parvasi 

CALGARY : A Humboldt 

Broncos player who was 

paralyzed in a bus crash 

that killed 16 people has vivid 

memories of the accident 

but is focusing on regaining 

his health and hopefully being 

able to walk again. 

Ryan Straschnitzki, 19, 

sat in a wheelchair Wednesday 

as he spoke at Calgary's 

Foothills hospital, where 

he is undergoing treatment 

and rehabilitation. 

"I was sitting on the bus 

texting my girlfriend and 

getting kind of prepared for 

the game. All of a sudden I 

heard a scream from the 

front of the bus and a semitruck 

pulled in front of us 

and that's all I remember," 

said Straschnitzki. 

"I kind of blacked out 

and woke up ... my back 

was against the semi. I saw 

my teammates in front of 

me. My first instinct was to 

get up and try and help, but 

I couldn't move my body. 

"It was terrible." 

The collision April 6 

between the junior hockey 

team's bus and a tractortrailer 

unit in rural Saskatchewan 

is still being investigated. 

RCMP have only 

said the transport truck 

was in the intersection 

when the crash occurred. 

The Broncos were on their 

way to a playoff game in 

Nipawin, Sask. Besides the 

16 people who were killed, 

13 were injured. 

Straschnitzki says he 

and his teammates text 

message each other every 

day as they all try to cope 

with their injuries and 

grief. 

"You think about it and 

let out some emotion. I'm 

just trying to push through 

and get better for those guys 

that didn't make it," he said. 

"If somebody needs someone 

to talk to, we'll contact 

them. After all this ... we've 

gotten really closer." 

Straschnitzki said his 

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rehab is going well and 

he will continue to push 

through it despite the pain. 

He has spoken about 

playing sledge hockey for 

the Canadian Paralympic 

team, but has set his sights 

much higher than that. 

"I'm just hoping one day 

I'll get to that point where 

I'll be able to walk again. 

Some people have said 

that I won't be able to, but I 

kind of want to prove them 

wrong," he said. 

"If you're negative, I 

don't think anything can be 

done. If you're positive, you 

can set those challenges for 

yourself." 

His parents said nothing 

would surprise them 

when it comes to Ryan and 

they're hoping to get him 

home as soon as possible. 

His father suggested 

that Ryan's recovery is very 

much like hockey. 

"We just take it, like 

I tell Ryan, shift by shift. 

We're still in the first period, 

the fourth shift in, so 

we've still got a full game to 

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Tom Straschnitzki said. 

"We always were proud, 

but the help he gives everyone 

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forward." 

Michelle Straschnitzki 

said she's having good and 

bad days. "Moment to moment. 

That's where I'm at. 

When you're alone with 

your thoughts, that's when 

I have a hard struggle," she 

said. "Being with people 

and Ryan and our friends 

and family, it's easy to be 

strong then." 

Five players remained 

in hospital in Saskatoon 

on Wednesday, while eight 

others have been released 

or transferred to other care 

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The International News Weekly CANADA 


Liberal MP Drouin says allegation 

of incident in Halifax bar a mistake 


OTTAWA : The federal 

Liberal government hasn't 

yet "landed" on its promised 

legislative option to push the 

Trans Mountain pipeline expansion 

forward, says Natural 

Resources Minister Jim 

Carr. 

A Liberal MP who is facing 

an allegation of assault 

after a weekend visit to a 

Halifax bar is speaking out, 

calling the whole thing a case 

of mistaken identity. 

Francis Drouin, who represents 

the eastern Ontario 

riding of Glengarry-Prescott- 

Russell, has issued a statement 

detailing his version of 

what happened in Halifax in 

the early hours of Saturday 

morning. 

In it, Drouin — who was 

in Halifax for the federal 

Liberal policy convention — 

says that while he was chatting 

with friends, he heard 

a woman shouting from another 

part of the bar. 

"While I was standing 

facing the bar, with my credit 

card in hand, I heard what I 

believed to be a woman's 

voice coming from another 

area of the establishment behind 

me, yelling that her buttocks 

had been grabbed," the 

statement says. 

"Her comments were 

clearly not directed towards 

me." 

Drouin says he then 

shouted for the alleged perpetrator 

to be evicted from the 

bar, paid for his drink with 

his credit card and proceeded 

with his friends to another 

area of the establishment. 

That's when he says a 

woman with a cellphone 

"mistakenly" tried to connect 

him to the alleged incident. 

"We told her that she was 

mistaken. We left the establishment 

shortly thereafter." 

Drouin says he proactively 

informed the Prime 

Minister's Office and the government 

whip's office, and 

has been co-operating fully 

with a police investigation 

into the matter. A number 

of witness interviews have 

been gathered, he added. 

He reiterated statements 

he made over the weekend 

stressing the importance 

of ensuring individuals are 

supported in a safe way when 

they come forward with allegations 

— but insists that in 

this case, it was all just a big 

misunderstanding. 

"I am confident that the 

facts of the issue will lead to 

a clear outcome." 

Halifax police confirmed 

Monday they are investigating 

a report that a woman 

had been sexually assaulted. 

But the regional police 

service did not specifically 

name Drouin. 

A spokeswoman said no 

charges have been laid in the 

incident, which took place 

sometime after 2 a.m. Saturday 

at the Halifax Alehouse. 

Canada’s largest Toronto 

School Board declares Nov 

as 'Hindu Heritage Month' 

Nevada (USA): Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in 

Canada has resolved that month of November each year 

be declared as Hindu Heritage Month. 

TDSB Trustees, in their April 18 meeting, passed a 

motion which included: Hindu Heritage Month is an opportunity 

to celebrate and educate all our students and 

school communities about this ancient and spiritual way 

of life. It also said: Canadians of Hindu faith have greatly 

contributed to civic life in Canada for decades, and are 

a vibrant part of the growth and prosperity of Toronto, 

Ontario and Canada. 

The motion also stated: Hinduism (or Sanathana 

Dharma) encompasses a broad range of…contributions 

to learning through mathematics, astronomy and science, 

and well-being through health practices such as 

yoga, meditation and a vegetarian diet. 

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada 

today, commended TDSB for declaring November 

as Hindu Heritage Month and urged all school boards of 

Canada to do the same as Hindus had contributed significantly 

to the nation and society in Canada and continued 

to do so. 

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, 

urged TDSB also to declare Diwali, most popular 

Hindu festival, as an official holiday in view of presence 

of substantial number of Hindu students in the District, 

as it was important to meet the religious and spiritual 

needs of Hindu pupils and show respect to their faith. 

'She tried to murder me,' says Butcher as defence closes its case 

HALIFAX : Nicholas Butcher 

insisted Monday that the Montreal-born 

yoga instructor he's 

accused of killing actually 

tried to kill him, as the defence 

closed its case at the seconddegree 

murder trial. 

Butcher, the lone defence 

witness, told the 14-member 

jury the pair had been sleeping 

at Kristin Johnston's 

home on March 26, 2016, when 

he awoke to someone stabbing 

him in the throat with a knife. 

The 36-year-old law school 

graduate testified that it was 

dark and he couldn't see who it 

was, but managed to grab the 

knife and fight back — realizing 

seconds later he'd killed 

Johnston. 

During her cross-examination, 

Crown lawyer Carla 

Ball noted wounds on Butcher's 

neck were located symmetrically 

on the right and 

left sides and in the centre — a 

pattern she suggested would 

be hard to achieve if someone 

had attacked him in the dark. 

She suggested Butcher's neck 

wounds were self-inflicted. 

"The next thing she knows is 

that a knife is being plunged 

repeatedly into her neck by 

you until you are satisfied that 

she is dead," Ball said, raising 

her voice. 

"And then you thought, 

'What am I going to do? I have 

to kill myself' ... and you took 

that knife and thought, 'I 

watched her die by the knife 

being plunged into her neck so 

I'm going to use that knife and 

do the same thing to myself. 

That's what you did, 

didn't you?" Butcher 

denied Ball's suggestions. 

"She tried to murder 

me," Butcher said 

calmly in a deep voice. 

Dr. Jonathan Trites, 

a head and neck surgeon, 

had testified that 

Butcher had 13 sharp 

wounds on his neck. 

Ball also pointed out 

Canadian authorities grill Nijjar, 

a ‘Most Wanted Khalistani’ 

that Johnston had 10 wounds 

on her neck, but Butcher testified 

he stabbed her about 

four times. He did not offer an 

explanation for the discrepancy. 

She noted Butcher told a 

Manpreet Minhas 

Barrister & Solicitor 

police officer "sorry" after they 

arrived on the scene, and told 

a doctor at the hospital he had 

"messed up." 

"That's because you took 

that knife quite intentionally 

Rupinder Minhas 

Barrister & Solicitor 

and plunged it 10 times into 

Kristin's neck," said Ball. 

Butcher replied, "No. It 

was not intentional." Breaking 

down on the stand last 

week, Butcher told the jury 

he tried to kill himself after 

realizing he had killed Johnston. 

He said he slit his wrist 

with the knife, a razor blade, 

and then cut off his right hand 

with a mitre saw. His hand 

was surgically reattached. 

Medical examiner Dr. Marnie 

Wood testified that Johnston 

had "defensive injuries'' on her 

hands and fingers. Butcher 

First 

Consultation 

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was in a relationship with the 

32-year-old yoga teacher, but 

friends of Johnston's testified 

in Nova Scotia Supreme Court 

she had broken up with him 

hours before her death. 

Butcher, a graduate of 

Dalhousie University law 

school who was having difficulty 

finding an articling job, 

acknowledged Monday that 

he was $200,000 in debt from 

school. The jury heard messages 

in which Butcher told 

his landlord how "stressed" he 

was over his inability to pay 

rent on time. 

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up following crucial intelligence input provided by 

the India government. He was released after questioning 

and has been kept under vigil for his anti- 

India activities. 

Notably, Punjab Police had alleged that Nijjar 

was holding camps in British Columbia to train 

terrorists on behalf of the Pakistani spy agency ISI. 

Howerver, Nijjar had denied the allegations terming 

them baseless. He had threatened to initiate legal 

course for his safety. 

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The International News Weekly CANADA 


05 

Canadian dollar edges higher, boosted by higher oil prices 

Agencies 

TORONTO: The Canadian 

dollar strengthened slightly 

against its U.S. counterpart 

on april 26 as oil prices 

climbed and domestic data 

showed rising employee 

earnings. 

The price of oil, one of 

Canada’s major exports, 

was supported by expectations 

of renewed U.S. sanctions 

on Iran, declining 

output in Venezuela and 

continuing strong demand. 

U.S. crude prices were 

up 0.6 percent at $68.45 a 

barrel. 

Canadian average weekly 

earnings of non-farm 

payroll employees rose 3.4 

percent in February from 

the same month last year, 

led by the accommodations 

and food services sectors, 

Statistic Canada said. 

Bank of Canada Governor 

Stephen Poloz has 

said that he expects wages 

to pick up as job vacancies 

continue to grow and for 

more people to be then encouraged 

to enter the workforce. 

On Wednesday april 25, 

Poloz said the economy was 

“finally positive” after a 

long adjustment to a sharp 

fall in oil prices, but he added 

there was still softness in 

several areas of the country. 

At 9:04 a.m. EDT (1304 

GMT), the Canadian dollar 

was trading 0.1 percent 

higher at 1.2831 to the greenback, 

or 77.94 U.S. cents. 

The currency traded in 

a narrow range of $1.2823 to 

$1.2864. On Wednesday, the 

loonie touched $1.2897, its 

weakest in more than three 

weeks. 

Modest gains for the loonie 

came amid signs of progress 

on a deal to revamp the 

North American Free Trade 

Agreement, which could 

benefit Canada’s economy 

because of the high proportion 

of the country’s exports 

that go to the United States. 

Canadian Foreign Minister 

Chrystia Freeland said 

on Wednesday that good 

progress has been made at 

the NAFTA trade talks on 

the key issue of auto rules, 

though the threat of proposed 

U.S. steel and aluminum 

tariffs coming into 

force next week clouded 

the mood. Canadian government 

bond prices were 

higher across the yield 

curve in sympathy with 

U.S. Treasuries as data 

showed a drop in U.S. domestic 

core capital good orders 

in March. 

The two-year rose 4.3 

Canadian cents in price to 

yield 1.909 percent and the 

10-year climbed 27.3 Canadian 

cents to yield 2.356 percent. 

U.K. prosecutors drop 

charges against two 

Canadian pilots 

Agencies 

TORONTO: Prosecutors in the United Kingdom have 

dropped charges against two Canadian pilots accused of 

preparing to fly a commercial aircraft while under the 

influence of alcohol after their blood samples were mistakenly 

destroyed at a Scottish prison. 

Prosecutors say there will be no further action 

against Imran Syed, 39, and Jean-François Perreault, 41, 

who were arrested July 18, 2016, before they were to pilot 

an Air Transat flight from Glasgow to Toronto. 

Authorities say Syed, from Toronto, was alleged to 

have had 49 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of 

blood. Perreault, who is also from Ontario, was alleged 

to have had 32 milligrams. Both men have denied the 

charges. 

The flight eventually took off with a different crew 

the next morning after about 250 passengers spent the 

night at hotels. Air Transat had suspended the pilots, but 

says they will be reinstated because they have been "declared 

innocent." 

"We will be meeting with them in the next few days 

to plan their reinstatement since there is no charge 

against them and we have no evidence that they have 

broken any law nor our internal rules," the airline said. 

"They will need to undergo retraining and requalification 

as per applicable legislation, and we will put in place 

measures to ensure that their behaviour is exemplary." 

Prosecutors said they are taking steps to prevent a 

similar loss of evidence in the future. 

"We are working with Police Scotland to ensure 

there are proper processes and guidance in place covering 

the retention and storage of samples when an accused 

person is remanded in custody," they said. 

The two were charged under a section of the United 

Kingdom's Railway and Transport Safety Act that precludes 

people from conducting aviation functions "when 

the proportion of alcohol in [their] breath, blood or urine 

exceeds the prescribed limit." 

Canadian aviation regulations prohibit any aircraft 

crew members from working while intoxicated or within 

eight hours after having an alcoholic drink. 

Air Transat's president said at the time that the carrier 

would compensate all passengers booked on the 

flight. European Union rules stipulate a passenger is entitled 

to 600 euros ($940 Cdn) in the event a flight longer 

than 3,500 kilometres is cancelled. 

NDP wants MPs to invite Pope Francis 

to apologize for residential schools 


OTTAWA: The NDP is hoping 

MPs from other parties 

will join them in issuing a formal 

invitation to Pope Francis 

to apologize to residential 

school survivors. 

NDP MP Charlie Angus 

said an opposition day motion 

to be debated Thursday is 

meant to appeal straight to the 

pontiff himself. 

"We are asking him to 

work with us, to walk with 

us as Canadians," Angus said 

Monday. 

"We're not telling the 

Catholic bishops to do anything," 

he said. "We are asking 

the Pope, given his incredible 

reputation as a social justice 

leader, to join Canada and to 

close this chapter." 

A papal apology delivered 

on Canadian soil was one of 

94 recommendations of the 

Truth and Reconciliation 

Commission. 

Bishop Lionel Gendron, 

who is president of the Canadian 

Conference of Catholic 

Bishops, issued a letter to Indigenous 

Peoples in Canada 

late last month to say that after 

carefully considering the 

request, Pope Francis felt he 

could not personally respond. 

The conference of bishops 

has since clarified that an 

apology from the Pope would 

be inappropriate given the 

structure of the Roman Catholic 

Church, and that Canadian 

bishops would be best placed 

to keep engaging in reconciliation 

with Indigenous Peoples. 

They also did not rule out 

an apology coming sometime 

in the future. 

Last week, the NDP and 

the Liberals asked the House 

of Commons for unanimous 

consent to pass a motion that 

would have asked the conference 

of bishops to invite Pope 

Francis to deliver the apology. 

It was opposed by Conservative 

MP Garnett Genuis, 

who said he did so because he 

believes in the separation of 

church and state. 

"It is quite unprecedented 

that Parliament would tell the 

church how to undertake its 

reconciliation efforts here," 

Genuis said at the time. 

Angus, however, suggested 

there was irony in that 

argument. 

"I don't know why we're 

talking about a division of 

church and state when the 

residential schools were the 

creation of church and state, 

with the expressed intent of 

destroying Indigenous identity," 

Angus said.

The International News Weekly World 


Agency 

Handshakes and kisses aside, 

some issues split Trump, Macron 

5 cops killed, 7 injured 

in Pak suicide attack 

WASHINGTON: With exaggerated 

handshakes and a pair 

of kisses, President Donald 

Trump and French President 

Emmanuel Macron professed 

a sunny, best-friends relationship, 

even as the two allies 

strained to bridge differences 

over the Iran nuclear agreement, 

Syria and more. 

Hosting Macron for the 

first state visit of his administration, 

culminating in a lavish 

dinner Tuesday night, Trump 

remained firm in his criticism 

of past and enduring American 

undertakings in Iran and elsewhere 

in the Middle East. But 

he appeared open to the French 

president's pleas to maintain 

U.S. involvement in Syria — 

and expressed openness to 

negotiating a new agreement 

with Iran. As Trump weighs 

withdrawing the U.S. from the 

Iran nuclear accord, he issued 

a warning to Iran against restarting 

its nuclear program, 

saying, "They will have bigger 

problems than they've ever had 

before." 

At a joint White House 

news conference, he appeared 

to be more in line with Macron's 

push for a longer-term 

U.S. presence in Syria. Trump, 

who announced weeks ago that 

he would withdraw American 

troops, said Macron reinforced 

the idea of a potential Iranian 

takeover of territory liberated 

from the Islamic State group. 

"We'll be coming home," 

Trump said, "but we want to 

leave a strong and lasting footprint." 

Macron told Trump that 

together the U.S. and France 

would defeat terrorism, curtail 

weapons of mass destruction in 

North Korea and Iran, and act 

together on behalf of the planet. 

That last point was a reference 

to Macron's work to revive the 

U.S. role in the Paris climate 

accord to fight global warming, 

another international agreement 

Trump has spurned. 

Differences aside, Trump 

and Macron lavished praise 

and even a pair of kisses on 

each other Tuesday. "It's an 

honour to call you my friend," 

Trump said, after predicting 

Macron would be a historic 

leader of France. 

In one light moment, 

Trump sought to demonstrate 

some of the personal chemistry 

he claimed. The U.S. president 

brushed something off Macron's 

suit jacket, saying, "We 

have a very special relationship; 

in fact, I'll get that little 

piece of dandruff off. We have 

to make him perfect — he is 

perfect." 

The meetings followed a 

pomp-filled welcome ceremony 

on the South Lawn. Highlights 

included a 21-gun salute and 

Melania Trump's wide-brim 

white hat, which drew more 

comments than all the rest of 

the pageantry. 

Trump said before an 

audience of U.S. soldiers and 

members of his Cabinet that 

the relationship he forged with 

Macron at the start of his presidency 

was a testament to the 

"enduring friendship that binds 

our two nations." He thanked 

the French leader for his "steadfast 

partnership" in the recent 

missile strike in response to 

the chemical attack in Syria. 

Macron said, "History is calling 

us. It is urging our people to find 

the fortitude that has guided us 

in the most difficult of times. 

France and with it, Europe, and 

the United States have an appointment 

with history." Later 

he placed a wreath at the Tomb 

of the Unknowns in Arlington 

National Cemetery. The social 

highlight of Macron's visit was 

Tuesday night's formal state 

dinner at the White House. 

More than 130 guests dined on 

rack of lamb and nectarine tart 

and enjoyed an after-dinner 

performance by the Washington 

National Opera. The previous 

evening, the leaders and 

their wives took a helicopter 

tour of Washington landmarks 

and had dinner at the Potomac 

River home of George Washington 

in Mount Vernon, Virginia. 

Indo-Asian News Service 

Islamabad : At least five policemen were killed and 

seven others injured in a suicide attack in Pakistan's 

southwestern city of Quetta on Tuesday, a statement 

from the army's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) 

said. According to the army statement, a suicide bomber 

detonated his explosives-laden vest near a police van 

on the airport road in Quetta, the provincial capital of 

southwest Balochistan province, killing five policemen 

on the spot while injuring seven others. 

The statement added that two suicide bombers were 

also killed by security forces in a separate suicide attack 

when they were trying to target a check post of Frontier 

Corps, a paramilitary force in the county, at Mian Ghundi 

near western bypass area in the city. No causality of 

Frontier Corps personnel was reported in the check post 

attack, said the ISPR. However, local media reported earlier 

that two suicide bombers attacked the Mian Ghundi 

camp located at the outskirts of the city and killed two 

security personnel. According to Geo News, at least eight 

others were also injured in the check post attack. 

Spouses of H-1B visa holders may no 

longer be able to work legally in US 


“A formal communication is expected to be made 

later this summer,” US Citizenship and Immigration Services 

(USCIS) Director Francis Cissna said in a letter to 

Senator Chuck Grassley, according to the news report. 

The public will have an opportunity to provide feedback 

during a notice and comment period, Cissna said. According 

to a recent study by the Migration Policy Institute, the 

US has issued employment authorisation documents to 

more than 71,000 spouses of H-1B visa holders, over 90 per 

cent of whom are Indians. 

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The International News Weekly World 


07 

Pakistan hands over 

missing Indian pilgrim 


Attari (Amritsar) 

:Pakistan authorities today 

handed over an Indian national 

who had gone to Pakistan 

on pilgrimage but was 

missing from his group when 

it returned on Saturday, officials 

said. 

The Sikh `jatha' had 

come home on April 21 after 

a 10-day pilgrimage but 

24-year-old Amarjit Singh, a 

resident of village Niranjanpura 

in Amrtisar district, 

was not part of it. Pakistan 

authorities later found him 

at the home of his "Facebook 

friend" Amir Razak in 

Sheikhupura, 50 km from Lahore, 

and handed him over to 

their Indian counterparts. 

He told officials that he 

had gone to stay with Razak 

on April 16, telling his hosts 

that he held a visa for over a 

month's stay in Pakistan. 

When his friend asked 

him to show his passport, 

Amarjit Singh told him that 

it was deposited with the 

Pakistani authorities, according 

to the pilgrim's account 

to Indian officials on 

his return. 

Singh recalled that his 

host's family got jittery when 

Pakistani and Indian television 

channels reported on 

April 21 about his sudden 

disappearance from a gurdwara. 

Indian authorities had 

also reported him missing after 

they came to know that he 

was not among the pilgrims 

who had returned. The host 

family reported the matter 

to police, and officials from 

the Evacuee Trust Property 

Board of Pakistan took Singh 

to Lahore yesterday. 

When asked how he had 

reached Razak's house, he 

told officials that he managed 

to dodge Pakistani security. 

The Sikh pilgrims had 

gone to Pakistan to celebrate 

Baisakhi festival. 

Amarjit Singh's passport, 

like that of other pilgrims, 

was deposited with the officials 

of the Evacuee Trust 

Property Board, who reportedly 

informed top officials 

when he failed to collect it 

within the stipulated time. 

The Pakistani police had 

launched a manhunt in Nankana 

Sahib where a number 

of Sikh families live, reports 

said. 

Kiran Bala, another 

member of the same group, 

had also not come back with 

the jatha, after reportedly 

converting to Islam and marrying 

a Pakistani man. 

Singh had earlier reportedly 

worked in Malaysia 

was living with his family in 

Punjab for the last couple of 

months. 

US diplomat put on 'blacklist' over 

Pakistani motorcyclist's death 


Islamabad: Pakistan's Interior Ministry on Tuesday 

placed US diplomat Colonel Joseph Emmanuel Hall on 

the "blacklist" for killing a motorcyclist in a road accident 

here, prohibiting the US defence and air attache from 

leaving the country.Hall was driving a Land Cruiser and 

jumped a red signal on April 7 near Islamabad's Daman-e- 

Koh Chowk, hitting a motorcycle carrying two men. The 

riders suffered injuries and later one of them -- Atiq Baig 

-- died. The ministry's announcement came during a hearing 

at Islamabad High Court on a petition filed by the father 

of deceased, the Express Tribune reported. 

Representing the government, Deputy Attorney General 

Raja Khalid Mehmood informed the court that the 

Interior Ministry had placed the US official's name in the 

"blacklist" instead of putting him in the Exit Control List 

(ECL) as it was a long process. Mehmood said the "blacklist", 

which served the same purpose, was a simpler process 

where the Interior Secretary was the competent authority 

to take the decisive step. 

Speaking to the daily, Mehmood said if required the 

US envoy's name will be added to the ECL as well. He said 

since the Vienna Convention granted diplomatic immunity 

to the US envoy, authorities in Pakistan could not 

arrest, detain or prosecute him. But he could be investigated. 

Mehmood added that if the US decides to take up 

the case, Hall could stand trial and/or court martial in his 

home country. However, if the diplomatic immunity is recalled 

by the US, the envoy can be prosecuted in Pakistan. 

Cohen asserts constitutional rights in Stormy Daniels case 


Washington: Michael 

Cohen, Donald Trump's 

personal lawyer, said that 

he would assert his Fifth 

Amendment rights against 

self-incrimination regarding 

his involvement in a 

non-disclosure deal involving 

porn star Stormy Daniels 

and the US President, 

the media reported. 

The Fifth Amendment 

to the US Constitution 

states that no individual 

can be "compelled in any 

criminal case to be a witness 

against himself". 

In court papers filed on 

Wednesday at the US District 

Court in Los Angeles, 

Cohen cited FBI raids of his 

residence, office and hotel 

room in New York earlier 

this month and the seizure 

of "various electronic devices 

and documents in my 

possession", reports CNN. 

"Based upon the advice 

of counsel, I will assert my 

Fifth Amendment rights 

in connection with all proceedings 

in this case due to 

the ongoing criminal investigation 

by the FBI and US 

Attorney for the Southern 

District of New York," Cohen 

said. 

He filed the declaration 

as part of an effort to have 

a civil lawsuit filed by Daniels 

put on hold. 

The judge in that case, 

S. James Otero, said last 

week that he needed to hear 

from Cohen directly before 

deciding on that request. 

Michael Avenatti, Daniels' 

attorney, called Cohen's 

declaration "a stunning 

development". "Never 

before in our nation's history 

has the attorney for the 

sitting President invoked 

the 5th Amend in connection 

with issues surrounding 

the President," Avenatti 

tweeted. 

Avenatti told CNN that 

Cohen invoking the Fifth 

Amendment only strengthens 

their case against him. 

"The fact finder -- 

whether it be a jury or a 

judge -- can find what is 

called a negative inference 

and what that means is that 

you can presume that if the 

witness answered the question 

instead of invoking 

his Fifth Amendment right 

that the answer would incriminate 

him that it would 

not be positive for him or 

her and that's a very serious 

matter," Avenatti said. 

Otero, is tasked with 

determining whether there 

is a substantial overlap between 

the FBI raids in New 

York and the civil case 

before him in which Daniels 

is seeking to void an 

agreement in which Cohen 

paid her $130,000 to remain 

silent about an alleged sexual 

encounter with Trump 

in 2006. 

The White House has 

said Trump denies the affair. 

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well in the Indonesian province of Aceh in Sumatra, 

officials said. 

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early in the morning during an extraction process in 

Pasir Puti village when several workers were cleaning 

up an oil spill due to overproduction, said National 

Disaster Management agency spokesperson Sutopo 

Purwo. Efforts were underway to bring the blaze under 

control, the spokesperson was quoted as saying 

by Efe news. Indonesian authorities, firefighters and 

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The International News Weekly EDIT 

08 


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 

The worrying problem 

of global debt 

Any undergraduate 

student of economics 

would vouch for the fact 

that an economy in a recession 

requires a fiscal 

stimulus package (or more 

editor@canadianparvasi.com 

sales@canadianparvasi.com 

government spending and 

lower taxes). Such a stimulus 

can only be managed 

if the economy constrains 

its fiscal spending in times 

of growth. Restraint on 

spending in good times 

Women's Health in 

would allow the creation 

of a buffer for a strong fiscal 

policy response in the 

India still facing a 

event of a downturn. This 

recognition challenge Keynesian prescription of 

counter-cyclical fiscal policy 

According to the "OECD Health Statistics 

2014: How Does India Compare" report, 

the overall health spending accounted for 

is expected to stabilise 

output of an economy over 

business cycle dynamics. 

only four per cent of the GDP in India in 

The world economy today, 

however, is on a prob- 

percent. However, if that 

contracted by less than 1 

US economy, which had to resort 

2012, out of which only 33 per cent of health 

lematic course. The International 

Monetary Fund 

declines by about 10 per- 

was not the case, the output 

spending was funded by public sources. Further, 

health accounted for only 4.8 per cent 

to a similar low-interest phase, is 

(IMF) pointed out last continuing to strain its fiscal situation. cent. Therefore, it is absolutely 

vital that the world 

of total government spending in 2012. India 

week that the global debt 

ranks extremely high even among other developing 

countries in out-of-pocket costs on 

Despite having massive spending 

levels have reached historical 

highs. In 2016, the obligations in the form of entitlement towards enhancing their 

economies begin to work 

healthcare. 

global debt stood at $164 

resilience. 

The "Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2016- trillion, which was equivalent 

to 225 percent of global 

the focus of the Indian gov- 

programmes, the Trump administration Against this backdrop, 

17" says that tobacco smoking is a major 

preventable risk factor for a number of 

opted for generous tax cuts with no 

GDP. The current levels of 

ernment on the practice 

causes of death. In India, 10.7 per cent adults global debt-to-GDP ratio commensurate revenue generating plan. of fiscal restraint seems to 

smoked daily in 2010 and it remains so even are a whole 12 percentage 

be on the right track. The 

in 2016. When measuring the exposure of points higher than the previous 

The expansionary fiscal policy has come N.K. Singh Committee had 

peak of 2009 when 

recommended a combined 

second-hand smoke in households, women 

at a time when the US economy is at its 

are at a higher risk (39.3 per cent) in comparison 

to men (38.1 per cent) but unfortu- 

a deficit spending spree in strongest in a decade. The fiscal deficit cent by 2022-23 and the IMF 

the governments were on 

debt-to-GDP ratio of 60 pernately 

our policies remain passive on this the aftermath of the global 

estimates that India will 

issue. 

financial crisis. 

is expected to reach $1 trillion soon. definitely miss the target 

With the dismal condition of healthcare 

in India, the provisions for healthcare are 

even worse when it comes to women-specific 

diseases. Generally, women's health 

Also, it turns out that 

countries in all income 

groups have accumulated 

massive amounts of debt. 

phase and interest rates 

were at rock bottom, debt 

was continually rising. 

though most of its debt has 

been accumulated by the 

corporate sector, a large 

but would be close enough. 

The only cause of concern 

is the deteriorating condition 

of state finances. 

receives attention only during pregnancy; In advanced countries, the Meanwhile, the US part of it has been incurred The Fourteenth Finance 

this comes from our patriarchal understanding 

of women's role in society. 

debt-to-GDP ratios have 

hit levels not seen since 

economy, which had to 

resort to a similar low-interest 

by state-owned enterprises 

backed by central and local Commission had rec- 

ommended anchoring the 

phase, is continuing governments. So, the state fiscal deficit of the states to 

World War II, while the 

Cardiovascular disease, stroke, kidney 

emerging markets and to strain its fiscal situation. 

Despite having mas- 

role in inculcating the between 

2015-16 and 2019-20. 

has played an enabling 3 percent of the GSDP be- 

disease, respiratory diseases and trauma 

middle-income countries 

are major causes of death for women worldwide. 

The health profile of India by WHO 

are at levels last seen during 

the 1980s debt crisis. in the form of entitlement borrowing. 

not been able to achieve the 

sive spending obligations haviour of unrestrained However, the states have 

reveals that women have a higher life expectancy 

in comparison to men, but this is 

The current debt situation programmes, the Trump Now that the world target till date. The breaching 

of targets is not worry- 

has been a result of the administration opted for economy is finally on a cyclical 

upswing, the escalating 

if borrowing is under- 

marred by disorders like musculoskeletal prolonged after-effects of generous tax cuts with no 

diseases, depression, etc. Social structures the 2008 financial crisis, commensurate revenue ing debt addiction needs to taken to fund productive 

and prejudices also create an environment which have only recently generating plan. The expansionary 

fiscal policy buffers should be strength- 

infrastructure. But, Indian 

come to an end and fiscal activities like improving 

in which women's health and well-being are worn off. 

further compromised. 

Excess liquidity is generated 

has come at a time when ened to reduce the risk states are neck deep in debt 

Due to a lack of disease-specific data on 

gender differences, there is a complete absence 

of evidence about preventive care for 

women, along with issues like increased 

consumption of tobacco, alcohol and drugs. 

Gender disparities have also crept into 

in a system when 

the economic growth rate 

is lower than the amount 

of money circulating in 

the economy. When banks 

have more money in their 

the US economy is at its 

strongest in a decade. The 

fiscal deficit is expected to 

reach $1 trillion soon. 

China is in a more 

precarious situation. The 

of financial difficulties in 

case global financial conditions 

tighten suddenly. 

The necessity of winding 

down debt levels right 

away has been shown in a 

only due to pandering to 

populist sentiments. 

If the government efforts 

to synchronise general 

and state elections materialise, 

the fiscal deficit will 

healthcare delivery and women's access to reserves than required, country has moved from paper published last year take an even further hit. It 

treatment. Traditionally, much of the work 

done by women is performed within the context 

of the family. As women move beyond 

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their traditional occupations in today's era, 

higher borrowing by worse than the US. In a economists convincingly tations are avoided. India 

they meet new health hazards which add to 

the existing occupational hazards. 

governments, individuals 

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bid to sustain its growth 

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authorised a decadelong 

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showed that if a country 

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the economy's output 

should aim at building up 

its fiscal resilience while 

the economic situation is 

strong. 

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The International News Weekly INTERVIEW 


09 

No business problems, only people's 

problems, says Shiv Khera 


New Delhi : There are 

no business problems, 

only people problems 

-- and once these get resolved, 

so do the business 

problems, says motivational 

guru Shiv Khera, 

whose fifth book has just 

hit the stands while the 

first one has entered its 

20th year and is set to be 

relaunched. 

"I am not an expert in 

any industry, but having 

lived in the US for over 

40 years and worked in 

over 25 countries, I find 

that, all over the world, 

we don't have business 

problems, we have people 

problems and when we 

take care of our people's 

problems, most of our 

business problems are 

automatically resolved," 

Khera told IANS in an interview. 

Does this not sound 

like a one-size-fit-all sugestion? 

Khera disagreed. 

"People problems are 

not identical but they 

are very similar. Many 

times I am asked, 'Don't 

you find cultural differences 

in your audiences?' 

My answer is, 'I find more 

similarities than differences.' 

Emotional appeals 

are identical; integrity 

and cheating are given 

the same meaning in New 

York, New Delhi and New 

Zealand. There is no difference. 

The differences 

are many times cultural, 

which to me are very surface 

issues though they 

may not end up as surface 

issues," he explained. 

What then does his 

latest offering, "You 

Can Achieve More", 

have to offer? 

The message in his 

current book, he said, can 

be captured in the following 

sentences: 

* If you want to stand 

out, then you need to do 

something outstanding 

* A person with a 

positive attitude cannot 

be stopped; and a person 

with a negative attitude 

cannot be helped 

* Time teaches us the 

value of life; life teaches 

us the value of time 

* Accidents are no accidents. 

Casual attitude 

always leads to casualty 

* Winners make the 

days count, losers count 

"People problems are 

not identical but they 

are very similar. Many 

times I am asked, 

'Don't you find cultural 

differences in your 

audiences?' 

their days 

* Winners live by the 

philosophy 'prepare and 

prevent', not repair and 

repent 

* Achievers do today 

what others don't, so they 

can enjoy things tomorrow 

which others won't 

* To change reality, 

you must change mentality. 

* Achievers recognise 

that a big pay cheque and 

lack of accountability seldom 

go together." 

"It's all very well 

to say 'if you want to 

stand out, do something 

different' -- but how do 

you then deal with halfa-dozen 

people who 

want to pull you down? 

"Pulling people down 

is neither new nor is it 

confined to any country 

or society. It is universal. 

People who want to 

move up in life, constantly 

not only reinforce the 

positive but also insulate 

themselves from the negative. 

If we want to be in 

good health, exercising 

alone will not do the job, 

we also have to stay away 

from junk food. They go 

hand in hand," Khera explained. 

Noting that only internal 

strength of character 

can help a person overcome 

the external forces 

that pull him or her down, 

he said this strength can 

only be built by reinforcing 

the positive. "Just like 

an athlete builds physical 

strength with constant 

practice, similarly we 

build mental strength 

with constant practice." 

In terms of competitiveness, 

how has the 

world changed in the 20 

years since "You Can 

Win" was published? 

"I have always felt that 

competition is good to 

have. Reason: It makes 

the good look better 

and the bad look worse; 

because people have 

something to compare 

you with. If the buyers 

do not have anything to 

compare you with, then 

how do they know you 

are good? 

"When buyers get value 

for money, they buy. 

My objective has always 

been that if I get one dollar, 

I must give them 10 

dollars worth value. With 

this kind of mindset, you 

have no competition, you 

become the competition," 

said Khera, who has some 

of the top Fortune 100 

companies as his clients. 

About his 20-year 

journey from the time his 

first book was published, 

Khera said he formally 

started penning down 

"You Can Win" in 1992, 

before which he had been 

capturing his thoughts 

on napkins, loose papers 

while sitting in restaurants 

or in transit during 

flights. 

He finished the manuscript 

somewhere in 1997; 

it was picked up by Prentice 

Hall in Singapore and 

published in the same 

year. It has since sold 3.7 

million copies and will be 

relaunched this July. 

"Being an unknown 

author, getting your book 

to become an international 

bestseller was not easy. 

I travelled to different 

parts of the world, spoke 

at every conference that 

I could, whether paid or 

unpaid was immaterial. 

As people liked my message, 

they started buying 

my book." 

His roadmap for the future? 

"To institutionalise 

my messages by creating 

a programme online and 

also collaborating with 

some educational institutions 

helping them set up 

a Centre of Leadership 

Excellence to build good 

future leaders," Khera 

said.

The International News Weekly india 


JeM commander killed in 

Tral gunfight: J&K DGP 


Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday 

said that one of 

the four militants 

killed in Tuesday's 

gunfight in 

the Tral forest 

area was a Jaishe-Muhammad 

(JeM) operational 

commander. 

State Director 

General of Police 

(DGP), S.P. Vaid 

said: "Operational commander of JeM Mufti Yasir 

was among those killed in the joint operation in upper 

reaches of Tral." 

Four JeM militants, one soldier and a state police 

constable were killed in the over eight-hour 

long gunfight. 

The DGP has also uploaded a picture on Twitter 

of the slain militant showing him alongside 

Masood Azhar, the founder of JeM. 

The picture had been taken in Pakistan few 

years ago by the media there. 

Azhar was released from Kotbalwal jail in 

Jammu district in 1999 and taken to Kandahar in 

Afghanistan where he was swapped with the 158 

passengers of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 taken 

hostage. 

Two other militant commanders, Sheikh Omar 

and Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar were also swapped in 

addition to Azhar for the release of hostages. 

The flight was hijacked from Kathmandu and 

after a stopover at Amritsar it was taken to Kandahar. 

Congress spreading lies by 

hiring foreign agencies: Modi 


New Delhi : Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi on 

Thursday accused the 

Congress of spreading 

lies by hiring foreign 

agencies and dividing societies 

on caste lines. He 

said political purity cannot 

come unless the Congress 

culture ends. 

In an interactive session 

with BJP candidates, 

state office bearers and 

leaders of Karnataka via 

the Narendra Modi app, 

the Prime Minister urged 

them not to fall for the 

Congress's lie and focus 

on people-to-people contact 

till the voting. 

"If you analyse last few 

elections, you will realise 

how a few political parties 

have indulged only 

in dividing societies on 

religious lines. They give 

lollipops to a community 

before elections and then 

forget them," he said. 

Modi said that this is 

the working style of the 

13 school children killed in UP accident 


Gorakhpur/New Delhi 

: Thirteen school children 

were killed and six others seriously 

injured on Thursday 

when a train hit their van at 

an unmanned railway crossing 

in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar, 

police said. 

Chief Medical Officer 

(CMO) of Kushinagar district, 

Akhilesh Kumar told IANS 

that one child and the driver 

of the van were in critical 

condition. The incident took 

place at the Dudhi Behpurva 

gate at 7.10 a.m. when the 

children were headed to the 

Divine Public School. The 

injured were rushed to Pandrauna 

Hospital which is 30 

km from the accident site. 

Railways spokesperson 

Ved Prakash told IANS that 

the children died on the spot 

as the Siwan-Gorakhpur passenger 

train crashed into the 

van at the crossing, 100 km 

from Gorakhpur. 

According to a North 

Eastern (NE) Railway official, 

at least 25 people, mostly children 

below the age of 10 years 

were travelling in the van 

when the incident occurred. 

The train was on its way 

to Gorakhpur from Siwan. 

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's 

office instructed 

district authorities to undertake 

rescue and relief operations 

immediately. 

An accident relief medical 

train from Gorakhpur was 

dispatched to the site, the NE 

official said. Several senior officials 

have also rushed to the 

accident site. An inquiry has 

been ordered. 

According to the Railway 

Ministry, it was an unmanned 

level crossing with 

Gate Mitra deployed there. 

Railway Minister Piyush 

Goyal expressed his grief over 

the accident and announced 

an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh 

each to the kin of the victims. 

"I am saddened by the 

news of school children dying 

in a train accident. I have spoken 

to senior railway officials 

and ordered an inquiry into 

it," Goyal said in a tweet. 

Adityanath directed the 

Divisional Commissioner of 

Gorakhpur to conduct a probe 

into the incident. He also announced 

an ex-gratia of Rs 

two lakh each to the families 

of the deceased. 


His remarks came in the wake of a Supreme 

Court bench posing questions over 

the relevance of the Sikh turban in response 

to a petition filedby a Sikh cyclist refusing to 

wear a helmet. 

“My faith, its tenets are decided by my 

scriptures, history and my value systems. 

They are not to be determined or questioned 

by judges whose role, in the first place, is to 

protect my civil, human and religious rights 

in accordance with the basic principles of 

the Indian Constitution,” noted Sikh Forum 

secretary-general Partap Singh. 

Congress in which they 

exploit emotions of some 

community before elections 

and forget them after 

the elections. 

"They will never give 

account of their works. 

They keep indulging in 

dividing the society. The 

political purity can not be 

established in the country 

till the Congress culture 

is finished from the mainstream," 

he added. 

Hitting out at the Congress 

for spreading "rampant" 

lies, Modi asked the 

party workers not to fall 

for the opposition's trap 

of falsehoods. 

"Congress has resorted 

to rampant lying 

after a series of defeats 

in elections. Earlier, the 

Congress used to spread 

lies over five to 10 issues 

they raised. Now out of 50 

issues, 40-45 are based on 

lies," the Prime Minister 

said. Modi said, in such 

circumstances, karyakartas 

must stand their 

ground, expose their lies 

and also fight their means 

of deceiving people by 

"hiring foreign agencies". 

The Prime Minister 

said that the other political 

parties hesitate to talk 

on development because 

development can be quantified. 

"This was unacceptable 

to those parties 

which only concentrated 

on division. We govern 

and also fight elections 

based only on development 

model," he said. 

Asaram convicted, sentenced to life in 

2013 case of minor's rape 


Informed sources said the court also convicted 

Shilpi (warden of Asaram's ashram) and Sharad, while 

Shiva and Prakash were acquitted in the case. Asaram 

Bapu is facing trial in another sexual assault case in 

Gujarat. 

The final arguments in the case were completed in 

the Jodhpur court on April 7, which reserved the order 

for Wednesday. 

Asaram Bapu was arrested in 2013 after a teenaged 

girl from Uttar Pradesh's Shahajahanpur, a Class 

12 student at his Chhindwara Ashram in Madhya 

Pradesh, filed a complaint and accused him of rape at 

his ashram in Manai village on the Jodhpur outskirts 

on August 15, 2013.Asaram was arrested from Indore 

and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He is under 

judicial custody since September 2, 2013. He was 

earlier denied bail by the Supreme Court. 

Sikh body upset over SC's 

views on turban 

The Sikh Forum took strong objections 

to the Supreme Court’s query, saying it unfortunately 

reflected a serious deficit of understanding 

of religious sensitivities and 

historical traditions of a country as rich in 

diversity as India. 

“That was the last thing you would expect 

from the highest court of a country 

where Sikhism was born, a country that had 

a Sikh prime minister, a Sikh CJI, two Sikh 

army and three air-force chiefs and countless 

Sikh soldiers who fight the enemy on the 

frontline with their proud turbans on,” the 

Sikh Forum said in a statement.

The International News Weekly india 


11 

Pak envoy call on Punjab CM, discuss 

business, people ties 


CHANDIGARH: Punjab 

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder 

Singh has called for 

strengthening of trade and 

people-to-people ties with 

Pakistan in order to defuse 

tensions and promote better 

relations between the two 

neighbours. 

At an informal luncheon 

meeting with Pakistan’s High 

Commissioner to India, Sohail 

Mahmood, the Chief Minister 

expressed concern over the 

declining trade levels between 

the two countries due to escalation 

in tensions along the 

borders in recent months. 

Captain Amarinder Singh 

and Sohail Mahmood agreed 

that the downslide in trade 

was detrimental to the interest 

of both India and Pakistan. 

They stressed on the need for 

concerted efforts on both sides 

to ease the tensions through 

people-centric measures. 

Captain Amarinder Singh 

was in favour of reviving 

the Indo-Pak Punjab Games, 

which he had introduced during 

his previous tenure as 

Chief Minister, saying sporting 

events could play a pivotal 

role in boosting people-to-people 

relations on both sides of 

the Punjab border. The games 

had been launched earlier in 

2004 from Patiala, with events 

in a dozen disciplines, including 

hockey, cycling, athletics, 

gymnastics, polo, handball, 

wrestling, badminton, volleyball, 

tug-of-war, shooting and 

kabaddi. 

The enthusiasm with 

which these were received 

then by sportspersons and others 

from both Indian and Pak 

Punjab was remarkable, the 

Chief Minister recalled, adding 

that such events are usually 

seen to have an extremely 

positive impact on peace efforts. 

The High Commissioner 

was also of the view that more 

people-level contacts between 

the two nations could help 

pave the way for long-term 

peace and stability in the region. 

It was important for the 

development and progress of 

both the countries that they 

work in a spirit of harmony 

to promote the welfare of their 

respective people, he added. 

The Pak envoy raised the 

issue of repatriation of prisoners 

who had completed their 

terms from both sides and 

said that various clearances 

required from the authorities 

should be expedited for 

the purpose. Both Captain 

Amarinder Singh and Sohail 

Mahmood underscored the 

need for promoting bilateral 

trade as a means to further 

the peace process, and also 

strengthen the fundamentals 

in both the countries to facilitate 

their economic and social 

development. 

They agreed that both 

India and Pakistan could illafford 

to alienate themselves 

from each other in the transforming 

global milieu, where 

the two nations were faced 

with many common threats 

and enemies. 

It was in their mutual interest 

to work together, in the 

spirit of bonhomie, to fight 

these challenges, said Captain 

Amarinder Singh, adding 

that, with their shared historical 

roots, the people of India 

and Pakistan could easily relate 

to one another. 

The Pak High Commissioner 

agreed that it was 

important to initiate government-level 

efforts to provide 

the people with suitable platforms 

for their collective development, 

he added. 

On the occasion, Captain 

Amarinder Singh presented 

to his guest a collection of his 

books, including ‘A Ridge Too 

Far – War in the Kargil’. 

Casting couch in Parliament also, claims Cong leader 


New Delhi: In a big development, 

senior Congress leader Renuka 

Chowdhary said on Tuesday 

the hallowed halls of Parliament 

aren’t immune to the casting couch 

mentality. 

Chowdhary’s comment came 

in response to statements earlier 

in the day by Bollywood choreographer, 

Saroj Khan, who said the 

casting couch mentality is rampant 

in the Indian film industry, 

mediaperson reported on Tuesday. 

“It is not just in the film industry. 

It (casting couch) happens everywhere 

and it is the bitter truth. 

Don’t imagine that Parliament is 

immune or other work places are 

immune to it. It is time that India 

stood up and said, ‘Me Too’, ” said 

the Congress leader Chowdhary. 

‘Me Too’ is a campaign to end 

sexual assault. This campaign 

spread like a wildfire on the social 

media starting in October 2017, 

after US actor Alyssa Milano encouraged 

women to tweet about 

their experiences with sexual harassment 

and assault – as in, ‘Me 

Too’ — to “give people a sense of 

the magnitude of the problem”, the 

report said. Earlier on Tuesday, 

Bollywood choreographer Khan 

also spoke of the casting couch in 

the Hindi film industry. However, 

Khan had a take on it that was a totally 

different from the viewpoint 

of Renuka Chowdhary. Khan said 

the mentality has existed in Bollywood 

for decades now, “but at least 

it provides a livelihood.” 

The choreographer said, someone 

or the other is always trying to 

take advantage of females. Khan 

said the government does so too, 

so it isn’t just the film industry that 

should be seen as a villain. 

Another film industry member 

didn’t take kindly to Khan’s comments. 

Sri Reddy, an actor from 

the Telugu Film Industry, said 

she’s lost respect for Khan, a senior 

film personality. 

Earlier this month, Reddy 

herself had gone topless to protest 

the casting couch menace in the 

Telugu film industry. Reddy had 

staged a dharna outside the Movie 

Artistes’ Association (MAA) headquarters 

‘Telugu Film Chamber of 

Commerce’ in Film Nagar, Hyderabad. 

To avoid tension, lesbian couple gets 

married with one girl posing as man 


New Delhi: To marry 

each other and avoid opposition 

by their respective 

families and the society, two 

lesbian girls found a unique 

way. They got married in 

full public view and with 

the blessings of society’s 

respectable people. All they 

did was that one of the lesbian 

partners posed as a man 

and the same-sex couple got 

married at a Mass Wedding 

function. 

The incident was reported 

from Uttar Pradesh. 

Two lesbian girls, in their 

20s, cheated not only their 

families but also the society 

to marry each other. 

The two girls were reportedly 

in same-sex relationship 

for about last two 

years. The families of these 

girls were totally ignorant 

about their relationship and 

their plans to get married, 

media reported. 

The report said that on 

April 16 the lesbian girls 

reached the venue of a mass 

wedding function. The girls 

were reportedly carrying 

forged identity cards and 

two elderly couples who 

posed as their parents. One 

of the lesbian partners, who 

posed as a male to become 

the groom, was reportedly 

carrying an Aadhaar card 

in the name of one ‘Kartik 

Shukla’. Notably, mass 

marriage functions are 

common in Uttar Pradesh. 

The lesbian couple 

managed to get married 

successfully. On April 21, 

the parents of girl who became 

the “bride” came to 

know that the groom was 

actually a girl. The neighbours 

noticed the “groom” 

was actually a girl after 

they saw the pictures of 

their wedding at the mass 

marriage function as the 

pictures got circulated on 

social media, the report 

said. 

After coming to know 

about the shocking reality, 

the family of bride 

confronted the couple 

and physically assaulted 

“groom”. At this bride 

jumped of the roof to save 

her partner named Rupa. 

Soon the police reached 

there to settle the matter 

between the bride’s family 

and her. Her parents 

blamed the other girl of 

cheating. The police let off 

both the girls saying that 

they were adults and cannot 

be forced to live separately, 

the report said. 

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The International News Weekly India 


Three days after wedding, man 

gang-rapes wife with friends 


New Delhi: A newly married 

woman from Assam 

was allegedly gang-raped 

by her husband and his two 

friends just three days after 

their wedding. The man 

committed this crime as his 

wife’s family had not met 

their demand of dowry, mediaperson 

reported on Tuesday. 

The victim and the accused 

man had got married 

just three days before the 

crime was committed, the 

report said. 

The incident was reported 

on April 17 from Karimganj 

in southern Assam. An 

FIR has been lodged against 

the husband who has been 

arrested and a manhunt 

has been started for the two 

friends who are stated to be 

absconding, the police reportedly 

said. 

The incident came in the 

notice of police as the newlymarried 

woman had been 

admitted in a local hospital 

in a serious condition. 

In the FIR, lodged on 

April 22, the victim said her 

husband had demanded gold 

jewellery in dowry, which 

her family could not give 

so her husband and two of 

his friends raped her, the 

report said. “This is absolutely 

shocking. In the last 

two months, we have documented 

at least 20 cases of 

sexual assault… the reasons 

are varied but the huge economic 

and social disparity 

in Assam is a major factor,” 

Miguel Das Queah, a rights 

activist from Guwahati was 

quoted as saying. 

Punjabi singer’s Fb 

account hacked, hacker 

demands Rs 1L in ransom 

Chandigarh: In a strange case of extortion, an unidentified 

person has hacked the Facebook account of 

Punjabi singer Balkar Sidhu and has asked for a ransom 

of Rs One lakh rupees. The person has threatened 

to post vulgar videos and messages if his demands are 

not met. 

Accroding to local daily, Balkar Sidhu has filed a 

complaint with the State cyber cell in this regard. Alleging 

that the hacker has been calling him up frequently 

and threatening him, Balkar expressed fears that the 

hacker might really go ahead and post some obscene 

videos or a wrong comment which may tarnish his image. 

Balkar has around 10 lakh followers and viewers 

on Facebook. 

Balkar said that the hacker has also provided his 

Paytm account for transferring the money. He has even 

claimed of transferring Rs 8400 into the account. The 

Cyber Cell has started investigating the matter. The 

phone number from which the hacker made calls has 

been traced to Gujarat. 

Mother and infant 

found inside suitcase in 

Amritsar bound train 

Amritsar: The bodies of a mother and her 6 month 

old child was found inside a suitcase on an Amritsar 

bound train. The passengers alerted the security after 

discovering a suitcase from the train in Nabha. 

“We searched the S-4 coach and found the suitcase 

under seat number 41. Upon checking, bodies of a woman, 

which appeared to be in mid 20s, and a 5-6 month old 

girl were found stuffed inside it,” said Jagjeet Singh, assistant 

sub-inspector, GRP, Dhuri. 

Police have registered a case under Sections 302 

(murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, 

or giving false information to screen offender) and 

34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common 

intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 

Chatrapati-Ranjeet murder 

case: Khatta Singh to 

appear as witness again 

Amritsar: The bodies of a mother and her 6 month old 

child was found inside a suitcase on an Amritsar bound 

train. The passengers alerted the security after discovering 

a suitcase from the train in Nabha. 

“We searched the S-4 coach and found the suitcase 

under seat number 41. Upon checking, bodies of a woman, 

which appeared to be in mid 20s, and a 5-6 month old 

girl were found stuffed inside it,” said Jagjeet Singh, assistant 

sub-inspector, GRP, Dhuri. 

Police have registered a case under Sections 302 

(murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, 

or giving false information to screen offender) and 

34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common 

intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 

FIR against MLA Simarjit Singh Bains for 

‘trespassing’ in Ludhiana passport office 

Ludhiana: A first information 

report (FIR) has been 

lodged against Lok Insaaf 

Party (LIP) legislator Simarjit 

Singh Bains for allegedly 

barging into the Passport 

Seva Kendra (PSK) in Ludhiana 

and making videos. 

This FIR has been registered 

on the basis of a complaint 

from the assistant passport 

officer (APO) of PSK. 

APO Yashpal has stated 

in his complaint given to 

the Ludhiana Police Commissioner 

that MLA Bains, 

accompanied by his armed 

gunmen and supporters 

forcibly entered the PSK 

on Tuesday arout 12.50 pm 

without any prior appointment 

of permission, The 

mediaperson reported on 

Wednesday. 

The APO alleged the legislator 

and his supporters 

started shooting videos on 

their cell phones after which 

applicants panicked and 

started leaving PSK. APO 

Yashpal further said the 

security guard at the PSK 

was also manhandled by the 

MLA’s gunmen as he tried to 

stop them from entering the 

PSK. 

The APO has accused 

legislator Bains of “trespassing 

secured zone of passport 

office, bringing arms inside, 

misbehaving with security 

guard, scaring away applicants 

and disrupting work,” 

the report said. 

On the other hand, MLA 

Bains, speaking to mediapersons, 

said that the registration 

of FIRs cannot stop 

his drive against corruption. 

“I will continue visiting government 

offices to expose 

corruption. It is my fundamental 

right. Yesterday also, 

I had gone to the passport office 

to expose unauthorised 

agents sitting outside and 

looting applicants. They 

are even preparing fake 

documents and charging 

Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per applicant. 

They are targeting 

poor people from rural areas 

who do not even know how 

to get an online appointment 

as they are illiterate. I had a 

fake voter ID card prepared 

by one of the agents and as 

soon as I reached there he 

ran away. Then I went inside 

and asked the passport 

office staff if they verify the 

files sent through agents to 

which they had no reply. 

Instead of taking action 

against agents sitting outside, 

I have been booked,” 

The Indian Express quoted 

MLA Bains as saying. 

The MLA further said, 

“I never stopped when the 

Badals, during the SAD-BJP 

rule, got 13 FIRs registered 

against me. I will not stop 

now when the Congress is 

doing same thing.” 

Bains reportedly said 

that he was in contact with 

the Ministry of External 

Affairs officials. “I have 

already apprised them of 

entire matter. I will be personally 

meeting External 

Affairs Minister Sushma 

Swaraj upon my return 

from Australia on May 1,” 

the daily quoted Bains as 

saying. 

The fresh FIR against 

MLA Bains and his 10-15 

unidentified supporters has 

been lodged for the charges 

of house-trespass in order to 

commit offence punishable 

with imprisonment (section 

451 of the Indian Penal 

Code), assault or criminal 

force to deter public servant 

from duty (section 

353), obstructing public servant 

in discharge of public 

functions (section 186) and 

criminal intimidation (section 

506) by the Model Town 

police in the city. 

Senior Congress leader shot dead in J&K 

Srinagar : A Congress 

leader was killed and his 

two security guards injured 

in a militant attack 

on Tuesday in Jammu and 

Kashmir's Pulwama district, 

police said. 

While police initially 

said that Gulam Nabi Patel 

was an activist of the ruling 

Peoples Democratic Party 

(PDP), Chief Minister Mehbooba 

Mufti identified him 

as Congress leader. 

Militants fired at Patel's 

vehicle in Rajpora Chowk 

of Pulwama, injuring him 

and his guards, a police officer 

said. 

Patel later succumbed 

to his critical injuries, 

while the injured security 

guards, Imtiyaz Ahmad 

and Bilal Ahmed, are being 

treated, the official said. 

"Heartfelt condolences 

to the family of senior Congress 

leader, G. N. Patel 

who was killed by militants 

today in Rajpora. Such 

cowardly acts achieve 

nothing but leave one more 

family devastated," said 

Mehbooba Mufti in a tweet.

The International News Weekly April 27, 2018 | Toronto 

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Kangana Ranaut to debut 

at Cannes red carpet 


Mumbai : Actress Kangana Ranaut will be making her 

debut at the red carpet of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 

this year. The "Queen" star will attend the fest in association 

with liquor brand Grey Goose as part of its global 

celebration of cinematic craft -- Vive Le Cinema. "It is overwhelming 

to witness the recognition and appreciation for 

Indian cinema at international platforms like Cannes," 

Kangana said in a statement to IANS. 

"Grey Goose has created a unique platform of celebration 

to toast the game changing films at Cannes this year 

and I'm thrilled to partner with this global icon of luxury in 

the country of its origin," she added. 

Anshuman Goenka, Marketing Head of Bacardi India, 

feels Kangana "embodies the cinematic expression of Grey 

Goose through her passion for the field and ability to fly 

beyond the realm of commercial cinema". The 

71st Cannes Film Festival will be held 

from May 8-19. 

This year, acclaimed Indian 

actress-filmmaker Nandita Das' 

directorial "Manto", a biographical 

on controversial Urdu writer 

Saadat Hasan Manto, has made its 

way to the Un Certain Regard 

segment of the fest. 

"Nakkash", featuring 

Inaamulhaq, will 

also be part of the 

film gala. Tillotama 

Shome-starrer "Sir" 

will be screened at 

sidebar Cannes 

Critics' 

Week. 

Playing Manmohan Singh most difficult 

role of my career, says Anupam Kher 


Mumbai : Industry veteran 

Anupam Kher, whose career 

has spanned over three 

decades and over 500 films, 

says playing the role of former 

Prime Minister Manmohan 

Singh has been the most 

difficult one in his career. 

Anupam spoke to the 

media on the sidelines of 

the the Master Deenanath 

Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan 

Awards 2018 held here 

on Tuesday. 

Asked whether he has 

completed shooting of ambitious 

film "The Accidental 

Prime Minister", Kher said: 

"No... Only 40 per cent of the 

film shoot has been completed. 

I have studied the 

character of Manmohan 

Singh for four months 

and it is the most difficult 

role that I have done. 

I hope the audience will see 

his journey on-screen really 

soon. 

A video of Anupam in 

the midst of the film's shoot 

was met with appreciation 

for how well the actor has 

tried to mould his walk and 

demeanour to match Singh's 

distinct style. At the awards 

ceremony, Anupam received 

a special honour for his contribution 

to Indian theatre 

and cinema. 


"I have come straight 

here only to receive this 

award from England after 

completing my shooting 

(schedule) for 'The Accidental 

Prime Minister'. I am really 

honoured and fortunate 

to receive this award. 

"The kind of contribution 

that the Mangeshkar family 

has in the world of music is 

really unbelievable. They 

have not only won our hearts 

with their music, but with 

voices of Mangeshkar sisters, 

they have united the nation 

and that is their achievement. 

It's a great feeling to 

receive an honour by them." 

Anupam dedicated the 

award to youngsters from rural 

parts of India. 

"Whenever I receive an 

award for my work, it motivates 

me to do even better. 

I always say that it s not my 

lifetime achievement award 

because I feel like I have 

started my career just now. 

This award I have dedicated 

to youngsters from rural 

parts of India who come here 

(to Mumbai) and work hard 

towards achieving success. 

"I just want to advice 

them that if a boy like me 

who was son of clerk from 

forest department of Shimla 

can receive this award, then 

they can also achieve many 

things in their life." 

Avicii mourned at Coachella music fest 

Los Angeles : The unexpected death of world-renowned 

Swedish DJ and electronic dance music producer Avicii 

brought a sombre note to the 2018 Coachella 

music festival, especially near the Sahara Tent 

- the stage where the DJ closed the night in 2012. 

Avicii received a loving tribute from Norwegian 

DJ Kygo, who performed on the Sahara Tent on 

Saturday, reports variety.com. Towards the end of his 

set, an image of Avicii appeared on the video screens 

while the 2017 song "Without you" played. The screens 

then flashed Avicii's name and the words: "Rest in peace. 

We will miss you." Nile Rodgers, who had collaborated 

with Avicii, said on the stage: "Just yesterday (Friday), 

one of my best friends in the world, Avicii, passed away." 

Diljit Dosanjh becomes face 

of fashion brand 

New DelhI: Actor Diljit 

Dosanjh has been roped in 

as brand ambassador for the 

menswear of fbb, a fashion 

retail format from Future 

Group. 

He will promote the entire 

men's range -- casual, 

sports, ethnic, formal and 

party collection, read a statement 

to IANS. 

"Fashion is one's own 

style statement. The clothes 

you wear are an extension of 

your personality. Through 

my association with fbb, I 

will explore different styles 

and hope my fans are inspired 

to discover fashion 

that defines their personality," 

Diljit said. On the 

association, Rajesh Seth, 

Chief Operating Officer at 

fbb, said: "Diljit represents 

today's youth and connects 

seamlessly with fbb's target 

audience. With this association 

we would like to capitalize 

on his popularity and 

strengthen our reach in the 

entire north zone." 

The brand campaign featuring 

Diljit will go live very 

soon. 

Salman Khan meets Mehbooba Mufti in Kashmir 


Srinagar : Superstar Salman Khan and 

producer Ramesh Taurani, who are currently 

busy here with the shoot of the third 

instalment of the "Race" franchise, met Jammu 

and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba 

Mufti. Salman and the film's team reached 

the picturesque Sonamarg hill station in 

the state for a two-day shooting schedule of 

Remo D'Souza directed movie "Race 3". 

A photograph of their meeting was 

shared by Taurani on his Twitter account. 

"We thank Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti 

for welcoming us in Kashmir for the final 

lap of 'Race 3' with Salman Khan," Taurani 

tweeted with the image, in which he has 

posed with Mufti, Salman and the actor's 

bodyguard Shera. Besides Salman, "Race 3" 

will also feature Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, 

Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah and Saqib 

Saleem. The film scheduled to be released 

coinciding with the Eid festival on June 15.

The International News Weekly April 27, 2018 | Toronto 

15

The International News Weekly Sports 


Saina, Sindhu, Srikanth, Prannoy advance 

in Badminton Asia Championships 

Wuhan: Star Indian shuttlers 

Saina Nehwal, P.V. 

Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth 

registered contrasting 

victories in their respective 

opening round singles 

matches at the Badminton 

Asia Championships at the 

Wuhan Sports Centre here 

on Wednesday. 

While Saina and Sindhu 

registered straight game victories 

over their respective 

rivals to enter the second 

round of women's singles, 

Srikanth had to fight it out 

in his men's singles opener. 

World No.12 Saina, who 

recently clinched the gold 

at the Gold Coast Commonwealth 

Games, hardly lost 

sweat in thrashing Singapore's 

Yeo Jia Min 21-12, 21-9. 

Sindhu, who had lost to 

Saina in the CWG final to 

settle for the silver, defeated 

Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po 

21-14, 21-19 in the women's 

singles competition. 

Former World No 1 

Saina will meet China's Gao 

Fangjie, while Rio Olympics 

and world championship silver 

medallist Sindhu, seeded 

third, faces another Chinese 

Chen Xiaoxin next. 

In the men's singles, top 

seed and CWG silver medallist 

Srikanth eked out a 

come-from-behind 13-21, 21- 

16, 21-16 win over Japan's 

Kenta Nishimoto to set up 

a clash with Hong Kong's 

Wong Wing Ki Vincent. 

B. Sai Praneeth also advanced 

to the second round 

after beating Thailand's 

Suppanyu Avihingsanon 

21-13, 11-21, 21-19 while H.S. 

Prannoy defeated another 

Thai shutter Kantaphon 

Wangcharoen 21-15, 19-21, 21- 

19 to proceed. 

While World No.19 Sai 

Praneeth will be up against 

Chinese World No.3 Chen 

Long, Prannoy will meet 

Taiwan's Wang Tzu-wei in 

the second round. 

However, Sameer Verma's 

fight against seventh 

seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese 

Taipei ended with a 21- 

23, 17-21 loss. 

The men's doubles pair 

of Arjun M.R. and Ramchandran 

Shlok and women's 

combo of Meghana Jakkampudi 

and Poorvisha S. Ram 

too joined the singles stars 

in the second round after 

pulling off thrilling wins in 

the opening round. 

Arjun and Ramchandran 

registered a hardfought 

25-23, 23-21 win 

against World championship 

quarterfinalists Chung 

Eui Seok and Kim Dukyoung 

of Korea, while Meghana 

and Poorvisha held their 

nerves in pressure situations 

to beat Singapore's Ong 

Ren-Ne and Wong Jia Ying 

Crystal 14-21, 22-20, 21-17 in 

a women's doubles encounter. 

However, mixed doubles 

pair of Saurabh Sharma and 

Anoushka Parikh lost 17-21, 

14-21 to South Korean combo 

of Kim Won Ho and Shin 

Seung Chan. 

Another Indian pair of 

Venkat Gaurav Prasad and 

Juhi Dewangan also crashed 

out after losing 11-21, 13-21 

to Hong Kong's Lee Chun 

Hei Reginald and Chau Hoi 

Wah. 

BCCI recommends Kohli for Khel Ratna, Dravid 

for Dronacharya, Gavaskar for Dhyan Chand 

Kolkata, April 26 

(IANS) The Board of Control 

for Cricket in India 

(BCCI) has recommended 

Virat Kohli for the Rajiv 

Gandhi Khel Ratna honour 

while former India captain 

Rahul Dravid's name 

was recommended for the 

prestigious Dronacharya 

award. 

Legendary opener 

Sunil Gavaskar has been 

New Delhi : Delhi Daredevils 

captain Gautam 

Gambhir stepped down on 

Wednesday after the capital 

franchise lost five of their six 

matches in the Indian Premier 

League (IPL) season so 

far. 

Top-order batsman 

Shreyas Iyer, 23, will take 

over the captaincy role of 

the team, which is at the bottom 

of the table. Their only 

win came against Mumbai 

Indians -- who are also struggling 

with the same number 

of points. 

"It was my decision. I 

haven't contributed enough 

to the team. I had to take the 

responsibility being the leader 

of the ship for where we 

are at the points table. I feel 

it was the right time for me 

to step down. There was no 

pressure from the franchise," 

Gambhir said at a press conference. 

"I was too desperate to 

turn things around. When 

recommended for Dhyan 

Chand Lifetime Achievement 

Award. 

India captain Kohli has 

been the face of the sport 

for some time now and is 

you are so eager, it can backfire. 

That could be the reason, 

and may be I couldn't handle 

the pressure which came 

with the position I was given. 

Coming back to Delhi (from 

Kolkata Kngight Riders) was 

an emotional decision, my 

emotional homecoming and 

sometimes emotions get the 

better of you and then you 

are so eager to change th 

things around -- this was the 

only thing in my mind." 

Gambhir, 36, captained 

KKR to two IPL tiles in 2012 

and 2014. He had joined 

KKR after three seasons 

with Delhi. Gambhir's batting 

performance has hardly 

been anything to talk about. 

He posted scores of 55, 15, 8, 

3 and 4. Shreyas said: "I am 

ready for the new challenge. 

I want to thank the management 

and my coaches for 

slecting me as the captain of 

the team. It is a great honour 

for me. It is a great opportunity 

to prove myself. There are 

often compared to the great 

Sachin Tendulkar for his 

exploits with the bat. 

Dravid, meanwhile, 

coached India U-19 team to 

World Cup glory earlier in 

2018. 

Gavaskar's contribution 

to India cricket has 

been immense and he is 

know as the original 'Little 

Master' who batted like no 

other during his times. 

Shreyas replaces Gambhir in IPL 2018 

lot of people in our camp who 

believe we still can do some 

great things." Head coach 

Ricky Ponting said: "It is a 

tough call (from the captain) 

to say that the team's performance 

has not been good 

enough and someone else is 

better in the side to take up 

the role. It shows great character 

as leader to stand up 

and say that. 

"I fully endorse Shreyas 

as the new leader, terrific 

young player and terrific 

young man -- someone who 

has a huge future in the 

game," he added. 

"Gambhir's decision, as 

tough as it might be, it gives 

us a fresh start for the last 

half of this tournament. We 

have the talent in the group 

to make impact in this tournament. 

We have six home 

games to go and hopefully 

good results follow. We need 

to be more consistent over 

the the entire 40 overs of a 

match." 

Zverev at 3rd spot, Nadal leads ATP rankings 

Madrid : Germany's Alexander Zverev jumped to the third spot with 5,195 points while Spain's 

Rafael Nadal maintained his number one spot in the men's Association of Tennis Professionals 

(ATP) world singles rankings released Monday. The 31-year-old Spaniard on Sunday won 

a record-breaking 31st career Masters title after defeating Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2 in the 

final round of the Monte-Carlo Masters, reports Efe. Switzerland's Roger Federer remained in the 

second place. Croatia's Marin Cilic fell to the fourth spot, ahead of Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. 

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