The Canadian Parvasi - Issue105

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Issue No : 105
Email: editor@canadianparvasi.com Contact Number : 905-673-0600 August 02, 2019 | Toronto | Pages 12
First time after Partition, ‘Nagar
Kirtan’ arrives from Pak to India
Attari (Amritsar):
For the first time after
Independence, the
‘Nagar Kirtan’, which
was taken out from
Nankana Sahib district
of Pakistan’s Punjab
province, arrived here
on Thursday to mark
the 550th birth anniversary
celebrations of the
Sikhism founder, Guru
Nanak Dev.
The ‘Nagar Kirtan’
(religious procession),
carrying the holy Guru
Granth Sahib, crossed
over to India from Pakistan
in the afternoon.
Around 500 Sikh
devotees, who were
part of the procession,
‘Efforts on to open
corridor on Nov 9’
reached here through
the land transit route of
the Attari border.
Several ministers
of the Punjab government,
along with senior
officials of the Amritsar
district administration,
received the ‘Nagar Kirtan’
at the border. The
top leadership of the
opposition Shriomani
Akali Dal was also present.
A large number of
devotees from the Indian
side stormed the
roads when the ‘Nagar
Kirtan’ arrived in a decorated
palanquin.
Continued on page 08
Pakistan to grant consular access to
Jadhav, India evaluating proposal
Amritsar: There is
speculation over the Kartarpur
corridor being
thrown open to pilgrims
on November 9, three days
before the 550th birth anniversary
of Guru Nanak
Dev.
Even as India and
Pakistan are yet to make
an announcement on
this, the ‘granthi’ (priest)
of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib
in Kartarpur Sahib,
Gobind Singh, told media
on Wednesday that the
corridor’s Pakistan side
was near completion and
the country’s PM, Imran
Khan, would inaugurate
it on the arrival of the first
group of Indian pilgrims.
“The corridor dream is going
to be fulfilled with the
initiative of Imran Khan
and our army chief General
Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The PM will inaugurate
the corridor on November
9,” the granthi said.
Saleem Akram, Pakistan’s
site engineer for the
corridor, said work on museum,
library, langar hall,
sarovar, guest rooms and
courtyard was in the last
stage. “We are left with
plastering the walls, installing
electrical fittings,
laying tiles on the floor
and fixing marble on panels,”
he said.
Akram said 70 contractors
were working “round
the clock”.
Gobind said the corridor’s
original building
and the field where Guru
Nanak had farmed for the
last 18 years of his life had
been preserved in their
original form.
New Delhi/Islamabad:
Pakistan has decided
to grant consular access
to Indian national Kulbhushan
Jadhav, a fortnight
after the ICJ ruling, and has
informed India about it.
New Delhi confirmed
on Thursday it has received
the Pakistani proposal and
said it will communicate
with Islamabad through
diplomatic channels.
Amid reports that Pakistan
has set some conditions
on providing consular
access, like insisting that
it will have its own person
present during the meeting
between Indian officials
and Jadhav, India said that
it is "evaluating" the Pakistani
proposal in the "light
of the judgement of the ICJ
ruling". "I am not getting
into the modalities. We
have received a proposal
from Pakistan, and we are
evaluating it in the light
of judgment of the ICJ. We
will maintain communication
with Pakistan through
diplomatic channels,"
said Ministry of External
Affairs spokesperson Raveesh
Kumar, answering
queries at a media briefing
in New Delhi.
Pakistan Foreign Office
spokesperson Mohammed
Faisal, in an answer to a
query at a media briefing
in Islamabad, said: "We
have offered the Indian
High Commission to avail
consular access on this
Friday. The reply from the
Indian side is awaited." According
to reports, the time
for the consular access is
3 pm on Friday. On July
18, Pakistan said it has informed
Jadhav of his rights
to consular access under
the Vienna Convention, in
accordance with the International
Court of Justice
(ICJ) ruling, and said it will
grant consular access to the
Indian national "according
to Pakistani laws".
Continued on page 08
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The International News Weekly Canada
August 02, 2019 | Toronto 02
Friends, co-workers mourn 4 members of
same family found dead in Markham, Ont.
The Canadian Press
Markham, Ont. : The
four people found dead in
a Markham, Ont., home
over the weekend came
from three generations
of what appeared to be a
happy family, friends said
Tuesday, as they mourned
the victims of what police
called a quadruple homicide.
The dead were identified
by friends as Malesa
Zaman, her father Moniruz
Zaman, mother Momtaz
Zaman, and grandmother.
Police haven’t named the
victims, nor have they
said what relationship
exists between them or
Menhaz Zaman, a 23-yearold
who has been charged
with four counts of firstdegree
murder.
Robin Islam, who
called himself a long-time
friend of the Zamans, said
the young man who has
been charged was the son
of Moniruz and Momtaz
Zaman. Islam said the family
was a social one and enjoyed
spending time with
friends.
“They were always
very happy, nice and decent
family,” the 45-yearold
said. “We’d sit in the
same corner and we’d talk,
we’d go to family barbecues.”
Islam said the older
Zamans moved to Canada
from Bangladesh in the
80s, hoping for a better life.
Moniruz Zaman and Momtaz
Zaman were “very
much” in love, he said, and
recently celebrated their
25th wedding anniversary
with almost 200 friends
and family last month.
Menhaz Zaman made
a slide show for the party
and “said nice things
about his parents,” Islam
said.
The family friend described
Momtaz Zaman
as a “charming woman”
who was constantly smiling,
who loved to cook and
take pictures. Islam said
Moniruz Zaman was a
“very quiet, soft-speaking,
polite gentleman.” Islam
said they would often sit
and discuss politics.
News of the deaths had
come as a complete shock,
Islam said.
“I’m just dead,” he
said. “I can’t believe it. I
cannot sleep, I cannot eat,
I cannot walk. I feel like
they’re still right beside
me, they’re talking to me.
It’s so scary.”
A woman who created
an online fundraiser
to raise money for the
funeral costs also described
what happened as
“tragic.”Afnan Alibaccas,
who created the gofundme
account, said she was a
close friend of Malesa Zaman
and had known her
for more than 12 years.
“We first met in the
third grade and I’ve grown
with her ever since. She’s
been my go-to for as long
as I can remember,” Alibaccas
wrote on the site.
“She had the sweetest
heart and was always willing
to listen and care for
everyone she knew.”
Emmera Riaz, a former
basement tenant in the Zaman
home, also said she
had fond memories of the
family and described them
as very involved with the
Bangladeshi community.
“It was just a wonderful
family,” she said.
Meanwhile, Beck Taxi
said it was “devastated”
by the death of Moniruz
Zaman, who had been an
employee with the cab
company since 2011.
York Regional Police
have said they were called
to the Markham home
shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday
after receiving a 911
call reporting possible injuries.They
said Menhaz
Zaman opened the door
to investigators and was
taken into custody shortly
afterwards.
— with files from Lidia
Abraha.
Manitoba manhunt shows
lack of resources for missing
Indigenous women: advocates
Women’s K4 500-metre
team wins Canada’s
first gold of Lima
Pan American Games
The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG : Helicopters
and a specialized military
aircraft scoured from the
air while armed police took
to the ground over northern
Manitoba in a hunt for
two suspects of murders in
British Columbia.
Some advocates say it’s
a stark contrast to resources
applied to searches for
missing and murdered Indigenous
women and girls.
“It is a little bit eyebrow
raising because of
the different response,”
says Sheila North, a former
grand chief and advocate
for missing and murdered
Indigenous women.
“The effort that they
are going through to try
and find them … could
trigger a lot of things for
people who do their own
searches.”
The massive manhunt
has gripped the country
since Bryer Schmegelsky,
18, and Kam McLeod, 19,
were named last week
as suspects in three killings.
University professor
Leonard Dyck and Australian
Lucas Fowler and
his American girlfriend
Chynna Deese were found
dead last month in northern
B.C.
North said it’s important
the suspects are
caught because they could
pose a serious risk to the
public.
But she wonders where
the same sense of urgency
is when an Indigenous
woman or girl can’t be
found.North recalls the
case of Jennifer Catcheway
in 2008. She was last seen
in Portage la Prairie, Man.
on the night of her 18th
birthday. When Wilfred
and Bernice Catcheway
notified police their daughter
was missing, they were
told she was probably out
partying, North said.
For more than a decade,
the Catcheways
have conducted their own
search of rivers, lakes, forests
and nearby First Nations.
North says she’s also
reminded of 51-year-old
grandmother, Mildred
Flett, who was last seen
in Winnipeg in 2010. Her
ex-husband has said it was
difficult to get police to pay
attention to her case.
Flett was from the Testaskweyak
Cree Nation in
Split Lake, Man., where
missing person posters of
her remain. Schmegelsky
and McLeod were spotted
in the same community
before a vehicle they were
travelling in was found in
nearby Gillam, leading police
to focus their search in
that area.
North said there are
more than 1,200 relatives of
missing and murdered Indigenous
women and girls
watching as Mounties do
everything they can to find
the two murder suspects.
They may also be wondering
why they couldn’t have
received more help, she
adds.
“Families that do their
own searches are feeling
a little bit let down and
not respected in the same
way as these other families
are,” she said.
Darlene Okemaysim-
Sicotte has seen many families
struggle to organize
searches as the co-chair
of Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik
(Women Walking Together),
a grassroots group
that supports families of
missing and murdered
Indigenous women in Saskatchewan.Her
cousin,
Shelley Napope, 16, was
murdered by serial killer
John Martin Crawford in
1992.Okemaysim-Sicotte
says she supports efforts
to find Schmegelsky and
McLeod and that no life is
worth more than another.
But the manhunt for
them has made it clear that
there is the means, money
and public support to conduct
a large-scale search
when needed, she says.
Okemaysim-Sicotte
hopes people will remember
that the next time an
Indigenous woman or girl
is missing.
“The world is watching
it, she says.
The Canadian Press
LIMA, Peru : Canada’s women’s K4 500-metre canoeing
team brought home the country’s first gold
medal of the Pan American Games on Sunday.
The team of Alanna Braylougheed, Alexa Kaien
Irvin, Andreanne Langlois and Anna Negulic finished
in one minute 34.316 seconds.
Langlois says that typically, her team debriefs
after a race and points out areas for improvement.
This time, she says, there’s nothing to critique —
it was perfect.
Mexico took silver 0.33 seconds behind the Canadians
and Argentina was third 1.29 seconds back of
the winners.
The Canadian men finished just off the podium
in the same event, 1.765 seconds back of the gold
medallists from Argentina.
Cuba was second and Mexico took bronze, just
0.765 second ahead of Canada’s Dominik Crete, Eric
Ellery, Marshall Hughes and Jarret Kenke.

The International News Weekly Canada
August 02, 2019 | Toronto
03
Statistics Canada takes second look
at ethnicity question on census
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA : Statistics
Canada officials estimate
the number of people identifying
as Jewish in the
2016 census could have been
double what it was if not for
a small change on the questionnaire.
The number of people
identifying themselves as
ethnically Jewish on the
census has been on a decline
since 2001, but the drop between
2011 and 2016 far outpaced
the declines between
previous census cycles.
A newly released review
by Statistics Canada
says the census could have
identified between 270,000
and 298,000 Jews in Canada
in 2016 if response patterns
remained steady, instead of
the almost 144,000 captured
in the population count.
The review says the decline
is most likely linked to
the removal of Jewish from
a list of examples that goes
along with the question
about ethnic and cultural
origins.
But the reviewers also
note that dropping the examples
entirely could cause
additional problems, such
as respondents not understanding
the question or affecting
the results in different
ways.
The national statistics
agency is now testing a new
way to ask people about
their ethnic origins, trying
to wrangle a complex issue
into a simple-to-understand
question in time for the 2021
population counts.
Mr. Rajinder Saini CEO, Parvasi Media Group meet
with Mr. Michael Coteau, MPP, Don Valley East and
former Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport at
Parvasi TV studio. He has recently announced to
contest for Ontario Liberal Party leadership.
Man planned to kill ex, not her uncle,
appeal court says in changing conviction
TORONTO: Ontario’s
top court says a Toronto
man who planned to kill
his estranged wife but
ended up killing her uncle
instead should not be
convicted of first-degree
murder because the uncle
was not the plot’s intended
target.
In a decision released
this week, the Court of
Appeal for Ontario says
that while jurors found
Willy Ching intended to
kill his ex’s uncle in the
moment, there was no
planning and deliberation
involved in that slaying.
Meanwhile, the person
he did plan to kill —
his former spouse — was
unharmed, which means
the death of her uncle
cannot be considered
to have occurred as part
of that plan, the court
said.
As a result, the court
says Ching’s conviction
for first-degree murder
should be quashed and
replaced with one for
second-degree murder,
which does not involve
advance planning.
Court heard Ching
bought a hatchet and
knife and was trying to
get into the home where
his estranged wife, Maria
Ching, was staying, but
her uncle intervened and
was fatally wounded in
the struggle.
The appeal court says
the trial judge erred in
telling jurors they could
find Willy Ching guilty
of first-degree murder if
they found he planned
to kill his former spouse
and killed her uncle, Ernesto
Agsaulio, in the
process of carrying out
that plan. His plan was,
in fact, not carried out, it
said.
The court said the
trial judge misapplied of
a ruling by the Supreme
Court of Canada in a case
involving a man who accidentally
killed his children
while trying to kill
his spouse.
“The jury found that
the appellant intended
to kill Mr. Agsaulio …
The planning and deliberation,
however, was
in respect of a different
intended killing, the killing
of Ms. Ching,” the
appeal court wrote in its
decision, noting jurors
were not asked to consider
whether the uncle’s
murder was planned and
deliberate.
“The plan to kill Ms.
Ching never reached the
point where the appellant
executed the killing. Ms.
Ching remained on the
second floor of the house
well beyond the reach of
the appellant. One will
never know whether, had
the appellant been allowed
into the house, he
would have carried out
his plan,” it said.
“There is a sound policy
reason for concluding
that an accused who intentionally
kills person
B when in the course of
carrying out the planned
and deliberate murder of
person A will be guilty
of second-degree murder,
whereas an accused
who accidentally or mistakenly
kills person B
when person A was the
target will be convicted
of first-degree murder,”
it said.
“This result reflects
the fact that in the first
case the actual killing
may well have been impulsive
while in the second,
it was the result of
a planned and deliberate
act.”
However, the court
rejected arguments that
the trial judge had also
erred in his instructions
to jurors regarding Ching’s
attempt to jump
over a staircase railing
upon learning Agsaulio
had died, and those regarding
Ching’s conflicting
statements in his
testimony and police interviews.
Court heard the couple’s
marriage fell apart
in 2009 and that September,
Maria Ching moved
out of their shared home
to go live with Agsaulio
and his family in nearby
Mississauga, Ont.
Willy Ching did not
accept that the marriage
was ending and repeatedly
tried to speak to his
former spouse, the decision
said.
In October, Ching became
upset after unsuccessfully
trying to access
his ex’s email account,
and bought a knife and
hatchet, the document
said.
The next day, he
drove to Agsaulio’s house
in an effort to see his exwife,
the document said.
The couple’s daughters
alerted their mother,
who then called Ching
and told him to go home,
the ruling said. He asked
her to come outside to
talk, but she refused and
warned her uncle that
Ching was on his way to
the house, it said.
When Ching rang the
doorbell, it was Agsaulio
who answered and
refused to let him in,
the document said. They
talked for a few minutes,
then Ching began
“hacking and slashing”
at Agsaulio before he
could be restrained, it
said.
Agsaulio was still
alive when Ching was arrested
and charged with
assault, it said.
He gave a statement
to police, saying he had
only wanted to talk to his
wife and had not tried to
kill anyone, it said.
By the end of the interview,
however, police
informed Ching that Agsaulio
had died and the
charge would be upgraded
to first-degree murder,
the decision said. Ching
then asked to use the
bathroom, ran towards
the stairwell and tried to
“fling himself headfirst
over the railing,” but officers
held him back, it
said.
He gave a second
statement to police the
next day, repeating
that he had gone to the
house to speak to his ex
and had not intended to
hurt anyone, the document
said.
Ching said he had
brought the knife and
hatchet because he wanted
to threaten to hurt
himself if his ex didn’t
take him back, it said.
Second-degree murder
carries an automatic
life sentence with no
chance of parole for 10 to
25 years.

The International News Weekly World
August 02, 2019 | Toronto 04
FTC fines Facebook $5B, adds
oversight for privacy mishaps
WASHINGTON : Federal
regulators have fined Facebook
$5 billion for privacy
violations and are instituting
new oversight and restrictions
on its business. But they
are only holding CEO Mark
Zuckerberg personally responsible
in a limited fashion.
The fine is the largest the
Federal Trade Commission
has levied on a tech company,
though it won’t make
much of a dent for a company
that had nearly $56 billion in
revenue last year. As part of
the agency’s settlement with
Facebook, Zuckerberg will
have to personally certify his
company’s compliance with
its privacy programs. The
FTC said that false certifications
could expose him to civil
or criminal penalties.
Some experts had
thought the FTC might fine
Zuckerberg directly or seriously
limit his authority over
the company.
“The magnitude of the $5
billion penalty and sweeping
conduct relief are unprecedented
in the history of the
FTC,” Joe Simons, the chairman
of the FTC, said in a
statement. He added that the
new restrictions are designed
“to change Facebook’s entire
privacy culture to decrease
the likelihood of continued
violations.”
Facebook does not admit
any wrongdoing as part of the
settlement.
The commission opened
an investigation into Facebook
last year after revelations
that data mining firm
Cambridge Analytica had
gathered details on as many
as 87 million Facebook users
without their permission.
The agency said Wednesday
that following its yearlong
investigation of the company,
the Department of Justice
will file a complaint alleging
that Facebook “repeatedly
used deceptive disclosures
and settings to undermine users’
privacy preferences.”
The FTC had been examining
whether that massive
breakdown violated a settlement
that Facebook reached
in 2012 after government regulators
concluded the company
repeatedly broke its privacy
promises to users. That
settlement had required that
Facebook get user consent to
share personal data in ways
that override their privacy
settings.
The FTC said Facebook’s
deceptive disclosures about
privacy settings allowed it to
share users’ personal information
with third-party apps
that their friends downloaded
but the users themselves did
not give permissions to.
Privacy advocates have
pushed for the FTC to limit
how Facebook can track users
— something that would
likely cut into its advertising
revenue, which relies on
businesses being able to show
users targeted ads based on
their interests and behaviour.
The FTC did not specify such
restrictions on Facebook.
Three Republican commissioners
voted for the fine
while two Democrats opposed
it, a clear sign that the restrictions
on Facebook don’t go as
far as critics and privacy advocates
had hoped. That wish
list included specific punishment
for Zuckerberg, strict
limits on what data Facebook
can collect and possibly even
breaking off subsidiaries
such as WhatsApp and Instagram.
“The proposed settlement
does little to change the business
model or practices that
led to the recidivism,”
wrote Commissioner
Rohit Chopra in his
dissenting statement.
He noted that the settlement
imposes “no
meaningful changes”
to the company’s
structure or business
model. “Nor does it include
any restrictions
on the company’s
mass surveillance or
advertising tactics,”
he wrote
The fine is well
above the agency’s
previous record for
privacy violations —
$22.5 million — which
it dealt to Google in
2012 for bypassing
the privacy controls
in Apple’s Safari
browser. There have
been even larger fines
against non-tech companies,
including a
$14.7 billion penalty
against Volkswagen
to settle allegations of
cheating on emissions
tests and deceiving customers.
Equifax will pay at least
$700 million to settle lawsuits
and investigations over a 2017
data breach; the FTC was one
of the parties. The money will
likely go to the U.S. Treasury.
The FTC’s new 20-year
settlement with Facebook
establishes an “independent
privacy committee” of Facebook
directors. The committee’s
members must be independent,
will be appointed by
an independent nominating
committee and can only be
fired by a “supermajority” of
Facebook’s board of directors.
The idea is to remove “unfettered
control” by Zuckerberg,
the FTC said.
Since the Cambridge Analytica
debacle erupted more
than a year ago, Facebook has
vowed to do a better job corralling
its users’ data. Nevertheless,
other missteps have
come up since then.
In December, for example,
the Menlo Park, California,
company acknowledged
a software flaw had exposed
the photos of about 7 million
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users to a wider audience
than they had intended.
It also acknowledged giving
big tech companies like
Amazon and Yahoo extensive
access to users’ personal data,
in effect exempting them
from its usual privacy rules.
And it collected call and text
logs from phones running
Google’s Android system in
2015. Amid all that, Zuckerberg
and his chief lieutenant,
Sheryl Sandberg, apologized
repeatedly. In March,
Zuckerberg unveiled a
new, “privacy-focused”
vision for the social network
that emphasizes
private messaging and
groups based on users’
interests.
But critics and privacy
advocates are not
convinced that either a
fine or Facebook’s new
model amounts to a substantial
change.
If the company’s
business practices don’t
change as result of the
FTC’s action, “there is
no benefit to consumers,”
said Marc Rotenberg,
the president and
executive director of the
Washington-based nonprofit
Electronic Privacy
Information Center.
“The eight-year delay
won’t be justified,” he
said, referring to when
Facebook first told the
FTC it would do better.
The fine does not
spell closure for Facebook,
although the company’s investors
— and executives
— have been eager to put it
behind them. Facebook is still
under various investigations
in the U.S. and elsewhere in
the world, including the European
Union, Germany and
Canada. There are also broader
antitrust concerns that
have been the subject of congressional
hearings, though it
is too early to see if those will
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Matt Stoller, a fellow at
the Open Markets Institute,
which has been critical of
Facebook, said the company
should admit wrongdoing.
“There should be structural
solutions to force competition
into the social networking
market,” he added. “One
of the angles for competition
is privacy. They will compete
to make a safer space to retain
their user base.”
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The International News Weekly August 02, 2019 | Toronto
05
Setting a new trend in Ethnic Radio
An hour long
English Language Newstalk
Radio Show
“Peel Matters”
Joe Horneck Ryan Gurcharn BILL MCBAIN
On 960 AM Sauga News Talk
Monday - Friday: 7 PM - 8 PM
Don’t forget to tune in !!

The International News Weekly Edit
06
August 02, 2019 | Toronto
The
w w w . canadianparv asi. c o m
Publisher & CEO
Associate Editor
Editor (India)
Online
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Official Photographer
Contact
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Sales
Rajinder Saini
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editor@canadianparvasi.com
sales@canadianparvasi.com
Make It Win-Win
Personal laws permitting triple
talaq had to go but criminalising it
spawns new injustices
The passage of the Muslim Women (Protection
of Rights on Marriage) Bill criminalising
instant oral talaq in the Rajya Sabha fulfils a
BJP electoral promise. The party’s Hindutva
base and even a number of Muslims opposed to
the writ of religious leaders and personal laws
reigning supreme in their community have
welcomed the moment. By prescribing three
years imprisonment for Muslim men who
pronounce the talaq-e-biddat, the law sticks
out with rough edges for treating divorce as a
criminal offence.
From a system which gave archaic personal
laws a long rope for decades to now criminalising
practices like triple talaq that it fostered,
India is veritably swinging between extremes.
The old order had to change, but it is unfortunate
that the new law failed to strike a balance.
Personal laws gave religious leaders disproportionate
influence and denied many people, especially
women, the benefits of living in a free
society and under meaningful protection of the
s tate. By overriding personal laws, government
is indeed doing Muslim women a world of
good but in failing to treat triple talaq as a civil
offence, as in any other messy divorce case, it
may conceivably end up doing more harm than
good to the woman.
A legal challenge in Supreme Court is
certain to raise issues like proportionality:
whether the severity of punishment befits the
seriousness of the crime and whether there
are less onerous ways of achieving the legislation’s
goals. In a sense the social and political
cost of not having a Uniform Civil Code, which
would have been in tune with the secular ethos
of the country, is showing. From Congress “appeasement”
of minorities – or to be more precise
clerics within minority communities in
the hope they would deliver a “vote bank” – the
pendulum has now swung to the other extreme
where, under a Hindutva-oriented government,
the law appears to have a punitive edge
for Muslim men.
In a contrary scenario, a UCC would have
united the country in true fashion where citizens
irrespective of religion would follow the
same laws for marriage, divorce, succession,
etc. This government has a manifesto that
promises UCC and a mandate that can make
it happen. It must bite the bullet while earning
trust by upholding, rather than debunking,
other aspects of secularism as well. TNN
Give Rivers More Space
To avoid frequent flooding havoc, India must
regulate construction on floodplains
Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar
Last week, the Ulhas
River on the outskirts of
Mumbai burst its banks,
swamping the land around
it, including local housing
estates, and stranding
the passengers of the Mahalaxmi
Express. The flood
should not have surprised
anyone: Much of the region’s
exurban growth has
been in townships along
the Ulhas, with little regard
for the integrity of the river
system.
India has made progress
on many aspects of flood
disaster management in
the past decade, notably in
warnings and evacuation,
as we saw earlier this year
when Odisha moved a million
people to safety ahead
of Cyclone Fani. But the
country needs to catch up
on a critical measure, one
that is taking on greater urgency
with climate change:
the regulation of development
on floodplains.
This regulatory gap
persists despite the urging
of various agencies and
parliamentary committees
over 45 years, and for obvious
reasons: developable
land, especially around
growing cities, is precious.
If one were to quantify the
true costs of real estate development
in flood-prone
areas, however, that calculus
might be different.
Reckless construction
over wetlands, floodplains,
or riverbeds – natural
features that absorb and
mitigate heavy rainfall or
a river’s overflow – helped
cause or aggravate the
floods in Mumbai in 2005
and 2017, Uttarakhand
in 2013, Srinagar in 2014,
Chennai in 2015 and Kerala
in 2018. (Paved areas elevate
flood risk by reducing absorption
of water into the
ground and increasing runoff.)
In three of those flood
events – Kochi, Chennai,
Mumbai – airports, a critical
piece of infrastructure,
were closed for days because
they were located on
a floodplain, or even across
the river itself.
The short-sightedness
of those decisions seems
remarkable given how
well known the concept of
floodplain protection is,
not just in traditional community
practice but modern
hydrology. In 1975, the
Central Water Commission
prepared a model bill for
floodplain zoning and sent
it to the states to enact and
implement (rivers are state
subjects). Only three states
– Manipur, Rajasthan and
Uttarakhand – have enacted
such legislations so far, and
even in these states, implementation
is virtually absent.
This regulatory shortfall
is no secret. The National
Disaster Management
Authority’s (NDMA) Flood
Guidelines observe that
“the reluctance of states to
enact zoning has led to increase
in encroachment on
floodplains, sometimes authorised
and duly approved
by planning authorities.”
Another push for a
floodplain policy came
in 2016 when draft River
Regulation Zone Rules, formulated
with the help of
independent experts, were
circulated by the ministry
of environment, forests, and
climate change (MoEFCC).
The rules proposed demarcation
of active floodplains,
high flood lines, and high to
low impact zones, and then
limiting development within
these zones.
What would such limits
look like? NDMA’s guidelines
suggest prohibiting
vital public infrastructure
in the most flood-prone
areas along rivers. UN
guidelines on flood management
call for “wise use” of
floodplains. They suggest
wetlands, agriculture and
green reserves along water
courses that will not only
act as buffers against flood
but nurse fisheries and enable
storage and recharge of
groundwater. In less risky
zones, building codes would
be needed to reduce flood
damage to homes.
The MoEFCC’s draft
river rules were opposed by
many states, presumably
because of the political and
practical challenges of implementing
them in heavily
populated areas with lots
of rivers. Local community
participation can help overcome
some of those challenges.
So will flood hazard
mapping and publication.
Imagine if builders were
forced to publicise the flood
risk rating of their projects
along with carpet area and
parking.
Globally, the rise in
extreme events is forcing
a rethink on flood management.
Floods are the most
common kind of disaster,
accounting for 47% of
worldwide disasters in 2006-
15, up from 40% in 1996-2005,
according to the UN Office
for Disaster Risk Reduction.
One 2017 analysis suggests
that 4.48 million Indians are
exposed to riverine floods,
the highest in the world.
In the US, which has
long managed floods
through hazard mapping
and public insurance –
cover is mandatory for
mortgages in 100-year flood
zones – rising risk is pushing
up premiums.
The World Meteorological
Organisation now promotes
integrated flood management
that includes land
use planning in its arsenal
of anti-flood measures. And
in Europe, a 2007 directive
is encouraging countries to
expand beyond the traditional
flood control of dams
and dykes to include more
natural measures, including
restoring floodplains to
“give rivers more space”.
That would require
seeing rivers not as static
channels – as many of India’s
urban waterfront projects
seem to be doing – and
more as dynamic systems
in which riverbanks and
floodplains are not treated
as real estate but as elbow
room for the river, allowing
it to expand and contract
over the seasons.
Such a rethink does
not seem to be happening
in India, or at least not fast
enough. Despite the lessons
of past floods, Maharashtra
deleted its River Regulation
Zone policy in 2015 – a decision
now being protested
by residents near the Ulhas
River – and decided
to build a new airport in
Navi Mumbai on low-lying
land. Nationally the relaxation
of coastal regulation
zone (CRZ) rules allows
more risk to accumulate in
coastal areas which face the
additional threat of sea level
rise.
Preserving natural land
use – forests, river banks,
wetlands – is often painted
as antithetical to development,
a false dichotomy
that is not only outdated but
dangerous in an age of extreme
weather.
Climate change is showing
us the economic costs of
ignoring the environment,
the limits to our ability to
bind and control nature,
and the advantages of working
with natural systems
rather than against them.
Source Credit: This article
was first published in The Times
of India.
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The International News Weekly world
August 02, 2019 | Toronto
07
US slaps sanctions against Iranian
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif
WASHINGTON : In an
unprecedented move, the
United States on Wednesday
slapped sanctions
against Iranian Foreign
Minister Javad Zarif on
the ground that he acted
or purported to act for or
on behalf of, directly or
indirectly, the Iranian Supreme
Leader.
“This action represents
another step toward
denying the Iranian regime
the resources to enable
terror and oppress
the Iranian people,” Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo,
who is in Thailand, said in
a statement soon after the
Department of Treasury
announced the designation
of the Iranian foreign
minister.
Instead of using Iran’s
precious resources to
invest in the brave and
rightfully proud people of
Iran, the Iranian regime
facilitates and supports
terrorism, jails and tortures
innocent Iranians,
fuels foreign conflicts in
Syria and Yemen, and, in
recent weeks has expanded
its nuclear programme,
he said.
“Foreign Minister
Zarif, a senior regime official
and apologist, has for
years now been complicit
in these malign activities,”
Pompeo said alleging that
the Iranian Foreign Ministry
is not merely the diplomatic
arm of the Islamic
Republic but also a means
of advancing many of the
Supreme Leader’s destabilising
policies.
“Foreign Minister
Zarif and the Foreign Ministry
he runs take their direction
from the Supreme
Leader and his office.
Foreign Minister Zarif is
a key enabler of Ayatollah
Khamenei’s policies
throughout the region
and around the world. The
designation of Javad Zarif
today reflects this reality,”
Pompeo said.
Under the sanctions,
all property and interests
in property of Zarif that
are in the United States or
in the possession or control
of US persons must be
blocked.
It also generally prohibit
all dealings by US
persons or within (or transiting)
the United States
that involve any property
or interests in property of
blocked or designated persons.
A senior administration
official, however, did
not respond to questions
on the properties of Zarif,
if any in the US.
The Treasury said any
foreign financial institution
that knowingly conducts
or facilitates a significant
transaction for or
on behalf of Zarif could be
subject to US correspondent
account or payablethrough
sanctions.
“Javad Zarif implements
the reckless agenda
of the Iran’s Supreme
Leader and is the regime’s
primary spokesperson
around the world. The
United States is sending a
clear message to the Iranian
regime that its recent
behaviour is completely
unacceptable,” said Treasury
Secretary Steven
Mnuchin.
“At the same time, the
Iranian regime denies Iranian
citizens’ access to social
media, Foreign Minister
Javad Zarif spreads the
regime’s propaganda and
disinformation around the
world through these mediums,”
Mnuchin said.
Senator Marco Rubio
supported the decision to
impose sanctions to block
any US-based assets of
Iran’s Foreign Minister
Javad Zarif.
“That said, I’m very
concerned that the Administration
just renewed
controversial sanctions
waivers that are allowing
Vladimir Putin’s Russian
regime and other foreign
countries not only to continue
assisting the Iranian
regime’s expansion
of nuclear infrastructure,
but also to keep the flawed
Iran nuclear deal on life
support,” Rubio said.
“The Iranian regime
blatantly violated the
Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action by concealing
from international inspectors
its dangerous atomic
archive for rapid nuclear
weaponisation, and it continues
to violate the deal
by escalating its uranium
enrichment activities.
The right response here
is to continue maximizing
international pressure
against the Iranian
regime—not to ease it,” he
said.
China orders ‘halal’ eateries to
take down Arabic, Muslim symbols
Beijing : Authorities in
the Chinese capital have ordered
halal restaurants and
food stalls to remove Arabic
script and symbols associated
with Islam from their
signs, part of an expanding
national effort to “Sinicize”
its Muslim population.
Employees at 11 restaurants
and shops in Beijing
selling halal products and
visited by Reuters in recent
days said officials had told
them to remove images associated
with Islam, such as
the crescent moon and the
word “halal” written in Arabic,
from signs.
Government workers
from various offices told one
manager of a Beijing noodle
shop to cover up the “halal”
in Arabic on his shop’s sign,
and then watched him do it.
“They said this is foreign
culture and you should
use more Chinese culture,”
said the manager, who, like
all restaurant owners and
employees who spoke to Reuters,
declined to give his
name due to the sensitivity
of the issue.
The campaign against
Arabic script and Islamic
images marks a new phase
of a drive that has gained
momentum since 2016,
aimed at ensuring religions
conform with mainstream
Chinese culture.
The campaign has included
the removal of Middle
Eastern-style domes on
many mosques around the
country in favour of Chinese-style
pagodas.
China, home to 20 million
Muslims, officially
guarantees freedom of religion,
but the government
has campaigned to bring the
faithful into line with Communist
Party ideology.
It’s not just Muslims
who have come under scrutiny.
Authorities have shut
down many underground
Christian churches, and
torn down crosses of some
churches deemed illegal by
the government.
But Muslims have come
in for particular attention
since a riot in 2009 between
mostly Muslim Uighur
people and majority Han
Chinese in the far western
region of Xinjiang, home to
the Uighur minority.
Spasms of ethnic violence
followed, and some
Uighurs, chafing at government
controls, carried out
knife and crude bomb attacks
in public areas and
against the police and other
authorities.
In response, China
launched what it described
as a crackdown on terrorism
in Xinjiang.
Now, it is facing intense
criticism from Western nations
and rights groups over
its policies, in particular
mass detentions and surveillance
of Uighurs and other
Muslims there.
The government says
its actions in Xinjiang are
necessary to stamp out religious
extremism. Officials
have warned about creeping
Islamisation, and have extended
tighter controls over
other Muslim minorities.
‘New normal’
Analysts say the ruling
Communist Party is concerned
that foreign influences
can make religious
groups difficult to control.
“Arabic is seen as a foreign
language and knowledge
of it is now seen as
something outside of the
control of the state,” said
Darren Byler, an anthropologist
at the University
of Washington who studies
Xinjiang.
“It is also seen as connected
to international
forms of piety, or in the eyes
of state authorities, religious
extremism.
They want Islam in
China to operate primarily
through Chinese language,”
he said.
Kelly Hammond, an assistant
professor at the University
of Arkansas who
studies Muslims of the Hui
minority in China, said the
measures were part of a
“drive to create a new normal”
Beijing is home to at
least 1,000 halal shops and
restaurants, according to
the Meituan Dianping food
delivery app, spread across
the city’s historic Muslim
quarter as well as in other
neighbourhoods.
It was not clear if every
such restaurant in Beijing
has been told to cover Arabic
script and Muslim symbols.
One manager at a restaurant
still displaying Arabic said
he’d been ordered to remove
it but was waiting for his
new signs.
Several bigger shops
visited by Reuters replaced
their signs with the Chinese
term for halal — “qing zhen”
— while others merely covered
up the Arabic and Islamic
imagery with tape or
stickers.
The Beijing government’s
Committee on Ethnicity
and Religious affairs
declined to comment, saying
the order regarding halal
restaurants was a national
directive.
Zha Xi, an official from
the National Ethnic Affairs
Commission, told Reuters
on Thursday that China’s
constitution protects the legitimate
rights and interests
of all minority groups. He
declined to give details on
the national directive cited
by Beijing’s ethnicity and
relgiious affairs committee.
“Currently, our country’s
halal food regulation is managed
locally, every local
government’s relevant department
administers it according
to the local dietary
habits and customs,” he
said, referring further questions
on the matter to the
Beijing committee.
While most shopkeepers
interviewed by Reuters said
they did not mind replacing
their signs, some said it confused
their customers and an
employee at a halal butcher
shop accused authorities of
“erasing” Muslim culture.

The International News Weekly India
August 02, 2019 | Toronto 08
First time after Partition, ‘Nagar
Kirtan’ arrives from Pak to India
Continued from page 01
An official of the Shiromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC), an
apex religious body of the
Sikhs, said a large cavalcade
followed the religious
procession from Gurdwara
Nankana Sahib to Wagah
border amid a thick security
cover. The SGPC was
involved in organising
the event with the support
from both Indian and Pakistani
authorities.
Gurdwara Nankana
Sahib is the birthplace of
Guru Nanak Dev, which
falls in Pakistan.
The Pakistani authorities
had provided a special
permission to the Sikh
community to take out
‘Nagar Kirtan’, which will
culminate at Sultanpur Lodhi
in Kapurthala district
of Punjab after passing
through various cities and
towns.
The Nagar Kirtan will
halt at Golden Temple,
Amrisar, tonight before it
begins its onward journey.
Prominent among
those who were with
the ‘Nagar Kirtan’ from
Pakistan include Akal
Takht Jathedar Harpreet
Singh, SGPC president
Gobind Singh Longowal
and Delhi Gurdwra Management
Committee president
Manjinder Singh
Sirsa.
SAD president Sukhbir
Singh Badal, his wife and
Union Minister Harsimrat
Kaur Badal were present
at the Attari border to receive
the procession.
Punjab Cabinet ministers
O P Soni, Sukhjinder
Randhawa and local Congress
MLAs were also present.
Around 500 kg of flowers
were arranged by the
SGPC to shower on the
‘Nagar Kirtan’ on the way
from Attari to Golden
Temple, besides a special
‘langar’ (community kitchen)
arrangement has been
made for the devotees who
will move with the religious
procession.
A special red carpet
was also laid by the SGPC
at Joint Check Post at the
Attari border to accord a
welcome to the ‘Nagar Kirtan’.
On July 30, nearly 500
Sikh devotees had crossed
over to Pakistan to bring
the ‘Nagar Kirtan’ to India.
Pakistan to grant consular
access to Jadhav, India
evaluating proposal
Over 500 Sikh pilgrims to enter
India from Pakistan via road
Amritsar : In a first-of-its-kind since
Partition, a team of over 500 Sikh pilgrims
will enter India from Pakistan via road
on Thursday after paying obeisance at
the historic Nankana Sahib as part of the
550th birth anniversary celebrations of
Guru Nanak, event organisers said.
Two days ago, the pilgrims entered
Punjab province of Pakistan.
“I invite Sangat to join at Attari Border
in maximum number to welcome the
Nagar Kirtan from Sri Nankana Sahib today
at 1.30 pm,” tweetedMLA Manjinder
Sirsa. Sirsa, who is the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara
Committee president, is leading the
pilgrims from India.
“Pakistan feels honoured that celebrations
of the 550th birth anniversary of
Guru Nanak are being started from Nankana
Sahib,” the Pakistan High Commission
in New Delhi said in a statement.
The Pakistan government is taking
several initiatives to make the celebrations
memorable and historic, it added.
Continued from page 01
The move comes after the ICJ rapped Islamabad
for continually denying Jadhav, incarcerated
in a military jail in an unknown
location in Pakistan, consular access in accordance
with the Vienna Convention.
In its July 17 verdict, the ICJ had directed
Pakistan for a continued stay on the death
sentence of Jadhav and to provide him consular
access.
Pakistan had refused to allow Indian officials
to meet Jadhav ever since his "arrest"
in March 2016 for alleged espionage.
In April 2017, he was sentenced to death
by a military court, after which India approached
the ICJ.

The International News Weekly india
August 02, 2019 | Toronto
09
CBI move set to trigger hot
spell in monsoon session
Chandigarh: The monsoon session of
Punjab assembly, which will start on Friday,
is likely to raise political heat in the
state with the opposition parties planning
to corner the treasury benches on issues
such as CBI closure report in Bargari case
and ‘exorbitant’ power tariffs in the state.
At the same time, there is still suspense
over whether former cabinet minister
Navjot Singh Sidhu will attend the
session, apart from the four former AAP
MLAs who have resigned from the party
to join the Congress or the newly-floated
Punjabi Ekta Party (PEP).
“Even though Sidhu has been active in
his constituency Amritsar East ever since
his resignation was accepted last month,
he has not been seen around in Chandigarh.
It is still not clear whether he will
be comfortable attending the assembly
session. If he does, the leadership is not
sure whether he will toe the party line on
contentious issues such as sacrilege and
those pertaining to the portfolio of local
Pargat meets Sidhu,
efforts on to get him
to attend session
Amritsar: Ahead of the fiveday monsoon session of
Punjab Vidhan Sabha from August 2, Congress MLA
from Jalandhar Cantt Pargat Singh held an hour-long
closed-door meeting with former cabinet minister Navjot
Singh Sidhu at his residence on Wednesday.
Sources said Sidhu’s office staff and security personnel
were asked to leave before the meeting. “Efforts are
being made to ensure that Sidhu not only attends the
monsoon session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, but also supports
the cabinet decisions,” sources added.
Among other decisions, the cabinet has decided to
name the proposed Punjab sports university as Maharaja
Bhupinder Singh Sports and Science University after
the grandfather of chief minister Captain Amarinder
Singh.
Former Indian hockey captain Pargat Singh and
Sidhu go back a long way. Pargat was part of Awaaz-e-
Punjab, an outfit floated by Sidhu in 2016 after quitting
the BJP. Pargat, who was in Shiromani Akali Dal earlier,
also joined the Congress with Sidhu.
Sources also said Congress party wanted to ascertain
if Sidhu was thinking of going to BJP as claimed by
BJP leader Harjit Singh Garewal in the recent past. The
latter had also hinted that Sidhu had met a senior BJP
leader, too, but this was denied by the saffron party.
Sidhu, an MLA from Amritsar East, was given power,
new, and renewable energy resources portfolio after
a cabinet reshuffle in June, following which he sent
his resignation from the cabinet to the CM on July 15,
which was accepted by him some days later.
Soon after this, on July 27, Congress MLA from Amritsar
West Dr Rajkumar Verka had visited Sidhu’s
place for a “courtesy meeting”. He was the first senior
Congress leader who went to meet Sidhu after the latter
resigned from the cabinet following differences with
Amarinder.
Sidhu was not available for comments. However,
when contacted, Pargat Singh admitted having met
Sidhu at his residence. “I was on a personal visit to Amritsar
and went to have a cup of tea with Sidhu,” said
Pargat, adding that nothing political was discussed.
bodies that he last held,” said a Congress
leader.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal
Singh Cheema said the CBI closure report
was indicative of collusion between the
Congress and Akalis and the issue would
be raised aggressively on the floor of the
House by AAP. In addition, AAP has also
been running a campaign ‘Bijli Andolan’
against “inflated power bills in the state”
and would highlight the issue in the
House.
There will be legislative business on
only two days – Monday and Tuesday, and
the state government plans to table the
legislation regarding setting up of Punjab
sports university in Patiala, besides other
bills.
Despite demands from both AAP and
SAD, the session will effectively be of only
three days. Speaker Rana KP Singh said
that the number of sittings depends on the
volume of work and it is up to the business
advisory committee to take a call on
the issue.
Even though two AAP MLAs have
joined the Congress, their resignations
have still not been accepted and they can
technically attend the assembly session.
Similarly, resignation of former AAP
leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira has not been
accepted.

The International News Weekly INDIA
August 02, 2019 | Toronto 10
Punjabi singers continue
to face ordeal of attacks
Guru Randhawa became
the latest victim of attacks
on Punjabi singers while he
was on a tour to Canada. On
July 28, Guru, who was performing
in Vancouver was
attacked by a Punjabi man
from the audience who insisted
getting on stage while
Guru was performing. On
Monday, Guru returned to
India from his US/Canada
tour and his managers posted
the clarification of the
incident as, “Guru is back in
India with four stitches on
his right eyebrow and mega
successful USA/Canada
tour. The incident happened
on July 28 in Vancouver
when Guru told one Punjabi
man not to come on stage
while he was performing for
the audience.”
While this was a case of
a hurt fan who was refused
proximity to the singer,
Punjabi singers have been
in the centre of controversy
for some time now since
Parmish Verma was shot at
by gangster, Dilpreet Dahan
in Mohali last year. Following
this incident was a set
of extortion calls to singers
including Gippy Grewal and
singer, politician Balkar
Sidhu.
In February this year, a
bloody fight erupted during
the concert of Elly Mangat
and Sidhu Moosewala, in
Surrey, Canada. Though
there was no verification
about the reason behind the
scuffle, some attributed it
to personal rift between local
artists in an inebriated
state.
"Guru is Back in India
with four stitches on his
right eybrow... the incident
happened on july 28 in Vancouver
when Guru told one
Punjabi man not to come on
stage while he was performing
for the audience"
Concerts And Foreign Tours Become
Breeding Ground For Attacks On Singers
Earlier in June, there
was news of singer Karan
Aujla also being attacked
in Surrey, Canada. It was
claimed that notorious
Punjabi gangster, Sukhpreet
Budda was behind
the attack. However, that
claim was not verified by
the Punjab police as stated
by Kunwar Vijay Pratap
Singh, IG, Punjab Police
Organised Crime Control Unit, who said,
“We are verifying both the posts and the
location from where they
have been made. They
don’t seem from anywhere
in India.” When
Gippy Grewal approached
the Mohali police against
the extortion calls last
year, a case was registered
against, “Dilpreet Dhahan
after Gippy informed us
that he received an extortion
call from him," said
Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police
(SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal.
Bill to provide death penalty for sexual
assault on child taken up in LS
New Delhi: A bill
seeking to provide death
penalty for aggravated
sexual assault on children
and greater punishments
for other crimes
against minors was taken
up for consideration and
passage in the Lok Sabha
on Thursday.
Piloting the Protection
of Children from
Sexual Offences (Amendment)
Bill, 2019, Women
and Child Development
Minister Smriti Irani
said it aims at making offences
against children
gender neutral.
The Bill, which was
already approved by the
Rajya Sabha, defines
child pornography, making
it punishable.
Cutting across party
lines, members supported
amendments to
POCSO Act though some
demanded that Bill be
referred to the standing
committee or select committee
as it makes certain
offences punishable
with death.
The Bill, said Irani,
would provide added legal
protection to 39 per
cent of population or 43
crore children, irrespective
of whether they are a
girl or boy.
Besides other things,
she said, the Bill defines
child pornography so
that sexual predators, indulging
in such heinous
crimes could be punished.
Regretting that 5,000
persons followed the
child pornography site
operated by a person,
Irani said, "this is a matter
of grave concern for
the society. The site had
even showed the rape of a
minor girl.”
Recalling a case
wherein children were
administered drugs and
harmones to make them
sexually active, she said,
the law is aimed at providing
stringent punishment
to such offenders.
"We want to provide
added protection to children...in
rarest of rare
cases death (penalty),"
she added.
Participating in the
discussion, Su Thirunavukkarasar
(Cong) suggested
that since the bill
has a provision for death
penalty, it should be sent
to a Parliamentary committee
for further scrutiny.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi
(BJP) said the Bill will go
a long way in bringing offenders
against children
to book.
Kanimozhi (DMK)
said that bill should be
sent to select committee
or standing committee
as harsher punishment
could deter people from
reporting the crime.
While presiding over
the proceedings, BJD's
Bhartruhari Mahtab
pointed out to Irani that
the Hindi version of the
POCSO bill used the
word "balakon", a term
for young boys, while the
English word "children"
is gender neutral.
To this, she responded
that the legislative department
of the government
had vetted the bill
and cleared it.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh of
the JD(U) hailed the bill,
saying it will curb the
growing trend in the society
toward such heinous
crimes.
He, however, suggested
the government work
to have special courts
across the country and
ensure speedy trial so
that the cases of sexual
crimes against children
are taken to logical conclusion.
A short period of trial
will also minimise the
chances of accused influencing
witnesses. Citing
a survey, he said the cases
of sexual harassment
against children have
risen by 500 per cent.
TMC's Satabdi Roy
wondered if death penalty
will deter criminals
and asked the government
to explain as to
what it is doing to help
victims.
Shiv Sena'a Vinayak
Raut supported the bill
and sought a time-bound
trial for the accused.
BSP's Danish Ali also
backed the bill, saying he
supports capital punishment
for those convicted
under this Act even
though he is ideologically
against death penalty.

The International News Weekly August 02, 2019 | Toronto
11
200 units of electricity free in Delhi,
another 200 to get subsidy: Kejriwal
New Delhi: Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal
on Thursday announced
that people consuming up to
200 units of electricity won't
have to pay power bills.
The move comes ahead
of the Delhi assembly elections,
which are due early
next year.
Making the announcement
at a press conference,
Kejriwal said the Delhi government
will give full subsidy
to those consuming up to
200 units of electricity and an
almost 50 per cent subsidy to
people consuming 201 to 400
units.
The decision is effective
from Thursday.
"Those consuming up
to 200 units of electricity in
Delhi will not need to pay
their power bills. There will
be no electricity charges for
them," Kejriwal, who is also
the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
chief, said.
The government will
have to spend Rs 1,800 crore
to Rs 2,000 crore on power
subsidy annually, according
to the chief minister.
"We hope that with this
move, there will be huge
encouragement for electricity
savings in Delhi due to
no charges for 200 units of
power.The electricity load
has been increasing in Delhi.
"Recently, Delhi's peak
power load touched 7,400
MW, which was the highest.
I feel that electricity load will
reduce due to this move," Kejriwal
said.
In the summers those
who will be using up to 200
units of electricity is 35 per
cent of total consumers,
while in the winters the
number increases to 70 per
cent as the power usage is
less, according to officials.
Since the AAP came to
power in February 2015, the
Delhi government has been
providing 50 per cent subsidy
on power bills.
"The people of Delhi have
chosen an honest government.
This is the cheapest
electricity in the country. In
the last four and a half years,
the Delhi government has
not allowed any hike in power
tariff," Kejriwal said.
Defending his government
against possible criticism
of "freebies" before the
assembly polls, he asked why
no one was speaking against
the "free electricity for our
big leaders and officers in
country?" "I just want to give
the same benefits to my 'aam
aadmi' (the common man)
who works for 24 hours," he
said.
On Wednesday, the Delhi
power regulator announced
significant reduction in fixed
charges.
With 1.49L, Punjab tops list of city migrants
Chandigarh: While the
City Beautiful houses 6.23
lakh migrants from different
states of the county, a total of
2.65 lakh city residents have
migrated to different states
and union territories (UTs).
Of the total migrated
population, 15.91% moved
after marriage. The other
major factors were workrelated
(12.12%), education
(.97%) and business (.83%).
A total of 12.52% population
migrated from the city after
birth.
Among the preferred
states for migration from
Chandigarh, neighbouring
state Punjab topped the list
followed by Haryana and Himachal
Pradesh.
A total of 1.49 lakh city’s
population migrated to Punjab.
Of 1.49 lakh, 19,748 migrated
after marriage, 14,441
because of job, 925 for business
and 886 for education
reasons.
From Haryana, 71,890
people migrated, which
includes 34,252 males and
37,638 females. A total of
11,972 people migrated from
the city to Haryana after
marriage, 9,563 for job, 773
for business and 361for education.
Himachal Pradesh
attracted 11,136 people from
the city, with nearly 18%
moving for work. A total of
1,629 people migrated to Himachal
Pradesh for work,
99 for business, 171for education
and 1985 after marriage.
Among the union territories,
where less number of
migration from the city was
witnessed, includes Lakshadweep,
which attracted
only one city resident. On
the other hand, 29 migrated
to Dadra Nagar Haveli and
37 to Daman and Diu.
with thanks from Time fo India
Body found after over 36-hr search; friends identify him
Mangaluru: An over
36-hour search for VG
Siddhartha, who was
feared to have jumped
into a river outside Mangaluru
on Monday evening,
ended with a heartbreaking
confirmation
on Wednesday morning.
Local fishermen and
a police team found the
body of the Café Coffee
Day founderowner about
1 km from the bridge over
Nethravathi River, near
the backwaters of Hoige
Bazzar, around 6.30am.
“Siddhartha’s friends
identified him (after the
body was pulled out from
the water),” said the deputy
commissioner of Dakshina
Kannada district,
Sasikanth Senthil.
Siddhartha, 59, had
suffered injuries to his
forehead and bled from
the nose. Locals said he
might have hit rocks
after leaping from the
bridge. Mangaluru city
police commissioner
Sandeep Patil said the
post-mortem report was
awaited.
Siddhartha had most
of his possessions on him
— a watch, a ring, and a
sacred thread. He had his
shoes on, but his Tshirt
was missing. “It might
have come off when he
jumped, or because of
the strong tide,” said the
team that pulled out the
body.
The team comprised
fishermen Sarathi,
Pranesh and Rithesh
D’Souza.
Over 400 personnel
from central and state
agencies were involved
in the search, which began
on Monday night,
hours after Siddhartha
was last seen on the
bridge by his driver.
Senthil said teams used
a model developed by Hyderabad-based
Indian National
Centre for Ocean
Information Services to
identify a possible location
of the body.
At 7.30am on Wednesday,
the body was taken
to the government-run
District Wenlock Hospital,
Mangaluru, for
a post-mortem. Dr HR
Rajeshwari Devi, a
medical official, said
two forensicmedicine
experts led the twohour
autopsy. Outside the hospital,
people gathered
in large numbers to pay
their respects to Siddhartha.
“Prima facie everything
points out to a suicide.
But we cannot rule
out anything,” a senior
police officer said.
Mangaluru police
commissioner Patil refused
to divulge details of
the investigation, saying
it would not be appropriate
to comment at this
juncture.
“The post-mortem has
been completed and we
are waiting for the report.
A team in Bengaluru
is making enquiries,”
he said.
The body was kept in
the morgue for about 10
minutes so people could
pay their respects. SM
Krishna’s nephew, Gurucharan,
and former
minister UT Khader were
present along with staff
from Siddhartha’s office.
The body was shifted to
Siddhartha’s hometown
in Chikkamagaluru at
10.50am.

The International News Weekly August 02, 2019 | Toronto 12
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