brampton - South Asian Daily

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MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014

Manan Gupta seeks Ward 7 & 8 City Councillor seat in

I WISH NARENDRA MODI GETS WHAT HE DESERVES

BRAMPTON

C I WISH NARENDRA MODI GETS WHAT HE DESERVES- SALMAN KHAN BONDS WITH NARENDRA MODI ON MAKAR SANKRANTI BY FLYING KITES, EATING LUNCH TOGETHER; STOPS SHORT OF BACKING HIM FOR PM

Help promote Punjab as an investment and trade destination - Sukhbir Badal to ICCC

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fter successful stopovers in Lucknow and Delhi, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce's (ICCC) India Mission 2014 delegation reached Chandigarh on January 10. The two-day program in Chandigarh comprised attending the Punjabi Pravasi Samelan at the historic city of Anandpur Sahib, interactive sessions with the decision makers in Punjab, including a meeting with the state's deputy chief minister, Hon. Sukhbir Singh Badal. In his interaction with the Chief Minister Hon. Prakash Singh Badal and the Deputy Chief Minister, Hon. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Naval Bajaj, President, ICCC, emphasized the singular contribution of the Punjabi community to the bilateral relations between Canada and India. "The Punjabi diaspora in Canada is one of the highest outside India. Punjabi is the fourth largest spoken language in Canada after English, French and

ommunity activist and longtime Brampton resident Manan Gupta has filed nomination papers on January 13th to represent Ward 7 & 8 at the Brampton Council during the municipal elections being held on October 27th. Manan was accompanied by over 100 well-wishers, colleagues and community l e a d e r s i n c l u d i n g D r Vi j a y G u p t a ( D a d ) , Vi k a s G u p t a (Arrow Truck Sales), Puja Gupta (Insurance broker), Yu d h v i r J a s w a l ( M i d w e e k / South Asian Pulse), Gursimrat Grewal (Punjab S t a r / Ta r g e t Radio), Dr Gurbakhsh Bhandal (Punjabi

Post), Jagdeep Kailey (Peel Multicultural Council), Randeep Sandhu (PC Candidate), Sandeep Goel (Goel Foreign Exchange), Pal Grewal (Load Solutions), Baljit Bawa (Liberal Party), Kiki Grewal (Moonstone Transport), Paul & Robbie Dhanju (Millenium Printing), Surjit Johal (Diesel Truck Centre), Jassi Sarai (Action A u t o ) , Av n e e s h A g g a r w a l (Accountax Financial), Brian Johnston (Advisor), Sukhdeep Kang (Armour Insurance), Shamnik Mengi (Realtor), Pavneesh Bhalla (Ins Broker), Ranbir Chauhan (Asian Connections), CONTD. ON PAGE 5

India bestows its highest diaspora honour on Canadian serial entrepreneur & philanthropist Vasu Chanchlani ICCC President Naval Bajaj in discussion with Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister Hon. Sukhbir Singh Badal. Also in the photograph is Hon. Tim Uppal, Canada's Minister of State for Multiculturalism Chinese. In the Greater Toronto Area, the city of Brampton is known as Mini Punjab in Canada and most of the businesses in the city are with the Punjabi Diaspora especially the food sector." During the discussions with,

which focussed on agriculture and food processing, the Punjab officials pointed out that the state now has surplus on energy and may be focussing on infrastructure. The state now has created the right environment to put industry in

Punjab on the global map. ICCC President spoke about the possibilities of initiating twinning programs between Canadian educational institutions and their Punjab counterparts. DETAILS ON PAGE 5

New study from Western University shows alcohol affects vision by 30 per cent

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sing a 144-year old optical illusion, researchers from Western University have determined that drinking the legal limit of alcohol impairs some aspects of vision by 30 per cent. In findings published in the journal Perception, Kevin Johnston and Brian Timney from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and Western's Faculty of Social Science have shown that alcohol greatly affects the ability to adjust vision for brightness and contrast, which may be increasingly problematic when driving at twilight, as the suns dips below the horizon. "We obviously know that alcohol impairs our decision making and motor skills but until now, we did not know how alcohol affects our vision," says Johnston, a research scientist at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology's Laboratory for Neural Circuits and Behaviour. "What we have done now, using century-old methods, is find out exactly how much vision is impaired after drinking alcohol."Johnston and Timney, who serves as the Dean of Western's Faculty

of Social Science, used the Hermann Grid (http://communications.uwo.ca/ media/img/grid.jpg), an optical illusion described by Ludimar Hermann in 1870, to understand how alcohol affects the perception of contrast. "The Hermann Grid is basically a grid of black squares on a white background. You see ghost-like dark spots at the intersections of the grid but they are not actually there," explains Johnston. "It's the way our visual system processes contrast or brightness differences that creates this illusion." The researchers were able to show that the apparent contrast of the illusory spots in the grid is reduced by 30 per cent at a blood alcohol level around the legal driving limit. This means that making distinctions between different objects based on lightness and darkness becomes increasingly difficult. "This is obviously important when you are driving at twilight, when objects are more difficult to see and more difficult to discriminate, even without alcohol," says Timney. "It's at those times when you are going to be most affected, and impaired."

Vasu Chanchlani (second from right) receiving the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from His Excellency Shri Parnab Mukherjee, President of Republic of India (centre). India's Minister Vayalar Ravi (extreme left) is also in the photograph TORONTO: His Excellency Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of the Republic of India, today conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA), the highest honour bestowed on nonresident Indians, by the Government of India on Mr. Vasu Chanchlani at a glittering ceremony held at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Overwhelmed by the singular recognition, Mr. Chanchlani noted, “I am humbled by the honour to be included in the august group of distinguished past Global Indian recipients.” DETAILS ON PAGE 6

CIRCULATED THROUGH : TORONTO, MARKHAM, SCARBOROUGH, RICHMOND HILL, VAUGHAN, WOODBRIDGE, ETOBICOKE, NORTH YORK, MALTON, REXDALE, BRAMPTON, MISSISSAUGA, OAKVILLE, HAMILTON, MILTON, STONEY CREEK, BURLINGTON

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page 3 Sanjay Dutt wants to move ailing wife A ctor Sanjay Dutt’s wife Manyata was recently admitted to a city hospital, where she is undergoing pre-surgery medical tests. However, since the hospital is in Parel and has strict rules against children visiting, it is quite difficult for Sanjay to travel from his suburban residence in Bandra. A source close to the actor reveals that he wants to move Manyata to a hospital closer home so that he can visit her and spend time with his children, Shahraan and Iqra as well. “Global Hospital, where Manyata is admitted, doesn’t allow children below 10 to visit. It’s becoming difficult for Sanjay to shuttle between home and hospital and spend-ing time with his family. So he is now planning to shift Manyata to Lilavati Hospital as it would be easy for him to commute,” says the source. The source also says that moving Manyata to the Bandra hospital will make it easier for the threeyear-old kids to visit regularly too. “The children keep insisting on meeting their mother, so Sanjay thought that if they could visit her regularly Manyata would be happy,” says the source. Repor tedly, Sanjay has been spending time alone in the hospital and none of his friends from the industry have visited him. But members of the Dutt family have been around to give him moral suppor t. Meanwhile, a media report suggested that Manyata has been detected with tuber-culosis, but the source rubbishes that as speculation. “She has lung congestion for which she is undergoing treatment. There are other ailments related to it, but not tuberculosis,” says the source.

SALMAN KHAN GETS JUST 10% OF HIS INCOME TO SPEND ON HIMSELF Here are some rare facts. From the time Salman star ted working, only 10% of his income went into his account, allowing him to spend it the way he wished to. Salman star ted operating his bank account for the first time only five months back, which is when he star ted signing cheques. He has taken after his father Salim Khan when it comes to giving. Salim sahab himself is a man of few needs and enjoys helping others, who are genuinely in need. From the beginning, he fixed 10% for Salman that he was allowed to spend on himself. A par t of the balance 90% was used for charity and now, for Being Human. Though Salman is 48 years of age, till about five months back, he had never signed a cheque in his life. Initially, while he started enjoying signing cheques, we now learn from his sister Alvira that he is already fed up and keeps wanting to write a power of attorney for even signing that amount and, of course, no one is willing to take it up. She fur ther told us, “He doesn’t even know how much money he has and is completely detached from money.” Well, all we can say is, we hope we have more stars and human beings like Salman Khan.

Katrina Kaif films to clash at box office Katrina Kaif hasn’t had many releases in the past year — her latest, Dhoom:3 hit theatres more than a year after Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012). But later this year, Katrina might have two of her movies releasing on the same day, October 2. While Bang Bang starring Hrithik Roshan in the lead has already been finalised for a Gandhi Jayanti release, we have learned that producer Sajid Nadiadwala has also chosen the same date to come out with the Kabir Khan-directed Phantom, starring Saif Ali Khan. "Although both the films have Katrina in contrasting roles, it will be the first time in her generation of actresses that anyone will have two releases on the same day.

Parineeti learns Mandarin for Hasee Toh Phasee In Vinil Mathew’s upcoming romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee, there is a sequence where Parineeti Chopra was required to speak in Chinese. Vinil wanted the sequence to be completely authentic and so, got two Malaysian actors Cynthia and Mayjune to teach Parineeti the language. Parineeti, being the actress she is, is happy to have learnt a new language. We are sure it will break barriers for her if she decides to climb the Great Wall of China.

MidWeek PARINEETI LEARNS MANDARIN FOR HASEE TOH PHASEE

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10 NEW FACES OF THE AAP CAPTAIN GOPINATH Founder of Air Deccan, Captain Gopinath joined the par ty earlier this month. His first political career star ted in 2009 with LokSabha election "I believe that India today is crying out for change, a change from divisive par ty politics steeped in communal and caste votes which has made corruption and illgovernance a way of life in this countr y," he was quoted as saying on his blog. Hindustan Times repor ted that he was impressed by AAP's stand against corruption.

MALLIKA SARABHAI Mallika Sarabhai, daughter of scienti s t V i k r a m S a r a b h a i joined the AAP saying she has worked a lot with Delhi chief minister ArvindKejriwal. She is a social media activist and a classical dance performer. She is popular for taking up issues against 2002 riots. Cour tesy: Flickr Commons "I have worked a lot with Arvind (Kejriwal). My values match with his AamAadmi Par ty," quoted the Hindu.

ASHUTOSH TV personality and journalist Ashutosh joined the AAP past weekend. Announcement came from Chief Minister Arvind Ke j r i w a l a n d p a r t y l e a d e r Sanjay Singh. Ashutosh resigned as the Managing Editor of IBN7 to take up the job. "If history has given us an oppor tunity, then we should take that oppor tunity and why should we not take this oppor tunity," he was quoted as saying in DNA. "I have been in journalism for 23 years and have had good relations with stalwar ts in different par ties. I could have done that long time back," he said.

MEERA SANYAL Former banker from Royal Bank of Scotland joined the AAP. She was an independent candidate in 2009 LokSabha from South Mumbai. India Today repor ted she would provide the par ty with financial advice at a national level after resigning from her former bank on Dec 31.

Cour tesy: Twitter

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AN ALL-INDIA RECRUITMENT DRIVE KICKED OFF IN THE COUNTRY TO JOIN AAMAADMI PARTY WITH THOUSANDS SHOWING INTEREST AND SUPPORT INCLUDING 10 BIG NAMES.

SAMEER NAIR

ALKA LAMBA

Former CEO of Star TV and an independent media entrepreneur at present, has joined AAP to suppor t its Delhi election campaign. 48-year-old Nair is a known name in creative field and media production. He was CEO of STAR TV before he joined the launch team of NDTV Imagine as CEO. Even though his family and business are based from Mumbai, he has recently been making frequent trips to Delhi to suppor t and contribute in AAP's communication strategy. "Like many media professionals in Mumbai, I am also a suppor ter of Janlokpal and now AAP. I am here to offer my expertise in to AAP in whatever way possible to bring the change in our society. In fact, lot of my friends are ready to contribute in AAP's communication work free of cost," he said as repor ted on AAP's website.

Former Congress leader AlkaLamba quit the par ty and joined hands with the AAP. She met with AamAadmi Par ty leader YogendraYadav to express her interest in joining the party, reported IBN Live. "There are only a handful of politicians who take decisions in the Congress," she was quoted as saying in Zee News.

V BALAKRISHNAN Ending his 22-year relationship with Infosys he V Balakrishnan joined the AAP. "I paid just Rs 10 to become a member," he told Economic Times. "AAP is the most successful star tup by an IIT-ian ever. I would like to be a par t of the revolution happening in the countr y," he said.

HS PHOOLKA Senior lawyer HS Phoolka who has been front and centre around the 1984 riots has joined the AAP. He decided, "to ensure good governance and freedom from moral and economic corruption social activists have come together to form this political par ty. After 30 years of being a Cour tesy: Facebook social and legal activist on justice and equality and legal education and Anti-communal violence, I want to be an active par t of this social Revolution - thus joining AAP is my natural choice," repor ted Times of India.

ADARSH SHASTRI

KANUBHAI KALSARIA Former BJP MLA until 2012KanubhaiKalsariajoind the AAP. He disagreed with his former par ty over construction of Nirma cement plant which the par ty suppor ted which created a rift between him and NarendraModi, repor ted Desh Gujarat.

Cour tesy: Facebook

Cour tesy: Twitter

The grandson of former Prime Minister LalBahadurShastri and son of Congress leader Anil Shastri quit his job at Apple Inc. to join with the AAP. He told Economic Times that ArvindKejriwal inspired him and he felt compelled to join his par ty. "We all feel his vacuum in Cour tesy: Twitter these trying times," he tweeted. "Victory of AAP is reaffirmation by people in the now old fashioned values of transparency & probity as espoused by my grandfather Shastriji," he wrote on Twitter.


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Manan Gupta seeks Ward 7 & 8 City Councillor seat in Brampton CONTD. FROM PAGE 1 Raghbir Chauhan (Realtor), Minkle Mittal (ABSA Shipping), Inder Flora (Flora Graphics), Amandeep Benipal (Awaz Watan Di Radio), Randhir King Walia (Realtor), Akbar Warris (Can Pak Times), Duggal Uncle, Badar Shamim (TD Bank), Ajay Sharma (Realtor), Jagtar Dhillon (Mr Truck & Trailer) and numerous others. Although a busy small business owner, Manan makes time and contributes to community safety and well-being each and every day. He gets involved in safety committees, promote safety in his award winning publication ' Road Today', radio/TV programs, and volunteers for numerous community initiatives, safety campaigns and events. In addition to chairing the Brampton Road Safety Committee, Manan is the Immediate Past President for Brampton Safe City Association and a member of Road Connections Safety Group, Safety Drives Us and Traffic Safety Coalition. Manan is also

an active member of the Brampton Board of Trade for over 10 years and has chaired its Multicultural Committee (now known as Diversity & Inclusion Committee) in the past. Some of the organizations he has volunteered for include Seva Food Bank and St. John

Ambulance for the Operation Red Nose to reduce impaired driving. Manan has received numerous awards in the recent past including Ministry of Transportation Media Excellence Award, CN Railways All Aboard for Safety Award, Peel Police Best Ethnic News Award and

Volunteer of the Year Award from Brampton Safe City to name a few. His campaign for the municipal election will focus on issues such as high property taxes, creation of local jobs, better recreation facilities, managing growth, reducing traffic gridlock, better accountability, and

transparency while raising the profile of Brampton to attract business investment nationally and internationally. Manan looks forward to share his ideas and invites residents to open the channels of communication towards effective solutions. He is committed to work

hard and intelligently towards earning the trust of residents and voters on October 27th. For more information and campaign details, please visit www.manangupta.ca Contact Details: Cell - 416 451 0040, Twitter : @guptamanan

Help promote Punjab as an investment and trade destination - Sukhbir Badal to ICCC CONTD. FROM PAGE 1 During the interaction with the deputy chief minister, Hon. Sukhbir Singh Badal, requested that the ICCC should help promote Punjab as an investment and trade destination. On January 11, Naval Bajaj, President, ICCC and Gurkirpal Singh, President, Mohali Industries Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enable cooperation in trade promotion, investment and other economic fields. Both the organizations will exchange information about products, manufacturers, buyers and sellers, export and import requirements. In his remarks, the ICCC President lauded the great strides Mohali had seemingly taken in establishing itself as a hub for different industries. "I must mention that there is a lot of progress here, specifically in Mohali, which is better for industry." He said he was very happy to see this

vibrancy in a city that had made its reputation solely on cricket. KHS Dhinsa, joint secretary of Mohali Industries Association, said that MIA's vision was to propel itself in the top five industrial associations of the world. Sohail Saeed, director, Economic Development, City of Brampton, and Raymond Chan, investment attraction manager, Government of Saskatchewan, also spoke at the conference. Subsequently, the delegation participated in a conference on Canada-Punjab economic and trade collaboration organized by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PHDCCI). At the conference ICCC President, Naval Bajaj, emphasized that the purpose of ICCC's India Mission 2014 was focussed mainly on five sectors - agriculture, agri-food, education, infrastructure and energy. He said, ICCC is privileged to have the opportunity to make a contribution to

the partnership between Canada and Punjab. "To our friends in India, we carry the message about the great potential which Canada has in meeting India's needs for commodities such as rough diamonds, energy security, preservation of environment, food security, agriculture, healthcare, nanotechnology, clean technologies, aviation and manufacturing industries, soft and hard infrastructure, etc.," Bajaj said. According to news reports published in the local media in Chandigarh (India News Calling), RS Sachdeva, co-chair, Punjab committee, PHD Chamber, stressed on the fact that India and Canada have longstanding bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values, the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of two societies and strong people-to-people contacts. He also said, "We need to accelerate our efforts for the growth of bilateral economic cooperation, particularly in view of the current economic scenario."

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India bestows its highest diaspora honour on Canadian serial entrepreneur & philanthropist Vasu Chanchlani


many years. This award to Mr. Chanchlani is testimony to the fact that the Indo-Canadian community is not only contributing to the fabric of the Canadian society but also to their country of origin.” His Excellency Stewart Beck, the High Commissioner of Canada to India, said, “I congratulate Mr. Chanchlani for getting the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award and for the great work that he is doing.” Aditya Jha, recipient of the Order of Canada, expressed unbridled joy at Mr. Chanchlani’s award. “As a rare serial entrepreneur, who has successfully started and exited from six technology ventures, Vasu has been guided by a unique philanthropic vision that doesn’t believe in merely giving donations to charity, but to support transnational research/ recognition initiatives that contribute to capacity building and finding long-term solutions to intractable problems.” Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, being one of the oldest and the largest diaspora organizations in Canada, is proud that a prominent member of the Chamber who has had the unique distinction of twice winning the Chamber’s award: ‘Technology Achievement Award’ and the ‘President’s Award’; has been further recognized through this prestigious global diaspora award from the Government of India.

Canada leading Fight to Eradicate Polio in Pakistan

VASU CHANCHLANI WITH ICCC PRESIDENT NAVAL BAJAJ (EXTREME RIGHT). ALSO IN THE PHOTOGRAPH ARE RASHI BAJAJ (EXTREME LEFT) AND JAYA CHANCHLANI CONTD. FROM PAGE 1 He emphasized that he was heartened by the recognition of his philanthropic contribution in the Canada-India corridor. Naval Bajaj, President, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), in his congratulatory message, said, “Our Chamber was awarded the PBSA in 2012. On the heels of the ICCC’s uniquely global recognition by the Government of India for its role amongst the Diaspora, we are extremely pleased that our Chamber’s nominee and a prominent member, Mr. Chanchlani, has been recognized for his outstanding accomplishments as a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist.” One of the senior-most ministers, The Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board of Canada said, “Mr. Chanchlani’s passion for supporting philanthropic causes in Canada is second only to his passion for those related to India. His commitment to Canadian institutions in raising the stature of India globally and

promoting the interests of Canada, India, and Indo-Canadians has benefited many.” Mr. Chanchlani has helped set-up multi-million dollar endowments at the McMaster University, the University of Toronto and the Waterloo University with research centres named after him. He has also established three global research/recognition awards through endowments at McMaster University, the Canadian National Institute for Blind and at the Canada India Foundation. Canada’s Minister of State (Multiculturalism), Hon. Tim Uppal, said, “This is a proud moment that Mr. Chanchlani is the first Indo-Canadian to be honoured for his path-breaking philanthropic initiatives." Hon. Patrick Brown. Member of Parliament and the Co-chair of Canada-India Parliamentary Association, said, “I am well acquainted with the wonderful work that Mr. Chanchlani has been doing for

Sustained high numbers of visas issued from Chandigarh and New Delhi missions in 2013

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anada is a destination of choice for visitors, students and business travellers from India. A high number of visitor visas (84,672) and study permits (13,613) were issued from Canada's Chandigarh and New Delhi offices between January and December 2013, the Honourable Tim Uppal, Minister

of State for Multiculturalism announced today at the Pravasi Punjabi Divas Sammelan conference in Anandpur Sahib. "Canada and India share close people-to-people ties, which are demonstrated by the large numbers of Indians coming to Canada to work, study and visit," saidUppal.

The Business Express Program (BEP), in place in India since June 2008, is another example of Canada's commitment to facilitating linkages between our two countries. The BEP was created to provide qualified businesses and their employees with a number of service advantages, including less

Canada's Minister of State (Multiculturalism) Tim Uppal today concluded a visit to Pakistan where he met with vaccinators, doctors and UNICEF staff and announced Canada's latest contribution to the fight to eradicate polio in Pakistan and around the world. While in Pakistan Minister Uppal also met with local Pakistan government officials as well as visited a mosque, GurudwaraNankana Sahib, and Joseph colony (a Christian community in Lahore). "Canada is leading the fight to eradicate polio globally. In Pakistan, Canada was the first donor to tackle the conditions that allow polio to continue to keep a foothold, something of which we can all be proud," said Minister of State Uppal. "Canada's continued support will increase the number of children immunized, improve access for vaccinators by increasing community acceptance and increase the effectiveness of the vaccine by decreasing vulnerability to polio from malnutrition and illness." Canada is a leading supporter of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's goal of eradicating polio by 2018. Canada supports the fight against polio in several critical areas, including sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan and in three primary endemic high-risk areas in Pakistan. Today's announcement of $20 million over three years will suppor t the UNICEF Polio Plus initiative in Pakistan which seeks polio eradication by increasing coverage, access and the effectiveness of the vaccine. During Minister of State Uppal's trip to Pakistan and India, he met with government officials and took part in the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce trade mission in New Delhi.

COUNCIL SUPPORTS ICE STORM RECOVERY PLAN TIM UPPAL Minister of State for Multiculturalism paperwork, priority processing of visa applications, and a dedicated service to respond to the needs of those within the program. "I am pleased to announce that Canada continues to be a destination of choice for visitors, students and business travellers from India, as shown by the substantial increase since 2008 of visitor visas and study permits from the Punjab region" he said. Several new tools have been put in place to attract visitors to Canada and facilitate their travel. For example, in July 2011, the duration of multiple-entry visas was extended from five to ten years, allowing visitors to enter and exit Canada for up to six months at a time over a ten-year period. In addition, parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents are now eligible to apply for the new Parent and Grandparent Super Visa, which is also valid for up to ten years and allows parents and grandparents to remain in Canada for up to 24 months at a time. Quick facts " The number of visitor visas issued in 2013 represents an increase of 73% since 2008 " The number of study permits represents an increase of more that 321% since 2008 " Between January and December of 2013, 2,793 visas were issued under the BEP

At a Special Council Meeting today Mississauga Council supported the ice storm recovery debris management plan, outlined in a corporate report titled Ice Storm, December 2013 - Preliminary Report. According to the report city-wide debris cleanup on a priority and geographic basis is still underway. The City will be responsible for debris removal on roads, sidewalks, boulevards, parks, trails and other City properties. "The recovery from the December 22nd ice storm will take time and we ask residents for their patience as we manage the cleanup efforts," said Mayor Hazel McCallion. "The City is focusing cleanup efforts on public property; we need property owners to help by taking care of the trees on their property. It has been a great partnership and we commend the public for doing their part so far." "Recovery efforts were made possible by the tireless effor ts of City of Mississauga and Region of Peel staff, contractors, Enersource and other partners, who worked to ensure the safety and security of our community," said Janice Baker, City Manager and CAO. "We had a co-ordinated response, timely communications and connected with our community in a responsible manner." Tree Debris In order to assist residents with the removal of excess wood and brush debris, the Region of Peel will begin collecting small bundles of wood and brush from the curb beginning January 13th on regularly scheduled collection days. Bundles of wood and brush must not exceed 1.2 m (4ft.) and 76 cm (30 in.) in diameter and weigh no more than 20 kg (44 lbs.) to ensure collector safety. Residents also have the option to take debris to Regional Community Recycling Centres at no cost. For more information on yard waste, please visit the Region of Peel's website. Please note fallen trees and branches in the Asian Long-horned Beetle (ALHB) quarantine area of Malton must remain on site. Residents and tree contractors can drop off storm damage tree debris from this regulated area at: 2699 Drew Road (north of Derry Road East and east of Torbram Road) Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (until further notice). As well, residents can bundle wood and brush for yard waste collection by the Region. This material will be disposed in a process that prevents spread of ALHB. Council passed a resolution requesting the provincial and federal governments to develop new programs for future disaster mitigation that would include urban flooding, winter storms, erosion control and other severe storm events, reflecting the reality of climate change and include funding of rehabilitation of municipal infrastructure to mitigate future environmental and storm event impacts.


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ICCC-INDIA MISSION 2014

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NACH BALIYE PRESENTS LOHRI FOR HER 2014 BRAMPTON: While the Christmas holidays will be behind us, Punjabi’s are getting ready for one of the oldest traditions of Punjab, Lohri. Nach Balliye is a non-profit organization made up of young, passionate, and inspirational females, who promote gender equality through the power of dance and music. Nach Balliye has taken the initiative of celebrating “Lohri for Her” – a night to celebrate all daughters and an oppor tunity to honor families who have been blessed with daughters. It’s a night to celebrate the joy and love that all babies, boys and girls, bring to our world. Lohri is a celebration of new beginnings, a time to appreciate what we have in our lives and for the new ventures yet to begin.The Punjabi culture celebrates special occasions with the company of loved ones, sweets, songs, and dance. Given Nach Balliye’s vision, we believe that creating this enriching experience would encourage families to celebrate gender equality as they welcome their girl child so festively into the world. We are doing this because we want the community to embrace this gift of life with joy. Join us on January 26th with your families for a special Lohri to honour those who have been blessed with beautiful daughters. Let’s celebrate a night of extravagant dinner, traditional Lohri dances, interactive activities and family fun. Sunday, January 26th, 2014 Dreams Convention Centre Event begins at 5pm Tickets $30 at www.lohriforher.eventbrite.ca If you are interested in sponsoring or donating to the event please visit www.lohriforher.com Fur ther inquiries: www.lohriforher.com

PRESIDENT OF INDO CANADA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SPEAKING AT THE CONFERENCE

CONFERENCE ON CANADA-INDIA COLLABORATION IN INFRASTRUCTURE, COLD CHAINS, AGRICULTURE & AGRI-FOODS Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) in collaboration with the IndoCanadian Business Chamber (ICBC) and the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) organized a bilateral conference on collaboration in infrastructure, cold chains, agriculture and agrifoods at the PHD House in Delhi on January 7. The conference was attended from the Canadian side by Hon. Bal Gosal, Minister of State for Sports; Hon. Tim Uppal, Minister of State for Multiculturalism; Dr. Asha Seth, Senator, Senate of Canada; Hon. Joe Daniel, Member of Parliament; His Excellency Stewart Beck, High Commissioner of Canada to India; Mr. Ray Chan, Investment Attraction Manager, India and South Asia, Government of Saskatchewan; Mr. Sohail Saeed, Director, Business Development, City of Brampton. From the Indian side, the participants included Dinesh Rai, chairman, Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority; Pawanexh Kohli, Chief Advisor National Centre for Cold Chain Development; Kunal Agrawal Director Bratlle foods; Vinod Asthana, MD, Central Railside Warehouse Company, Government of India; SK Sharma, Managing Director, Global Agri Systems. Naval Bajaj, President, ICCC; Nadira Hamid, CEO, ICBC and

PHDCCI'S Sharad Jaipuria felicitating Canadian Minister of Sport Hon. Bal Gosal Sharad Jaipuria, President PHDCCI represented the host organizations of the conference. The inaugural session of the conference was on Canadian and Indian governent’s role in promoting agriculture trade. Speakers at the session on emphasized on the growing significance of the agriculture and the agri-food sectors to the bilateral trade, and the measures that both the governments have undertaken to promote and enhance trade. The bilateral trade in the sector is estimated to be over 583 million Canadian dollars The main component of the bilateral trade comprises India’s import of food grains – peas and

Senator Hon. Dr. Asha Seth addressing the conference

lentils. Canada supplies around 50% of India's pulse needs and is the largest supplier of yellow peas; and potential of the food processing and the cold chain sectors in India, and the opportunities available for the Canadian investors in these sectors. Among the points that emerged during the discussion were: More focus on agriculture and especially food processing and cold chain management Tremendous growth potential especially considering bilateral trade target of $15b is to be achieved within the next couple of years While technology transfer has limited applicability given the differences in the farm sizes, the non-traditional subsectors will gain prominence Trade should be enhanced through the Canadian Trade Commissioner’s Services even while CEPA is being negotiated Food retail as a sector has immense growth potential in Canada In India, food processing industry ranks fifth in terms of production, growth, consumption, and export, and accounts for 19% of India’s industrial workforce The sector ’s total output stood at US $93.1b in 2010, it accounted for nearly 7.5% of

aggregate gross value added of major industries during that year In the Panel Discussion 1 on Regulatory aspects of agriculture trade, the participants discussed the bottlenecks that India is facing in developing the sector and how the regulatory mechanism is being used to promote the food processing and the cold chain sectors. The Panel 2 discussion on the new directions in cold chain and food distribution system threw up the following ideas on the promotion of the subject Scope for developing the entire chain – not just piecemeal Storage is just one aspect of the chain Different states in India have different levels of opportunities; each state requires a different strategy Tremendous opportunities in the Indian Railways sector Growing opportunities in agriculture technology, including dry-land farming, injection of seeds in the land, so that the moisture is not lost in ploughing the land Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce 45 Sheppard Ave E Suite 940 Toronto ON M2N 5W9 Tel: 416-224-0090. Fax: 416-9160086. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.iccc.org

NRIs turn AAP's cadre, scrimp & innovate to raise funds MUMBAI: Chaitra, mother of two young children, braved the sub-zero temperatures of the Chicago winter while commuting to work by public transpor t instead of travelling in the warm comfor t of a taxi. This helped her save $30 a week, money she would donate to the Aam Aadmi Par ty. Lifestyle changes. Blistered feet. And no vacations. That's the contribution many NRIs across America made to new Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's politics of change. Navendu Shirali, a young IT professional in Chicago, squirrelled away Rs 1 lakh over five months despite having a loan to repay, like many young Indians in the US who were contributing their savings to AAP. A movie buff, Shirali vir tually stopped going to theatres, eating out or going on vacation with his parents to raise funds. Instead, he'd stand outside theatres to garner funds for AAP. Many used innovative strategies to collect money for the par ty. During her daughter's bir thday, Chaitra asked friends not to bring gifts, but to contribute for AAP. Chaitra and her friends even sold old furniture and clothes online, the proceeds of which went to the par ty. Around Raksha Bandhan, Shirali gave $20 to AAP as gift for every girl in his group. They, in turn, matched his gift with an equal contribution to the par ty. Those who did not have money to offer, helped out in other ways. For instance, many organized Sunday afternoon tea par ties where friends and family were invited home and enlightened about the AAP. The tea parties included screening video clips of Kejriwal's speeches to inspire people to support the party. Persons of Indian origin (PIOs), who cannot donate to Indian political parties, supported AAP's telephone campaigns by making calls to people in India to enlist their support. Three young Indians - Akshay Kumar Anugu, Madhusudhan VN and Jayesh Srivastava - walked from Washington DC to New York to raise awareness about Swaraj, a system of decentralization the AAP propagates. The 16-day yatra, in the middle of the American summer, saw the young men battle soaring temperatures, humidity and blistered feet. The weather did little to dampen their spirits. "On a day we walked 22 miles, a woman who saw us during the last four miles shouted 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. Suddenly, we forgot how tired we were and felt so inspired that it was as if we were on our first mile," says Aunugu. The group stopped over at New Castle (Maryland, Delaware) where the elected representative spoke about a system of home rule followed there that resembles the AAP's vision of swaraj. All along the route, the Swaraj Yatra encouraged NRIs to plan a trip to India around elections and vote for the Aam Aadmi Par ty.

Mississauga Now has Better Access to Transpor tation Forecasting Did you know that Mississauga now has better access to researchers and software that can understand future travel on our road system? The City's Transportation Committee recently suppor ted a recommendation for Mississauga to join a group headed by the University of Toronto that pools resources and transpor tation data from across the region. The par tnership will allow the City to better understand overall travel behaviour as well as develop, test and implement improved freight movement throughout the city. The recommendation will go before City Council for approval on January 22.

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"India's Counterinsurgency Operations Succeed … in Giving Islamic Militants the Upper-Hand" BY SCOTT N. ROMANIUK

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'Low-cost, high-return' means of achieving strategic objectives" Islamic insurgents have been used by Pakistani leaders since its creation as a state1947 to meet this end. Guerillas remain a special weapon and component of Pakistan's strategic defense against India. The track record of Pakistan-backed insurgents shows their capacity to perform in ways that are as varied as the terrain across which they operate. With increased fighting taking place in India's north and Pakistan's commitment to defending its claim there, speculation is growing that India is falling well behind in the fight against insurgency in its most controversial district. Does Pakistan have the means to defeat Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir? By 2011, roughly 10,000 experienced insurgents were operating in North Waziristan. During that same year, the number of potential battle-hardened warriors that

could come together and resist Indian forceswasput as high as 60,000. Taking into account India's conventional military and field forces across its various service branches - its strategic and tactical nuclear arsenals (including chemical and biological weapons), missile defense program, and even network-centric warfare - India's borders with its hostile neighbor to the west have played a very central role in their relationship. Pakistani practices of unconventional warfare bring into light, however, a very different and critical aspect of Indian security. There is, more than ever, a growing need to follow through with a dramatic recalibration of its strategy to address the changing nature of its "clashes" with Pakistan in its "border" and contested regions. Heavy focus over recent decades on conventional modes of conflict between the two states has implied that the concept of borders remains an important variable in measuring the states' respective military

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capabilities, strategic and tactical options, and prospects for overcoming the other. It is becoming clear that diagnoses for establishing and maintaining a favorable military position over the other cannot continue to retain as much importance on the conventional aspects of warfare as the case has been. Even strategic-level appraisals of India's military position in its northern region is becoming stifled because of the pervasive belief that unconventional forces might not weigh-in as significantly as the prominent assets of India and Pakistan's traditional military arsenals. David S. Maxwell (Center for Security Studies / Security Studies Program, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University) recently argued that the United States' concern with the Al Qaeda network and international terrorism following 9/11 has become stale and relatively ineffective due to a lack of focus on the unconventional warfare strategy that Al Qaeda wages against the United States, the West, and several countries of the Middle East. India's success cannot depend exclusively on the operationality and strength of any single service branch in its military or of the armed forces combined. As a number of promising changes have been made in the United States' response to unconventional warfare, fewer cases can be found that better exemplify a swift and potentially long-term reversal in India's control of a vital dimension of its territorial security. This past August and October (2013) brought an increased level of gunfire and

mortar shelling in Kashmir and the worst that has been seen in roughly a decade. Eight Indian army soldiers were killed in the incident. Indian forces are strained by the need to protect their lines, their personnel, and civilians in the region; in the course of meeting these demanding conditions, events have almost perfectly exemplified the pressure that India is also facing in deterring and preventing Pakistani militants from pouring into the conflict region. The decade-long insurgency has shown little (if any) signs of abating. Beyond this, the Pakistani government has been accused of arming and training insurgents to continue the fight in the north. Between October 17-15, 2013, officials estimated that 8,500 mortar shells and more than 20,000 rounds of small-arms fire have been unleashed. Civilians have become the primary victims of the fighting - an attractive element for authorities aspiring to increase their commitment to insurgent activity and to respond to the violence by resorting to less-conventional modalities of war. Even though India'sforcesare armed for highprofile military confrontations, their abilities to win at low-profile conflictappear to have been relatively sidelined. India's engagement with Sikh militancy led to a commitment of about 250,000 security forces in Punjab whereas around 400,000-500,000 soldiers have been stationed in Kashmir - a region that falls short of Punjab's population by about 75%. Cooperation among India's security forces in Kashmir has proven inefficient in addressing the existence of

points of refuge for Pakistani insurgents. Islamic militants to the north also continue to receive support rom the Pakistan in addition to weapons procurement and training. Sealing the border has become a failed security objective. One of the main expectations of India's government was to achieve territorial closure with the aim of simply eliminatingany isolated pockets of militants over time. While the geographic containment of Pakistani insurgents in specific areas retained its position in India's counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy, the strategy itself reflects a large part of the Indian military's conventional "positional war" orientation. India's evolving COIN strategy shows some very strong signs of being collaborative. Its multifaceted strategy for fighting guerrilla insurgents has raised eyebrows for delivering positive results at times but such instances remain somewhat insulated. The flood of troops that India has sent north into Kashmir is not unlike the United States' troop surgethat took place in central Iraq (2007-2008) under thenGeneral David Petraeus. Improved intelligence and cooperation with tribal leaders were some of the more fruitful aspects of the stabilization process at that time. If India's COIN strategy is succeeding at all it is on different

levels; but signs still point to Pakistani effo r t s p u n c h i n g above the weight of their Indian adversary. India still focuses on the "old" approach to pouring an excessive number of military forces into an area with the aim of protecting its population. India's COIN elsewhere in India, just as in Kashmir, has shown that the relationship insurgents have with various ethnic and tribal groups remains one of their strongest assets. Although India has set about updating its COIN tactics and strategy, the pace of its overall efforts in doing so have effectively held India back in winning the f i g h t a g a i n s t insurgents in the north. Rather than taking note of Pakistan's practice of meeting high returns at low costs, Indiaseems committed, at least for now, to a contradictory trajectory when it comes to countering Islamic insurgency in Kashmir. Scott N. Romaniuk is a graduate researcher at the School of Security and Global Studies, American Military University. He specializes in military and strategic studies with a focus on conventional and asymmetric warfare, insurgency and counterinsurgency, militant Islamic terrorism, and radicalization.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. MIDWEEK is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of MIDWEEK and MIDWEEK does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

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am Aadmi Party’s membership drive is r e c e i v i n g unprecedented success with around ten lakh people already joining the party fold by Tuesday and the target to touch the figure of 1 crore will be achieved within the time frame, said the senior leader Gopal Rai today. Within four days of the launch of the open-for-all campaign ‘Main Bhi Aam Aadmi’, nearly ten lakh people have attained the membership of the party and many more will join ‘AAP’ in the next few days, said Rai, overall incharge of the drive. He said people from most of the areas in the country are eager to connect with the party and the numbers will increase significantly within the next few days. Those interested in attaining the membership can SMS their name, STD code and name of their Vidhan Sabha to 07798220033 / 08082807715 / 08082807716 following which an SMS will be sent with the

membership number. The process can also be done by following online form at www.aamaadmiparty.org where details need to be entered to become a member. If one gives a missed call on the either of the above mentioned numbers, an SMS will be sent back to the caller that will guide him or her to send the information required for the membership. Besides this, the membership form can be downloaded from the party’s website, printed, made copies of and distributed among other people -friends or relatives. People who do not own mobile phones can become members after January 17, 2014 wherein an option will be created on the website that will ask for the individual’s voter ID number instead of mobile phone. The 'moral membership' will cease to exist when a person gets involved in activities against the party’s ideology, he said. The party launched the free

membership drive from the Friday, 10th and will continue till January 26, 2014 of January and it will Rai said the success of AAP has brought hope to the people as they feel politics is coming closer to them due to which lakhs of people want to get associated with the party to bring about a change of January and it will Members of ‘AAP’ who belong to different social strata have appealed to the people to join the party in huge numbers and to take the ‘Main Bhi

Aam Aadmi’ campaign to maximum number of people. Those who have appealed include former Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s grandson Adarsh Shastri, former IPS officer UT Cadre Uday Sahay, social entrepreneur Richa Pandey Mishra, former IRS officer Jeetendra Kumar Shukla, senior Supreme Court lawyer Santosh Kumar, ‘Career Launcher’ founder Satya Narayanan R and engineer Vivek Rusia.

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UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN CANADA INCREASED IP10

Neil Young blames Federal government against their oil stand

COURTESY: ELMUZZ/FLICKR COMMONS

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t Toronto's Massey Hall singer, songwriter Neil Young blasted the Alberta oilsands showing his concern and asking Canadians to fight. "It's the greediest, most destructive and disrespectful demonstration of something run amok that you can ever see," he said. "There is no way to describe it. It's truly a disaster." "Get a grip and understand

what is really happening," he said. "It is hypocritical, some of the things that are being said by the leaders of this country. It's embarrassing as a Canadian to have to listen to some of this stuff. It's all marketing, it's all big money. "This oil is all going to China. It's not for Canada. It's not for the United States. It's not ours. It belongs to the oils companies and Canada's

government is behind making this happen." The singer's concert is raising funds for the First Nations community to fight the expansion of oilsands. "I described it as Hiroshima, which was basically pretty mellow compared to what was really going on up there," he said. "I still stand by what was said about Fort McMurray and the way it looks. Not because

CEO apologises for Pearson airport shutdown

Cour tesy: Flickr Commons

INSIDE THE PEARSON AIRPORT

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reater Toronto Airport Authority CEO Howard Engapologised for shutdown last week at Pearson Airport that left passengers stranded for hours. "I think we dropped the ball and we'll fix it," Eng said on CBC Metro Morning show. "I apologize to all the passengers that were affected and the frustration they encountered." More than 500 flights were

cancelled that left passengers stranded for about five hours at the country's busiest airport reported CBC News. During the -40 day, Eng was not in Toronto however he was in constant touch with his staff along with an acting CEO on his behalf, reported CTV News. The cold temperatures had led to delays in processing incoming plane traffic which led to backlog, reported CBC News.

"Yes it is a little late, but I think an apology is still warranted," he said Friday on CTV News. "Everyone was working very hard, but because of the conditions, everyone was just taking a little longer to perform their duties," he said. "People were prepared, but not prepared to that extent." "We will learn from our mistakes."

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the houses in Fort McMurray look like Hiroshima but because Fort McMurray stands for disease that these First Nations people are getting, the pollution… everything that's happening there." He said education will help resolve issues reported Global News. "We have a huge problem with science and the understanding of it. Science cannot be ignored as inconvenient, and that's what today's leaders are doing," the singer said. "Don't accept that there's no other way. Let's develop a way out of this. Let's have ingenuity. Let's figure out a way. People have ideas. There are many solutions we don't understand that are alternatives to what we're doing. We need to look ahead and develop renewable resources and technologies to move forward and produce energy."

Government of Canada supports project to end violence against women and girls in Surrey and Fraser Valley The Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, along with Nina Grewal, Member of Parliament for Fleetwood-Por t Kells, today announced Government of Canada suppor t for a project to address violence against women and girls in Surrey and the surrounding Fraser Valley area. "Our Government is committed to protecting women and girls from violence," said Minister Leitch. "That is why we are holding offenders accountable for their actions, and suppor ting community-based projects across Canada that address violence against women." "Gender-based violence is a pervasive issue that touches us all," said Nina Grewal, Member of Parliament for Fleetwood-Port Kells. "Through this project, the Surrey Women's Centre Society is providing effective, targeted, and community-based support to address violence against women and girls across the region." The Surrey Women's Centre Society is receiving $250,000 from the Government of Canada for a project that will improve services for women and girls who have experienced physical and sexual assault. Focusing on Surrey and the surrounding Fraser Valley area, the Society will work to improve the coordination of medical, legal and social intervention for victims. "We are very pleased to have this Government of Canada support for our project, which will increase safety in our community by improving the coordination of care for women and girls who experience gender-based violence," said Ms. Sonya Boyce, Executive Director, Surrey Women's Centre Society. "This project fills a real need in the community; until now, there has been no effective coordination of services in our region to respond to the needs of women and girls who have been physically and/or sexually assaulted." Through Status of Women Canada, Harper Government support for community-based projects has nearly doubled since 2006-2007, supporting more than 600 projects across Canada. Since that time, over $62 million dollars in funding has been approved specifically for projects to end violence against women and girls.

Finally, a Conservative MP recognizes the impact of climate change Will 2014 bring commonsense to Conservative environmental policy? Following the surprising admission by Conservative MP Peter Braid that recent extreme meteorological events demonstrate the impact of climate change, the NDP is calling on the Conservative government to finally agree to fight climate change in 2014. "Now that Conservatives are star ting to acknowledge the consequences of climate change, the question people are asking is when will we finally see some action?" asked NDP Environment critic Megan Leslie (Halifax). "We have been saying it for years - we need federal leadership, and a real plan, for fighting climate change." The NDP has been pressuring the government to back up their words with action - including regulations and investments that actually fight climate change. "Canada's Environment Minister, like the prime minister, simply ignore science they disagree with. If they won't listen to the NDP and millions of other Canadians concerned about our environment, we hope they will at least listen to his own Conservative backbencher."

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UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN CANADA INCREASED


CONSERVATIVES FAILING TO CREATE JOBS OR FOSTER GROWTH New employment data released by Statistics Canada today further undermines the Harper Conservatives' credibility when it comes to sound economic management. "Conservatives love to boast about their employment record but the facts simply don't back them up," said NDP Finance critic Peggy Nash (Parkdale - High Park). "Job creation remains very weak and too many of the jobs being created are low-paying and par t-time." The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2% in December, with nearly 46,000 more jobs lost. Canada now has the weakest growth in employment since the last recession. Unemployment rates were par ticularly hard hit in Ontario and Quebec, reaching 7.9% and 7.7% respectively. "While the Conservatives love to declare mission accomplished when it comes to job creation, the reality is job growth in 2013 was less than a third of that in 2012 and Mr. Flaher ty's last budget, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, killed many more jobs than it created," added Nash. "We urge Mr. Flaher ty to finally agree with the NDP and implement a job creation strategy in his upcoming budget."

Full-day Kindergarten Registration Now Underway PROGRAM GETTING RESULTS, ROLLOUT COMPLETE THIS SEPTEMBER ACROSS THE PROVINCE COURTESY: MARK MONTOYA/FLICKR COMMONS

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mployment fell by 46,000 in December in Canada showing an increase in unemployment rate 0.3 per cent, repor ted Statistics Canada. Dampened by the decline in December, employment gains in 2013 amounted to 102,000 or 0.6%. Employment growth averaged 8,500 per month in 2013, compared with 25,900 in 2012. Provincially, employment in December declined in Ontario and Alber ta, while it increased in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador. Nationally, there were fewer people working in educational services, "other services," agriculture as well as natural resources. At the same time, employment increased in health care and social assistance. In December, self-employment declined, while there was little change among public sector and private sector employees. Compared with 12 months earlier, all the employment gains were among private sector employees. Fewer men and women aged 25 to 54 were employed in December, while employment increased among women aged 55 and over. Employment down in Ontario and Alber ta In Ontario, employment fell by 39,000 in December, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.7 percentage points to 7.9%. The number of people working in Alber ta declined by 12,000 in December. However, the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.8% as fewer people par ticipated in the labour market.

In December, there were 13,000 more people working in British Columbia. The unemployment rate in the province was vir tually unchanged at 6.6% as more people par ticipated in the labour market. In Newfoundland and Labrador, employment increased by 1,900 in December, and the unemployment rate fell 1.5 percentage points to 10.8%. Despite little change in employment in Quebec, the unemployment rate increased 0.5 percentage points to 7.7% as more people looked for work. Declines in several industries In December, 19,000 fewer people worked in educational services, offsetting an increase over the previous two months. There were 15,000 fewer people employed in the "other services" industr y, such as personal care services as well as civic and social organizations. Employment also declined in agriculture, down 9,800, and in natural resources, down 8,000. Health care and social assistance was the only industry with employment gains in December, increasing by 22,000. Employment losses among 25 to 54 year olds In December, employment decreased by 38,000 for men and women aged 25 to 54, and their unemployment rate increased 0.4 percentage points to 6.1%. At the same time, employment rose for women aged 55 and over, up 14,000. Despite little change in employment among youths aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate increased 0.6 percentage points to 14.0% as more youths searched for work.

Ontario is encouraging parents to register their fourand five-year-old children for full-day kindergar ten this September, completing the province-wide rollout of this impor tant program that gives kids the best possible start. Registration is underway at many of the province's elementary schools. By this fall, full-day kindergar ten will be available for all four- and five-year MINISTER OF EDUCATION, olds in Ontario, benefitting LIZ SANDALS almost 265,000 students in approximately 3,600 publicly funded schools across the province. "We are proud of our innovative full-day kindergar ten program which is the biggest transformation our education system has seen in a generation. We know that children who complete full-day kindergarten are now better prepared for success in Grade 1 and beyond," said Minister of Education, Liz Sandals in a statement. A recent study measured the progress and development of students who were enrolled in full-day kindergarten compared to those who participated in half-day programs. The results found that Ontario's youngest learners who completed full-day kindergarten are better prepared to enter Grade 1 and to be more successful in school in all areas the study explored. Giving children the best possible star t is par t of the Ontario government's economic plan to invest in people and ensure everyone has access to a world-class education.

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INDIA GROWTH RATE AT 5 PER CENT IP12

WE HAVE CHALLENGED CORRUPTION, DYNASTY POLITICS IN AMETHI, KUMAR VISHWAS SAYS

short stories shortstories

"This is not targeting a specific country. This is an exercise between three friendly countries to participate for security of sea lanes, this is an important exercise," Itsunori Onodera said.

Japan wants to join India-US naval war games

KUMAR VISHWAS IS TIPPED BY THE AAM AADMI PARTY'S CANDIDATE FOR AMETHI LOK SABHA CONSTITUENCY. FILE PHOTO NEW DELHI: AAP leader Kumar Vishwas will focus on corruption in Amethi to end the dynastic rule of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. "Amethi's agenda is why is there no power, Amethi's agenda is why is there no development in the area," Kumar Vishwas said on Sunday as he started his Jan Sandesh yatra to Amethi for a much-publicised rally. "Winning or losing is not important, we have challenged corruption in Amethi" Vishwas said when questioned by reporters about the outcome of his contest against Congress vicepresident. "It is for the people of Amethi to decide, they have to decide if they want freedom from dynastic rule," the AAP leader said, adding, "our duty is to challenge corruption and bring to fore the development issues." Kumar Vishwas was shown black

flags as his convoy passed Jagdishpur on way to Amethi. The protesters, who claimed they were locals, said they were opposing Kumar Vishwas's 'communal speech'. Questioning the protests against his rally, Kumar Vishwas asked, " What are these protests for? Why do people have problems in discussing issues related to common man in the constituency of the scion of the most powerful family of the country? " On Saturday, an egg was thrown at Kumar Vishwas at a news conference in Lucknow. Some activists were protesting against his poems which allegedly hurt religious sentiments. The youth who disrupted the news conference identified himself as Saif Jafari from Bijnore. He claimed himself to be a spokesman of Mulayam Singh Yadav Youth

Brigade. He was detained by the police, but was released later as Vishwas refused to press charges. Vishwas described the incident as an attempt of opposition parties which feel threatened by his party's rise. He refused to take security. He

said that he has already apologized for the poems which were rendered by him in various "kavi sammelans" few years ago when he was not into activism and politics. "I never said anything intentionally to hurt somebody", he said.

AAP OFFICE ATTACKED AamAadmi Par ty's office has been vandalised by the right wingers over PrashantBhushan's recent comments on Kashmir referendum whether army should remain deployed there. "We today staged a protest against AAP's stand on Kashmir. AAP leader PrashantBhushan's remark on Kashmir are very sad for Hindus due to which we staged a protest outside the party office," said PinkyChoudhary, national convenor for Hindu Raksha Dal reported Times of India. Rocks were thrown at the office breaking down windows slong with attacks with "lathis" "Some youths, who are said to belong to Hindu Raksha Dal, gathered outside the party office and raised slogans against AAP. They also broke flower pots placed outside the party office" said party spokesman, DilipPandey reported Times of India. Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister ArvindKejriwal refused security for himself or the party office despite the attack.

NEW DELHI: Japan wants to be a par t of the naval exercise that India and the US hold every year to make it trilateral, six years after it was kept out of it apparently because of Chinese objections. Japanese defence minister Itsunori Onodera made it clear that the proposed trilateral Malabar-series exercise was not aimed against any specific country and was impor tant for the security of sea lanes in the region. "During the meeting with defence minister AK Antony, I asked for the par ticipation of the Japanese maritime self defence forces in the naval war games," he said in a recent interview here. Onodera was asked whether his country was interested in taking par t in the war games held between India and the US. "This is not targeting a specific country. This is an exercise between three friendly countries to par ticipate for security of sea lanes, this is an important exercise," he said. Malabar-series exercises are held between India and the US but in 2007, Japan and Australia had also taken part in it outside the Indian Ocean near the coast of Okinawa in Japan. China was apparently not happy about the event and is understood to have sought an explanation from the par ticipating countries about it. After the objections, India decided against making the war games multilateral and since then, it has been kept as a bilateral affair between it and the US Navy. It is understood that the US, which is a close ally of Japan, does not have any objections over Tokyo's par ticipation in the war games and the two countries are awaiting approval from the Indian side on the issue. The annual Malabar series exercises began in 1992, and include diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers and nuclear submarine operations. The 2007 edition was the only time that the exercise had taken place outside India Ocean, Bay of Bengal or Arabian Sea.

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SRINAGAR-JAMMU NATIONAL HIGHWAY OPENS FOR TRAFFIC

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he Srinagar-Jammu national highway, which connects Kashmir Valley to the rest of the country, was on Sunday opened for traffic after remaining cut off for two days due to snowfall. Traffic on the 294-km arterial road was stopped on Friday following snowfall in the areas around Jawahar Tunnel and only those vehicles were allowed to move yesterday which had been stranded a day earlier. “The highway is open for traffic and vehicles are being allowed to ply from Srinagar towards Jammu,” an official of the traffic department told PTI. Meanwhile, the weather in Valley remained dry for the last 24 hours and the MET Department here has said there would not be any large change in it for a few days. Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.0 degree Celsius last night, down by over two degrees from the previous night’s low of minus 0.3 deg C, a MET Department official said. He said the mercury in

A QUEUE STRANDED TRUCKS ON THE SRINAGAR-JAMMU NATIONAL HIGHWAY AT QAZIGUND 80 KMS FROM SRINAGAR ON THURSDAY. THE HIGHWAY WAS OPENED ON SUNDAY. Qazigund — the gateway town to Kashmir Valley — decreased over four degrees to settle at a low of minus 7.6 deg C as against minus 3.0 deg C the previous night. Kupwara, in north Kashmir registered a low of minus 4.0 deg C, compared to the previous night’s minus 4.5 deg C, the official said. He said the night temperature in south Kashmir’s Kokernag settled at a low of minus 5.7 deg C,

over one degree down from the previous night’s minus 4.0 deg C. The mercury in Pahalgam hill resort, in south Kashmir, increased by almost two degrees from the previous night’s low of minus 14.3 deg C, to settle at a low of minus12.4 deg C last night. Gulmarg, which recorded a low of minus 11.2 deg C the previous night, registered a low of minus 10.8 deg C last night. Leh, in the frontier region of

Ladakh, was the coldest recorded place in the state with a low of minus 18.9 deg C compared to the previous night’s minus 15.6 deg C. This was the coldest night of the season in the frontier town, the official said. The mercury in Kargil, also in Ladakh, plummeted by over six degrees from the previous night’s minus 9.0 deg C to settle at a low of minus 16.6 deg C the previous night, the official said.

INDIA GROWTH RATE AT 5 PER CENT Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India is growing at a 5 per cent growth rate for the current fiscal, confirmed repor ts. India is re-emerging and government's decision on infrastructure and fiscal reforms have an impact on foreign investment, he said. "Our economy has done well over the past decade. In the nine years since 2004, we averaged a healthy growth rate of 7.9 per cent per annum. There has been no doubt a slow down in the recent past, and we will probably end this year at the same level as last year with 5 per cent growth," Manmohan Singh said. "Despite these challenges, our economic fundamentals remain strong. Our savings and investment rates are still over 30 per cent of our GDP and the entrepreneurial spirit in India is very much alive and kicking," he said. He said considering the political environment of the nation, many outside India assume the country is "losing its momentum." "I wish to assure you that there is no rea-

son to despair about our present or worry about our future. Indeed, as I have said earlier, we are heading into better times ahead and I would urge you to remain engaged in the future of this country with confidence and optimism," he said. He said the education sector has been radically reformed with Central Universities having gone from 17 to 44 and the IITs and IIMs doubling in number. At the primary level, nearly every child in India is going to school today. The National Skills Development Authority is working with other stakeholders, including those from the private sector, to train 50 million people for the workforce during the next 5 years. The infrastructure has progressed with over 17000 kilometers of highways and more than 200,000 kilometers of new roads in rural areas. "Our power generation capacity is expanding rapidly, aided by initiatives in solar, wind and nuclear energy to give ourselves a more sustainable energy future," he added.


short stories shortstories Anti-corruption helpline flooded with calls NEW DELHI: Now the people of Delhi have also joined theAamAadmi Par ty Govt. to fight corruption. The helpline created for registering complaints against corruption has received 3900 calls within seven hours of the first day of its launch. Among these, 53 complaints are of a serious nature. In a Press Conference the Chief Minister ShriArvindKejriwal said people are excited with the launch of the aforesaid helpline. Within 07 hours of the first day of its launch there were 3900 complaints received out of which 53 complaints were of a grave nature. He said that some of the stings were recorded well and the Anti Corruption Depar tment has started its inquiry into the cases. He fur ther said that by tomorrow a four-digit helpline number will be released which will fur ther facilitate public in its fight against corruption. The Chief Minister said that this helpline is like a weapon for the public to fight corruption. If the public came together on this issue, corrupt officials will never survive. He again warned corrupt officials to mend their ways or be ready to be put behind bars. The Chief Minister said that because of few corrupt officials honest officials find it difficult to work properly and in a systematic manner. He said that as a dir ty fish spreads its foul odors across the whole pond, similarly some corrupt and greedy officials are creating a bad name for officials as a whole. He said that these corrupt officials will not be spared under any circumstances.

Four militants shot dead in Meghalaya SHILONG: Four heavily-armed militants were shot dead in an encounter with the police shor tly after the ultras lobbed a crude bomb near a petrol pump damaging vehicles in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district. The incident took place late last night on the road to Kerapara on the outskir ts of Tura, the district headquar ters, police said on Sunday. "Four armed militants were killed in the encounter with the special police team, a few km from the district headquar ters," West Garo Hills superintendent of police Mukesh Singh told PTI. He said the police team were pursuing the militants who had lobbed a grenade near the petrol pump. The militants fired randomly at the police team and four militants were shot dead in retaliatory fire which lasted for nearly an hour, Singh said. A huge cache of weapons were recovered from the camp that include IEDs, rockets, pistols, automatic rifles and even traditional bows and arrows. The police said the camp belonged to ANVC-B cadre who fled their camps at Edenbari following a raid last week that left two officers injured.

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IRAQ'S ANBAR PROVINCE CIVILIANS SUFFER ON BOTH SIDES I P14

Chris Christie apologises for closure on George Washington Bridge

short stories shortstories Egypt's Sisi to run for president on people demand CAIRO: Egypt's army chief and defence minister Abdel-Fattah alSisi said on Saturday that he would run for president only "if the people demand it and the army gives him a mandate", a media repor t said. During a symposium held by the Armed Forces, Sisi told attendees that "I cannot turn my back on Egypt", Xinhua reported while explaining that the coming stage is "difficult" and it requires solidarity of all Egyptians to build their nation. He called on all Egyptians to take par t in a referendum on the country's new draft constitution slated for Jan 14-15, stressing that the char ter represents "one-third of the future roadmap". He also noted that a low turnout in the upcoming constitution vote would "embarrass" him and the army. The military, led by Sisi, ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in early July, 2013 after mass protests against Morsi's oneyear rule and his Brotherhood group.

Libya's oil crisis exacerbated by push for autonomy

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE STATEHOUSE TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE LANE CLOSURES AND TO THE PEOPLE OF FORT LEE IN TRENTON, N.J. ON THURSDAY, JAN. 9, 2014 Cour tesy: state.nj.us

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ew Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie came under pressure recently for closure on George Washington Bridge last year that lead to traffic. He apologised Thursday in a news conference saying that he wasn't aware about the incident and that his former

deputy chief of staff, Kelly Bridget for "lying" to him. "I am heartbroken that someone I permitted to be in that circle of trust in the last four years has broken that trust," he said. Christie said he is "embarrassed and humiliated." Emails and texts concluded that Kelly arranged for lane

closures on one of the busiest Bridges to punish the mayor of Fort Lee who didn't endorse Christie for re-election, confirmed reports. Shutdown of lanes led to heavy traffic between Washington Bridge and Fort Lee from Sept. 9 to Sept 13. last year. "Time for some traffic

problems in Fort Lee," Kelly wrote on Aug. 13 in a message to David Wildstein, a Port Authority appointee by Christie who quit last month. "Got it," was the reply she received from Wildstein. The New Jersey governor has long been rumoured to plan a 2016 presidential run.

MORE THAN 25,000 FLEE INDONESIAN VOLCANO JAKARTA: More than 25,000 people have fled their homes following a series of eruptions and lava flows from a volcano in Indonesia, an official said on Sunday. Mount Sinabung on the western island of Sumatra sent hot rocks and ash up to 5,000 metres (16,000 feet) in the air "several times" on Saturday, National Disaster Mitigation Agency emergency response director Tri Budiar to told AFP. "So far, 25,516 people have been evacuated. There's nobody now within a five-kilometre (three-mile) radius of the crater. We are urging those living within seven kilometres southeast of the crater

to move too," he added. Hot lava, which has been spewing from the volcano for the past two weeks, has flowed into a river and filled up valleys with pyroclastic material, he said. "There were small secondary explosions when lava flows came into contact with the water, but there are no casualties so far. We are urging people not to carry out any activity in the rivers," he added. Mount Sinabung is one of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia that straddle major tectonic fault lines, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. It had been quiet for around 400 years until it rumbled back to life in 2010, and again in September last year.

Former Miss Venezuela killed on the side of the road

SOAP OPERA ACTOR AND FORMER MISS VENEZUELA KILLED ON A VENEZUELAN HIGHWAY LAST WEEK Cour tesy: Facebook

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opular soap opera actor and former Miss Venezuela killed on the side of the road in Venezuela last week along with her former husband, confirmed reports. Monica Spear, 29, and Thomas Henry Berry, 39 were killed on the highway after their rented Toyota Corolla when an alleged group of robbers pulled in and opened fire. Five people were taken into custody for questioning late last week confirmed reports. Two male among the five men are believed to be

under 18-year-olds. Their car was hit by "a sharp object that had been placed on the highway" that punctured at least two of car's tires, the director of country's investigative police Jose Gregorio Sierralta told reports. Hundreds protested on streets in Caracas to demand protection of the country's citizens by the government. Robberies and killings are notorious targeting many including foreign ambassadors and baseball players, reported

Associated Press. Reports confirmed the duo locked themselves inside the car, along with their 5year-old daughter when the two trucks pulled in. The daughter is believed to be wounded and recovering in hospital, reports confirmed. "They fired with viciousness," President Nicolas Maduro said about the attack, confirmed reports. "Sadness, anger, indignation, impotence, shame and pain, pain, pain, dammit!!!" said a TV personality, CamilaCanabal. "Monica and Thomas are the face of thousands of men and woman whose children have been left without parents because of the violence of Venezuela," she said. "We've had enough of going onto the street in fear of your life, of knowing that our neighbour was killed, our cousin was killed, a friend who had not yet reached 30 and was just on holiday, a tourist, with a five year-oldbaby was killed and her daughter was wounded on the highway…" said actress friend Mariangel Ruiz according to Euronews.

TRIPOLI: Libya is suffering a profound economic and political crisis, running out of cash because autonomy-seekers are blocking key oil expor ts, while a movement is afoot in congress to unseat the fragile government. The oil-rich Nor th African country has been shaken by political instability ever since long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi unseated and killed in late 2011. The government has failed to bring stability and security, with Libya's many tribes flexing their muscles and militias who fought to over throw Gaddafi refusing to give up their arms, instead carving out fiefdoms of their own. The latest crisis erupted in July, when security guards at key oil terminals shut them down, accusing the authorities of corruption and demanding a more equitable distribution of oil revenues. Production plunged to around 250,000 barrels per day from 1.5 million bpd, and the economy ministry estimates the treasury has lost more than $9 billion (6.6 billion euros) in revenue. That is a heavy blow to a country that relies on hydrocarbon revenues for 96 percent of its gross domestic product. Production has since recovered to 546,000 bpd, but the crisis has taken its toll. "The situation is becoming more and more critical," observed an executive with a foreign bank operating in Tripoli, who asked not to be identified. "The government risks having to resor t to borrowing, to pay its bills." The government has denied any corruption over its oil sales through the National Oil Co and has, in turn, blamed the protesters for seeking to line their own pockets. More than two years after Gaddafi's ouster, Libya has still not managed to adopt a new constitution, which would include a decision on how the country is to be administered geographically.

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IRAQ'S ANBAR PROVINCE CIVILIANS

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overnment forces on one side and al-Qaeda militants on the other are leaving civilians in the Anbar province of Iraq have caused civilian casualties in the region, confirmed reports. "Apparently unlawful methods of fighting by all sides have caused civilian casualties," Human Rights Watch said in a report. The Human Rights group did its own research and found that the government forces responded to al-Qaeda attacks on the first day of this year by mortar and gunfire in residential areas. "The government urgently needs to deal with the threat from al-Qaeda, but killing their own citizens unlawfully is not the way," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Civilians have been caught in the middle in Anbar, and the government appears to be doing nothing to protect

them." Iraq's city of Fallujah is now in al-Qaeda's control where army closed main checkpoints making it difficult for civilians to have access to basic necessities. Families were able to flee the city but with "extreme difficulty" reported Human Rights Watch. Fallulah is the capital of

Anbar province was one of "strong insurgents" during U.S. led war. Al-Qaeda took the city along with Ramadi fending off government forces. "There will be no retreat until we eliminate this gang and rid the people of Anbar of their evil acts," Prime Minister Nouri al-

Maliki from Baghdad told press. "The people of Anbar asked the government for help, they called us to come to rescue them from terrorists." U.S. State Department said it will work together with Iraq authorities to "defeat our common enemy," in a statement.

US biological weapons tested in Japan's Okinawa in the 1960s TOKYO: The US army conducted field experiments of biological weapons, which could harm rice cropping, in the Japanese island of Okinawa in the early 1960s, a press report said on Sunday. The same experiments were also conducted on the US mainland and in Taiwan, Kyodo news agency reported, citing US military documents it said it had obtained. The US is "believed to have had China and Southeast Asia in mind in developing such crop-harming agents," the report stated.

In the tests conducted, at least a dozen times between 1961 and 1962, rice blast fungus was released over rice fields and data was collected on how it affected rice production, Kyodo said, citing the documents. Rice blast disease causes lesions to form on the plant, threatening the crop. The fungus, which is known to occur in 85 countries, is estimated to destroy enough rice to feed 60 million people each year. The US government decided in 1969 to discard all biological weapons in its possession, Kyodo said. In

1975, an international convention against production and possession of biological weapons came into force. Okinawa was under postWorld War II US rule until 1972. The US government has previously disclosed information about chemical and biological warfare tests at sea and on land in such places as Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Utah. The obtained documents mention test sites including Nago and Shuri, both in Okinawa, but it is not known whether the experiments were conducted within the

premises of US bases there, Kyodo said. In the field tests, the army "used a midget duster to release inoculum alongside fields in Okinawa and Taiwan", measuring dosages at different distances and the effect on crop production, the documents said. A separate document said, "Field tests for stem rust of wheat and rice blast disease were begun at several sites in the (US) midwest and south and in Okinawa with partial success in the accumulation of useful data," according to Kyodo.


short stories shortstories 300 HOUSES DESTROYED IN 'SHANGRI-LA' TIBET VILLAGE: REPORT CAIRO: A huge blaze that ripped through the centre of an ancient Tibetan town in the popular Chinese tourist area of Shangri-La has destroyed almost 300 buildings, state-media said on Sunday. The fire in Gyalthang — which is situated in an area believed to be the inspiration for James Hilton's mythical Shangri-La — flattened two thirds of the town's old centre, Beijing Morning Post repor ted. The government-run Yunnan Net news service said 242 houses, mostly wooden, were burned down in the 1,300-year-old town while a fur ther 43 were demolished to prevent the fire from spreading. "The damage is extremely heavy," the Yunnan repor t said, citing local officials who added that a final estimate of the damage was still to be made. The town, known in Chinese as Dukezong, has become a popular tourist destination thanks to Hilton's 1933 novel "The Lost Horizon" which describes a mystical lost paradise called Shangri-La. In 2001, officials renamed the surrounding county — which sits in southwest China's Yunnan province — Shangri-La as par t of effor ts increase visitor numbers. More than 1,000 firefighters and volunteers were deployed to tackle Saturday's blaze and photos posted on local news sites showed gigantic flames, some more than ten metres high. There have been no repor ts of fatalities. "A single fire destroyed goods I'd saved wor th over 12 years wor th 40 or 50 thousand yuan ($6600-$8300)," a local vendor surnamed Zhao told the staterun China news service. "The blow to me is too large," the vendor added. The fire in Gyalthang, which sits high on the Tibetan plateau, followed a blaze at another high-profile site of Tibetan culture -- the Buddhist Serthar institute located in the nearby province of Sichuan. The inferno last week destroyed at least 10 structures at the institute thought to be among the largest in the world. The cause of both fires is unknown and there have been no repor ts that either were star ted intentionally.

Pakistan says Dawood Ibrahim is not in country ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday said fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is not present in the country, a day after India asser ted that its most wanted ter rorist was living in the neighbouring country. "We have repeatedly informed Indian authorities that Dawood Ibrahim is not in Pakistan," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said. Asked if Dawood was ever present in Pakistan, she said, "This issue has been raised in the past too. We have checked and have said he is not present here". Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had said, "As per our information, Dawood is in Pakistan." "When I went to America last year to discuss inland security, I met the Attorney General who looks after the FBI. I talked to him and we decided that we will pass whatever information we have on Dawood amongst each other. We decided we will make joint effor ts," Shinde had said when asked about the whereabouts of Dawood, who is wanted in a number of cases by Indian security agencies including the 1993 Mumbai blasts. Dawood, who heads a vast and multifaceted illegal business, has emerged as India's most wanted terrorist after the 1993 Mumbai bombings, which he allegedly organised and financed. An Interpol red corner notice is still pending against him. According to the US, Dawood maintains close links with terror outfit al-Qaida. As a result, the US declared him a "global terrorist" and pursued the matter before the United Nations in an attempt to freeze his assets across the world and crack down on his operations.


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80 PERTOSA DRIVE, UNIT 12, BRAMPTON ONT., L6X 5E9

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I HAVE BECOME LAIDBACK, WORK LESS: SRK

JAI HO MOVIE PROMOTION

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SALMAN KHAN AND SHWETA TIWARI

SALMAN KHAN

DAISY SHAH

STRANGE DILEMMA KATRINA TO COMPETE WITH HERSELF?

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atrina Kaif's Bang Bang starring Hrithik Roshan and her other film, Phantom, starring Saif Ali Khan, are slated to release on the same day (October 2). Given that October 2 will be kicking off the longest weekend of the year, this should hardly come as a surprise. Says a source, `Director Kabir Khan and producer Sajid Nadiadwala finished the first schedule of the film a few weeks ago and since then, they have been looking for the perfect date for the film's release. Sajid is adamant about releasing the film on this day as it falls on the first day of the longest weekend of the year. October 2 marks Gandhi Jayanti on a Thursday, the next day is Dusshera, followed by the weekend and Eid on Monday. An

official announcement is yet to be made but if things fall in place, October 2 will be the release date.` So far not many actors have had two of their films release on the same day. `A lot of filmmakers are eyeing this date. For instance, the makers of Bang Bang are yet to start shooting their film, but they have already declared October 2 as their release date. Now if both these films end up releasing on the same day, they will invariably eat into each other's business. Moreover, Katrina Kaif, the leading lady in both the films, will have a tough time promoting it.` While the official spokesperson of the film denied any knowledge about Phantom releasing on October 2, Kabir Khan and Sajid Nadiadwala remained

e is known for his endless energy, undying love for his craft and being a workaholic. But superstar Shah Rukh Khan says now he doesn't work as much and feels inspired with others' good work. Shah Rukh, who had only one release last year, superhit "Chennai Express", featured in just one movie in 2012 - late filmmaker Yash Chopra's last directorial venture "Jab Tak Hai Jaan". Currently he is shooting for Farah Khan's "Hapyy New Year". "I have become laid-back and I have star ted working less. I feel happy if the quality of work that others do is good. I look at their performances and get inspired," Shah Rukh told repor ters Thursday at the press conference for the 14th Zee Cine Awards which he will host. He is also planning a special per formance for the event. Being innovative for Zee Awards, scheduled for Jan 14, is the need of the hour. "I have hosted and performed for many shows. I wanted to do an exclusive act, which I haven't done for anyone else. I will be performing live," said the 48-year-old. The awards will be telecast Feb 23 simultaneously on Zee TV, Zee Anmol and Zee Tamizh. After being a par t of the film industry for over two decades, SRK said he is over the initial excitement of being nominated.

QUEEN KANGANA STUNS HER TEAM? unavailable for comment. The trade experts, on the other hand, are skeptical too. Trade expert Amod Mehra thinks that with Bang Bang not having started its schedule yet, both

films might not release on same day. Adds Komal Nahata, `Both films releasing on the same day will majorly affect the other's collections. I am sure one of them will change its release date.`

AAMIR KHAN BECOMES OVERSEAS KING BY BREAKING

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS WITH 'DHOOM 3' Dhoom3 has created phenomenal records in India. What has come as a shock and received a stunned expression is Dhoom 3's overseas numbers. Overseas markets are not known to be Aamir Khan's forte. This reality had changed when 3 Idiots had released, when 3 Idiots had become the highest collector in several international countries and set a benchmark. But what has happened with YRF's Dhoom3 internationally has made everyone speech

less. Dhoom3 has crossed, broken all records and doubled almost all records and doesn't seem to stop. It's growing strong and continues at the box office. In fact YRF is opening several countries come this Friday where no Hindi film has ever released. Already YRF's Dhoom 3 in overseas has collected box office collections till 7th Jan is US$ 25.39 Million (Rs.152.34 Cr) which is double of any other film.

Kangana Ranaut, known for her dedication and honesty towards her work, has often surprised many with her professionalism. The actor, who is looking forward to the release of her film Queen, has left no stone unturned to excel at her work. Recently, the unit of the film was amazed when the actor, without hesitation, shot in the coldest days of Delhi winters with one sweater. The incident took place as she danced to the tunes of 'London Thumakda', a peppy track from the film, that will be out soon. While all the dancers wore layers of clothes under their shiny costumes to stay warm in the chilling cold, Kangana had absolutely no qualms in being dressed in a salwar kameez, with just a sweater above it. Not just this, the actor never failed to miss a single day of her morning workout regime. Even if the call time was 7am, Kangana would wake up at 5am in the cold to hit the gym, before the shoot commenced. A source from the unit said, `We have no idea where this determination and focus comes from. While we used to be shivering under layers of blankets and quilts, Kangana would have already hit the gym, preparing herself for the shoot. Such dedication is rare.

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Movie Review

Upcoming BOLLYWOOD Movies

JAI HO

MADHURI UDDING SHAH, ER S S A N T: S A C UMA SHAD WARSI, H DIXIT NENE, AR WA. AJ, MANOJ PAH A R AY IJ V I, H QURES BEY BHISHEK CHAU DIRECTED BY: A RATING: ****

RELEASE DATE:

STAR CAST: Salman Khan, Tabu, Danny Denzongpa, Daisy Shah DIRECTOR(S): Sohail Khan GENRE : Action, Romance

Sans redundant 'masala', 'Dedh Ishqiya' is lovable

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ver since the trend of dishing out sequels has emerged in Bollywood, nearly each and every cine franchise has emerged as more of a money spinner for its makers. Anyhow, while juggling with a franchise, which has already fetched a top slot for itself, it's always a challenge to match the legacy of the previous edition and even tougher than that is raising the benchmark with the present offering. Dealing in sequels is no longer a distant trend among our cine logicians, but the factor which has by now taken the center stage is money making where our cine sorcerers prefer to dish out the sequels and at times even prequels of the movies with just a sole objective, i.e. is of raking in some big moolah. But at the same time there is another league of cine wizards who are least concerned about making money, and prefer to unveil some content driven cine narrations. And cer tainly Abhishek Chaubey's recently released `Dedh Ishqiya` is one belonging to the latter ilk. With a marvellous script at its core, and comprising a brigade sinewy performers like Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Arshad Warsi, Huma Qureshi and Vijay Raaj `Dedh Ishqiya` managed to fetch a decent foot fall at its opening. The premise of Dedh Ishquiya is the story about two crooks Khalu Jaan (Naseeruddin Shah), Babban ( Arshad Warsi) and a middle-aged widowed women Begum Para (Madhuri Dixit Nene) who is scouting for a poet husband, in order to fulfill the last wish of her deceased husband. As the frames roll ahead they showcase the advent of Khalujaan in a fictitious town of Mamudbad, where Begum Para organizes a 'Mushayra' in order to marry the winner of the competition. Khalujaan par ticipates in the competition posing as the Nawab of Chandpur, and tries to woo the Begum, but everything changes with the entry of Arshad (Baban), who too fall head over heels for Begum's aide Munniya (Huma Qureshi). But the entire dream jaunt of Khalu and Babban star ts wobbling, when the villainous Nawab Jaan Mohammad (Vijay Raaz) decides to con-

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10 songs

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Film: Dedh Ishqiya

ZABAAN JALE HAI

FILM

SONG

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Dedh Ishqiya

Dil Ka Mizaaj Ishqiya

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Yaariyan

Baarish

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Dhoom 3

Malang

5

Yaariyan

Meri Maa

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Hasee Toh Phasee

Ishq Bulaava

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Gunday

Mann Kunto Maula

8

Hasee Toh Phasee

Zehnaseeb

9

Gunday

Tune Maari Entriyaan

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Heartless

Main Dhoondne Ko Zamaane Mein

MOVIE COLLECTIONS HIT OR FLOP MIDWEEK RAM-LEELA

SUPER HIT

BULLETT RAJA

BELOW AVERAGE

R...RAJKUMAR

ABOVE AVERAGE

JACKPOT

FLOP

January 24, 2014

HASEE TOH PHASEE RELEASE DATE:

February 07, 2014

STAR CAST: Sidharth Malhotra, Parineeti Chopra, Adah Sharma PRODUCER(S): Karan Johar, Phantom Films GENRE : Romance, Comedy

MISS LOVELY RELEASE DATE:

January 17, 2014

STAR CAST:Nawazuddin Siddiqui.... Sonu, Niharika Singh.... Pinky, Anil George.... Vicky, Meneka Lalwani test Khalu for Begum's hand over a round of Shayari and Target Shooting'. So does Khalu succeeds in winning Begum's hear t? or the is it Nawab Jaan Mohammad who has the last laugh? To know book your seats now. Challenging the set practice of retaining numerous reference points from the prequel, script of `Dedh Ishqiya` stands out as and 'equal' of 'Ishqiya' instead of being a sequel of the same. Ever-since beginning, narration of `Dedh Ishqiya` takes a flight like an altogether newfangled cine plot. Although the two main characters i.e. Khaalu and Babban have been retained by the author, but at the same time the new characters have been subsumed in the plot with utmost prowess. Besides, it won't be wrong to quote that with the script of `Dedh Ishqiya`, its author Darab Farooqui has conveniently succeeded in creating a standalone cine delight which no where makes you recall the prequel. Interlaced in the thread of numerous twists and turns, script of Dedh Ishquiya is undoubtedly a delightful combo of intelligent humor, thrill and an engrossing plot flowing beneath the entire visual endeavor. Besides this in the writing depar tment it's simple yet smar tly tailored rib tickling dialogues weaved by Vishal Bhardwaj, and quintessential poetry of Dr Bashir Badr which fur ther magnifies the overall appeal of the entire narration of `Dedh Ishqiya`. In nutshell it won't be wrong to say that primarily it's the writing domain which majestically magnifies the enter tainment quotient of `Dedh Ishqiya`. There are no doubts about the fact, when an enthralling script clubs with a dauntless screenplay the impact of the onscreen offering increases prodigiously. So seems to be the case with `Dedh Ishqiya` which is no less than a gratifying combination of Darab Farooqui's enchanting script and impeccable screenplay of Vishal Bhardwaj and Abhishek Chaubey. From the very first frame the screenplay of 'Dedh Ishqiya' flows with such magnificence, that soon after the rolling of camera begins, you star t splurging all your attention on the silver screen only. Be it the first half or the post interval par t, flow narration keeps you completely enveloped in the onscreen proceedings. In fact it won't be wrong to say that the two major pillars i.e. script and screenplay are so majestically inter twined that you never realize that the this charming tale has reached its culmination. And as far as other significant perspectives like editing, cinematography and production are concerned then there is just one word for all of them and that is 'MAGNIFICENT'. In production design Subrata Chakrabor ty has done miracles by creating a theme appropriate milieu, which steadfastly adds to the authenticity of entire narration. Be it about creating a feel of feudalistic kind of milieu, or an ambiance of 'Mushayraa', on every front Subrata has proved his brilliance and have quite conveniently succeeded in recreating that engrossing charm required to back-suppor t the appeal of `Dedh Ishqiya`. While being behind the camera even, Setu has done a terrific job. Even editing of Sreekar Prasad is top notch. But the man who deserves the biggest sack of goodies is director, Abhishek Chaubey, who has not only succeeded in keeping everything per taining to `Dedh Ishqiya` well within the proportions, but at the same time has set a new benchmark of excellence by his cinematic radiance. Unlike its prequel `Dedh Ishqiya` somewhere down the line falls shor t on music front, with a bare minimum dose of musical carols, `Dedh Ishqiya` fails in emerging as an aural delight of a sor t for all those who still have the traces of songs like 'Dil to Bachcha Hai Ji' vivid in their mind. Well with an entire brigade of stupendous cine performers there re-

PRODUCER(S): Shumona Goel GENRE : Drama

PARANTHE WALI GALI RELEASE DATE:

January 17, 2014

STAR CAST:Anuuj Saxena.... Maulik, Neha Pawar.... Naina Kaur, Mohinder Gujral.... Naina's Mother, Vijayant Kohli.... Saluja, Himanshu Thakkar.... Maulik's Friend, Yuvraj Haral.... Maulik's Friend, Prabhakar Srinet.... Maulik's Friend, Jaspreet.... Naina's Sister PRODUCER(S): Sachin Gupta 1 GENRE : Drama mains very less scope for saying anything. And one thing which can't be denied about the protagonists of the `Dedh Ishqiya` is that each one of them performs his/ her par t with such a grandeur that it becomes next to impossible to pick best out of them. Naseer as usual has been at his performing best, and by his astonishing excellence has once again proved that he is not only good in making each and every character which he plays look impressive, but also have such a prowess that whichever character he plays he can make it immor tal. While performing the character of Begum Para, damsel in distress of a sor t, Madhuri has once again proved that she genuinely is the treasure-trove of talent, and knows how to slip under the robe of her character. Before saying anything about Arshad's performance I would like quote that I am glad that this super versatile actor is back with a bang (after Mr Joe B Carvalho obviously). Be it his spontaneity or acting prowess everything per taining to Arshad has looked top notch in `Dedh Ishqiya` where this brilliant actor has excelled in every manner. And on top of it, it's his camaraderie with Naseer which makes you forget everything.

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MidWeek

bollywood

HOLY COW! TROUBLE IN KATRINA,

RANBIR PARADISE? Apparently, something went wrong during Ranbir Kapoor and alleged lady-love Katrina Kaif's recent trip to New York

Has Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor's romance hit a roadblock? A Bandra birdie chirps to say that something apparently went wrong during their recent trip to New York. The industry is abuzz with rumours that the actress wants a commitment from Ranbir which he is still not ready for. There is also speculation that Kat wants to concentrate on her career. When Kareena Kapoor openly addressed Kat as her sister-in-law on Karan Johar's chat show, Ranbir -despite Karan's coaxing -did not admit to the relationship. Kat begins shooting for Jagga Jasoos with RK. Let's wait and watch if this is just a lover's tiff or something more.

I'm pretty choosy, says Malaika Actress-producer Malaika Arora Khan, who is currently seen on the judging panel of "India's Got Talent 5", says she is very choosy about what she is doing and nothing worth being part of has come her way. "There is nothing going on, there is nothing worth being part of. If there is something interesting, I would definitely do

it. I am not someone who likes to be on the run-of-the-mill. I am pretty choosy about what I am doing," Malaika told IANS. The fifth season of reality show "India's Got Talent" went on air Saturday. Malaika is accompanied by filmmaker Karan Johar and actress Kirron Kher on the judging panel. The show airs on Colors.

Abhishek airbrushes 'Guru' emotions

"Guru" completes seven years of its release Sunday. Doesn't time fly, says actor Abhishek Bachchan. Directed by Mani Ratnam, "Guru" was an important film for Abhishek for both personal and professional reasons - he proposed to Aishwarya Rai after the off-shore premiere of "Guru" and married her, and it was also his biggest hit of the year. Interestingly, this was Abhi and Ash's first super hit film together after duds like "Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke" and "Kuch Naa Kaho". "How time flies...feels like yesterday that we finished

shooting for 'Guru'. Well, onwards and upwards," Abhishek tweeted Sunday about "Guru". The 37-year-old also posted a dialogue from the hit movie. "Naam tha nahin, hai, aur hamesha rahega (name was not well-known, but is and will always be)...Gurukant Desai! Can't believe it's even seven years since 'Guru' released," Abhishek tweeted. The actor is currently shooting for his forthcoming film "Happy New Year", which also features Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.

Just for You Bhaai: A song for Salman Khan

A

ctor Salman Khan is known to shirk his car and walk home after his shoots; he has done this on numerous occasions. On Saturday night, after one such shoot at Mehboob Studios, the actor chose to walk the short distance to his Galaxy Apartments residence. On his way home, he ran into an aspiring music director. What followed was even more interesting as Salman asked him to sing him a song. Says an eye witness, `Flanked by his bodyguards, Salman was walking back to Galaxy Apartments at around 11pm. Soon after this person approached him and told him that he wants to become a music director. Impressed by his persistence, Salman decided to test his musical skills; he asked him to sing him a song.` On his part, the aspiring musician was more than happy to have Salman as his audience. In fact, he accompanied Salman right up to the latter's residence where the actor is said to have to promised to help him.


'Miss Lovely' passed with just four cuts by censor

Filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia's internationally acclaimed "Miss Lovely" is set to release in India with an 'A' certificate, but without major changes in the content as the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has passed the film with only four cuts. The Censor Board originally proposed 157 cuts which have been revised over the course of one year. "Earlier, the Censor Board objected to the foul language and sexual content in the movie. But they have been mature, fair, and kind enough to reduce it to just four blurred scenes having realised that none of the provocative content is gratuitous. There is enough steam in the gritty film to stay true to its subject and attract audiences," a source said in a statement. Ahluwalia is happy with the development and applauds the Censor Board. "When I made 'Miss Lovely' I never expected a release in India. Most of all I didn't believe that the Censor Board would allow a film with so much adult content through. I'm happy to have been eventually proved wrong." "The way the Board treated the film, allowing me to give them my point of view and accepting those arguments - has been amazing and very different from the Censor Board that I had imagined," he said. "With very few changes to the adult content, they have given the film a lot of respect. I hope that this direction continues and that we will see more different adult-themed films in our cinemas," he added. Set in the sleazy C-grade film industry in the 1980s' Mumbai, "Miss Lovely" features Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Niharika Singh, among others. It is slated for Jan 17 release.

Gul Panag : Glad, gender stereotypes are being challenged

An interest in travelling, collecting cars and a passion for adventure may be listed as activities perceived as falling in men's domain, but actress Gul Panag does not agree with these stereotypes and has been disproving them in her own life. Gul, who has been riding bikes from a very early age, said: "No one ever called me a tomboy. Then or now." "I don't think riding bikes makes a girl a tomboy. Who decides what girls should do or not do? I'm glad the gender stereotypes are being challenged," Gul, who has been seen in films like "Dhoop" and "Dor", told IANS in an email interaction. Along with her acting commitments, endorsements as well as social initiatives, the former beauty queen always makes it a point to devote time to her hobbies and interests. The 35-year-old has also found a way to "combine" her "work and passion". "One can always take out time for things one wants to do. With all the travel, writing, and blogging I do, I am able to combine work and my passion," she said. Not only has she aligned her passion with her work, but it has found its place in her personal life as well. Her husband Rishi Attari shares the same interests as her, which makes her adventures more enjoyable. "Both of us share a common passion for adventure and the outdoors and he is most enthusiastic and supportive of all my interests," she said. Being adventurous means being innovative and creative for the couple. A few months ago, the couple modified their Mahindra Scorpio SUV, adding thicker tires, a higher ground clearance, and modified the back so that it could be turned into a tent for overnight camping. In short, their car is a perfect adventure vehicle. Known to go on interesting trips, Gul recently returned from a challenging expedition in Lahaul Valley of Himachal Pradesh. But, the actress makes it a point to ride safe and not to be "reckless" while embarking on these challenging expeditions. "Adventure is always about taking calculated risks, not being reckless...I always ride with full riding gear that protects my spine, elbows, knees and head from a fall," she said. She further added: "As far as camping goes, there isn't much risk involved. All we do is check the weather and carry adequate food supplies in case we are stranded." A regular perusal of these hobbies helps the actress relax and "rejuvenate"."Stress is the single greatest cause of not being able to live life to the fullest. Indulging in one's hobbies and interests is a great way to rejuvenate," she said. While most actresses' don't seem to share the same interests as Gul, she has no hesitation in doing the things she loves. "I think one should follow one's own path and do what one enjoys doing without worrying about whether others share the same interests or not," she said.


MidWeek

hollywood

I'D LOVE TO WORK WITH AMITABH BACHCHAN AGAIN: LEONARDO DICAPRIO If Hollywood’s ace actor Leonardo DiCaprio had his way, he would love to team up with Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan on screen again after having shared screen space with him in The Great Gatsby. He finds the veteran an impressive talent and a "gentleman". Recently, while DiCaprio was being interviewed for his latest film The Wolf Of Wall Street, he was questioned whether if an opportunity to work with Mr. Bachchan would come up again, what would he do. He expressed an interest in it, read a statement. The Titanic star said: "Mr. Bachchan impressed me immensely by not just his talent and his ability to act, but what a gentleman he was. I was honoured to work with him. It was great seeing that enthusiasm he brings to even the smallest of roles and I’d love to work with him in the future." Amitabh Bachchan, 71, made his international debut with The Great Gatsby, directed by Baz Luhrmann. Big B plays the role of Meyer Wolfsheim in the $125 million 3D project, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the same name.

AMERICAN HUSTLE, 12 YEARS A SLAVE TOP

GOLDEN GLOBES American Hustle won big at the Golden Globes Sunday, while harrowing drama 12 Years a Slave took the coveted best drama prize, fuelling buzz ahead of the allimportant Oscars. Hustle, the stylish crime caper by director David O Russell, took best musical/comedy film and two acting awards, while the criticallyacclaimed Slave had to make do with the one big prize. Hollywood turned out in their red-carpet finest for the 71st annual Golden Globes, tinseltown's biggest honours fest before the Academy Awards in March -- and a key indicator as to who could be tipped to take home Oscars. Australian Cate Blanchett won best drama actress for

Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine and Matthew McConaughey triumphed for best drama actor

in Dallas Buyers Club. The Wolf of Wall Street star Leonardo DiCaprio and Amy

Adams from Hustle won the top acting awards in the musical/comedy category.

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Golden Globes Awards COURTESY: GOLDENGLOBES/ FACEBOOK

Best Motion Picture, Drama :- 12 Years a Slave Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama:- Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama:- Matthew McConaughey(Dallas Buyers Club) Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:- American Hustle Best Actress In A Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:- Amy Adams(American Hustle) Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:Leonardo DiCaprio(The Wolf of Wall Street) Best Animated Feature Film:- Frozen Best Foreign Language Film:- The Great Beauty Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture:- Jennifer Lawrence(American Hustle) Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture:- Jared Leto(Dallas Buyers Club) Best Director - Motion Picture:- Alfonso Cuaron(Gravity) Best Screenplay - Motion Picture:- Spike Jonze(Her) Best Original Score - Motion Picture:- Alex Eber t(All is Lost) Best Original Song - Motion Picture:- Ordinary Love (U2)(Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) Best TV Series, Drama:- Breaking Bad Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama:- Robin Wright(House of Cards) Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama:- Bryan Cranston(Breaking Bad) Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy:- Brooklyn Nine-Nine Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy:- Amy Poehler(Parks and Recreation) Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy:- Andy Samberg(Brooklyn Nine-Nine) Best TV Movie or Mini-Series:- Elisabeth Moss(Top of the Lake) Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie:- Michael Douglas(Behind the Candelabra) Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie:- Jacqueline Bisset(Dancing On the Edge) Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie:Jon Voight(Ray Donovan)

Kylie Minogue wants to direct and star in own movies Kylie Minogue has revealed that she would like to follow in Barbra Streisand's footsteps by directing and starring in her own movies. The singer is hopeful her experience of making music videos will help her to helm her own film one day and cites singer actress and filmmaker Streisand as her all-time career icon because she is so multi-talented. She told LOOK magazine that she is not ready as yet, but perhaps one day she will be. The pop star also has a soft spot for fellow music legend Madonna and claims she admires her individuality.-

Scarlett Johansson never expected Golden Globe nomination Scarlett Johansson has opened up about being deemed ineligible for a Golden Globe nomination. The 29-year-old said that she didn't expect to be recognized for the Golden Globes, as she thought that her performance in Her was not a type of performance that the jury would recognize, the Huffington Post reported. She said that she never expects to be nominated for anything and she worked in the postproduction part of it and that working with Joaquin Phoenix and Spike Jonze really allowed her to focus on how to develop the character and what needed to be in the relationship that wasn't there.

COURTESY: BRAKING BAD / FACEBOOK

COURTESY: GOLDENGLOBES/ FACEBOOK

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Misbah leads Pakistan's resistance to foil Sri Lanka

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SKIPPER MISBAH-UL HAQ LED PAKISTAN'S RESISTANCE WITH A GRITTY 97 TO THWART SRI LANKA'S VICTORY BIDS ON THE FOURTH DAY OF THE SECOND TEST IN DUBAI ON SATURDAY.

MISBAH-UL-HAQ HITS A SIX, PAKISTAN V SRI LANKA, 2ND TEST, DUBAI

'Now we know we've got players who can do well anywhere' - Dhoni

M

S Dhoni believes that India's young side has transitioned into a stable unit with the help of sustained exposure at home ahead of a number of overseas trips. According to the Dhoni, the first one, to South Africa, proved that the team had players who cou l d p e r f o r m i n a l l conditions. As they depart for the second trip, to New Zealand, the India captain said that tackling bounce and generating it were the major challenges facing the batsmen and bowlers r e s p e c t i v e l y. " T h e g o o d thing is that though there have been quite a few changes [to the team], before we went for the last tour we got enough time in India," Dhoni said at a press conference in Mumbai, ahead of the team's departure for New Zealand. "Quite a few of them played few Test matches in India and we did well and were confident of their ability. Quite a few people were speculating about how the batsmen will do or how the bowlers will do [in South Africa]. Now we know we have got a set of players who will do well irrespective of where we are playing and that is a big positive. " A s o f n o w, b o t h o u r [ODI and Test] squads look quite settled, which is a good thing because it's very important to back individuals. If you talk about the batsmen, not all of them have played a lot of Test matches outside the subcontinent. So they will take some time. "But what we have seen is that almost all of them have played ODIs outside India and still they have performed really well, which gives you the confidence of saying that they have the ability to do well outside the subcontinent when it comes to dealing with pace and bounce. Yes, the red ball does slightly more and for slightly longer periods in Te s t m a t c h e s a n d i t ' s different, but if you have the talent to perform in one format, definitely you have the talent to perform in others too." For India batsmen who are used to unpredictable and low carry at home, leaving balls on the bounce alone in New Zealand is likely to be a challenge. But Dhoni said that his batsmen had shown in South Africa that they could

MS DHONI: I THINK THE BATSMEN DID WELL IN SOUTH AFRICA, THEY HANDLED GOOD FAST BOWLING AND AT THE SAME TIME THEY WERE QUITE POSITIVE tackle that test quite well. " We h a v e a s l i g h t l y bigger challenge in the sense that ... [even] if the fast bowlers bowl back of a length in India more often than not it is very difficult to leave on the bounce, but when you go outside you know you have the liberty of not only leaving on the line, but also if you judge the bounce and if the wicket has good bounce, you can leave on the bounce. "This is something you learn over a period of time and I think the batsmen did well in South Africa, they handled good fast bowling and at the same time they were quite positive. There were quite a few things that happened in South Africa that gives us the confidence of saying that we have the talent of doing well anywhere in the world." Dhoni also said there was healthy competition among his bowlers, with more and more recovering from injuries, and that the challenge for his attack was to squeeze more bite out of drier pitches. "I think there's more competition when it comes to the bowling department. One year back some of our leading fast bowlers had injuries. Back then we didn't have too many options," he said. "But now with all of them becoming fit and being

available for selection and doing well on the domestic circuit, they have enough competition amongst themselves, which is a healthy thing to have." "There's one particular condition we have to improve on, which is on wickets that are on the drier side and just have a bit of bounce on offer and not too much of seam movement. The reason being, most of our bowlers aren't those who hit the surface. Most of them are those who swing the ball and bowl slightly up to the batsman. At times we encounter wickets that are on the drier side and you have to bang in the ball to get bounce and pace." In the absence of a seamb o w l i n g a l l r o u n d e r, D h o n i also called for India's specialist spinners to show more patience and build pressure in overseas Tests, pointing to Ravindra Jadeja's performance in the Durban Test as an example. "One thing that the home team would like to do is to ensure that the wickets don't turn at all. The reason being that we don't have an allrounder. We don't play with five specialist bowlers. Over the years we have lost our part-timers who were as good as specialist bowlers. "If the ball doesn't spin

they [the opposition] can take runs off the spinner, rotate the strike and look to score over three runs an over, and that actually puts the pressure on the captain. You don't want them to score over three-and-a-half runs an over when the spinner is bowling. [Then] you're forced to bring back the fast bowlers and they end up exhausted after the first day workout. "In that respect, Jaddu's performance was good. Also the spinners will have to accept that when they travel abroad and when they're bowling on the first-day wicket, their role is slightly different. They need to have a bit more patience and not give them runs so that you are also building pressure from one end. They get late turn from the third or fourth days and that's the time they need to go in for the kill. "When they play more and more games outside India, they'll start accepting the fact that in their first 9-10 over spells in India they might get onetwo or more wickets, [but] outside they need to be more patient in their first spell, especially if they are bowling on the first day of the Test match. It's a bit tough on them but till the time we find a seaming allrounder, they'll have to bear that."

MISBAH missed his sixth Test hundred by a mere three runs but a career best 70 not out by Sarfraz Ahmed and a defiant 32 by Bilawal Bhatti kept Pakistan's fight to take them to 330-7 at close on a cloudy day when Dubai stadium lights were on most of the day. When bad light and drizzle ended play 15 overs before schedule, Saeed Ajmal was on seven and Pakistan were leading by 107 runs with a full day's play remaining. Sar fraz added an invaluable 67 runs for the seventh wicket with Bhatti to frustrate the Sri Lankan bowlers who bowled with discipline and patience on a pitch which had little response for bowlers. Sri Lanka will look for early wrap up of Pakistan's second innings to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first Test ended in a draw in Abu Dhbai last week. The third and final Test will be played in Sharjah from Thursday. When left-arm spinner Rangana Herath spun one across Misbah's bat to hit the off stump just 20 minutes before tea it looked the match will be over soon but Sarfraz and Bhatti kept the fight before Eranga bowled Bhatti in the dying moments. Sar fraz improved on his highest Test score of 40 he made against South Africa at Centurion earlier this year by posting his maiden half century. He has so far hit seven boundaries during his 123-ball stay. Sri Lanka had a good chance of dismissing Sarfraz at 51 but paceman Suranga Lakmal dropped a regulation caught and bowled chance to add to his team's woes after Misbah foiled them for nearly two sessions. Misbah's valiant effor t helped Pakistan avoid their first-ever innings defeat against Sri Lanka before his 412-minute resistance ended. Misbah, who took 38 balls to add to his overnight score of 53, hit eight boundaries and a six under difficult circumstances. He added an invaluable 129 for the four th wicket with Younis Khan (77), 52 with Asad Shafiq (23) for the fifth and 45 for the sixth with Sar farz to help Pakistan avoid innings defeat but finally succumbed to some persistent effort from Herath who has figures of 2-124. Paceman Nuwan Pradeep had the best figures of 2-50 while Eranga took 2-70. Pakistan resumed on 132-3 and needed Younis and Misbah to dig deep but Younis tried to drive a slightly wide delivery from Lakmal, managing only to edge it to wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, who held his eighth catch of the match. Younis batted for 235 minutes and hit five boundaries, adding 129 runs for the third wicket with his skipper. Sri Lanka took the second new ball with the score at 198-4 and were instantly rewarded in the second over when Eranga had Shafiq caught in the slip. Both Misbah and Sarfraz survived confident leg-before appeals -- with the skipper rever ting Indian umpire Sundaram Ravi's decision on 78 to add to Sri Lanka's day-long frustration.

CLARKE OUTWITTED COOK IN USING BOWLERS

NEW DELHI: Australia captain Michael Clarke's "clever manipulation" of his bowling attack allowed him to outwit England captain Alastair Cook and win the Ashes 5-0, according to an analysis in the Sydney Morning Herald. In the five Tests, Clarke changed his bowlers only with "marginally greater frequency" than Cook, once every 4.3 overs compared to Cook's once every 4.2 overs, but the timing of Clarke's changes proved him to be the more astute captain. In the first three Tests, he changed his bowlers 25% more frequently than Cook. Clarke also rotated bowlers even when they were in the middle of a good spell and taking wickets, unlike Cook, who seemed to give the likes of Graeme Swann and James Anderson very long spells. In Per th, for example, where it is hotter, Clarke changed his bowlers every 3.4 overs to Cook's five. The two teams bowled the same number of overs but Clarke notched up 52 bowling changes to Cook's 42. "By Melbourne, when the Ashes were lost, Cook woke up to Clarke's tactics and tried to emulate them. In the MCG and SCG Tests, the balance shifted, and Cook changed his bowlers far more often than Clarke. But here was another example of how Cook was following schedules while Clarke was responding to conditions. Melbourne and Sydney were poorer batting wickets than Brisbane, Adelaide and Per th," the repor t said. Another impact of Clarke's changes was how often wickets were taken by refreshed bowlers early in their spells. During the series, Australian bowlers took a wicket in the first over of a new spell 24 times, compared to England's 13. In all, an astonishing 48 of the 100 wickets the Australian bowlers took came in the first or second over of a new spell.

sports

IAN BELL FELL SWEEPING AGAINST XAVIER DOHERTY, AUSTRALIA V ENGLAND, 1ST ODI, MELBOURNE.

Kapil Dev conferred with BCCI 'Lifetime Achievement Award' MUMBAI: Former India captain Kapil Dev was on Saturday honoured with the C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award by the BCCI at its seventh annual awards ceremony on Saturday. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was bestowed with the Polly Umrigar Award for being the best international cricket last season. Ashwin in the 2012-13 season during which he claimed 43 wickets, inclusive of four 5WI and one 10WM, and scored 263 runs, inclusive of two 50's from 8 Tests, besides grabbing 24 wickets from 18 ODIs, and three wickets from four T20 Internationals. The Polly Umrigar Award comprises a trophy and a cheque for Rs 5 lakh and the award has been won in previous years twice by Sachin Tendulkar (2006-07 and 2009-10) and once each by Virender Sehwag (2007-08), Gautam Gambhir (2008-09), Rahul Dravid (2010-11) and Virat Kohli (2011-12).

Legendary all rounder and 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil became the 21st Indian cricketer to receive the C K Nayudu Award. "When we started playing, it was only for passion as we didn't think about any awards. I would like to thank all the captains under whom I have played. Bishan Bedi, Sunil, Venkat (S Venkataragahavan), Gundappa Viswanath. I would like to thank my family who allowed me to play the game for so much time. I believe all of us including me should feel proud for making the game popular in the country," Kapil said after accepting the award. One of the greatest cricketers of all time, Kapil Dev was the first player to complete the 'double' of 5,000 runs and 400 wickets in Tests. The most poignant moment of the short award function was when Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kapil were caught in the same frame posing with the

Prudential Cup and the ICC World Cup Trophy. Dhoni then handed the ICC World Cup Trophy to Kapil while the veteran handed the Prudential Cup to Dhoni. Kapil's temperament and tenacity overshadowed his talent. He produced his best in crisis situations. He overcame an injured thigh to take 5-28 against Australia at Melbourne in 198081, which took India to a famous series-levelling win. His 119 against the same team at Chennai in 1986-87 steered India out of a tight spot, and set up only the second tied Test in the history of the sport.

Against England at Lord's in 1990, with India needing 24 to avoid the follow-on, and the number eleven batsman at the other end, he proceeded to hit off-spinner Eddie Hemmings for four consecutive sixes and achieved the goal. He had a stint as coach of the Indian team in 1999-00, and served as Chairman of the National Cricket Academy in 2006-07. Ashwin on his part said, "I am extremely blessed and honoured to be standing before you. This is the real dream come true. I thank the BCCI for honouring and recogising my performance. Mumbai's Abhishek Nayar received the Lala Amarnath Award, for being the best allrounder in the 2012-13 edition of the Ranji Trophy. He scored 966 runs at 96.6, inclusive of three centuries and eight fifties, and 19 wickets at 22.8, inclusive of one 5WI, from eleven matches, in the tournament.

PAKISTAN-AUSTRALIA TEST SERIES

SET TO BE DOWNSIZED A ustralia's Test series against Pakistan in October this year will be downsized to the minimum two matches, while the venue for the encounter is expected to be confirmed as the UAE. Despite the ICC Future Tours P r o g r a m m e d i c t a t i n g that the tour would consist of t h r e e Te s t s , t h e P C B h a s negotiated for the removal of one five-day match to be replaced by a series of limited-overs matches, likely to include three ODIs and a Twenty20 fixture. While the location of these matches is yet to be finalised, the loss of a Test from the fixture list is certain. This schedule is expected to bring in a more lucrative broadcast fee for the cashpressured governing body of cricket in Pakistan, forced to subsist on series played in neutral venues since the terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009. "Our expectation will be that it will be in the UAE, and my expectation is that it won't be three Test matches, it will probably be two Test matches and a combination of onedayers," James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, told ABC Radio during the Sydney Ashes Test. "Perhaps with a view to the fact there's a World Cup here in Australia and New Zealand in February and March 2015. "It's the hosts' call on that and we'll work as closely as we can with them, there's a reciprocal arrangement, we

wouldn't like to be playing a series of less than three but that's their choice how they balance that, and at the end of the day, Pakistan are not able to host international cricket in Pakistan, their commercial viability is really affected by that, so we respect their position and the decisions they need to make there." Apart from the UAE, the only other plausible venue for a Test match is Qatar, where the PCB is presen t l y h o s t i n g a women's tournament. However stadium facilities and infrastructure in the nation set to host the next football World Cup are not as advanced or varied as those in the UAE, with Dubai host to the ICC's headquarters and

global cricket academy. The most recent encounter between the two nations was also played over j u s t t w o Te s t s , t h e " M C C Spirit of Cricket" series which took place in England in the northern summer of 2010 and was split 1-1 when Pakistan won at Headingley after Australia's victory at Lord's. While CA have spoken consistently of their desire for Test bouts of at least three matches' duration, their own schedule is increasingly light on such series. Apart from blue-chip contests against England (five Tests) and India (four), Australia have played twoTest series against New Zealand,

Pakistan and South Africa in recent times. Their next visit to the West Indies in May 2015 is also scheduled to include the bare minimum two Tests. "The programme is a real challenge, there's no doubt for us as administrators it is one of the most difficult things we do and we often talk about it in the context of being a three-dimensional game of chess," Sutherland said. "Unlike other sporting codes we don't have a unilateral ability to work out what our programme might be, we have to see what's going on in other parts of the world, what country is playing where and how. And we need to work out the international programme and then work out the best we can from the domestic programme."

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