2 midweek - southasiandaily.comsouthasiandaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/1-24_-1.pdf · 2...

2 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019

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

PANNAGESH VAIDYA, 73; HIS WIFE HANSINI VAIDYA, 67; THEIR DAUGHTER KOSHA VAIDYA, 37; HER HUSBANDPRERIT“DIXIT, 45; AND THEIR TWO CHILDREN - ANUSHKA AND ASHKA WERE AMONG THE VICTIMS OF ETHIOPIANAIRLINES“CRASH THAT KILLED ALL 157 PEOPLE ON BOARD INCLUDING 18 CANADIANS. I DETAILS ON PAGE 7

Y MEDIA PRESENTS

WHO WILL WIN ?INDIA DECIDES - ELECTIONS 2019

INDIAN ELECTIONS SCHEDULEANNOUNCED - ELECTIONSFROM 11TH APRIL TO MAY

19TH 2019 ,RESULTS ON MAY23RD 2019

CONGRESS DOESN'T NEED ALLIES IN PUNJAB: CAPT.AMARINDER SINGH ON ALLIANCE WITH AAP

WATCH CHANNEL Y ON ROGERS 857, BELLFIBE 828, TELUS 2418 & ONLINE AT SOUTHASIANDAILY.COM

18 TERRORISTS KILLED IN 21 DAYS; ELIMINATEDJEM LEADERSHIP SUCCESSFULLY: ARMY

I CONTD. ON PAGE 13

BATTLE OF ALLIANCES: BJP TAKES EARLY LEADOVER RIVALS IN SECURING PARTNERS

I DETAILS ON PAGE 11

LOK SABHA POLLS: FIFTEEN FACTORS THATHOLD THE KEY TO THIS ELECTION

$250 MILLION INVESTMENT COMING TO BRAMPTON

SIX MEMBERS OF A BRAMPTON SOUTH ASIAN FAMILY AMONG157 KILLED IN ETHIOPIAN PLANE CRASH

NDA WILL MARGINALLY FALL SHORT OF MAJORITY

BUT FORM GOVERNMENTThe BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will fall marginallyshor t of a majority in the Lok Sabha but will comfor tably form thegovernment with post pol l t ie-ups. In the eventual i ty of noMahagathbandhan (grand alliance of opposition par ties) in UttarPradesh, the Narendra Modi-led NDA will walk home with over 300Lok Sabha seats.According to the latest State of the Nation opinion poll conducted byCVoter for IANS, the battle in Uttar Pradesh will largely decide thecomplexion of the next Lok Sabha.The poll was conducted in the month of March when the Modi govern-ment took the bold decision of carrying out aerial strike on Jaish-E-Mohammad (JeM) terror camp in Pakistan, leading to a new wave ofnationalism across the country.The Bharatiya Janata Par ty (BJP) is hoping to ride on this wave todrown the opposition and the opinion poll confirms that Prime Minis-ter Modi is leading the race.

The poll has projected that the NDA will get 264 seats while theCongress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is expected to reacha tally of 141 and all other par ties are expected to get 138 seats.If there is no Mahagathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh, the NDA will get 307 seats andthe UPA will settle for 139 and all other par ties are expected to get 97.In terms of seats, the BJP is expected to get 220 seats on its own andthe allies are likely to get 44.If NDA gets into a post poll alliance with par ties like YSR Congress,Mizo National F ront (MNF), Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and TelanganaRashtriya Samiti (TRS), the NDA tally will go up to 301.In the UPA camp, the Congress is expected to get 86 and other par t-ners will add up another 55.If the UPA goes for post-poll alliance with parties like All India UnitedDemocratic Front (AIUDF), Left Democratic Front (LDF), MGB(Mahagathbandhan in UP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), its tally willgo up to 226. I CONTD. ON PAGE 11

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to-day categorically denied any alliance talkswith the Aam Aadmi Par ty, or any other par ty,for Lok Sabha elections in the state. The Con-gress does not need any alliance in Punjab,Amarinder Singh also known as Captain, toldrepor ters in Chandigarh.

NEW DELHI: Having firmed up alliances in severalkey States for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has takenan early lead over its rivals, including the Congress,for an election where every single percentage point ofvotes brought in by small partners can have sig-nificant bearing on final results. While the BJPhas had uneasy relations at times with some ofits allies, may leaders feel the party presidentAmit Shah has walked the extra mile to ensurethey remained in the ruling National Democratic Alliance by offering them a gener-ous seat-sharing deal, as in Bihar, and by accommodating most of their concerns.

Security forces have gone very forcefully af-ter the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist outfit inthe wake of February 14 Pulwama attackand have succeeded in eliminating its lead-ership in Kashmir, a top army officer saidin Srinagar on Monday.General Officer Commanding ofthe Srinagar-based ChinarCorps, Lt Gen K J S Dhillon,told a press conference that thesecurity forces have killed 18 terrorists, including Jaish-e-Mohammed'ssecond-in-command, over 21 days.

A big theme in all polls since the 1990s, it did not appear to be an impor tantpart of the discourse this time — until a jihadi suicide bomber struck in Pulwama.The killing of CRPF troopers and India’s retaliatory airstrike on mainland Pakistanhave turned it into one of the pivots on which the LS polls might turn.

PEEL POLICE DEPUTYCHIEF JARVIS RETIRESAFTER 38 YEARS OF

SERVICEI DETAILS ON PAGE 9

I CONTD. ON PAGE 13

I CONTD. ON PAGE 13

I CONTD. ON PAGE 12

SAVE MAX AND NEWGEN SIGNS PLEDGE WITH INDIAN CORPORATES IN PRESENCE OF MAYOR PATRICK BROWNDURING HIS INDIA VISIT.I DETAILS ON PAGE 4

ONTARIO GOVERNMENTAPPOINTS THOMAS“CARRIQUE AS O.P.P.

COMMISSIONERI CONTD. ON PAGE 7


TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019s p e c i a l r e p o r t

$250 MILLION INVESTMENT COMING TO BRAMPTONSAVE MAX AND NEWGEN SIGNS PLEDGE WITH INDIAN CORPORATESIN PRESENCE OF MAYOR PATRICK BROWN DURING HIS INDIA VISIT

The City of Brampton Mayor, Patrick Brown visited India from February 15 to February 20, 2019 on a businessdelegation to India to attract and meet corporates and attract investments to City of Brampton. Patrick Browntravelled to Delhi, Chandigarh, Chennai and Gurgaon to meet the industry leaders and was accompanied by hisfinancial Economical Advisor Gulab Saini, Save Max CEO Raman Dua, and NewGen CEO PK Sabharwal.Their visit to India was aimed to increase the business ties considering the deep roots and connection Bramptonhas with India. Brampton is becoming the first choice for businesses in Canada and abroad especially India forthe business expansion plan for many big corporate companies. Considering the large population of Indiancommunity in Brampton, Many Indian corporates are willing to set up their business in the city and MayorPatrick Brown's visit to India was meant to give a clear message that we are open to business and policies ofthe city will make it easy for business owners all over tocreate more jobs. This friendly and professional gesture from Honorable Mayor is encouraging local busi-nesses to expand their vision and helping them to do more strategic alliances with businesses from other partsof the world.During his recent visit to India accompanied by his Economical advisor Gulab Saini, Hon. Mayor attended ahigh profile event conducted by Ozone Group of companies, Save Max Real Estate Inc and Newgen Realtyexperts, in Gurugram where many prominent personalities from the Indian corporate world came to explore thebusiness oppor tunities in Brampton. Raman Dua, P K Sabharwal and S C Sehgal (CMD Ozone Group ofCompanies), shared the stage with Hon. Mayor who witnessed the signing of MOUs by various businessorganizations like Zee Laboratories, Mehta Constructions, and Acumen Aviation to name a few. These Indianbusinesses showed their willingness to explore business opportunities in Brampton and assured to createmore than 1,000 jobs in Brampton in the next 3 years. They pledged to invest $250 million jointly in field of IT,

Construction, Aviation, Poultry and Hospitality Business.Honorable Mayor Patrick Brown Said: "Canada and India enjoy a strong and enduring relationship that contin-ues to reap results in many areas including Business and commerce. Brampton is home to biggest Indianpopulation in Canada and ties between our two countries are growing. There is so much more we can dotogether, par ticularly in the area of Business and commerce. Travelling with me on this visit are some of thebest and brightest Business Minds in Brampton, Mr. Raman Dua & Mr. PK Sabharwal, and I can't wait to seethem bring Investment to the city of Brampton and create jobs. Brampton Means business. There will be no redtape in the City of Brampton for those wanting to bring investment to our city."While talking to Press Raman Dua CEO Save Max Real Estate emphasized that the stable political atmosphereand professional approach of the various level of governments helps businesses to establish and create morejobs. While addressing the audience Mayor Brown shared his vision about the future of business in Bramptonand assured that city will provide full cooperation to businesses to make sure they get the right platform toper form.This mutual business interest will create more and more jobs for Brampton residents and will encourage otherbusinesses to expand their operations in Brampton.Save Max and Newgen team is doing many strategic alliances with businesses from various par ts of the worldand becoming a priority consultant for investment in various fields.While speaking to media, both Raman and PK were very enthusiastic to share their vision to create 5,000 jobsin next 5 years and bring more than a billion dollar investment in GTA through corporates abroad. "Our knowl-edge about Canadian Landscape and honest business dealing makes us front runner consultants", said Raman,who was very enthusiastic in sharing his vision of making Save Max and Newgen as global brands.

MILTON, ON – The Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation (TJSF) and Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) made a $28,000cheque presentation to Halton schools Thursday morning at Troy’s Diner.Since 2015, TJSF has donated over $100,000 to local schools in suppor t of initiatives such as mental health, inclusiveclassrooms, breakfast programs, literacy, coding, art workshops and classroom technology. Tiger Jeet Singh, hisson Tiger Ali Singh, Halton Police Inspector Dave Stewar t and Sergeant Ryan Smith, along with staff from HaltonLearning Foundation (HLF) jointly presented cheques to school principals at a reception and luncheon hosted by TJSF.Tiger Jr. said his desire to give back to the community is a value his parents instilled in him as a child. “This is all aboutcarrying their traditions and values,” he told a large crowd of people including Mayor Gord Krantz, Regional CouncillorMike Cluett, Halton District School Board chairman Andrea Grebenc, Milton trustees Donna Danielli, Jeanne Gray and

Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation donates $28,000 to Halton schools

Heather Gerrits. He added that students have a special place in his hear t. “They leave an imprint on my soul.”Schools receiving funds are Milton’s Tiger Jeet Singh, Irma Coulson, E.W. Foster, Bruce Trail, Hawthorne Village,Chris Hadfield, Craig Kielburger; Acton’s Robert Little; Burlington’s Orchard Park and Georgetown’s Glenn Williams.Tiger Jr. said TJSF made record funds during last December 10th annual Miracle on Main Street initiative. Togetherwith the HRPS’s Toys for Tots campaign, TJSF raised nearly $700,00 in toys and cash that were donated back to thecommunity and to organizations such as local Salvation Army chapters, Halton Women’s Place, Allandale Retire-ment Centre, Toronto Sick Children’s Hospital and Hamilton’s McMaster Children’s Hospital. HLF helps support qualityeducation for Halton District School Board students by providing emergency help and subsides for students in need, post-secondary scholarships, and funds to assist schools that have classroom needs beyond core education funding.

MidWeek 5MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 s p e c i a l r e p o r t

ICCC Celebrates its eighth International Women DayNourishment 101: Healing, Motivation & a Sprinkle of Indulgence

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce's (ICCC) Women Entrepreneursand Professionals (WEP) Committee celebrated International WomenDay on the subject 'Nourishment 101: Healing, Motivation & a Sprinkleof Indulgence' on March 8th at the Avani Event Centre in Vaughan.Members of the ICCC, its stakeholders and suppor ters gave a stupen-dous reception to the program by par ticipating in large numbers.ICCC invited Ms. Seema Bhatia an Ayurvedic Practioner, Ms. YuwikaWadhwa, owner Protein Chefs and Ms. Allison Graham, a motiva-tional speaker from Resiliency Ninja. All the three eminent speakersenlightened the audience on the subject.Ms. Devika Penekelapati, Vice President & Corporate Secretary ICCCin her welcome remarks said that 'Think Equal, Build Smar t, Innovatefor Change' is the United Nations theme for 2019 International WomenDay which reflects that still a lot more effor ts are needed for womenleaders to be smar t and innovative in generating new ideas for chang-ing the old fashioned perceptions of the male dominated society to

think on equal terms. She further said that International women's dayhas been celebrated since 1975 internationally but the ICCC star tedcelebrating it since 2012 with the formation of Women Entrepreneursand Professional Committee.Ms. Seema Bhatia in her address to the gathering said that a healthyfood is need of the body and soul. She correlated the Yoga and Ayurvedafor the healthy life style and said that both go side by side.Ms. Bhatia is a proponent of Ayurvedic diet, lifestyle and yoga in ourdaily lives and is tirelessly trying to create momentum for Regulationof Ayurveda in Canada. She is committed towards the cause of healthin Mind, Body and Soul.Ms. Yuvika Wadhwa from Protein Chefs in her brief remarks advo-cated the impor tance of healthy and nutrition rich food. She is spe-cialized in healthy, nutritious meals that is delivered from their com-mercial kitchen to homes and offices.She had expanded her food business to serve across Ontario with a

goal to serve maximum people with healthy and balanced meals.climb.Ms. Allison Graham, keynote speaker of the evening from ResiliencyNinja said that a motivational person can live a life happily despite ofnumerous challenges he faced in day to day life. She explained herdeveloped relatable, actionable, easy-to-apply tools to master resil-ience. Allison believes that everyday resilience has a more sig-nificant impact on your overall quality of life compared to Big-R-Resil ience during traumatic l i fe events or milestone physicalpursuits. Climbing the mountain presents obstacles, but the truetest on your path to success is how you navigate the day-to-dayafter the bigMini Khurana, Chair, WEP Committee, exclaimed, "This is one of thebest WEP event we've organized since we formed the Committeeeight years ago. She applauded the managing committee membersAnu Kalra, Shibani Sahney and Paluck Sharma for their strong sup-por t and involvement in making this program such a grand success.

FROM L TO R: DEVIKA PENEKELAPATI, SHIBANI SAHNEY, SEEMA BHATIA, SUNITA VYAS, ALLISON GRAHAM, YUVIKA WADHWA, MINI KHURANA & ANU KALRA.

CANADA - INDIA COLLABORATION IN THE MINING SECTOR

The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) in collaboration withthe Consulate General of India in Toronto hosted a business receptionin the honour of Visiting Mining delegation for PDAC under the leader-ship of Mr. Anil Mukim, Scretary, Mining Government of India on 4thMarch 2019.The delegation is visiting Canada to par ticipate in the annual PDACInternational Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange held inToronto. Mr. Anil Mukim, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Government ofIndia is leading a high-powered delegation comprising India's publicsector mining companies as well as senior-level government of Indiaofficials.The reception was attended by the Indo-Canadian business commu-nity of the Greater Toronto Area and the Indian diplomatic corps.Speaking on the occasion Mr. Mukim applauded the role of ICCC inpromoting the Canada India relations since last four decades. He saidthat the mining sector is a priority area for the Indian government and

the use of latest technology will bring fur ther transparency and bettermonitoring in the mining sector. He emphasized that the Modi govern-ment has already accomplished a lot so far but there is always morescope for doing better and fast work, as contribution of the mineralsector towards the growth of the GDP is significant and has to beimproved fur ther in collaboration with the States.The Consul General of India in Toronto Amb. Dinesh Bhatia in hisremarks said that Canada and India can help each other in the miningsector by utilizing existing synergies in the sector. Canada can pro-vide both investment avenues for Indian companies as well as tech-nological knowhow to Indian companies in the sector.He listed the minerals in which Canada leads the world, and said thatIndia, in its quest of rapid development, needs all these minerals.Ms. Devika Penekelapati, Vice President of the Indo-Canada Cham-ber of Commerce (ICCC), in his welcome remarks, said that in themining sector, our journey of cooperation began a decade ago when

during India and Canada Foreign Office Consultations held in Ottawain December 2008, the Indian side conveyed its interest for a broaderMoU on Mining between the two countries. The specific areas ofinterest for India include potash, urea, gold, diamonds, oil and gas,uranium, clean coal technology, mining prospecting technology, etc.A MoU between the India's ministry of mines, and Canada's depar t-ment of natural resources, concerning cooperation in the field of ear thsciences and mining was signed in 2010 in Toronto. She added, "Overthe last decade, several significant developments have occurred inthe mining sector both in Canada and in India, and it would be neces-sary to keep in mind these developments while char ting the futurecourse of cooperation between our two economies in this sector.Mr. Pappur Shankar, Chair of the ICCC's Mining Committee introducedthe event to the audience and welcomed the delegates. Several pastpresidents of the Chamber and member of the incumbent board mem-bers were present at the event.

INDIA'S MINING SECRETARY SHRI ANIL MUKIM VISITS PDAC WITH A BIG DELEGATION

HON. ANIL MUKIM, SECRETARY MINING WITH CONSUL GENERAL DINESH BHATIA, MEMBERS OF THE INDIAN DELEGATION WITH ICCC BOARD MEMBERS.


TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019s p e c i a l r e p o r t

MURARILAL THAPLIYAL WINS CONSERVATIVEPARTY NOMINATION FOR BRAMPTON WEST

THANK YOU AGAIN TO EACH AND EVERY VOLUNTEER. THANK YOU TO THE CAMPAIGN TEAM; ATRUE DREAM TEAM. THANK YOU TO THE COMMUNITY OF BRAMPTON WEST. THANK YOU AGAIN

FOR THE CHANCE TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY. WE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED!GET READY FOR OTTAWA!

MURARILAL THAPLIYAL

Indus Community Services successfullyhosts Multi-Sector Recruitment Fair

MISSISSAUGA– Recruitment Fairs enable job seekers and employers to meet face-to-face, a chanceto for job seekers to network with one another and also an opportunity to get career advice fromprofessionals in the field.Indus Community Services recently held its second fair of this kind at the Burnhamthorpe CommunityCentre, Mississauga, which was well attended by over 250 prospective candidates and 15 employersfrom the fields of Banking, IT, Aviation, Communications and Health-Care. Well know industry leaderssuch as RBC, BMO, Rogers, Menzies Aviation, Manpower and Staples, to name a few were presentedan opportunity to connect with job seekers and briefly interview them.“I am a newcomer to Canada. I am really very impressed with the way the Job Fair was organized. Iwas able to meet six potential employers. RBC and BMO bank are going to invite me for next steps”,said Rajat Raheja.We thank all the employers for their presence and a special thanks to our official media par tner, YMedia, for their coverage and support of this event.To learn more about upcoming events or about our Employment Services, please call 905-275-2369 orvisit us at www.induscs.ca



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 c o m m u n i t y

I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYESHave you ever had an incoming call on your home phoneor cellphone where the display says it's from the CanadaRevenue Agency, Peel Regional Police or even your ownpersonal number? You're not alone. Scammers are usingtechnology to disguise their calls in order to trick peopleinto thinking that they are receiving a call from a reputableorganization. This is also known as Caller ID spoofing.Once the scammer gets you talking, they try many differ-ent ways to trick you into revealing or confirming per-sonal or financial information.We have even had repor ts made to our communicationscentre in the past, indicating that people have received acall from what appeared to be the Peel Police non-emer-gency number, 905-453-3311. When they answered thephone, the person on the other end said that a family mem-ber had been arrested and that they were being held at thepolice station. The scammer then told them that to pay anamount of money to have their family member released. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) is the centralagency in Canada that collects information and criminalintelligence related to frauds and scams. The CAFC website list three main tips on how you canprotect yourself from Call ID Spoofing :" Don't trust your call display. It may say "Police"or "ABC", but in reality, it is actually a scammer. It doesnot matter what the caller ID says, you cannot trust it." If you get a call from someone who says theyrepresent a company or a government agency seekingpersonal information, hang up and call the phone numberon your account statement, in the phone book or on thecompany or government agency's website to verify theauthenticity of the request." Never give out personal information such as ac-count numbers, social insurance number (SIN), mother'smaiden name, passwords or other identifying informationin response to unexpected calls.How do you reduce your chances of becoming a victim?Education is the key. You can learn about the various typesof scams that are happening in Canada by visiting theCanadian Anti-Fraud Centre website or you can also callthem at 1-888-495-8501 to repor t any scams where youwere not a victim.Peel Police Crime Prevention Services offers free pre-sentations, including one specifically on frauds and scams.If you would like an officer to come speak with your com-munity group, call them at 905-453-3311 x 4021. Visit ourwebsite for a list of our free community safety presenta-tions and more fraud prevention tips.

Bollywood comes to Brampton:Award-winning Punjabi musicsensation and actor LakhwinderWadali to headline OslerFoundation’s Holi GalaBRAMPTON – William Osler Health System (Osler) Founda-tion is thrilled to announce Punjabi singing sensation andactor, Lakhwinder Wadali will be the headliner for the sixthAnnual Holi Gala – The Festival of Colours, taking place onSaturday, April 6."Holi Gala brings our community together in a celebration ofcolour, dancing, music and food, and it unites us in the com-mon goal of raising funds in suppor t of our local hospitals,”said Dr. Gurjit Bajwa and Dr. Vandana Ahluwalia, co-chairs,Holi Gala Committee, Osler Foundation. “After a cold andsnowy winter, we are looking forward to Holi as the unofficialstar t of spring and we are proud to be hosting this colourfulevent once again.”Tickets are on sale now for this vibrant night of celebration,which will be held on April 6 at the Pearson Convention Cen-ter in Brampton. The event aims to raise more than $550,000for redevelopment and equipment at Osler’s three hospitals:Brampton Civic Hospital, Etobicoke General Hospital andPeel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness.Lakhwinder Wadali is among the leading folk and Sufi sing-ers of his generation. His unique style blends classical andcontemporary, bringing a fresh sound to Punjabi music, whilehis lyrical flow holds audiences spellbound. He’s also ap-peared on Punjabi TV and film. Guests will also enjoy amesmerizing per formance from Shiamak Davar DanceToronto.

Family looking for a Suitable match for theirBeautiful Dental Doctor, BDS from India,

currently studying in Canada, her Maternalfamily is settled in Canada. Looking for

Canada based Qualified and Educated Boycitizen/PR. Preference given to Jatt Sikh

Family. Please only Canada based matchesmay call 647-242-3052

MAT R I M O N I A L

Six members of a Brampton family were in the Ethiopian Airlinescrash that killed all 157 people on board.The victims were identifiedas Pannagesh Vaidya, 73; his wife Hansini Vaidya, 67; their daughterKosha Vaidya, 37; her husband Prerit Dixit, 45; and their two children- Anushka and Ashka, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown was quoted assaying by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.The family, all liv-ing in Brampton, was headed for a "fun trip" to Kenya. PannageshVaidya and Hansini Vaidya were Indian nationals. Manant Vaidya, thebrother of Kosha Vaidya, said he dropped off the family at PearsonInternational Airpor t on Saturday morning - what would be the sec-ond-last day of their lives."It's a huge tragedy. I lost my parents, I lostmy sister. I don't have anyone else now," he said.The Boeing 737 Max8 -- flight ET 302 -- en route from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa tothe Kenyan capital Nairobi crashed six minutes after take off on Sun-day. It ploughed into a field near Tulu Fara village outside the town ofBishoftu, some 60 km southeast of Addis Ababa. On behalf of the Members of Brampton City Council I extend mydeepest condolences to the Vaidya and Dixit family of Brampton. Sixmembers of this family were among the 18 Canadians killed Sundaywhen an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after takeoff fromAddis Ababa. The victims include Pannagesh Vaidya, 73, his wifeHansini Vaidya, 67, their daughter Kosha Vaidya, 37, her husbandPrerit Dixit, 45, and their two children, 14-year-old Ashka and 13-year-old Anushka. This is an unbelievably tragic situation for this

family. Global Affairs Canada have been in touch with the family mem-bers in Brampton and will assist them. As a sign of respect, all flagsat City Hall will be half -mast until fur ther notice. As more detailsbecome known, I will provide a fur ther update on how Brampton resi-dents can assist this family. Our thoughts and prayers are with themduring this time of sorrow and reflection, Mayor Patrick Brown said ina statement."Manant Vaidya said that his sister Kosha, who becamea Canadian permanent resident in 2003, wanted to take her children toNairobi to show them her bir thplace."They thought March break was the per fect time for them to go overthere, have fun. It was going to be a really great trip for everybody."Manant Vaidya said his parents insisted that they also wanted to goon the trip. "I asked my dad why he wanted to go and he told me thatin his life he wants to go one more time."He said his brother-in-lawwas working seven days a week in order to pay for the trip.The IndianEmbassy in Ethiopia on Sunday said that four Indian nationals werekilled and they were identified as Pannagesh Vaidya, Hansini Vaidya,Nukavarapu Manisha, a doctor based in the US, and Shikha Garg, theUnited Nations Development Programme consultant attached withthe Environment Ministry.Ethiopian Airlines said Kenya had the larg-est number of casualties with 32, followed by 18 Canadians, 9 Ethio-pians, 9 Britons, then Italy, China, and the US with eight each.Therewere seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Germans, and fourpeople from Slovakia on board.

SIX MEMBERS OF A BRAMPTON SOUTH ASIAN FAMILYAMONG 157 KILLED IN ETHIOPIAN PLANE CRASH

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT APPOINTS THOMAS“CARRIQUE AS O.P.P. COMMISSIONER

Through an Order-In-Council signed by cabinet, Ontario's Govern-ment for the People announced the appointment of Thomas Carriqueas the next Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.Thomas Carrique cur rently serves as the Deputy Chief for the YorkRegional Police, where he has spent his entire 29-year career withthe force. He has worked in a variety of fields, including UniformPatrol, Criminal Investigations, Investigative Services, Traffic, Ma-rine, Public Order and the Administration and Operations branches."We are very excited to announce Deputy Chief Thomas Carrique asthe next Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police," said Minis-ter of Community Safety and Correctional Services Sylvia Jones."Deputy Chief Carrique will help bring an outside vision to the OPPand work with talented officers and civilian staff to bring forwardpositive change.""Deputy Chief Car rique's extensive experience is important as theOPP works to tackle challenging files, such as human trafficking andthe ongoing fight against guns and gangs.""The Ontario Provincial Police has been without a permanent com-missioner since November 2, 2018. The rank-and-file deserve cer-tainty and clarity. Deputy Chief Carrique will be a strong voice for the

front-line officers we all depend on to keep our communities safe."Deputy Chief Carrique will serve a three-year term. He will assumehis post on April 8, 2019.

Deol Family is deeply saddened to inform aboutthe death of their beloved father, Malkit S Deol.

Funeral will be held onSaturday, March 16th ATBrampton Crematorium &

Visitation Centre (30 BramwinCrt.) - From 11 am to 1 pm

Dixie Gurudwara Hall 3 & 4(7080 Dixie Road) - From

1.45 pm to 3.30 pm

Mississauga Wants to Honour the Amazing People in Your LifeNominations are now open for the City of Mississauga's 2019 Civic Awards of Recognition.Star ting today until May 3, you can nominate outstanding individuals, community groups and businesses whose contributions helpmake Mississauga a great place to live, work and play.Achievements are recognized in the following four categories:Voluntary Community ServiceIndividuals or groups that have improved the quality of life in our community through volunteer effor ts.Youth Community and Civic EngagementYouth between 14 and 24 who have contributed more than 100 voluntary hours to community or civic activities.Achievement in Spor tsAthletes or teams that have won championships at a city-wide, regional, provincial, national or international level.Achievement in Ar tsAr tists or ar ts groups that have won competitions, juried shows or exhibitions. Outstanding accomplishments in academic fields mayalso be recognized.If someone you know is an obvious fit in one of the above mentioned categories, your next steps are simple:1. Visit the City's website at mississauga.ca/civicrecognition2. Review the award criteria3. Fill out the online nomination form. You can also download the form and submit it by email or mailThe City will consider the first 100 nominees and review nominations on a first come, first served basis.Nominees who qualify will be invited to receive their awards during an official ceremony at the Mississauga Civic Centre on Tuesday, June 11, 2019.

SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS CANADIANCONTINENTAL CAVALCADE TRAVELS THROUGH ONTARIOWith its mission to bring unconditional help to communities acrossthe nation, the Canadian Continental Volunteer Ministers Cavalcadehas been touring throughout Ontario since March 2018.In celebration of their 2019 tour, they held an Inauguration Ceremonyin Brampton Market -the first location to setup their Volunteer Minis-ter yellow tent this year!The event star ted with the Master of Ceremony, Rev. Yvette Shank –National President for the Church of Scientology Canada, taking fromthe Volunteer Minister Handbook by L. Ron Hubbard. She states:“Religion is the civilizing influence in the world. It has become abun-dantly clear that all of us work for a better world where peace can beattained. United under a common banner we can solve seeminglyinsurmountable problems our society faces today. A Volunteer Minis-ter is a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis byrestoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.”Our speakers were as follows:Suraj P rakash Singh, Hindu and Volunteer Minister explained howScientology provides tools for life without telling you to change yourreligion and how it personally helped him to be a better person withhis family and work.Imam ShahrukhAbid representing the Ahmadiyya Muslim communityin Brampton introduced their humanitarian program: Humanity First,an international aid agency that provides aid and assistance to thosein need irrespective of race, religion or politics from registered of-fices now in 52 countries.Philippe Dubreuil, Drugs educator, Scientologist and Volunteer Minis-ter spoke about Answers to drugs, clarifying what is a drug and howit affects the mind and the spirit with the audience par ticipating.DR Sukhdave Singh from the Sikh community gave a scientific viewpoint of how Science and religion relates. And how scientific discov-eries not only don’t conflict or negate religion but actually validatereligious view points.

Vincent Nasir, representing Christianity gave a touching speech abouthis personal experience in his volunteer carrier with World Vision andthe satisfaction from really helping people. He delights us with abeautiful Gospel song along with his harmonium!DR. Bruce Flattery, Scientologist and retired professor gave a brieftalk on the Study Technology from the Volunteer Minister Handbookstressing a tech that teaches students to apply what they are study-ing. This handles the stress students so often experience.Afterwards the iconic cutting of the ribbon ceremony with guest speak-ers and traditional Indian dancers put a final touch to this celebration.


TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019opinion

Published By

Asian World Today Inc.1310, Midway Blvd, Unit # 31, Mississauga Ontario L5T 2K5

Direct Line - 647-272-8182Tel: 905-670-3687 Fax: 905-670-5344

YUDHVIR JASWALYUDHVIR JASWALYUDHVIR JASWALYUDHVIR JASWALYUDHVIR JASWALCHIEF EDITOR & CEO

yudhvir@southasiandaily.com647-272-8182647-272-8182647-272-8182647-272-8182647-272-8182

All Rights Reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be printed without the written consent of thepublisher. DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: Asian World Today Inc. assumes all advertisers to be reliable and responsible for anyand all liability from their claims. The publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertisement he may see unfitfor publication. The opinions expressed in Midweek may not be those of the publisher.

Published By

Asian World Today Inc.1310, Midway Blvd, Unit # 31, Mississauga Ontario L5T 2K5

Direct Line - 647-272-8182Tel: 905-670-3687 Fax: 905-670-5344

E-mail : For [email protected]

Newspaper

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLYPublished in English every Tuesday

Radio

SOUTHASIAN PULSEPrime Time Mon to Fri - 10:00 AM to 12 Noon

on 770AMDrive Time Mon to Fri - 3:00 PM to 6 PM

on 91.9 FMLISTEN TO SOUTH ASIAN PULSE RADIO

ON YOUR MOBILELocal Number Toronto: 647-557-1017

Local Number Montreal: 438-795-9000To Listen in US: 213-493-2020

Television

CHANNEL YRogers 857

Bell 828Yupp TV

Online

WWW.SOUTHASIANDAILY.COMONLY News Portal for Southasian-Canadians

Cricket

CANADIAN PROFESSIONALCRICKET (CPC)

6th AnnualCPC Inter-City Cricket Cup Starting June 2013

6 Months of Non-stop cricket action

Events

AnnualMidweek Southasian Awards

MidWeek

SUNIL VERMASUNIL VERMASUNIL VERMASUNIL VERMASUNIL VERMAGRAPHICS DEPARTMENT

BASHIR NASIRBASHIR NASIRBASHIR NASIRBASHIR NASIRBASHIR NASIRPHOTOGRAPHERS

THAPLIYAL & RAI LAWTHAPLIYAL & RAI LAWTHAPLIYAL & RAI LAWTHAPLIYAL & RAI LAWTHAPLIYAL & RAI LAWOFFICEOFFICEOFFICEOFFICEOFFICE

LEGAL ADVISORNAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMA

INDIA MARKETING HEAD

DR. PUSHPINDER BRARDR. PUSHPINDER BRARDR. PUSHPINDER BRARDR. PUSHPINDER BRARDR. PUSHPINDER BRARCONTRIBUTING WRITER

ALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYPHOTOGRAPHERS

DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THIS PAGE ARE THE PERSONAL OPINIONS OF THE AUTHORS.THE INFORMATION, FACTS OR OPINIONS APPEARING IN THEARTICLES DO NOT REFLECT VIEWS OF MIDWEEK AND ITS MANAGEMENT AND SO THE PAPER DOES NOT ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR THE SAME.

GURPREET SINGH LOONAGURPREET SINGH LOONAGURPREET SINGH LOONAGURPREET SINGH LOONAGURPREET SINGH LOONAOPERATIONS MANAGER

BJD’s decision to reserve seats forwomen is great but it’s half the job done

E-mail : For [email protected]

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said the Bjiu JanataDal (BJD) will field women candidates in at least 33% of the 21 parlia-mentary seats from the state in the Lok Sabha elections, which be-gins on April 11. The BJD has a record of taking steps to ensurethe representation of women in the governance structure: PresentCM’s father, former CM late Biju Patnaik, introduced 33% reser -vation for women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in thestate, and in 2012, his son increased this quota to 50% for bothpanchayat and urban local bodies.It is, however, impor tant to also keep in mind that Naveen Patnaikhas not extended the same policy to the 147 assembly seats inthe state, where the BJD is up against the BJP. Still, his announce-ment does mark progress. At a national level, Congress presidentRahul Gandhi has once again promised to get the Women’s Res-ervation Bill (108th Constitution Amendment Bill) passed in theLok Sabha if the par ty comes to power.This focus on expanding women’s political representation is apositive trend. Other than altruistic reasons (if any), par ties arefocusing on this segment because women in India are castingtheir ballots more frequently, and in greater numbers. “Today,women’s turnout has actually been higher than that of men in two-thirds of India’s state elections. This is a remarkable turn of eventsin a deeply patriarchal, conservative society ,” said a 2018 CarnegieEndowment for International Peace repor t. Why is this happen-ing? “That remains something of a puzzle. There is likely a com-bination of push and pull factors at work: more women want tovote, and institutions are encouraging them more to go to thepolls,” the repor t added.When credible women candidates are backed by mainstream par-ties, there is no reason why women voters won’t pick them.

While the BJD’s move is commendable ---- it must be emulatedby other par ties ---- reserving seats for women is just half the jobdone. To strengthen the quality of polity and governance, par tiesmust choose women candidates who have a good track record,not just those who ride on family backing and monetary power. And

one impor tant pool of representatives that they must tap is thepanchayat segment. There are many women representatives whohave done extremely good work at that level despite various struc-tural, procedural and social hurdles. They must be groomed now tobe leaders at the assembly/national level.

PAKISTAN MUST REALISE THAT ANY ACTIONAGAINST JEM IS IN ITS OWN INTEREST

On March 4, the Pakistan government launched a “crackdown” againstbanned terror organisations such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Itissued an order to streamline a process for the implementation ofsanctions against individuals and entities of all banned outfits asdesignated by the UN Security Council. In other words, the Pakistangovernment took over the control of all proscribed outfits operating inthe country. This action, however, was not surprising. India has seensuch “crackdowns” before. In fact, it was far more dramatic againstthe Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) after the Mumbai serial attacks in 2008. Butthat crackdown has not produced anything concrete: The Mumbaiattack trial is heading nowhere; the accused are moving around freelyin Pakistan, and organising more attacks against India. The net resultof the latest crackdown will not be any different.It is, however, significant that Pakistan’s foreign minister, ShahMehmood Qureshi, in two separate interviews to CNN and BBC onMarch 1, acknowledged the presence of a “very unwell” MasoodAzhar in Pakistan, but claimed that the JeM leadership was denyingits involvement in the February 14 Pulwama attack. Without namingthe Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Qureshi revealed that his claimwas based on the information given by those (ISI) known to them(JeM leaders). This comment confirms what India has been claimingfor years: there is a strong linkage between the ISI and the Pakistan-based terror groups.So has Pakistan finally realised that it can no more hide serpents,which are meant to bite India, in its backyard from the world? Or is ita tactical position adopted by Pakistan to let the crisis blow over and

in the meantime improve its precarious economy that needs a bail-out? The terror groups can then be reinvigorated to continue Pakistan’sregional proxy wars in India, Afghanistan and now in Iran also.Like his predecessors, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan hasalso inherited the institutionalised policy of use of non-State actors by thePakistan army and the ISI for its regional ambitions. But now his neck is on thechopping block, thanks to aggressive Indian posturing and international scrutiny.Any concession to India, even symbolically, would not go down well with thePakistan army and the ISI. He will have to do a delicate balancing act. It is a difficultcontradiction to manage. Coming out of the crisis unscathed is almost impossible.Khan also knows that he heads a government that has a thin majority and can betoppled any time by the military establishment. So what are the options availableto Khan as he faces mounting international cry to put Azhar Masood on UN sanc-tions list and take action against JeM? First, deny the involvement of the JeMleadership in Pulwama attack by saying that Masood is unwell and could not haveorganised the attack. This is laughable. Masood doesn’t have to even moveout of his room to organise an attack; his well-oiled terror infrastructure isfunctioning smoothly in Pakistan under the overall control of the ISI. Second,assuage Indian anger by assuring action on any specifics given by New Delhi. Thepromise rings hollow given the fate of hundreds of Indian dossiers given to Paki-stan about the country’s involvement in terrorism, beginning with the militancyin Punjab. None of the Pakistani leaders took action against thosecausing mayhem in India. Former Pakistan’s foreign decretary SalmanBashir had the audacity to say that the evidence handed over to himon the Mumbai attack mastermind, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, werepieces of literature.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 c a n a d a

General Accounting & Bookkeeping

PEEL POLICE DEPUTY CHIEFJARVIS RETIRES AFTER 38

YEARS OF SERVICE

The Government of Canada is delivering on its commitment to suppor tCanada's dedicated steel and aluminum workers and businesses.Today, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Scienceand Economic Development and Minister responsible for Canada's re-gional development agencies (RDA) announced $100 million of fundingto support small- and medium- sized (SME) steel and aluminum manu-facturers and users in all regions of the country.Delivered by Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), the Regional Eco-nomic Growth through Innovation (REGI) Steel and Aluminum Initiativewill provide targeted suppor t to Canadian businesses within the steel,aluminum and manufacturing sectors. This initiative will provide SMEsteel and aluminum manufacturers and users with non-repayable contri-butions for projects to enhance productivity, increase competitivenessby adopting new innovative technologies, and create more highly-skilledjobs.Canada's steel and aluminum sector is an impor tant contributor to oureconomy and to our manufacturing supply chains, providing thousandsof Canadians with good, middle-class jobs. This program will provideSMEs with consistent support across all regions of Canada, while allow-ing for suppor t to be tailored to fit and benefit regional needs.Quotes"In the face of unjust and illegal US tariffs hur ting businesses and work-ers on both sides of the border, our government is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our hard-working steel and aluminum workers and usersof their world-class products. Our investment to support small- and me-dium-sized producers and users across the country will help businessesinnovate to drive productivity, scale up, and expand into new markets tocreate good middle-class jobs."- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science andEconomic Development

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INVESTS $100 MILLION IN SMALL ANDMEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

"Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in our steel and aluminumindustries make impor tant contributions to our economy and to our com-munities by creating good, middle-class jobs. Our government recog-nizes that SMBs are the backbone of our economy and that by investingin their success, we invest in the success of all Canadians."- The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Expor t Pro-motion"Steel and aluminum workers are a foundational par t of our country'seconomy. The investments announced today will help companies to adaptand innovate to remain competitive in the global marketplace, makingthis region even stronger and benefitting communities and workers acrossall of Canada."- The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister of Seniors and Member ofParliament for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas- Bob Bratina, Memberof Parliament for Hamilton East-Stoney CreekQuick factsRegional development agencies are one of Canada's four flagship plat-forms suppor ting innovation, along with the Industrial Research Assis-tance Program, the Strategic Innovation Fund and the Canadian TradeCommissioner Service.The Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program builds on theobjectives of the Innovation and Skills Plan by providing regionally tai-lored, nationally consistent suppor t for business productivity and scale-up and to assist the enhancement of regional technology clusters andinnovation ecosystems.This initiative is expected to suppor t approximately 300 SME users ofsteel and aluminum.In 2017, Canada's steel and aluminum industry employed more than33,500 Canadians and contributed $8.9 billion to Canada's gross domes-tic product.

When Dave Jarvis walkedthrough the doors of Peel Re-gional Police in December 1980,he never anticipated that hewould one day be the DeputyChief for one of the largest mu-nicipal police depar tments inCanada.He started as a Cadet and quicklytransitioned to the rank of Con-stable where he gained experi-ence while working at 21 Divi-sion. In 1988 he was assigned tothe Youth / Criminal InvestigationBureau where he worked as aninvestigator until he was promoted to the rank of Detective in 1998.The following year, while assigned to the Homicide and MissingPersons Bureau, he was seconded to the Campbell Report Imple-mentation Committee. This committee was tasked with imple-menting the recommendations of Justice Archie Campbell follow-ing his review of serial rapist and murderer Paul Bernardo. Aftercompleting his work on the committee, he returned to Peel RegionPolice, and in 2003 was promoted to the rank of Detective Sergeantwhile remaining a part of the Homicide Bureau. In 2005, DaveJarvis received the Canadian Banks Law Enforcement Award forhis involvement in the investigation of the 1999 TD bank robberythat saw bank employee Nancy Kidd shot and killed. The next fewyears, he saw assignments in Professional Standards, CriminalInvestigations Bureau, Homicide Bureau and a transfer to the DutyInspector's Office after he was promoted to the rank of Inspector.Dave Jarvis was selected as the lead planner for the involvementof Peel Regional Police in the G8 / G20 summits in the City ofToronto in 2010. Soon afterwards, he was promoted to the rank ofSuperintendent and was assigned as the Executive Officer to theChief of Police.On September 15, 2014, Dave Jarvis was appointed Deputy Chiefof Police and continued to proudly represent Peel Regional Policeand help lead the men and women that are part of this organization.His commitment to the community we serve and the employees ofPeel Regional Police were apparent in all that he did.After 38 years of service, Deputy Chief Dave Jarvis announced hisretirement from policing on February 28, 2019 and has said he plans tomake use of his new found free time to travel and experience the world.From all of us at Peel Regional Police, we want to thank Deputy ChiefJarvis for his 38 years of dedication and service to the residents ofMississauga and Brampton. We wish him well in retirement.

MAYOR CROMBIE HOSTS THIRD ANNUAL INTERNATIONALWOMEN'S DAY BREAKFAST AND EMPOWERS YOUNG

WOMEN TO FORGE A BALANCE FOR THE BETTER

Mayor Bonnie Crombie welcomed nearly 200 women including studentsfrom 44 Mississauga secondary schools to City Hall for her third annualInternational Women's Day Breakfast.This yearly mentoring oppor tunity gives young high school girls in Mississaugathe opportunity to network, brainstorm and get inspired to take action onsome of the most pressing issues facing women in the twenty-first century."Today, we celebrate International Women's Day, a day not only for celebra-tion, but for reflection and most importantly, action." Mayor Crombie added."With this year's theme being Balance for Better, there's a strong call-to-action to shift our focus on achieving "balance for better," not only in Canadaand across the world. This means doing our best to strike the right balance athome and at work, while tackling some of the big issues that are preventingus from achieving true equality including equal pay for equal work, discrimi-natory hiring practices and sexism in the workplace" added Mayor Crombie.This year, Mayor Crombie was joined by special guest the Honourable JeanAugustine, Canada's first Black Canadian woman elected as a Member ofParliament to the House of Commons. She is not only a role model for a

young girls and a shining example of what strong, fearless women canachieve, but she is also a champion for multiculturalism and has receivedcountless awards for her extensive contribution to Canadian society as apolitician, educator and social justice advocate.As part of the breakfast, students par ticipated in breakout sessions to dis-cuss what actions can be taken to motivate and unite friends, colleagues andwhole communities to think, act and move the needle forward on achievingtrue gender equality. Students put forward their ideas and recommendationsto the Mayor, City Councillors, Members of Provincial Parliament, schooltrustees and senior staff from the City of Mississauga, local school boards,post-secondary institutions, Peel Region, Peel Police and Mississauga Fireand Emergency Services who were all in attendance.Recommendations brought forward from the students include:Mayor Crombie concluded, "International Women's Day reminds us that wemust work every day, to build a strong sense of community that rewards,respects and guarantees that women - of all ages - are mentored and encour-aged to pursue their dreams."


TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019c a n a d a

“What’s in your thali?” - Healthy CommunitiesInitiative launches important menu labelling

initiative at Ontario Khalsa DarbarBRAMPTON: A unique one-of-a-kind menu labelling initiativewill launch on March 14, 2019. “What’s in your thali” will helplocal residents make informed decisions about their eatinghabits, specifically in a faith-based communal meal setting.“What’s in your thali”, which takes its name from a SouthAsian platter used to serve food, is a project of the HealthyCommunities Initiative (HCI), an innovative par tnership led bythe Central West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN),Region of Peel and William Osler Health System, alongsidethe City of Brampton and local school boards. HCI’s mandateis to address population health by working in collaborationwith a diverse group of community par tners across a varietyof settings - including faith settings - to promote a simpleprescription for change known as “5-2-1-0”. Living “5-2-1-0”means: eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetablesper day, limiting screen time to two hours per day, beingphysically active for at least one hour per day, and consumingzero sugar-sweetened beverages throughout the day. The needfor this collaborative effor t is underscored by the fact that theCentral West LHIN has the highest rate of diabetes in theprovince.One of the largest Sikh gudwaras in Canada, attractingcongregants from across the Greater Toronto Area, the OntarioKhalsa Darbar (OKD) is the first gurdwara in the country toimplement a menu labelling initiative for communal dining. Asaligned with Sikh principles, OKD hosts a free “langar”(community kitchen) every day throughout the year, whichserves meals to all people, regardless of their faith or socialbackground. The gurdwara serves over 3,000 free meals perday, and even more during celebratory or special events. Intotal, more than 1.5 million meals are served annually.“Working in par tnership with local health system leaders andcommunity par tners has been an exciting oppor tunity todevelop this innovative initiative,” said Jaskaran SinghSandhu, Executive Director of the World Sikh Organization ofCanada. “Menu labelling langar is likely a first in the country

and possibly in the world, and demonstrates how health andwellbeing can be promoted in creative and resourceful ways.”On menu boards posted in the gurdwara, members of thepublic will see impor tant caloric information (developed withthe suppor t of accredited health professionals from the StopDiabetes Foundation) about the meals they consume as par t oflangar offerings and routinely-offered tea and snacks. Thisinformation will reflect the exact recipes and methods ofpreparation that are used in the gurdwara kitchen, and thecalorie counts on display will be similar to those seen at chainrestaurants across Ontario.“Traditional simple meals served through langar – which oftenconsist of grains, lentils and vegetables curries – are actuallyquite healthy and nutritious when eaten in the right propor-tions,” said Dr. Harpreet Bajaj, a community endocrinologist,founder of the “Stop Diabetes” Foundation, and member ofHCI’s Steering Committee. “Through these newly developedmenu boards, we can easily see that sweets andfried snacks are often where the sangat [congregants] con-sume a large number of additional calories and unhealthyitems.”Informing members of the public on the nutritional value oftheir meals is the first step in suppor ting positive healthybehaviours. Over the coming months, registered dietitians andkinesiologists will host workshop sessions at the gurdwarathat focus on healthy eating and physical activity. Theseactivities will complement the menu labeling initiative bysuppor ting local residents make and sustain healthy choicesin the immediate and long-term.EVENT DETAILSMembers of the public and media are invited to attend thelaunch of “What’s in your thali?”:DATE: March 14, 2019TIME: 7:30 to 8:30 pmLOCATION: Ontario Khalsa Darbar (7080 Dixie Road,Mississauga, ON)

Minister Harjit Sajjan welcomesfirst arrival of Afghan Sikh andHindu minority families in CanadaVANCOUVER: As par t of this year’s celebration of the 40thanniversary of the successful Private Sponsorship refugeeprogram, today, the Government of Canada welcomed the firstarrival of Sikh and Hindu minority refugee families from Afghanistanwhich was possible through the generosity of Canadians comingtogether to help resettle these vulnerable refugees.Minister Sajjan greeted the first privately-sponsored families fromamong the approved Afghan minority refugee claimants after theirarrival in Calgary.Canada is a global leader in resettling the world’s most vulnerable,which is why our government has worked very closely with theManmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation and other partners to ensuresafe resettlement opportunities in Canada.Manmeet Singh Bhullar was a member of the Legislative Assemblyof Alberta who was known for his compassion and support for hiscommunity. Unfortunately, he tragically lost his life while helping astranded motorist but his legacy continues to positively affect thosein Canada and around the world. His advocacy was instrumental instarting this process to assist the vulnerable Sikh and Hindu minori-ties in Afghanistan. We are proud to carry on the legacy of MinisterSajjan’s close friend in par tnership with the foundation that bearshis name through this humanitarian resettlement.The Private Sponsorship of Refugees program has helped re-settle thousands of the world’s most vulnerable. The arrival ofthese refugees is an example of why this program is now beingemulated by countries around the world. This program is built onthe generosity of Canadians and will continue to help resettlethose most in need.Quotes“Our government has taken action to ensure the safety of survi-vors of persecution and violence in Afghanistan. Families fromamong the Afghan Sikh and Hindu minority population have facedextreme risk based on their ethnicity and religious beliefs. We areproud to honour the legacy of my good friend Manmeet Singh Bhullarby welcoming members of this vulnerable population to Canada tooffer thema new life and home, while ensuring they have the support theyneed to thrive.”- The Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 i n d i aY MEDIA PRESENTS

WHO WILL WIN ?INDIA DECIDES - ELECTIONS 2019

LOK SABHA ELECTION 2019: MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT

NOW IN FORCE: WHAT IT MEANSThe model code of conduct for Lok Sabha elelctions 2019 will kick inafter the Election Commission announces the dates for the 2019 LokSabha elections today. It is a set of instructions and guidelines to befollowed by political par ties and candidates contesting elections forthe conduct free and fair polls.It is enforced by the Election Commission of India and comes intoeffect as soon as polls to either state assemblies or the Lok Sabhaare announced by the watchdog.Here is all you need to know about the model code of conduct:What is the model code of conduct?The model code is a set of norms laid down by the Election Commis-sion of India, with the consensus of political par ties. It spells out thedos and don’ts to be followed by political par ties, candidates andpolling agents during the election procedure. They are expected toobserve these guidelines on the content of election manifestos, theirspeeches and processions and overall general conduct.When was it introduced? How did it evolve?It was introduced during the assembly elections in Kerala in 1960 asa small set of dos and don’ts. The EC circulated the code to allrecognised par ties during the simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabhaand assemblies in several states in 1962 and the state governmentswere requested to secure the acceptance of the code by the par ties.In 1967, the code was followed in the Lok Sabha and assembly elec-tions.In 1968, the Election Commission held meetings with political par-ties at the state level and circulated the code of conduct to ob-serve a minimum standard of behaviour to ensure free and fairelections.In 1971-72, during the general election to the House of the people/state legislative assemblies, the commission circulated the codeagain.At the time of elections to some assemblies in 1974, the commissionissued the code of conduct to the political par ties in those states.The commission also suggested constituting committees at districtlevel headed by the district collector and comprising representativesof political par ties as members for considering cases of violation ofthe code and ensuring its compliance by all par ties and candidates.For the Lok Sabha election in 1977, the code was again circulated tothe political par ties.In 1979, the Election Commission, in consultation with the politicalpar ties changed the code again and added a new section placingrestrictions on the “par ty in power” to prevent cases of abuse of aposition of power to get an undue advantage over other par ties andcandidates.In 1991, the code was consolidated and re-issued in its present form.In 2013, the Supreme Cour t directed the Election Commission toinclude guidelines regarding election manifestos, which it hasincluded in the code for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.When is the code enforced?The code comes into force as soon as the EC announces the pollschedule and remains operational until the process is concluded,as provided in the notification. It is also applicable to a “caretaker”government on the premature dissolution of a state assembly.How is it enforced?The poll body ensures that ruling parties at the Centre and in statesfollow the code, as par t of its mandate to conduct free and fair elec-tions under Ar ticle 324 of the Constitution.In case of electoral offences, malpractices and corrupt practices likeinducements to voters, bribery, intimidation or any undue influence,the EC takes action against violators.Anyone can repor t the violations to the commission or approach acour t. The EC has devised several mechanisms to take note of theoffences, which include joint task forces of enforcement agenciesand flying squads. The introduction of the cVIGIL mobile app through

which audio-visual evidence of malpractices can be reported is thelatest step.What are the key provisions of the model code of conduct?It has eight provisions dealing with general conduct, meetings, pro-cessions, polling day, polling booths, observers, the par ty in power,and election manifestos, says PRS Legislative Research.General conduct: Criticism of political par ties must be limited to theirpolicies and programmes, past record and work. Activities such as(a) using caste and communal feelings to secure votes, (b) criticisingcandidates on the basis of unverified repor ts, (c) bribing or intimida-tion of voters, and (d) organising demonstrations or picketing outsidehouses of persons to protest against their opinions, are prohibited.Meetings: Par ties must inform the local police authorities about thevenue and time of any meeting in time to enable police to makeadequate security arrangements.Processions: If two or more candidates plan processions along thesame route, organisers must establish contact in advance to ensurethat the processions do not clash. Carrying and burning effigies rep-resenting members of other political par ties are not allowed.Polling day: All authorised par ty workers at polling booths should begiven identity badges. These should not contain the par ty name, sym-bol or name of the candidate.Polling booths: Only voters, and those with a valid pass from theElection Commission, will be allowed to enter polling booths.Observers: The Election Commission will appoint observers to whomany candidates may repor t problems regarding the conduct of theelection.Par ty in power : The code incorporated certain restrictions in 1979,regulating the conduct of the par ty in power. Ministers must not com-bine official visits with election work or use official machinery for thesame. The par ty must avoid advertising at the cost of the publicexchequer or using official mass media for publicity on achievementsto improve chances of victory in the elections. Ministers and otherauthorities must not announce any financial grants, or promise anyconstruction of roads, provision of drinking water, etc. Other par tiesmust be allowed to use public spaces and rest houses and thesemust not be monopolised by the par ty in power.Election manifestos: Guidelines added in 2013 prohibit par ties frommaking promises that exer t an undue influence on voters, and sug-gest that manifestos also indicate the means to achieve promises.

After 10 years, India no longerworld’s top weapons importerIndia is no longer the world’s largest importer of weapons, a positionit held for over a decade, with Saudi Arabia topping the global shareof arms impor ts between 2014 and 2018, a leading Stockholm-basedthink tank that measures weapons imports over five-year periodssaid in a new report on Monday.Saudi Arabia accounted for 12% of the global share of arms importsin that period, followed by India in second place with a 9.5% share,reveals the new data published by the Stockholm International PeaceResearch Institute (Sipri). With impor ts pegged at 4.2% of the globalshare, China is the world’s sixth-largest buyer of weapons.Indian arms impor ts fell 24% between 2009-13 and 2014-18, therepor t said, adding that this was partly because of delays in deliver-ies of fighter jets and submarines produced under licence from Rus-sian and French original equipment manufacturers.While India has been trying to reduce its reliance on impor ted weap-ons, experts said the development could be considered notewor thyonly if India stopped importing a par ticular weapon system becauseit was being manufactured locally under the Make in India initiative.“The rider that imports may have fallen due to delayed deliveriescan’t be ignored. It will be a little premature to start believing that theindigenous defence manufacturing activity has taken off,” said AirVice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), additional director general,Centre for Air Power Studies.

INDIA ELECTIONS 2019

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1The BJP's tally in Uttar Pradesh is likely to come down to 29 from 71 if it is pitched against a Mahagathbandhan. If there is no such grandalliance, then the BJP is expected to match its 2014 per formance and get 72 seats.The BJP is expected to make major chunk of seats from Bihar (36, up from 22 in 2014), Gujarat (24, two down from all 26 seats in the statebagged by the BJP), Karnataka (16, one down from 2014), Madhya Pradesh (24, two down from 26 won last time), Maharashtra (36, 13 morethan 23 won in 2014), Odisha (12, against only 1 last time) and Rajasthan (20, four down from 2014).The Congress will improve its 2014 tally of 44 by getting most of the seats from Assam (7, up from 3 in 2014), Chhattisgarh (5 against only 1in last election), Kerala (14, one more than 2014), Karnataka (9, same as last time), Jharkhand (5, a seat less than last time), Madhya Pradesh(5, against 3 last time), Maharashtra (7, a marginal improvement from 4 in 2014), Punjab (12 against 3 last time), Rajasthan (5, up from nilin 2014), Tamil Nadu (4 against nil last time) and Uttar Pradesh (4, up from 2).In terms of vote share, the NDA is likely to get 31.1 percent of votes against 30.9 for the UPA. The other par ties are likely to get 28 percent.

NDA WILL MARGINALLY FALL SHORT OF MAJORITY

BUT FORM GOVERNMENT

How BJP’s ‘last-minute’ move won over disgruntled allies in Uttar PradeshHours before the model code of conduct came into effect, the Bharatiya Janata Par ty (BJP) government made a last-minute move toplacate its disgruntled allies, appointing 15 of their cadres to various bodies and corporations in Uttar Pradesh.In all, 72 people, including 15 of the allies, were appointed to various bodies and corporations.The BJP’s two UP allies are: Apna Dal, which comprises kurmis, an OBC sub-caste of big political impor tance, and Suheldev BharatiyaSamaj Par ty (SBSP), which has suppor t of Rajbhars, another OBC sub-caste whose voters are spread evenly in several east UPconstituencies. “BJP has made an honest attempt by taking a step towards us. We will take two, and of course, contest the 2019 LSpolls together,” said SBSP chief Om Prakash.Rajbhar, who hoped that there would be an amicable seat sharing arrangement.“We are satisfied with the BJP’s gesture,” said Arvind Sharma of Apna Dal, adding that the appointments to backward classescommission were important for it would help them raise issues related to backwards more effectively.Both the par ties had openly been critical of BJP and the appointment of several of their cadre to plum positions in corporations and othergovernment bodies is being viewed as a BJP gesture to placate them.

PNB SCAM: OVERSEAS BANK STATEMENTS LINKED TONIRAV MODI PROVE MONEY TRAIL, SAYS ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the Punjab National Bank (PNB) money laundering case, has found vital evidence in the formof overseas bank statements linked to absconding diamantaire Nirav Modi, which it says proves the overseas money trail .“ED team managed to get several bank statements from Barbados, Dubai, Hong Kong etc., which prove vital overseas links and moneytrail relating to Modi and his aides,” the agency said on Tuesday while detailing contents of the second charge sheet filed before thespecial Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) cour t. “ED has gathered vital evidence against Modi, which discloses owning anotherchain of jewellery named Bailey Bank and Biddle in USA. Diversion of fraudulent letters of under taking (LoUs) to the tune of at least USD47 million (around Rs 327 crore) to this firm has also been found during investigations.” The ED said a “maze of transactions toobfuscate the probe and to cover the tracks of money laundering were unearthed by obtaining foreign bank accounts and financialstatements of various foreign dummy entities through various sources.”The agency has also found that after the case broke out, one of Nirav’s brothers, Nehal, got a secure server located in the UAEdestroyed. The ED said that through that server, the accused and others used to communicate secretly with close aides. “Printouts ofsome of the incriminating email communications of this secret server have been obtained by us from Dubai,” the ED said.Investigators found Nirav’s sister Purvi and brother Neeshal also allegedly operated shell companies through layers based out of theBritish Virgin Islands (BVI) and Dubai to launder money. In the first layer, a consultant from Dubai was holding the shares of two BVIcompanies, namely Madison Capital Private limited and Moore Private Investments Limited, on behalf of Purvi and Neeshal up to 2012. In the secondlayer, 10 BVI companies were formed by the same firm and in the third layer, eight onshore companies were incorporated in Dubai by the firmas per instructions from Nirav. These third layer companies were recipients of fraudulent LOUs from PNB, the ED said.


TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019i n d i a

POST-PULWAMA, PM NARENDRA MODI’SRATINGS RISE BY 7% TO 52%: POLL

Pulwama bombing plotterwas electrician, killed in pre-dawn operation -NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ratings have gone up

by over 7% after the Pulwama attack, according to a tracker pollconducted by Times Now and VMR.In the latest round of tracker poll conducted between February 5 and21, 52% of the respondents said Modi has a better roadmap for thecountry while 27% voted for Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Only7.3% voted for regional leaders. In the earlier round conducted inJanuary, 44.4% had voted for Modi, 30% for Rahul and 13.8% for re-gional leaders.However, while a majority rooted for Modi, 43% said Rahul hasemerged as a credible alternative in 2019 against 40% who gave theCongress president a thumbs down.While a majority rooted for Modi, 46% of the respondents in the latestpoll said BJP-led government had “least fulfilled” its poll promises.Only 27% said the government had “most fulfilled” its promises.Employment is the single biggest issue in these elections accordingto 40% of the respondents while schemes for farmers was a distantsecond with 17.7%. Only 14% said construction of the Ram templewas the defining issue in the polls.However, to another question on job losses, 40% said job losses arelesser and oppor tunities have actually grown while 24% said thenumber of unemployed is much higher and the government may not

have accurate data. As many as 36% said these are “regular joblosses”. To a question on the income tax relief provided in the Union budget, 33%said it was far overdue while 30% said it was “very little and late, but the PM hasgood intentions”. As many as 24% saw it as a poll stunt. On the PM-Kisan scheme,only 30% think that it will be of no help to the farmers. The latest round of TimesNow-VMR poll was conducted at 690 locations across the country. Atotal of 14431 voters were surveyed.

LOK SABHA POLLS: FIFTEEN FACTORS THATHOLD THE KEY TO THIS ELECTION

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1Opposition par ties were quick on the draw as they blamed themassacre on government ‘failure’.But the Balakot airstrike may help BJP protect its ‘tough-on-security’ plank, burnishing the credentials that it acquired postthe ‘surgical strike’ in response to Uri terror attack. BJP hassince showcased Modi as a ‘bold and decisive leader’ whoalone can deal with a hostile Pakistan, and has argued that a‘grand coalition’ of Opposition par ties won’t be up to the task ofdealing with the heightened security challenge. The reigningnationalist mood and anxiety about tension on the border mightadd to the attraction of the promise of strong leadership andpolitical stability.INFLATIONGenerally a ubiquitous factor, it has been missing in action thistime. The Modi government has succeeded in taming price rise,which, combined with corruption and perception of paralysis,contributed to UPA’s debacle five years ago. NDA’s success,however, seems to have come at a price. Some exper ts haveargued that price stability has been achieved by depressing theprice of farm produce, a strategy that has generated rural unrestand could cost BJP.

SRINAGAR: The Kashmir plotter of the February 14 sui-cide bombing that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawanswas killed by security forces in a joint operation inPulwama’s Pinglish area which ended in the early hoursof Monday, the Army said.With the killing of 23-year-old Mudassir Ahmed Khan,who worked as an electrician before taking to arms, 18dreaded terrorists + have been eliminated since lastmonth’s suicide bombing. Acting on intel leads that JeMhandler Ashiq Negru from Pulwama’s Rajpora was con-ceiving another terror attack in Pinglish, security forcesconducted a search operation which turned into an en-counter. While Mudassir and another terrorist have beeneliminated, Negru is absconding.The probe by intelligence agencies also led to a discov-ery that the carrier of explosives used in the Pulwamaattack was one Mufti Abdullah, a resident of Karachi, whowas eliminated in an encounter along with a local Jaishmilitant in Khanmoh, on the outskir ts of Srinagar, on Janu-ary 26. A cache of gelatin sticks, used in a stone quarry,was recovered from the site.

Choose between MahatmaGandhi's India and Godse'sIndia: Rahul GandhiNew Delhi: The choice is between Mahatma Gandhi'sIndia or Godse's India with love on one hand and hate onthe other, Congress president Rahul Gandhi told his par ty'sbooth workers here on Monday, a day af ter the Lok Sabhaelections were announced. In an all-out attack againstPrime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi flayed him on ahost of issues such as the Rafale deal, employment gen-eration, national security and alleged agrarian distress."You have to decide, you want Gandhi's India or Godse'sIndia. On the one hand, there is love, brotherhood, on theother is hate, fear. Gandhi ji was fearless, stayed in jailfor years, but spoke with the British with love, while (Veer)Savarkar wrote letters to Britishers apologising and ask-ing to be let off," he said. He said Modi keeps talkingabout Make in India, but his shir t, shoes and phone, withwhich he takes selfies, are made in China. Gandhi said40 CRPF personnel were killed in the Pulwama terrorattack carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammed whose chiefMasood Azhar was released from jail by the BJP."Two of our prime ministers were mar tyred. We don'tbow before anyone," he said. He also urged booth work-ers to work hard and win all seven seats in Delhi.

LOK SABHA ELECTIONS 2019:BSP WON'T ALLY WITHCONGRESS IN ANY STATE

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has once againmade it clear that her party will not ally with the Con-gress for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.“It has been reiterated once again that BSP will not haveany alliance with Congress party in any state, to contestthe upcoming elections,” Mayawati was quoted as say-ing by news agency ANI after a meeting of par ty workersin Lucknow on Tuesday.The BSP chief had targeted the Congress earlier and saidit was no different from the BJP.Mayawati’s attack on the Congress follows her allySamajwadi Par ty president Akhilesh Yadav’s commentthat the Congress was also in alliance with his par tyalong with the BSP.Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati announced the SP-BSP tie-up for the Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh in Januarythis year. The two par ties agreed to contest 38 Lok Sabhaseats each in the state while maintaining that they wouldnot put up candidates at Amethi and Rae Bareli, the par-liamentary constituencies represented by Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.Akhilesh Yadav’s comments were seen as an outreachafter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was appointed as the Con-gress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar PradeshEast. Her appointment is being seen by many in the par tyas a game changer move ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress culture is‘anti-thesis of

Gandhian thought’:PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modihas targeted the Congress onthe 89th anniversary of Ma-hatma Gandhi ’s DandiMarch, which he said“shook the foundations ofcolonial rule and became astrong symbol of fightinginjustice and inequality”.The Prime Minister, in a blogthat coincided with a key Con-gress meet in Gujarat, calledthe Congress culture an “anti-thesis of Gandhian thought” ona day the opposition par ty isholding a meeting of its work-ing committee in his homestate of Gujarat ahead of theLok Sabha election 2019.“Gandhi Ji taught us to think ofthe plight of the poorest personwe have seen and think abouthow our work impacts that per-son. I am proud to say that inall aspects of ourGovernment’s work, the guid-ing consideration is to see howit will alleviate pover ty andbring prosperity. Sadly, the anti-thesis of Gandhian thought isthe Congress culture,” thePrime Minister wrote in theblog on his website.Modi listed how the Congressparty worked against every-thing that Mahatma Gandhi helddear and said that the party hasworked against the country.“In many of his works, GandhiJi said that he does not believein inequality and caste divi-sions. Sadly, the Congress hasnever hesitated from divid-ing society. The worst casteriots and anti-Dal it massa-cres happened under Congressrule,” he said.Modi quoted the Mahatma onissues like governance, cor-ruption and dynastic politicsamong others to criticise theCongress.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 i n d i a

Battle of alliances: BJP takes earlylead over rivals in securing partners

RAHUL GANDHI HINTS ATNO ALLIANCE WITH AAP,TELLS CONG WORKERS

TO WIN ALL SEVEN SEATS

‘BJP has taken an early lead over itsrivals for an election where everysingle percentage point of votesbrought in by small partners canhave significant bearing on finalresults.

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1In a big state like Tamil Nadu also, where the BJP has remained aminor player so far, it has risen into reckoning by stitching an alliancewith the ruling AIADMK and by working on smaller Dravidian par tiesto join the NDA.In states like Bihar, Maharshtra and Tamil Nadu and where combina-tion of allies will be crucial, a BJP-led alliance is already in placewhile the Congress is still working out finer deals with its par tners.The main opposition par ty has been squeezed out of the SP-BSP'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) in UP, which may help the BJP inthe politically most crucial state where swing of a few percentage ofvotes can swing the poll pendulum to the other side.BJP's two allies in Uttar Pradesh -- Apna Dal and Suheldev BharatiyaSamaj Par ty -- have been airing their grievances with their biggerpar tner but the saffron par ty leaders have expressed confidence thatthey will remain in the NDA fold. The opposition's grand alliance inBihar, which has as many as 40 Lok Sabha constituencies, remainsan unfinished task due to differences among par ties like Lalu Prasad-led RJD, Congress, Upendra Kushwaha-led RLSP and Jitan Ram

18 TERRORISTS KILLED IN 21 DAYS; ELIMINATEDJEM LEADERSHIP SUCCESSFULLY: ARMY

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1"We have gone very forcefully after the JeM, and we have reason-ably succeeded in our aim of eliminating them at the earliest so thatthey are not able to carry out a Pulwama-like attack,” he said.Of the 18 terrorists killed, 14 belonged to JeM including its "six maincommanders", the Lt. Gen., flanked by IGP Kashmir S P Pani and IGCRPF Zulfiqar Hassan, said."We have also eliminated JeM's second-in-command Mudasir Khan,the main conspirator in the attack on a CRPF convoy on February 14.He was active for more than a year," he said.Of the terrorists killed, eight were from Pakistan and 10 were locals,including two each of Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Hizbul Mujahideen, hesaid. "Our emphasis after the February 14 attack has been on elimi-nation of the JeM leadership and we have been very successful indoing that in about three weeks since the attack… The leadership ofthe JeM has been hit very badly,” he said.However, the army officer said, it does not mean the forces havestopped "looking at the LeT or HM. They are very much on ourradar”.Dhillon said operations against foreign terrorists and the JeM lead-ership will continue “till we eliminate all of them”.Asked if there were more suicide bombers active in the valley,Dhillon said: “We are aware and keeping a track of all such modusoperandi. We are prepared for it and are taking corrective mea-sures.”Referring to the encounter in Pinglish area of Tral, the IG CRPF saidit was "doubly" significant for the paramilitary force as Mudasir wasinvolved in the 2017 Lethpora camp attack as well.“It was a clean operation, but our job is not done yet. Very importantplayers in the dramatis personae still remain -- the people who

motivated and radicalised Mudasir, those who gave him explosivesand other means to carry out these attacks. We are working in closecoordination with the NIA,” he said.IGP Kashmir said Mudasir lured youths into militancy."Initial inputs about Mudasir star ted sur facing a year ago and subse-quently, he joined JeM. The operations over the last for tnight havecaused a lot of damage to the outfit,” he said.Pani said the militant recruitment in the last three months has alsocome down significantly. Also, par ticipation in funeral processions ofmilitants has reduced.“Of course, there are miscreants who try to do these things, but policeare keeping a watch,” Pani said.Asked if Mudasir made the IED used in the Pulwama attack, Lt GenDhillon said as the main conspirator, he helped and coordinated theattack, “but it is a matter of investigation whether he himself made theIED”. About ceasefire violations along the LoC, the army officer saidPakistan has been targeting civilian as it cannot hit military.

Days after the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee expressedthat there will be no alliance with the Aam Aadmi Par ty(AAP) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, par ty chiefRahul Gandhi Monday urged booth level workers to win onall seven seats, indirectly confirming the move.Gandhi was addressing a meeting of booth-level workersof the Delhi Congress.The statement comes a day af ter former par ty presidentSonia Gandhi met with Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshitand repor tedly discussed the issues around the alliance.The meeting was preceded by AICC Delhi in-charge PCChako visiting Sonia last week. Chako was said to be infavour of the alliance.It is to be noted that the AAP has already announced itscandidates on six parliamentary seats. The Congress hadextended suppor t to the first Arvind Kejriwal government in2013. The Delhi Congress feels that the AAP is on a stickywicket in the national capital, and the par ty should not joinhands with it.Addressing the booth-level workers, Gandhi also targettedthe Modi government while raising questions on the Rafaledeal and involvement of Anil Ambani. “You have to decide,you want Gandhi’s India or Godse’s India. On the one handthere is love, brotherhood, on the other is hate, fear. Gandhiji was fearless, stayed in jail for years, but spoke with theBritish with love, while (Veer) Savarkar wrote letters toBritishers apologising and asking to be let off,” said Gandhi.

WHY INDIA’S ELECTION ISAMONG THE WORLD’S

MOST EXPENSIVEThe world’s biggest democracy will soon hold what’s likelyto beone of the world’s costliest elections.India’s six-week-long vote will span the Himalayan range in the nor th, theIndian Ocean in the south, the Thar deser t in the west andthe mangroves of the Sundarbans in the east.This time the polling exercise, due to star t on April 11 andbe completed by May 19, will cost an unprecedented 500billion rupees ($7 billion),accordingto the New Delhi-basedCentre for Media Studies. About$6.5 billionwas spent dur-ing the US presidential and congressional races in 2016,according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks money inAmerican politics.The CMS projection marks a 40 percent jump from the $5billion estimated to have been spent during India’s 2014parliamentary vote. And it amounts to roughly $8 spent pervoter in a country where about 60 percent of the populationlives on around $3 a day.“Most of the jump in spending will come in use of socialmedia, travel and adver tising,” said N. Bhaskara Rao, chair-man of the Centre for Media Studies, who has advised pre-vious governments and ran a market research group.Social media spending is likely to be dramatically higher,surging to about 50 billionrupees from 2.5 billion rupees in2014, Rao said. His group—which bases its projections onfield interviews, government data, contracts given out, andother research—also expects a jump in the use of helicop-ters, buses and other transpor tation by traveling candidatesand par ty workers. Specific data can be hard to pin down,but costs are rising in general as constituency sizes in-crease and more candidates join the fray, said SimonChauchard, a Columbia University lecturer who has followedelections in India. Politicians feel “you’ve got to do newthings, and crazier things, and bigger things and louderthings,” Chauchard said. “It’s a bunch of panicky candi-dates throwing money around to voters but also to vendorsselling all kinds of stuff useful in a political campaign.”

Nirav Modi’s wife named accused formoving $30 mn in PNB fraud case; ED to

move red corner notice against herThe Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday named ab-sconding diamantaire Nirav Modi’s wife Ami as an accusedin the Punjab National Bank (PNB) money laundering casefor the first time. In its latest supplementary charge sheet,the ED said Ami had used an international bank account tomove $30 million (Rs 209 crore approximately). “We haveestablished her role in money-laundering,” said a high-rank-ing ED officer. “The funds were siphoned off using fraudu-lent letters of under taking (LoUs) issued from PNB’s BradyHouse branch in Mumbai,” the officer said.The central anti-money laundering agency will now issue aRed Corner Notice (RCN) — an international arrest warrant— against Ami, who is believed to be living in the United States.Last week, UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph released a video show-ing a different-looking Nirav Modi on the streets of London,where he has had a diamond store since 2014.

Manjhi-led HAM over their respective seat demands.On the other hand, the three NDA constituents in -- BJP, Chief MinisterNitish Kumar-led JD(U) and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan-ledLJP -- have already announced that they will fight 17, 17 and sixseats, respectively, in the State.The BJP had in 2014 contested on 31 seats in Bihar and bagged 22, butagreed to give up its claim on even its winning seats to accommodateKumar, who had fought against the par ty in the last general elections.The difference between the BJP and the Opposition lies in commonal

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1Asked to comment on AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal's statement that talks for alliance in Punjab were in progress, the Chief Minister said "thoughhe was not aware of such a statement, the Congress did not need any allies in Punjab".Exuding massive confidence about the Congress' prospects in the parliamentary elections, the Chief Minister said the par ty was enthusiasticabout these polls, as was evident from the fact that it had chosen Ahmedabad - the home tur f of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - for theCongress Working Committee meeting. This clearly showed the level of enthusiasm in the par ty, which was ready to take the BJP by its horns,he added.On Punjab Congress candidates, Amarinder Singh said that the next meeting was likely to be held in Delhi around the end of this week. Therewas no hurr y, he said, pointing out that the polling date was more than two months away, giving the par ty lot of time to select its candidates.Asked to comment on the time lag in the polling date for Punjab, he said it was the Election Commission's prerogative and he could not,therefore, say anything on the issue.On whether the Indian Air Force air strikes across the Line of Control would prove beneficial to the ruling BJP at the centre, the Chief Ministersaid with Indian soldiers continuing to be killed every day, the air strikes had clearly not proved to be a deterrent so far against Pakistan-backed attacks on India.He reiterated that no attempts should be made to politicize the Indian forces. He said "the armed forces are apolitical and are above the pettyconsiderations of caste, religion and political affiliations."The chief minister also said he was happy that the Kar tarpur Corridor project had remained on track despite the recent tensions at the border.Islamabad had also clarified that the latest events will not have any adverse effect on the project, he pointed out with satisfaction, adding thatthe corridor was something that people on both sides wanted.

CONGRESS DOESN'T NEED ALLIES IN PUNJAB: CAPT.AMARINDER SINGH ON ALLIANCE WITH AAP


TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019w o r l d

US KEEPS UP PRESSURE ONPAKISTAN, NSA BOLTON SEEKS

‘MEANINGFUL STEPS’ ON TERROR

‘Need responsible solution’, says China on terrorist tag

for Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Masood AzharThe Chinese foreign ministry’scomment comes in the backdrop of theUS, the UK and France moving a freshproposal at the UNSC to list Azhar as aglobal terrorist in the aftermath of theJeM claiming responsibility for thesuicide attack in Kashmir’s Pulwama .‘

The United States continued to mount pressure on PakistanMonday calling upon it on to take “meaningful steps” againstterrorism, doubling down on a call earlier from Secretary ofState Michael R Pompeo and the visiting Indian foreign sec-retary Vijay Gokhale for “concer ted action”.“Spoke with Pakistani FM Qureshi to encourage meaningfulsteps against JeM and other terrorist groups operating fromPakistan,” US national security adviser John Bolton wrote onTwitter about his call with Pakistan’s foreign minister ShahMehmood Qureshi, referring to Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pa-kistan-based terrorist outfit that claimed responsibility for thesuicide attack in Pulwama in Kashmir on February 14 thatkilled 40 CRPF personnel.He added: “The FM assured me that Pakistan would deal firmlywith all terrorists and will continue steps to deescalate ten-sions with India.” Bolton’s tweet followed Pompeo’s meetingwith Gokhale, at which they called upon Pakistan to take “con-certed action to dismantle the ter rorist infrastructure and todeny safe haven to all terrorist groups” operating from itssoil. At a news briefing later, Pompeo acknowledged gingerlyto bringing up Indian purchase of crude oil from Venezuela, atop priority currently for the Tr ump administration’s nationalsecurity team — the president appears not as engaged onVenezuela as his advisers, despite scripted pronouncementsthat lack his signature commitment.This conversation found no mention in readouts of the meet-ing issued separately by the two sides, and not coordinatedas they are most times. “Only because, it was not an issue —the secretary mentioned it briefly and the Indian side re-sponded that Indian state refineries had stopped buying from Ven-ezuela and the private refineries, it seemed apparent, would not risk beingalienated from the US financial system,” said a person close to thenegotiations. Bolton’s tweet was seen as a significant boost for India’scase against terrorism emanating from across the border inPakistan just two days ahead of a UN security council deci-sion on a proposal moved by France, US and UK to designateMasood Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad.

ETHIOPIAN PLANE SMOKED ANDSHUDDERED BEFORE DEADLY PLUNGE

The Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed killing 157 peoplewas making a strange rattling noise and trailed smoke anddebris as it swerved above a field of panicked cows beforehitting ear th, according to witnesses.Flight 302 took off from the Ethiopian capital on Sunday morn-ing bound for Nairobi with passengers from more than 30countries. All on board the Boeing 737 MAX 8 died.The pilot had requested permission to return, saying he washaving problems - but it was too late.Half a dozen witnesses interviewed by Reuters in the farm-land where the plane came down repor ted smoke billowingout behind, while four of them also described a loud sound.“It was a loud rattling sound. Like straining and shaking metal,”said Turn Buzuna, a 26-year-old housewife and farmer wholives about 300 meters (328 yards) from the crash site.“Everyone says they have never heard that kind of sound froma plane and they are under a flight path,” she added.Malka Galato, 47, a barley and wheat farmer whose field theplane crashed in, also described smoke and sparks from theback. “The plane was very close to the ground and it made aturn... Cows that were grazing in the fields ran in panic,” hesaid. Tamirat Abera, 25, was walking past the field at the time.He said the plane turned sharply, trailing white smoke anditems like clothes and papers, then crashed about 300 metersaway. “It tried to climb but it failed and went down nose first,”he said. “There was fire and white smoke which then turnedblack.” As the plane had only just taken off, it was loaded withfuel. At the site, Red Cross workers in masks sifted gentlythrough victims’ belongings. Children’s books - Dr Seuss’s“Oh The Thinks You Can Think” and “Anne of Green Gables” -lay near a French-English dictionary burnt along one edge.

China on Monday said it was only through discussions that a “re-sponsible solution” could come out on the issue of listing Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader Masood Azhar as a terroristat the UN Security Council (UNSC).The Chinese foreign ministry’s comment comes in the backdrop ofthe US, the UK and France moving a fresh proposal at the UNSC to listAzhar as a global terrorist in the aftermath of the JeM claiming re-sponsibility for the suicide attack in Kashmir’s Pulwama on February14. According to repor ts, the resolution was expected to be taken upby the 1267 committee of the UNSC on March 13. China has thriceblocked the move by India and other UN members, interpreted byobservers as a result of Beijing-Islamabad’s close ties.“First I would like to say that the UNSC as a main body of the UN hasstrict standards and rules of procedures... China’s position on thedesignation of a terrorist by the 1267 Sanctions Committee is consis-tent and clear,” foreign ministry Lu Kang said on Monday when askedabout the upcoming proposal.“China (has) adopted a responsible attitude, follows the rules of theprocedure of the committee and par ticipated in the discussions in aresponsible manner. Only through discussions can we come up witha responsible solution,” Lu said.To a second question whether the issue of Masood Azhar’s ban fig-ured in China’s talks with Pakistan, Lu said: “Recently, India andPakistan has experienced a lot. We think those indents are not in theinterest of peace and stability in the region. We have engaged inmediation effor ts with both sides and held talks to promote the easingof tensions. We made enormous effor ts. While exchanging ideas se-

curity is an impor tant topic and I can say that our talks were wideranging and quite deep,” he said.A day after the Pulwama attack, China had condemned it in strongwords, saying it was against all forms of terrorism but had remainedambiguous about Azhar. “We firmly oppose and strongly condemn allforms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooper-ate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regionalpeace and stability,” foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuanghad then said. When asked about China’s stand on the listing of Azhar,Geng repeated what he and his MFA colleagues have said many timesbefore: UN protocols were being followed in this par ticular case.“As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee ofSecurity Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedureof the terrorist organisations. JeM has been included in the SecurityCouncil terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle therelevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner,”Geng had said.

PAKISTAN DEMANDS INDIA’S REMOVAL FROM TERRORFINANCING WATCHDOG’S REVIEW BODY

Pakistan has asked the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), aninternational terror financing watchdog, to remove India as co-chair of its Asia-Pacific Joint Group, the Finance Ministry said onSaturday. Cur rently placed on the FATF’s ‘grey list’, Pakistan hasbeen scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list ofcountries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering andterrorist financing regulations by the Paris-based FATF, a measurethat officials here fear could fur ther hurt its economy.In a letter addressed to FATF President Marshall Billingslea, PakistanFinance Minister Asad Umar asked him to appoint any other membercountry besides India as co-chair of the Asia-Pacific Joint Group “toensure that (the) FATF review process is fair, unbiased and objec-tive”, the finance ministry said in a statement. The Joint Group is asub-body of the FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of theAsia Pacific Group. Pakistan is a member of the APG and its case is beingpresented before the FATF by the APG. India’s Financial Intelligence Unit’s (FIU)director general is the co-chair of the Joint Group.“India’s animosity towards Pakistan was well known and the recent violation

of Pakistan’s airspace and dropping of bombs inside Pakistani territory wasanother manifestation of India’s hostile attitude,” Umar wrote in the letter.Referring to India’s efforts of isolating Pakistan globally and call for the country’sblacklisting during the ICRG meeting on February 18, Umar said, “Indian pres-ence among the evaluators and as Co-chair of the Joint Group would underminethe impartiality and spirit of the ‘peer review’ process.” “We firmly believe thatIndia’s involvement in the ICRG process will not be fair towards Pakistan,” hewrote.During the February 18-22 plenary and review meetings, the FATFhad noted “limited progress” by Pakistan on targets set for January2019, and urged the country “to swiftly complete its action plan,par ticularly those with timelines of May 2019.” It had expresseddissatisfaction over Pakistan’s action and said the country did “notdemonstrate a proper understanding of the terror financing risksposed by Daesh (ISIS), Al Qaeda, Jamaat-ud-Dawa(Jud), Falah-i-Insaniat Foundat ion (FIF), Lashkar -e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Haqqani network (HQN), and persons affiliatedwith the Taliban”.

BREXIT DEAL REJECTED SECOND TIME,TRIGGERS CALL FOR NEW APPROACH

The issue of when, if and how theUK?leaves the European Union remainedup in the air after MPs rejected thewithdrawal agreement sewed by PrimeMinister Theresa May.‘

The issue of when, if and how the United Kingdom leaves the Euro-pean Union remained up in the air af ter MPs on Tuesday rejected thewithdrawal agreement sewed by Prime Minister Theresa May overnearly three years after the 2016 referendum.The pound took another beating and business organisations expressedfrustration and more over the continuing uncer tainty over the wayforward beyond March 29, when the UK is due to leave the EU.Carolyn Fairbairn of the Confederation of British Industry said it is“time for parliament to stop this circus…Enough is enough. This mustbe the last day of failed politics. A new approach is needed by allpar ties. Jobs and livelihoods depend on it.”The revised agreement package, reached in Starsbourg on Mondayevening, was rejected in the House of Commons by 391 to 242; itsprevious version was resoundingly voted down in January. The con-tinuing impasse threw up a range of options, including another refer-endum.May said after the defeat: “I profoundly regret the decision that thisHouse has taken tonight. I continue to believe that by far the bestoutcome is that the UK leaves the EU in an orderly fashion with a deal,and that the deal we have negotiated is the best and indeed the onlydeal available.”There are two immediate next steps: MPs will be asked to vote onWednesday whether the UK should leave with or without an agree-

ment. Then, on Thursday, MPs will vote on whether the May govern-ment should seek an extension beyond March 29.May added: “But let me be clear. Voting against leaving without a dealand for an extension does not solve the problems we face. The EU willwant to know what use we mean to make of such an extension. ThisHouse will have to answer that question.”“Does it wish to revoke Ar ticle 50? Does it want to hold a secondreferendum? Or does it want to leave with a deal but not this deal?These are unenviable choices, but thanks to the decision the Househas made this evening they must now be faced.”After the defeat, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded that Maycall a general election to resolve the impasse: “The government hasbeen defeated again by an enormous majority and it must accept itsdeal is clearly dead and does not have the suppor t of this House.”

China, Pakistan upgrading fighter aircraft used against Indian Air Force: ReportChina and Pakistan have begun upgrading their jointly developed JF-17 fighter jet, the current version of which was repor tedly used bythe Pakistan air force (PAF) in the dogfight against Indian fighter aircraf t near the Line of Control (LoC) last month.“The development and production of the JF-17 Block 3 are underway,” Yang Wei, a Chinese legislator and chief designer of the China-Pakistan co-developed fighter jet, was quoted as saying by the state media.The F-16 was par t of the two dozen fighter aircraft that PAF had scrambled during the dogfight with the IAF.The cur rent version is said to be a contender of India’s indigenously developed Tejas aircraf t.Yang said his aim is to enhance the jet’s “informatised war fare capability and weapons” or the use of cutting-edge communicationtechnology in modern warfare.“All related work is being carried out,” Yang was quoted as saying by the nationalistic tabloid Global Times at a press conference heldon the sidelines of China’s ongoing Parliament session.The JF-17, or the FC-1, is a single-engine multi-role light fighter jet jointly developed by China and Pakistan for expor t, according to thewebsite of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.Yang added that the development and batch production for the JF-17 Block 3 aircraf t were going on simultaneously.“The third block will see the JF-17’s informatised war fare capability and weapons upgraded,” Yang said.Pakistan, the main user of the JF-17, could fur ther share information between the fighter and other platforms, taking advantage of thewhole combat system to effectively defend against strong opponents like India, a military analyst Wei Dongxu was quoted as saying.Wei explained how the upgraded version would be put to use against the IAF.“JF-17 Block 3 is expected to be fitted with an active electronically scanned array radar, which can gather more information in combat,enabling the fighter jet to engage from a far ther range and attack multiple targets at the same time. A helmet-mounted display and sightsystem could also allow pilots to aim whatever he sees,” Wei said.Once the new upgrades are ready, they can be fitted on the air frame very fast, ensuring a quick delivery time, Wei added.According to the tabloid, the JF-17 is often described by its manufacturer and military observers as an advanced but also a cost-effective fighter.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


KANGANA RANAUT DOESN’TNEED A TRUTH SERUM, SHE

HAS SAID IT ALL, SAYSARBAAZ KHAN

RANVEER SINGH RECALLS HIS‘MOST MAGICAL NIGHT’ WITH WIFE

DEEPIKA PADUKONE, SAYS ‘IT’SETCHED IN MY HEART AND MIND’

RANVEER SINGH SPOKE ABOUT THE MAGICALNIGHT WHEN HE AND ACTOR DEEPIKA

PADUKONE WON BEST ACTOR AWARDS FORTHEIR RESPECTIVE PERFORMANCES.

'I had a heavy heart when I wasapproached for the movie': MadhuriDixit on replacing Sridevi in 'Kalank'

JACKIE SHROFF OPENS UP ONTIGER SHROFF-DISHA PATANI

RELATIONSHIP, SAYS ‘THEY MAYMARRY IN FUTURE OR STAY

FRIENDS FOR LIFE’

2019 IS THE YEAR OFCRICKET WORLD CUP

REVEALED: PARINEETI CHOPRA PLAYSAKSHAY KUMAR'S DEAD WIFE IN 'KESARI'

TO WATCH ALL THE LATEST GOSSIP IN ENTERTAINMENT,WATCH CHANNEL Y ROGERS 857, BELLFIBE 828, TELUS 2418

P20 P18

JACKIE SHROFF HAS SPOKEN ABOUT SONTIGER SHROFF, HIS FIRST FRIEND DISHA

PATANI AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP.

P19

OKD SOCCER CLUB FROM CANADA BEAT OKD BEAT BUSBY AFC BY 5-0 IN SCOTLAND.

ARBAAZ ALLSO SAID HE WOULD LIKETO KNOW WHEN AND WHOM WILL HISBROTHER SALMAN KHAN MARRY. HEALSO REACTED TO KANGANA BEINGGIVEN TRUTH SERUM.

'KALANK' TEASER LAUNCH

ALIA BHATT AND VARUN DHAWAN WERE SEEN COLOUR COORDINATING IN WHITE OUTFITS. ALIA LOOKED PRETTY IN A WHITE CHIKANKARIKURTI AND LEGGINGS WITH A MATCHING DUPATTA. SHE ROUNDED HER LOOK BY PAIRING IT UP WITH SILVER JHUMKIS AND WHITESTRAPPY HEELS. WHILE VARUN SPORTED A HANDSOME LOOK WEARING A WHITE BANDHGALA KURTA WITH FLORAL PRINTS ON THECUFFS AND WHITE PYJAMAS. HE TEAMED IT UP WITH BLACK SHOES.

It's a known fact that Sridevi was finalised to play the role of BahaarBegum in Kalank. Post her sad demise, there were speculations mak-ing the rounds that Madhuri Dixit-Nene might be stepping into theshoes of Sridevi. Janhvi Kapoor took to her Instagram page and madethe announcement that Madhuri will be seen in Kalank. She shared aphoto of the veteran actors and wrote, "Abhishek Varman’s next filmwas very close to mom’s hear t ...Dad, Khushi and I are thankful toMadhuriji for now being a par t of this beautiful film..."Today, at the teaser launch event of Kalank, when Madhuri was askedabout stepping into the shoes of Sridevi, she said, "It was tragic newsand I had a heavy hear t when I was approached for the movie. Shewas a brilliant actress. To step into her role, as an actress, you doyour role, but yes she was always remembered on the sets as shewas supposed to do the film. But, then if you star t working on theproject, you have to see beyond that and you have to do with convic-tion and that's what I did. We definitely will miss her".

The trailer of Akshay Kumar starrer Kesari was dropped a couple ofweeks back and it was loved by the masses. The movie directed byAnurag Singh is based on the historic Battle of Saragarhi and also starsParineeti Chopra as the female lead. In the trailer, only a short glimpse of the actorwas shown and her fans wished to see more of her.

MS DHONI WILL BE VIRAT KOHLI'S GO-TO-MAN AT WORLD CUP, SAYS SURESH RAINA

I DETAILS ON PAGE 23

INDIA WAS GRANTED PERMISSION TO WEARCAMOUFLAGE CAPS: ICC

SHAHID AFRIDI FEELS RESTING ESTAB-LISHED PLAYERS FOR AUSTRALIA ODIS

WAS WRONG MOVE

WATCH THE TRAILER OF 'KALANK' ON CHANNEL Y ROGERS 857, BELLFIBE 828, TELUS 2418


TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019b o l l y w o o d

KANGANA RANAUT DOESN’T NEED A TRUTH SERUM,SHE HAS SAID IT ALL, SAYS ARBAAZ KHAN

ANDHADHUN TO RELEASE INCHINA AS 'PIANO PLAYER'MUMBAI: Andhadhun, a film that got the audiences, in-dustry and even the critics raving, can easily be calledthe 'Best Film of the year 2018. After winning accoladesin India, the film is now set for a big opening in Chinasoon. Produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures & Match-box Pictures, Andhadhun is directed by India's king ofneo noir cinema, Sriram Raghavan. The film has beendistributed internationally by Eros International.Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom18 Studios, says, "I am happyto announce that Viacom18 Studios has secured itsmaiden release in China and that too with our favouritefilm Andhadhun. I am very excited about our film's pros-pect at the China box office and celebrating what is amajor first for the studio."The film titled 'Piano Player' for the Chinese audiences isalso the first China release for maverick director, SriramRaghavan. He says, "I am super thrilled that Andhadhunis releasing in China. Ten years back, on a visit to China,I walked into a Beijing Cafe and was zapped to see NasirHusain's CARAVAN playing on a big screen. Dubbed inChinese except for the songs. I was told the film was thefavourite Indian film of that generation. I am curious howthe Chinese audience responds to our musical thriller."Viacom18 Studios along with Eros International has nowpar tnered with Tang Media Par tners to release this quirkythriller in China.Kumar Ahuja, President - Business Development, ErosInternational says, "Eros is a pioneer in releasing thebiggest hits of Bollywood in significant markets acrossthe globe. China being a home to many Bollywood lov-ers, has made Andhadhun one of the most anticipatedrelease. Fans in the country can now witness the magicof Andhadhun unfold in theatres across the country."Kevin Tang, CEO, Tang Media Par tners adds, "I amhonoured to bring this highly rated film into China. Thisfilm will be the first India movie of its genre that is re-leased in China. We will do our best job in its marketingand distribution campaign."Andhadhun star ring Tabu, Ayushmann Khur rana andRadhika Apte opened to rave reviews in India on October5th, 2019. The film has been lauded for its writing and adelicious end that kept the audiences guessing.

Actor-filmmaker Arbaaz Khan has said Kangana Ranaut “has said itall” and does not need the truth serum. Arbaaz was given variousnames during an interview and asked what would he ask them if theywere given the truth serum. When Kangana’s name popped up, Arbaaztold BollywoodHungama, “She doesn’t need a truth serum. That’s myanswer. She talks without giving her a serum. What would you askher… she has already said it all!”However, he was quick to add that no controversial story must bemade out of his replies. “Listen guys, I am just having fun here. Don’ttake me seriously. Nothing controversial happening around here,” headded. In the same round, Arbaaz said he wanted to know if Aamir

Khan is making a sequel to his hit films. When asked about Salman, Arbaaz saidhe would ask when and who is the Dabangg star getting married to. Arbaaz alsorevealed that he would want to bring together the three Khans – Aamir, ShahRukh and Salman – for his new chat show, Pinch.Arbaaz Khan’s new web show, Pinch, where celebs will speak aboutsocial media and its effect, will star t airing from March 22. A teaser ofthe show had Sonakshi Sinha, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Karan Johar,Kapil Sharma, Sonam Kapoor, Sunny Leone and Nawazuddin Siddiquias guests.The teaser showed celebs reacting to scathing tweets. WhileKaran read a tweet about his dressing sense, Kapil commented on histweet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi

MADHURI DIXIT AND SANJAY DUTT'S FIRST ONSCREENAPPEARANCE IN 21 YEARS HAS GOT FANS EXCITED

Last year, it was a delightful surprise when the makers of Kalankannounced the casting of the film. The period drama reunites MadhuriDixit and Sanjay Dutt after two decades on the big screen. There wereseveral repor ts making the rounds whether the actors will be sharingscreen space or not, due to the history they shared together. But, theydefinitely shot together and we finally got a glimpse of it in the teaserunveiled today.In a blink-and-miss moment, we saw Madhuri and Sanjay in the sameframe. The duo seems to have an intense conversation in the se-quence and is even seen wearing black outfits. Take a look at the stillbelow and also try to find it in the teaser.At the teaser launch, when Sanjay was talking about working in Kalank,

he called Madhuri as 'Ma'am'! On being asked about working withMadhuri after many years, Dutt replied, "I felt good working withMadhuri Dixit and I will try ki zyada kaam ho." While Madhuri stated,"I think I am working with Sanjay Dutt after more than 20 years andjust recently, I worked with Anil Kapoor after ages. It's always won-der ful to work with the co-actors you have worked with before. I thinkit's been wonder ful."Talking about Kalank, the film is directed by Abhishek Varman andproduced by Karan Johar under his home banner. Apar t from Madhuriand Sanjay, the film also stars Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, SonakshiSinha and Aditya Roy Kapur in the lead roles. Kalank is slated torelease on April 17, 2019.

AFTER 'MANMARZIYAAN', ANURAG KASHYAP AND TAAPSEEPANNU TO REUNITE FOR A SUPERNATURAL THRILLER

Anurag Kashyap directed Taapsee Pannu for the first time in 2018'sromantic film, Manmarziyaan. F rom the time, the duo star tedshooting for the film, they shared a great camaraderie and theiroff-screen banter has been witnessed on social media as well.Anurag and Taapsee have collaborated yet again for the former'sproduction titled Saand Ki Aankh also starring Bhumi Pednekar asthe lead role. Now, the director -actor duo is all set to team up yetagain for an untitled supernatural thriller.During an interaction with Mumbai Mir ror, when Anurag was askedabout the same, he stated, "Taapsee keeps me on my toes and ison a mission to make me take on challenges. I have never doneanything like this before, so I am looking forward to it." WhileTaapsee had earlier said that it won't be a surprise if she workswith Anurag again.On being quizzed about the same, the talented actor said, "But Ididn’t know it would happen so soon. We had been discussingstories and this one received a resounding 'yes' from everyone. Iam looking forward to it as I have not explored the supernaturalgenre in Hindi films yet."Taapsee is currently riding high on the success of her latest out-ing, Badla which is helmed by Sujoy Ghosh. The film also starsAmitabh Bachchan in the lead role and Amrita Singh in a pivotal

role. Badla is produced by Shah Rukh Khan under his home ban-ner Red Chillies Enter tainment. The film is an official adaptation ofthe film, The Invisible Guest.

Has Alia Bhatt been ropedin for Sanjay LeelaBhansali's next with ShahRukh and Salman Khan?

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has finally moved on from hissuperhit pairing with Deepika Padukone and RanveerSingh. They appeared in three films together - Goliyon KiRasleela: Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat.The director has now found a fresh casting in SalmanKhan and Shah Rukh Khan. If repor ts are to be believedthen his lead actress too might be Alia Bhatt.A repor t on Times Of India claims that the actress hasbeen approached for the role. They also mention thateven though the actress has been approached, she isyet to give a confirmation and sign the dotted line.She has worked with Shah Rukh Khan previously inDear Zindagi but it would be her first time of workingwith Salman if she does sign the film.The actress already has two period films in her kitty -Kalank and Takht. While Kalank is produced by KaranJohar, the fi lmmaker grabs the director's chair forTakht. Even though Takht is yet to go on floors, Kalankis almost ready to be showcased to the public. Theteaser of this film, star ring Varun Dhawan, Sanjay Dutt,Aditya Roy Kapur, Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Sonakshi Sinhain pivotal roles with Alia, would be out on Tuesday morn-ing.Meanwhile it is being repor ted that Bhansali also hasanother movie in mind which would star his third favouriteactress - Priyanka Chopra. The film is supposedly titledGangubai. Priyanka appeared in a dance number inGoliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram Leela and played the full-fledgedrole of Kashibai in Bajirao Mastani.

Anil Kapoor has 'jhakaas'reaction to meme of him doingmovie with Taimur Ali KhanOne cannot deny that Anil Kapoor seems to be ageing inreverse. He is only getting younger by each day . Wecould not believe our eyes when we saw him in Malangfirst look with Aditya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, KunalKemmu and director Mohit Suri. He looked the youngestout of the whole lot. It was thus obvious that there wouldbe memes of him looking ageless. The actor finally re-acted on a meme which also involved Taimur Ali Khan.The meme mentioned that Anil would work with Taimurin the movie Gunday 2 in the year 2045. This of coursewas with reference to the actor never ageing and lookingas young as a kid. Of course, since Taimur is India'sfavourite kid, he was the first reference.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


TOO MUCH TO HANDLE

CAST: SONAM BAJWA, NIRMAL RISHI,

GURNAAM BHULLAR, TANIA

DIRECTOR: VIJAY KUMAR ARORA

RATING:

M O V I E R E V I E W

b o l l y w o o d

There are family ties, discords, village life, connecting with the roots,a wedding in the next of kin and simmering romance—there is all thisand more that the director has tried to showcase in Guddiyan Patole.No wonder then that the story gets jumbled up and that’s precisely itsAchilles’ heel.Essentially a journey of two sisters, who live separately with eachparent in Canada, are persuaded by their mother to visit Punjab. Asshe gets a call from her brothers after two decades of broken ties,because she married a foreigner against the family’s wish, she feelscompelled to bridge the gap through her daughters. These sisters,played by Sonam Bajwa and Tania, have spent their childhood awayfrom each other are brought together by this journey.Right from when they land at the airpor t, a cab owner turns its driverbecause he falls in love with the idea of living in Canada and thus inlove with the elder sister Sonam Bajwa from the word go. Played bysinger Gurnaam Bhullar and marking his debut in acting, he is dreamyand charming all through, even when he’s shown expressing his feel-ings to a toy dog placed in his car.Sonam Bajwa por trays a rebel and every now and then takes up thecause of gender equality as she gets drunk and commands her pater-nal uncles to help her aunts in the kitchen or when she protests theidea of men being served food before women. Not a believer of exhib-iting emotions, she likes to keep her distance yet is all involved. Inpar ts, her role is over the top and even soporific.

Tania, the younger sister, plays a lovable granddaughter, niece, sisterand she has done her bit adorably barring the heavily accented En-glish words she says here and there.While the first half of the story revolves around the sisters experienc-ing village life and enjoying having a family around, something theymissed during their growing up years, in bits it also shows theirgrandmother confined to a room, always angry, non-par ticipative infamily affairs and holds a grudge against her daughter, which sheshows to her granddaughters.In the second par t of the film, when the girls decide to go back as theyfind out that they were called only to let go of their share of land to themen of the family, a realisation dawns on them that their grandmothermisses her daughter. They take a u-turn and revive their relation-ships. The grandmother suddenly gets all pally with her granddaugh-ters and as a par t of their bonding, they spend days away from otherfamily members. The fun par t includes going to a disc, visiting asalon and pampering the grandmother, enjoying a family wedding etal. In these five days, the whole scenario changes, everyone loveseveryone, mother and daughter unite over a phone call, grandmothermellows down with her sons. We reach the ‘all is well that ends well’par t when Sonam Bajwa decides to stay back in the village for good,tells her sister to bring their mother for a visit soon and finally sheaccepts the unexpressed love of the constant companion of their trip-the driver, Gurnaam Bhullar.

JACKIE SHROFF OPENS UP ON TIGERSHROFF-DISHA PATANI RELATIONSHIP,SAYS ‘THEY MAY MARRY IN FUTURE

OR STAY FRIENDS FOR LIFE’

Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, who was recently seen in thefirst trailer of Romeo Akbar Walter alongside John Abrahamand Mouni Roy, has claimed his son Tiger Shroff “stays clear ofmalice” and revealed the Baaghi star’s routine. The veteranactor also spoke about his son’s relationship with Disha Patani.Speaking to Mumbai Mirror in an interview, Jackie spoke aboutTiger’s relationship with Disha. While the two have not spokenabout it publically, they are often spotted together. “Tiger foundhis first friend who is a girl at 25, till then he never lookedaround,” Jackie said, in answer to a question, “They share thesame passions, dance and workout together. She comes froma family of army officers, so she understands the value of dis-cipline. Who knows they may get married in future or remainfriends for life, for now they are just friends.”“God is kind, what else can you expect from your child! Tiger issetting an example for other kids to follow. He sleeps by 10.30pm and is up by 6 am… He respects people and focuses on hiscraft… He steers clear of malice and is a man on a mission.Even for a porcupine his child is soft, so I won’t say more.Children love him and so do mothers, and grandmothers. I hopeit always remains that’s way,” Jackie added.He also revealed about his first meeting with Salman Khan,who plays Jackie’s son in Bharat: “I met Salman during hisgrowing up years while filming Falak whose dialogue waspenned by his father, Salim Khan saab... Salman’s still ateenager for me, a child, his eyes shining with his lovefor me and reflecting his awe.” Jackie, 62, plays a seniorofficer in Romeo Akbar Walter who recruits John’s char-acter and makes him undergo a rigorous training for aspecial mission, which according to the trailer “could changethe course of history for India”.


TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019b o l l y w o o d

hollywoodM O V I E R E V I E W

THIS REVENGE IS SWEET

GEMMA CHAN BRINGSNEWS ABOUT 'CRAZY RICH

ASIANS' SEQUELS

Sujoy Ghosh has proved himself as a master of thrillers time andagain. With aplomb in Kahani, with finesse in his shor t film Ahalyaand not so effectively in sequel to Kahani, yet there is no denying histalent to keep us on the edge of the seats. So, what does he have tooffer when the template is borrowed and adapted from a Spanish filmThe Invisible Guest?Never mind that the film is set in England, indeed, the director doestry to Indianise it, borrows heavily from Mahabharat’s wisdom andreminds us what we already know that the great epic is essentiallythe story of Draupadi’s revenge. Now who is the Draupadi here…weare not telling, though if you are clued in to cat and mouse games, itmay not be hard to imagine or decipher the obvious tell-tale signs.Revenge the word defines the film, as does its title the equivalent inHindi. If the trailer has already shown you the principal players andset the premise for you to wonder agape at the identity of the realmurderer, well, the narrative takes you quickly enough to anotherdeath, which you learn is no less despicable as a murder.How the two are connected, whether murder of Naina Sethi’s lover isa simple game of blackmail, well as Amitabh Bachchan’s characterBadal Gupta, a legal eye, tells us; ‘truth has many faces and ver-sions’. What appears a six can be nine too. In shor t, inverse the logicand the picture would be very different.Ghosh lays down the game for us and weaves a web of deceit and liesand has the viewers engaged if not hoodwinked completely. At the

very onset he throws the gauntlet in our direction… is Badal really adevil’s advocate or more, does he have any connection with the miss-ing young boy? And just when you nod and the niggling doubt beginsto firm up, he throws you off balance and takes you by surprise.Surprises are very many and clearly the chakravyuh that Ghosh buildswith def t precision has us entrapped. Actually, he sets up two deaths,one which is obvious and the other somewhat suspenseful and playsoff one against the other. Actors, be it lead par ts (Amitabh Bachchanand Taapsee Pannu) or special appearances (Manav Kaul) or pivotalones (Amrita Singh) enhance the cinematic experience. Bachchan isper fect for the part that is inscrutable, enigmatic and charming.Taapsee as the ambitious successful business woman holds her groundand slips into her part and its shades that range from hapless, guile-less to not so innocent. Mind games that the two lead characters playas the lawyer and the client is enticing and has the requisite dose oftwists and turns and at the very right junctures.Unlike Bachchan and Pannu’s previous outing Pink, this is no cour t-room drama but a mystery which has its moments. Tr uth lies in de-tails as does devil and for a keen discerning eye, Ghosh does pepperquite a few to pick, chew and mull over. Only the final denouementleaves you more than a trifle dissatisfied.Sure you see it coming as things roll on. But the finale is one spoileryou may find hard to swallow. Nevertheless, Badla is watchable fareeven though in comparison to suspenseful Kahani you may find itfalling shor t. However, this revenge does come up shor t and sweet.

CAST: AMITABH BACHCHAN, TAAPSEE

PANNU, AMRITA SINGH, TONY LUKE,

MANAV KAUL

DIRECTOR: SUJOY GHOSH

RATING:

RANVEER SINGH RECALLS HIS ‘MOST MAGICAL NIGHT’ WITH WIFEDEEPIKA PADUKONE, SAYS ‘IT’S ETCHED IN MY HEART AND MIND’

Actor Ranveer Singh never shies away from talking about his wife and actor Deepika Padukone. The Simmba actor shared one of thebest memories with her at the Filmfare press conference on Monday.Recalling the moment when he won the Filmfare Best Actor award for playing Peshwa Bajirao in the 2015 film Bajirao Mastani,Ranveer said, “That was the most magical night. Deepika, my wife, won on the same night for Piku, so to win with her in the same yearwas very special for me, special for our whole family who were present there. Rekha ji gave me the award and you know who wassitting in the first row? The man I wanted to be growing up, Amitabh Bachchan. I could not ask for more. I was an absolutelyunforgettable moment and it’s etched in my mind, my hear t forever and ever.”He also asked about his favourite per formance. The actor asked the gathered media and when someone said Khilji, the actor repliedit his wife’s Deepika’s favourite role of his too. “For me, all my per formances are special. Some films are liked, some are not liked.Some are loved, some are hated. But as a per former, you do your best and you do it with all honesty. If you ask me, my performancein Kill Dil is also special to me. I could not choose between any per formance. I’m just happy to have an oppor tunity to be a performer,”he added. Ranveer has been showing his rapping skills at almost all the events and par ties he has attended before and af ter therelease of Gully Boy. The actor also spoke about his love for live per formances and that he goes into a trance when he goes live. “Thereis nothing more palpable than the energy of a live per formance because the audience is right there and if you want to evoke that oremotion reaction in them, that energy is in that space,” he said.Ranveer was seen playing a rapper named Murad in the Zoya Akhtar film. Everyone from veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan toHollywood actor Will Smith praised him for his per formance. He is currently training for his next film titled ‘83 under the guidance ofsenior cricketers such as Kapil Dev and Balwinder Singh Sandhu. He will be playing Kapil in the film that revolves around India’s firstcricket World Cup win in 1983.Meanwhile, Deepika is working on her next Bollywood film Chhapaak. She will be playing the role of acid attack survivor LaxmiAgarwal in the film. Being directed by Meghna Gulzar, Chhapaak is also Deepika’s debut production.

Gemma Chan has confirmed that the two sequels to CrazyRich Asians will be filmed in succession and the shootwill commence next year.The actor shot to international fame with her per formanceas the independent, sophisticated Astrid in the 2018 hitrom-com with an all-Asian cast.Asked about the status of the sequels, Chan told Variety, "Ihave heard we are going to shoot (films) two and threeback-to-back in 2020. But it's still a way off. I know, it's awhile." Last year, film producers Nina Jacobson and BradSimpson said John Chu is set to return as director. Thescript is currently being worked on by Adele Lim and PeterChiarelli. Chan was speaking on the sidelines of CaptainMarvel premiere, in which she plays Kree sniper andStarForce member Min-Nerva.

PETE DAVIDSON OPENS UP ABOUTDATING KATE BECKINSALE, 20

YEARS HIS SENIOR

American comedian Pete Davidson has finally opened upabout his romance with actor Kate Beckinsale on SaturdayNight Live’s(SNL) Weekend Update.The comedian also spoke about the 20-year age gap be-tween the duo and said that it doesn’t bother them, re-ported People. The 25-year-old comedian addressed hisbudding romance with the 45-year actor for the first timeon SNL’s weekend episode.During the end of Davidson’s appearance, comedian ColinJost asked if his co-star had any new life developments,“like a new girlfriend.” Davidson initially appeared a littlereluctant but soon opened up about Beckinsale.“Apparently people have a crazy fascination with our agedifference. But it doesn’t really bother us. But then again,I’m new to this,” replied Davidson.Davidson then hilariously listed famous men, most of whomhave been in romantic relationships with women at least20 years younger than them.“So if you have questions about a relationship with a bigage difference, just askLeonardo DiCaprio, Jason Statham,Michael Douglas, Richard Gere, Jeff Goldblum, ScottDisick, Dane Cook, Derek Jeter, Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford,Tommy Lee, Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn, and whoever thepresident of France is [Emmanuel Macron, who is 24 yearsyounger than his wife]. Mel Gibson, Billy Joel, Mick Jagger,Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy, Kelsey Grammer, Larr yKing, Larr y King, Lar ry King, Rod Stewar t and DonaldTrump,” Davidson said. He was refer ring to male celebri-ties whose wives and girlfriends, past or present, havebeen younger than them by 10 to 40 years.

HBO DESTROYS MICHAELJACKSON’S LEGACY WITHUNFORGETTABLE BRAVERY

It’s astonishing that Leaving Neverland got made, espe-cially since similarly risky films have historically had arather difficult time. Only a few years ago, director AmyBerg’s An Open Secret, which claimed to have resoundingnew information about filmmaker Bryan Singer’s history ofchi ld abuse, was bur ied by Hol lywood. I t remainsunreleased. Singer, meanwhile, has since directed hisfour th X-Men movie and the multiple Oscar-winning boxoffice smash, Bohemian Rhapsody.I remember An Open Secret making exactly the same kindof noise in its festival run as Leaving Neverland did atSundance this year. Both films promised unquestionablenew proof that would end all debate about their subjects’innocence; both films boasted shocking first-person testi-mony, and were heaved along by solid buzz.I have not seen An Open Secret, but I can imagine the sor t ofimpact it could have had if it not been blacklisted. Perhaps Singerwould not have been allowed to direct Rhapsody, and thereby notcash in the reported $40 million paycheque he received for it.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


10songsTERE BIN SIMMBA

MERE NAAM TU ZERO

ASLI HIP HOP GULLY BOY

PROPER PATOLA NAMASTE ENGLAND

ISSAQBAAZI ZERO

CHOGADA LOVERATRI

URVASHI URVASHI

KAMARIYA MITRON

MORNI BANKE BADHAAI HO

DILBAR SATYAMEVA JAYATE

top

SONG

MIDWEEK HIT OR FLOP

MIDWEEK BOX OFFICE

EK LADKI KO DEKHA FLOP

URI BLOCKBUSTER

MANIKARNIKA SUPER HIT

CHEAT INDIA FLOP

ACCIDENTAL PRIME MINISTER FLOP

b o l l y w o o d

FILM

1APNA TIME

AAYEGAGULLY BOY

SOFT HUES, CHOKER NECKLACES AND POTLIBAGS: B-TOWN BEAUTIES’ TOP CHOICES FORAKASH AMBANI-SHLOKA MEHTA’S WEDDING

GULLY BOY 81.10 CR

AMAVAS 02.85 CR

EK LADKI KO DEKHA TOH AISA LAGA 22.01 CR

ZERO 59.7 CR

KGF 9.2 CR

HERE'S THE DIET SANJAYDUTT IS FOLLOWING FORASHUTOSH GOWARIKER'SPERIOD DRAMA 'PANIPAT'

The wedding celebrations of Akash Ambani-Shloka Mehta saw thewho’s who of B-Town dressed to the nines in their favourite design-ers’ finery. While Kareena Kapoor Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchanstayed loyal to their go-to brand — Manish Malhotra, Priyanka ChopraJonas picked an off -kilter Tarun Tahiliani sari which came with a sexyblouse. On the other hand, Mira Rajput Kapoor looked striking in anAnita Dongre creation and Karisma Kapoor picked a Raw Mango en-semble. The likes of Sonali Bendre-Behl, Shweta Bachchan Nandaand Twinkle Khanna cut a fine figure in ornate Abu Jani SandeepKhosla ensembles. Taking a departure from the predictable reds andgolds, actresses opted for a macaroon-inspired palette — ice blue,pale pink, silver, ivory and champagne. Here’s looking at the key red-carpet trends which emerged at the Ambani wedding:Pastels are the new redsKareena stood out in a powder blue chikankari lehenga, which she

accessorised with a choker necklace and a potli bag. Looking sensu-ous in a Tarun Tahiliani lace beaded sari, Priyanka worked the lightshade of blue with her smile. Aishwarya, too, embraced powder pinkwith élan and hot mama-on-the-move, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, knockedit out of the ballpark in a soft pink lehenga by Faabiiana.Choker chiquitasMost actresses kept their accessories minimal and let their neckpiecedo all the talking. While Shilpa complemented her ensemble withjewellery from Rare Heritage, Bebo opted for a striking neck chokerfrom Anjali Bhimrajka. Mira Rajput, too, spor ted a statement neck-lace which lent gravitas to her outfit.The new 'it' bag — PotliGiving a break to their Judith Leibers, Kareena, Shilpa and Shwetaaccessorised their respective ensembles by matching them withembroidered potli bags.

‘All of us know about 300, it’s time we knewabout the Battle of Saragarhi': Akshay Kumar

Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar is getting ready for the release ofhis period action film, Kesari, which is based on the Battle of Saragarhi.Making a reference to the 2006 Hollywood superhit 300, which alsobelonged to the same genre, he says, “We know about the GerardButler-starrer. But each of us (especially Indians) should also make ita point to know about the 1897 battle.” It was the second of the fivebravest wars ever fought in our history.What is 300 about?Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel by the same name, 300 is aretelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, in which King Leonidas(Gerard Butler) and 300 Spar tans fought to death against Persian‘God-King’ Xerxes and his army of more than 3,00,000 soldiers.‘Saragarhi is the second bravest battle ever fought’Akshay says, “I feel extremely lucky that I’ve got an oppor tunity to bean actor, do such a film (like Kesari) and show it to people, so they

can understand. I would like children, students and the youth to watch it, so theycan learn about the history as well as the bravery of our soldiers and what hap-pened in the Battle of Saragarhi, which took place on September 12, 1897. Twentyone Sikh soldiers fought against thousands of Afghans. The battle started at about9 am and went on till about 6.30 pm.”The actor-producer informs that there were three for ts, of whichSaragarhi was one. “It was used as a point to send and receive mes-sages, like a communication centre of that time. Then there was alsothe border, which was not very far from it. The Afghans wanted tocome in quickly and take over India. They thought they would captureSaragarhi in no time, before the British Army and the other Sikh sol-diers would hear of it and come in as reinforcements. The invaderspresumed they would finish the 21 Sikh soldiers in half an hour or so,but the battle was fought all day. Consequently, the other forces got toknow and came in,” he concludes.

Actor Sanjay Dutt who is juggling with more than fivefilms this year will be seen playing distinct roles in allhis films. The actor is also following a strict diet routinefor his upcoming Ashutosh Gowariker direcotiral Panipat.Sanjay Dutt, who doesn't miss out a single chance tocaptivate the audience even with his grey and dark roles,has been working relentlessly to get into the role of AhmadShah Durrani, the founder of Durrani empire for his up-coming film Panipat.The actor is having a meal which doesn't have muchcarbs and fats but is consuming such food items that arerich in protein like chicken, salads, and fish. The actorwill be wearing heavy costumes for which he is makingsure that he is eating right, followed by a rigorous work-out routine on the sets.To prep up for the role of the robust Afghan king, the actorhad previously undergone costume, hair and make-uptrials and his bald look in several social events is al-ready receiving immense attention from the netizens.Whatever the actor does for his roles becomes a trendamong his fans.While it is challenging for Sanjay Dutt to do justice toevery role he plays, it’s equally difficult for the actor tomaintain a desired physical appearance in every film toslip into the specific character.

PARINEETI CHOPRA BREAKSSILENCE ON SPECULATIONS OF HERTAKING UP SS RAJAMOULI'S RRRActor Parineeti Chopra says she is not averse to doingweb series and has even received some interesting of-fers. The actor's Kesari co-star Akshay Kumar recentlyannounced that he would be making his digital debut.Parineeti said there are a lot of options for actors to choosefrom, content wise "I'm getting a lot of interesting contentfor shows. I have three-four show offers but I don't knowwhich one, or if I'm even going to do any of them. It hap-pens that I'm about to say yes to a show and an amazingfilm comes up," she said in a group interview.Parineeti is waiting to see how the year unfolds as sheawaits the announcement of three projects. One of thoseis rumoured to be Baahubali director SS Rajamouli's next RRR,starring Jr NTR and Ram Charan. When asked if she isdoing the film, Parineeti said, "I'll only say that you guysshould wait and believe the things we announce. What-ever my films are, they'll be announced within this week."

RISHI KAPOOR: IF PAKISTAN TRULY WANTS TO ROOT OUTTERRORISM, THEY SHOULD JOIN HANDS WITH INDIA

Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor, who is undergoing medical treatment in New York, has opened up about the rising tensions betweenIndia and Pakistan. Kapoor, who is known for voicing his opinions quite strongly, took to his Twitter handle and said that Pakistanshould join hands with India to "root out terrorism."He wrote, "Agree with @arunjaitley If Pakistan truly wants to root out terrorism as they say so,they should join hands with India to doso. We and you have nothing against our respective civilians. If Imran cannot, Pakistan Army or ISI should do it. Think!"The tweet was made following Jaitley's recent interview with a news channel. In the interview, the minister shared his opinion on whyPakistan has been dismissing India's air-strike and is not helping to curb terrorism. The 66-year-old actor is known for speaking hismind over every topic and has been advocating India-Pakistan peace talks for a very long time.Following the Pulwama terror attack that killed around 40 CRPF, the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted air-strikes on ter ror launch padsin Pakistan's Balakot. Meanwhile, Rishi is currently in New York and is getting treated for an unknown disease. Rishi's childrenRanbir Kapoor and Riddhima Kapoor Sahni visit him from time to time. Over the past few months, several celebrities including AliaBhatt, Aamir Khan, Anupam Kher, Priyanka Chopra, Sonali Bendre, Javed Akhtar, among others went to see the veteran actor. On thework front, Rishi Kapoor last appeared in 'Mulk' and 'Rajma Chawal'.

VIRAT KOHLI & CO CANTAKE HEART FROM THEIR

RECORD IN DECIDERS

An Inspiring Story of a Young Cricketerin Mississauga - Yuvraj Dhillon

Yuvraj Dhillon of Mississauga is a rising youngster in spor ts. He lovesplaying spor ts. He par ticularly enjoys playing cricket from very youngage, inspired by his father - Arvinder Dhillon who also played cricketfor many years. Yuvraj Dhillon has been a member of Vaughan CricketClub for the past two years and demonstrated exceptional understandingof the game and spor tsmanship. Yuvraj per formed at a very highlevel in all three formats of the League. In year 2018, at the age ofeleven, Yuvraj played 13 matches for Vaughan Cricket Club under 12and under 14 divisions. He scored 233 runs with the average of25.88. Yuvraj ranked within the top ten in batting, bowling and fieldingfor the U12 division in the Toronto District & Cricket Association League.Within Vaughan Cricket Club, Yuvraj performed extremely well in all de-partments and won the Most Valuable Player Award for 2018. Yuvraj is

currently a student of Newton's Grove School where he is also involvedin many spor ts activities. In year 2015/2016, Yuvraj won Most ValuablePlayer award for Soccer under 10 All Star. In year 2017/2018, he wonthe Most Valuable player award for Basketball under 12, and in year2017/2018 he won a Spor tsmanship award of the year. Yuvraj haswon over twenty medals from Private School Athletic Associationchampionships, par t ic ipat ing in Scotia Bank 2K Marathon inMississauga, 2 K Marathon in Ottawa and also for local spor ts events.Yuvraj is also a member of Mr. Fitness for the past five years and iscurrently being trained for Karate Black Belt. The purpose to publishthis ar ticle is to inspire youngsters to par ticipate in spor ts activitiesto maintain health, well-being and a better quality of life. Spor ts buildgood habits, confidence, and discipline.

Australia have roared back into the five-match ODI se-ries against India with two back to back victories in Ranchiand Mohali. With the series locked at 2-2, Aaron Finch’steam will look to continue their winning run in the deciderin Delhi and avenge the series loss to India at home ear-lier this year. But beating India in an ODI series decider isnot a cakewalk. India under Virat Kohli have won 11 out ofthe 12 bilateral series they have played and the team’srecord in series deciders is something that the hosts willtake a lot of confidence from. Since their loss to SouthAfrica in Mumbai, India have won all their decidingmatches whenever they have played at home. The onlyloss came against England away from home, when JoeRoot inspired the Three Lions to back to back victories.India’s impregnable domination of the 50-over formatthough is at risk and Kohli needs to pull out all the stopsat his homeground to ensure the great run continues.

SHAHID AFRIDI FEELSRESTING ESTABLISHED

PLAYERS FOR AUSTRALIAODIS WAS WRONG MOVE

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi criticised the national selectorsfor resting six senior players, including skipper Sar farazAhmed, for the upcoming ODI series against Australia,saying a good outing would have boosted their confi-dence ahead of the World Cup.In a surprising move, the selectors picked young speed-ster Mohammad Hasnain in the one-day squad althoughhe has appeared in just two first-class games, played forthe Pakistan juniors and did well in the ongoing PakistanSuper League.“I don’t know but we must first give chances to the estab-lished bowlers like Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz etc. Firstlook and give proper chance to the established playersbecause after all we are playing in the World Cup,” Afridisaid. The all-rounder was also critical of the decision torest Sarfaraz and other key players for the ‘home’ series,slated to be held in the UAE. “Look if we had been playingagainst a weak side than it made sense to try new play-ers but this is a series against a big team and I don’t thinkit was right time to rest players after all it is not as if theyhave been playing for some 10 or 15 years.”“I would think that if our main players played against ateam like Australia and did well it would boost their con-fidence for the World Cup.” Afridi, who is playing for histhird franchise (Multan) in the PSL, dismissed talks abouthim finally taking retirement from all cricket.

India vs Australia: India’s predicted XI for5th ODI in Delhi; tactical changes expected

For India, there was much talk about the World Cup and giving new faces anoppor tunity to take up the mantle, but now the team management would want tofocus all their energy into winning this series.We take a look at the predicted XI of India for the final ODI at the Feroz Shah Kotlastadium in Delhi.Rohit SharmaAfter a string of low scores, Rohit Sharma roared back to form in Mohali with abright and breezy 95. He missed out on a well-deserved century, but his runs at thetop of the order sure is a great sign for the side. This was his first half-century in sixinnings.Virat KohliThe captain pushed himself to number 4 in Mohali to accommodate KL Rahul, buthe should be back at number 3 in this must-win game and take control of proceed-ings. Kohli, who already has 2 centuries in the series, would want to lead from thefront and get the job done with the bat and then as the skipper of the side.KL RahulHe was included in the side in place of Ambati Rayudu, and KL Rahul did not looktoo bad in Mohali. He got out at the wrong time for India, but the management wouldwant to give him one final go before the World Cup and this is the chance for theright-hander to stake his claim as the backup opener or the middle order option forthe side.Rishabh PantThe young wicket-keeper encountered the fleeting nature of the game in Mohali,perhaps for the first time in this career. He looked great with the bat and played hispart as a batsman with a score of 36 runs from 24 balls, but his mistakes behind thestumps cost India the match. The wicket-keeper missed three stumping chancesand the captain wasn’t impressed when Pant tried to effect a run out by pulling offa no look back flick. When Yuzvendra Chahal bowled a wide in the 44th over, Pantcould have easily stumped Ashton Turner, since he was outside of the crease. ButPant failed to gather the ball in time. Turner, who was on 38 at that time, went on toplay a match-winning innings of 84* runs.Kedar JadhavHe has been a valuable addition to this Indian side over the last 15 months, but

Mohali was an aberration for Jadhav. He could not contribute enough with the batand the Australians attacked him when he bowled. He needs to figure out a plan Bwith the ball and take up more responsibility with the bat in Delhi.Vijay ShankarThe Tami Nadu all-rounder has only gone from strength to strength in the limitedgames he has got and could one more game to earn a more permanent spot in theside. In Mohali, he provided the perfect finish for India with an innings of 26 runsfrom 15 balls. Shankar struck one four and two sixes during his innings. The all-rounder chipped in with an economical spell as well. Shankar conceded 29 runs infive overs for no wicket.Ravindra JadejaOn the slow, sluggish Kotla pitch, Ravindra Jadeja could replace Vijay Shankar.While Shankar has done whatever have been asked of him in the recent past, theaddition of Jadeja could be a tactical move from India considering the conditionsand this could be his final chance to book his berth for the World Cup squad. Hecould replace Yuzvendra Chahal, who was very expensive in Mohali.Bhuvneshwar KumarCaptain Virat Kohli spoke about the dew and how it became increasingly difficult forthe bowlers to have any control during the back end of the Mohali ODI. However,Bhuvneshwar now needs to step up and take control of proceedings and get the jobdone in Mohali where India would need the senior players to play a major role.Kuldeep YadavKuldeep Yadav got the big wicket of Glenn Maxwell but even he was taken for runsin the four th ODI. The chinaman bowler conceded 64 runs in his 10 overs, in whichhe was hit for four boundaries and a six. Kuldeep plays a crucial role in the middleovers and more wickets are expected from him, especially if the conditions suithim in Delhi.Jasprit BumrahIndia’s leader of the bowling attack had a rare off day as a death bowler when hewas taken for 16 runs in the 46th over. The fast bowler picked up three wickets, butcouldn’t control his economy rate. Bumrah conceded 63 runs in 8.5 overs. He washit for seven fours and one six during the Australian innings and would want to hitback and reclaim lost ground in Delhi.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 s p o r t s

MS Dhoni will be Virat Kohli's go-to-man atWorld Cup, says Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina has predicted that veteran MS Dhoni will have a crucialrole to play if India are to lif t the Cricket World Cup this year. Rainawho last played for India during the tour to England last year, backedthe veteran wicketkeeper to use his vast experience to guide India towhat would only be their third ODI World Cup title.Speaking to Hindustan Times, Raina said: "The runs Dhoni has scoredrecently in Australia and New Zealand and the kind of guidance hegives to the youngsters in the team, especially the bowlers, that au-gurs really well for the boys. He has seen a lot of ups and downs, hehas been a par t of quite a few World Cups and has also been there inIPL finals and that is why he is the go-to-man for skipper Kohli."Dhoni suffered an agonisingly slow star t to the ODI leg of India’s tourof Australia, but he improved quickly to help India seal the serieswhile also picking up the Man of the Tournament award. In NewZealand, the 37-year-old didn’t contribute much as he suffered a ham-string injury during the ODI series.Raina lauded Dhoni's form while also sharing his thoughts on whatwould be the ideal batting position for the veteran in the squad. “Dhonihas been batting really well and scoring runs. For me, I feel he isIndia’s number four for the World Cup.”India have struggled in recent times to fill in that number 4 spot mainlydue to the inconsistent form of Ambati Rayudu. After Dhoni's impres-sive per formances in Australia, vice-captain Rohit Sharma also backedDhoni to come out to bat at number 4.

Raina also spoke highly about Indian skipper Virat Kohli. He saidKohli's hunger to per form is what drives his impressive per formances."Virat Kohli is a brilliant leader as well as a brilliant player. Everyoneknows how many runs he has scored. But what stands out for mewhen it comes to Kohli is the belief that he has and the hunger toper form in every situation. Every time there is a pressure-cookerscenario, he is ready to take the responsibility with open arms,” hesaid. The 2019 World Cup is scheduled to be hosted by England andWales, from May 30 to July 14. India will begin their campaign againstSouth Africa on June 5 at the Hampshire Bowl, Southampton. Thefinals will be held on July 14 at The Lord’s, London.

‘I AM BACK’: ZINEDINEZIDANE RETURNS TO REALMADRID, PROMISES TOPULL CLUB OUT OF ABYSS

Zidane won an unprecedented three consecutive Cham-pions League titles with the Spanish giants before re-signing in May last year, with his replacement JulenLopetegui sacked in October and Solari lasting just overfour months in charge.Real Madrid reappointed Zinedine Zidane as coach on athree-year contract on Monday following the sacking ofSantiago Solari with the Frenchman promising whole-sale changes after the deposed European championssaw their season collapse inside a week.Zidane won an unprecedented three consecutive Cham-pions League titles with the Spanish giants before re-signing in May last year, with his replacement JulenLopetegui sacked in October and Solari lasting just overfour months in charge. Madrid were eliminated from theChampions League in the last 16 by Ajax Amsterdamlast Tuesday af ter two Clasico defeats by Barcelona,knocking Real out of the Copa del Rey and leaving them12 points adrift of the Catalan Liga leaders.

INDIA WAS GRANTEDPERMISSION TO WEARCAMOUFLAGE CAPS: ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Monday said In-dia was granted permission to wear camouflage mili-tary caps in the third ODI against Australia as a tributeto the country's armed forces, a gesture which Pakistanhas objected to.In the third ODI in Ranchi on March 8, the Indian teamsported military caps as a mark of respect to the CRPFpersonnel who were killed in the Pulwama terror attackand donated its match fee to the National Defence Fund."The BCCI sought permission from the ICC to wear thecaps as par t of a fundraising drive and in memory offallen soldiers who have died, which was granted," ICC'sGeneral Manager Strategic Communications Claire Fur-long said in a statement. The Pakistan Cricket Boardhad sent a strongly-worded letter to the ICC, calling foraction against India for wearing the caps."They took permission from ICC for some other purposeand used it to do something else, which is not accept-able," PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said on Sunday inKarachi. Last month, the BCCI had asked the ICC to "severties with countries from which terrorism emanates" fol-lowing the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF jawanswere killed. The responsibility of the attack was takenby Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Swiss Open: Saina Nehwal, Sameer Verma lookfor fresh start after All England disappointment

Two-time winner Saina Nehwal and defending champion SameerVerma will look to shrug off their All England disappointment whenthey spearhead India's campaign at the Swiss Open, star ting withthe qualifiers on Tuesday.For Sameer, this event star ted his journey that culminated into aWorld Tour Final semifinal finish last year and a career-high rank-ing of 11. He had defeated newly-crowned All England ChampionKento Momota in the quar ter finals, a few months before the Japa-nese went on to become the world no 1 and world champion lastyear. World no 14 Sameer will be opening his campaign in $50,000event against a qualifier after his elder brother Sourabh, who hadalso battled injuries on his way to becoming the Senior NationalChampion last month at Guwahati, pulled out of the tournament.Sameer might face fellow Indian B Sai Praneeth in the secondround and a favourable result is likely to hand him over the chanceto settle scores with former world no 1 Viktor Axelsen, who haddefeated him in the first round of All England Championships inBirmingham last week.The BWF World Tour Super 300 event will be Saina's four th outingthis season, having won the Indonesia Masters before losing inthe semifinals and quarter finals at Malaysia Masters and All En-gland Championship respectively.A bout of diarr hea had affected her per formance last week atBirmingham and Saina would look to recover quickly before shebegins her campaign against a qualifier, eying to secure her thirdtitle at Swiss. She had won the event in 2011 and 2012 in the past.Seeded third, Saina is expected to face second-seeded He Bingjiaoof China in the semifinals if the results fall in her favour.Among other Indians in fray, Saina's husband and fellow shuttler,

Parupalli Kashyap, a former Commonwealth Games champion, willface a qualifier, Praneeth will meet England's Rajiv Ouseph andSaarLorLux Open champion Subhankar Dey will also take on aqualifier in first round.In women's singles, Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy will be the only otherIndian in the competition. She will square off against Estonia's KristinKuuba. In men's doubles, Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok andManu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will also eye their chances, whileCommonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa andN Sikki Reddy will lead India's challenge in the women's doubles.Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santosh will also look for a good outingin the women's doubles.In mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki will be the primecontenders for India, while Arjun MR and Maneesha K and DhruvKapila and Kuhoo Garg will also be in the fray.

SHIKHAR DHAWAN ADMITSTHAT TEAM HAS TWICE READTHE CONDITIONS WRONGOpener Shikhar Dhawan on Sunday admitted that theIndian team has twice read the conditions wrongly insuccessive games of the ongoing ODI series againstAustralia. Australia levelled the five-match series witha record chase of 359 in the four th ODI and the senioropener, who hit a career -best 143, said that they didn'tapprehend that dew would be a factor, just like the otherway round in the previous game. In the previous en-counter in Ranchi, India had decided to chase a 320plus score as they felt that dew would set in and it didn't."We had expected dew would be a factor in the last game and itdidn't come and here, we didn't expect dew in this game and itcame very heavily," Dhawan said after the match. After scoring358, they had thought that there will be pressure on Australia but itturned the other way round. "So of course, when you put such atotals on the board, it's always pressure for the other sides and notour bowlers and we were quite in control till 38th over. But then ballstar ted coming so nicely and the (bounce) true that you could playany shot on that surface," Dhawan said. The dew didn't allow thedeliveries from the spinners to grip the surface."Because of the dew, the ball was not gripping and of course he(Ashton Turner) played really a good knock and took thegame away. But he couldn't have played those shotshad there been no dew," Dhawan said.

ICC T20 RANKINGSINDIA RETAIN SECOND SPOT,

KL RAHUL MOVES UP TO FIFTH

KL Rahul’s two impressive knocks in the recently concluded two-match T20 series against Australia helped him climb to fifth in thelatest ICC Rankings for T20 batsmen in Dubai on Tuesday.Rahul, who made a comeback to international cricket after a briefsuspension by the BCCI for his sexist comments on a TV show, scored47 and 50 in the two matches and gained a spot in the latest rankings.In the bowlers’ list, Kuldeep Yadav, who was rested for two T20Internationals, dropped a place to fifth.

Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan remained intop positions in batsmen and bowlers’ list respectively.Pakistan (135) enjoys a 13-point lead over second-placed India (122)with England remaining at third place with 121 points.Leg-spinner Adil Rashid has equalled his career-best third place inthe latest rankings. Rashid’s five wickets in the series against theWest Indies have helped him gain two slots and cross the 700-pointmark for the first time in his career during the series.

2 midweek - southasiandaily.comsouthasiandaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/1-24_-1.pdf · 2...

Documents