Harper Tories (31%) Sputter as Trudeau Liberals (38 ...

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

Harper Tories (31%) Sputter as Trudeau Liberals(38%) Cruise into Lead, Mulcair (24%) In the Hunt Modi still popular; More

Indian Muslims wouldvote BJP than Congress

ISLAMABAD: PAKISTAN AWAMI TEHREEK (PAT) LEADER TAHIR-UL QADRI TUESDAY DEMANDED THAT THE LEADERS FOUND RESPONSIBLEFOR A CLASH BETWEEN THE POLICE AND HIS PARTY WORKERS IN JUNE SHOULD BE SEVERELY PUNISHED. FOURTEEN PEOPLE WEREKILLED AND DOZENS INJURED IN A CLASH BETWEEN POLICE AND PAT WORKERS IN LAHORE JUNE 17. THE CLASH OCCURRED WHEN APOLICE PARTY TRIED TO REMOVE BARRIERS AROUND QADRI'S HOUSE AND THE MINHAJUL QURAN SECRETARIAT. (IANS)

Aam Admi Party inPunjab : News Analysis

By Jaideep Sarin/Chandigarh, (IANS)

When almost the entire country rejected the Aam Aadmi Par ty (AAP)in the parliamentary elections, Punjab went against the tide and gave the new-born party its electoral debut in the Lok Sabha with four seats. The same AAP wasMonday summarily rejected by the electorate in the by-elections for two assemblyseats in Punjab.On both seats, the AAP even failed to put up a fight to the main contenders. The partyand its candidates not only meekly surrendered but lost their security deposits too.This has put a big question mark on the political future of AAP in Punjab.While the Congress retained the Patiala assembly seat through its candidatePreneet Kaur, former union minister of state for external affairs and wife of formerchief minister Amarinder Singh, the Talwandi Sabo assembly seat in Bathindadistrict of southwest Punjab went to ruling Shiromani Akali Dal candidate JeetMohinder Singh.The AAP candidate in the Patiala seat, Harjeet Singh, could manage just about5,700 votes and lost his security deposit.Preneet Kaur won by 23,282 votes against her Akali Dal rival Bhagwan DassJuneja, a social worker.The AAP party's candidate Dharamvira Gandhi, a cardiologist, won the recent LokSabha polls from the Patiala parliamentary constituency by over 20,000 votes. Hedefeated Preneet Kaur, a three-time MP from this seat, and the AkaliDal candidate. But in the by-election in Patiala, the voters completelyrejected the AAP. In the Lok Sabha polls, the AAP had got over 34,000votes from the same assembly segment. In just three months, theAAP tally came down to less than 6,000 - clearly indicating that vot-ers were disillusioned with the way the party was doing things at thenational level and also in Punjab. I CONTD. ON PAGE 5

In the India Today Group-Hansa Research Mood of the Nationopinion poll, the first after Modi took office, 57 per cent believe heis best suited to be prime minister, 48 per cent think he has madeministers irrelevant and 47 per cent are sure he will be able toresist the RSS agenda-having lived through the dyarchy of UPAyears, voters want power and responsibility to be vested in thesame office. If Indians had to go to polls again, 48 per cent say they wouldvote for BJP again which, though overwhelming, is still less thanModi's personal popularity. If a General Election were to be heldtoday, BJP would get 314 seats, 32 more than on May 16.While 76 per cent respondents feel safe under the Modi Govern-ment, 68 per cent Muslims share the sentiment. Even more sur-prisingly, more Muslims say they will vote for the BJP (29 percent) if they had to again, rather than for the Congress (24 percent).Buoyed by the BJP's tremendous victory, India is still a nationwith hope, waiting patiently for achche din. As many as 49 percent believe their financial situation will improve in future while65 per cent think that the Modi Government will be able to put theeconomy back on track in the next six months.Source -Indiatoday.com

Half (50%) Agree Government Must Provide Key SocialPrograms Even if it means More Taxes, but Two Thirds(66%) Prefer Tax Breaks over New Programs

Toronto - In the Spring of 2014, it looked as though the Harper Conser-vatives had re-fuelled their tanks and were making up some ground onJustin Trudeau and the Liberals, but with a little more than a year to go until thestart of the fixed election date campaign scheduled for the fall of 2015, itappears that the Tories are sputtering while the Grits are cruising. A newIpsos Reid poll conducted for Global News has revealed that Justin Trudeau andthe Liberals would receive 38% support among decided voters, up 5 points sinceApril. By comparison, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives would receive 31%of the vote, down 2 points. Thomas Mulcair and the NDP sit unchanged at 24%,while the Bloc under Mario Beaulieu would receive 3% of the vote (15% in Quebec),down 3 points. Elizabeth May and the Green party would also receive 3% of thevote nationally, down 1 point, while 15% don't know who they would vote for atthis early juncture. The Tories have had a difficult year trying to gain tractionwith voters, while at same time the Liberals - who have their sights set on amajority government in the next election - are continuing an upward trajec-tory that began two years ago, despite the odd blunder or misstep from therookie-leader Trudeau. This is how a 7-point national lead for the Liberalstranslates in some of the more populous regions of Canada:" In Ontario, the Liberals (40%) hold an 8-point lead over the Tories (32%),

who lead the NDP (24%)." In Quebec, the Liberals (38%) have a comfortable lead over the NDP(29%), while the Tories (17%) and Bloc (15%) are on shaky ground in labelle province." In British Columbia, the Tories (40%) have a tenuous 4-point lead over theLiberals (36%), who are well ahead of the NDP (19%).Half of Canadians Agree Government Must Provide Key Social Pro-grams, Even if it means More Taxes…Fully one half (50%) of Canadians 'agree' (13% strongly/36% some-what) that 'government must provide key social programs even if thatmeans increasing taxes', up 7 points since last asked in 2011.Conversely, four in ten (42%) 'disagree' (14% strongly/28% some-what) with this position, down 7 points, while 8% are unsure (un-changed). I CONTD. ON PAGE 6

Miss India Canada - L-R: Organizer, Gautam Sharma and Sanjay Agnihotri; celebrity Guest, Isabelle Kaif; Annu Gaidhu, Miss India-Canada 2014; international R&B artist, Raghav; Hossein Hassani, Director of Marketing - General Motors of Canada.

Canadian Tahir-ul-Qadri wants punishment for Pakistani leaders

2 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014

RUNNING SUCCESSFULLY

MidWeek 3MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


PAGE 3 SRK THREATENED;UNDERWORLD DONRAVI PUJARI DENIESMEDIA REPORTS

ACTRESS AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN WITH HER DAUGHTERAARADHYA ARRIVES AT THE AIRPORT IN JAIPUR.SATYUG GOLD CEO RAJ KUNDRA DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE IN HYDERABAD. (IANS)

SRK Threatened; Underworld DonRavi Pujari Denies media reportsMumbai, (IANS) Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has re-por tedly got threats from a gangster, but a source close to theactor-producer denied the news saying "it is untrue". Media reports saidthat Shah Rukh and his residence Mannat here got tight security from theMumbai police after gangster Ravi Pujari tried to get in touch with him Mon-day afternoon. However, a source close to the movie icon, says otherwise."Shah Rukh has not got any such calls. We wonder why such rumours arebeing spread," the source told IANS. Following rounds of firing that took placeat Kareem Morani of Morani Brothers' residence, who are close to SRK,security around the actor is said to have been upped. When contacted, apolice official told IANS: "He has been given police protection for a longtime now. So why is there so much of talk about it?" Shah Rukh, who hasworked with the Morani Brothers on his Temptations Reloaded tour, iscurrently awaiting the release of "Happy New Year". As per media re-ports Ravi Pujara has denied threatening SRK.

New Delhi: The husband of national champion shooter Tara Shahdeowas arrested in a joint operation by Jharkhand and Delhi Police Tues-day night, sources said. Ranjeet Singh Kohli alias Rakibul HasanKhan, 30, was arrested from a place near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border.Tara, 23, who won the gold medal in the 2009 Eastern Zone champion-ship, had alleged that Kohli beat her and forced her to conver t to Islamafter they got married in July.It is alleged that Raqib ul Hasan before marriage introduced himselfas Ranjit Singh Kohli . After a couple of days he revealed that he's aMuslim and forced Tara Shahdeo to conver t her religion. After herdenial she was molested, assaulted and house arrested for almost 20days. (With Inputs from IANS)

SHOOTER TARA SHAHDEO'S

HUSBAND ARRESTED


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014s p e c i a l r e p o r t

DESK REPORT

Toronto - Janmashtami which commemorates the bir thday of lordKrishna was celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm at theresidence of Naval and Rashi Bajaj's residence recently . This cel-ebration was attended by over 500 people which included prominentpersonalities like Susan Fennell - Mayor of Brampton; Parm Gill -Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister ofVeterans Affairs; Akhilesh Mishra - Consul General of India in Toronto;Bonnie Crombie - Councillor for Missisauga and Mayoral candidate;Patrick Brown - MP for Barrie; Amrit Mangat - Member of ProvincialParliament and many more.

According to the Hindu calendarJanmashtami is celebrated on eighth day of the month of Bhadon. The

NAVAL AND RASHI BAJAJCELEBRATE JANMASHTAMI

highlight of this celebration was the chappan blog which comprisedof over 156 types of dishes offered to the natkhat gopala . KrishnaLila, various radha and krishna performances and question answersessions on Krishna were the key highlights of this evening. All thepresent devotees at the Bajaj's residence stayed up untill midnight towelcome the bal Krishna, since it is believed that it is when The Lordwas born . Finally at midnight the cur tains were raised to reveal thefreshly dressed bal gopala on a creatively flowered cradle. All thedevotees apar t from singing and dancing on Bhajans cradled thebalkrishna with utmost Bhakti and rousing kir tans.Nand Usav followed welcoming Lord Krishna by distributing sweetsand Badhai to all the present there.All the devotees there danced to rhymes and music of the Lord andconcluded the event by taking the prasad and panchjiri with mishrimakhan which is the favourite food of krishna.

Three-day Toronto AfricanFilm & Music Festival

Toronto - The Toronto Africa Film & Music Festival is star tingfrom August 29-31 at Toronto Plaza Hotel, 1677 Wilson Avenue.The event includes a monthly film screening of new and oldAfrican films, a new concer t series in Toronto with possibledates in multiple cities, a new fashion series of different showsthroughout the year and the main 3-day festival. The AfricanGala Ball and Awards will take place on September 25 at theFairmount Royal York, Toronto at 8pm.Source: www.kinronassociates.ca

Miss India Canada - 2nd runner up, Suruchi Srivastava voted as the Chevrolet Spark Award winner for Best Performance.

Ms. Parveen Dhanoa, Associate Styling Manager - Sears Canada Inc., presenting the Sears Ms. Pure NRG award to Annu Gaidhu.

Harkanwal Thind ,Candidate forRegional Councillorfrom Wards 9 &10, City ofBramptonorganised aBarbeque inBrampton.

Indian, Pakistani armies agree toreduce tensions along LoCIslamabad/New Delhi, (IANS) Indian and Pakistani militariesTuesday agreed to reduce tension along the Line of Control (LoC),dividing the Kashmir region between the two countries, even asIndia lodged a protest over frequent violations of ceasefire agree-ment. The decision was reached following India and Pakistan'sdirectors general of military operations (DGMOs) speaking toeach other on hotline earlier in the day, Dawn repor ted."Both sides mutually agreed to reduce tension along the Line ofControl and working boundary," a statement of Pakistani army'smedia wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said inIslamabad.During the conversation, both sides discussed the prevailingsituation along LoC and agreed to share cer tain information witha view to ensure peace in the coming days, sources said.Meanwhile, India Tuesday lodged a protest with Pakistan overits frequent violations of the bilateral ceasefire agreement, armyofficials in New Delhi said.During telephonic talks held at the level of DGMOs, the twosides also agreed to hold a flag meeting.Officials said India raised the issue of frequent violations of the2003 bilateral ceasefire agreement and lodged a protest overthe issue. "The two sides agreed to hold a flag meeting at thefield level," an official said. There have been 95 ceasefire viola-tions by Pakistan along the Line of Control and it has alsobreached the ceasefire agreement 25 times on the internationalborder. The DGMO-level talks between India and Pakistan areheld on a weekly basis every Tuesday when both sides discussvarious issues along the border. The talks were held a day afterIndian Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the situation alongthe international border in Jammu.

US sea floor emanating planet-warming methaneWashington (IANS): The sea floor at the US East coast could beadding as much as 90 tonnes of the planet-warming methane gasto the atmosphere or overlying waters each year, a team of re-searchers has revealed.Plumes of bubbles streaming from hundreds of newly discov-ered sea-floor seeps between Nor th Carolina and Massachu-setts are likely to contain methane, researchers found.An estimated two-thirds of the emissions emanate from sedi-ments at depths where methane-rich ices may be decomposingdue to warming waters along the ocean bottom, the researcherssay. "Within a distance of about 950 km, we found about 570bubble plumes - an astounding number," said study co-author AdamSkarke, a geologist at Mississippi State University in Starkville. Al-though some of the plumes extended hundreds of metres above theocean floor, "the bubbles emanating from deep-water sources typicallydissolved into the sea long before they could breach the surface," Skarkeexplained. Sampling the bubbles, along with the waters in and aroundthe plumes, will help scientists estimate the effects of the methaneemissions on the climate.

Improvements Begins on Highway 427Ontario is widening a seven-kilometre stretch of Highway 427from Campus Road-Fasken Drive to Steeles Avenue to improvetraffic flow and safety in the Greater Toronto Area, while creatingor sustaining 830 construction jobs.The project includes:" Repairing, repaving and expanding the section of Highway 427from five to eight lanes" Building one High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane in eachdirection" Repairing eight bridges" Installing new high-mast lighting and median barriersConstruction is targeted for completion by fall 2017.Improving highways, roads and bridges across the province is akey par t of the government's economic plan to invest in people,create jobs, build modern infrastructure and suppor t a dynamicand innovative business climate. QUICK FACTS" The $83-million contract was awarded to Dufferin Construc-tion of Oakville." Ontario has 16,900 kilometres of highway and 2,800 bridges." Ontario is investing $2.5 billion in road and bridge construc-tion projects this year, creating or sustaining approximately25,000 jobs.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014 breaking news

AAM ADMI PARTY INPUNJAB : NEWS ANALYSISCONTD. FROM PAGE 1In May this year, voters in Punjab had elected for AAP candidatesto the Lok Sabha. These included comedian-actor BhagwantMann (Sangrur), Sadhu Singh (Faridkot), Harinder SinghKhalsa (Fatehgarh Sahib) and Dharamvira Gandhi (Patiala).Mann won by the biggest margin in Punjab - nearly 2.12 lakhvotes, while Sadhu Singh won by over 1.72 lakh votes.For the Talwandi Sabo seat, the AAP created controversy overnaming of its candidate. It first announced singer Balkar Singhas candidate but changed him soon af ter with Baljinder Kaur.An upset Balkar Singh contested the by-poll as an indepen-dent candidate. Both lost their security deposits Monday.AAP leaders, including its convenor Arvind Kejriwal, havefailed to create an impact in Punjab in the post-Lok Sabharesults scenario. The AAP has not even been able to projectany leader as its face for Punjab. Most of its leaders in Punjabare self-declared. The par ty has not been able to build up itscadre of workers despite winning four Lok Sabha seats. Thepopular faces that AAP has in Punjab are that of Bhagwant Mannand lawyer-activist H.S. Phoolka.

NO PLACE FOR VAJPAYEE, ADVANI, JOSHIIN BJP'S TOP DECISION-MAKING BODY

New Delhi, (IANS) In a move markingthe end of the era of stalwarts like AtalBihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and MurliManohar Joshi, the BJP Tuesday cameup with a list of its highest decision-making body, the parliamentary board,which excluded the seniors.The move marked the culmination ofthe generational shift that began in theBharatiya Janata Party when NarendraModi was made the prime ministerialcandidate.The BJP instead included the seniors ina separate group, the 'MargdarshakMandal' (guiding committee), which itsaid will guide the party.The parliamentary board will now beheaded by BJP president Amit Shah,and marked the entry of J.P. Nadda andMadhya Pradesh Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan in the core group.The guiding group includes Vajpayee,Advani and Joshi as well as Prime Min-ister Modi and Home Minister RajnathSingh.Modi and Rajnath Singh are also in theparliamentary board."Party president Amit Shah has consti-tuted a 'margdarshak' committee withveteran party leaders as its membersfor guiding party activities," an official

release said.Congress leader Rashid Alvi dismissedit as an "old age home" for leaders."It is a mookdarshak mandal (commit-tee of silent watchers). It is like an oldage home from where Advani and Joshiwill witness the functioning of BJP likemutes. We were all aware that they arebeing sidelined," he told reporters.Congress leader Manish Tewari said itwas "centralisation of power"."Very soon, only two leaders fromGujarat will be there. The exit of Advaniand Joshi is the first step, it will soon bea two-member party," Tewari said.

BJP spokesperson Syed ShahnawazHussain, however, said the guidingcommittee was not a permanent com-mittee. "It's a temporary committee,"he said.The constitution of the BJP does nothave any provision for such a groupand the parliamentary board remainsthe highest decision-making body, partysources said.The sources said Joshi was informedabout the decision by Modi himself,while Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu informed Advani.The other members of the 12-member

parliamentary board are Finance Min-ister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Min-ister Sushma Swaraj, Naidu, NitinGadkari, Ananth Kumar, Thawar ChandGehlot and Ramlal. The central elec-tion committee of the party was alsoannounced Tuesday.It has Shah as its chief, and includesModi, Rajnath Singh, Jaitley, SushmaSwaraj, Naidu, Gadkari, Chouhan andShahnawaz Hussain.Talking to reporters in Bhopal, MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister Chouhan, how-ever, stressed that Advani "remains theguiding light for the whole party".

TIM HORTONS AND BURGER KING MERGE

WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST QUICK SERVICE RESTAURANT COMPANYNew Global Company Will Have Approximately $23 billion in System Sales and Over 18,000 Restaurants in 100 CountriesTim Hor tons and Burger King to Operate as Independent Brands While Benefiting From the New Company's Global Scale and Reach, andShared Best PracticesTransaction Enables Tim Hor tons and Burger King to Continue Growing their Unique Brands and Significantly Accelerate InternationalExpansion and Growth3G Capital to own approximately 51% of new companyOakville to remain global home of Tim Hor tons; Miami to remain global home of Burger KingInvestment Community Conference Call at 10:00 am EDT; Media Conference Call at 11:30 am EDTOakville, Ontario and Miami, Florida; August 26, 2014 - An agreement was reached today to create the world's third largest quick servicerestaurant company. Tim Hor tons Inc. (TSX, NYSE: THI) and Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW) today announced a definitiveagreement under which the two companies will create a new global powerhouse in the quick service restaurant sector. With approxi-mately $23 billion in system sales, over 18,000 restaurants in 100 countries and two strong, thriving, independent brands, the newcompany will have an extensive international footprint and significant growth potential. The new global company will be based in Canada,the largest market of the combined company. Tim Hor tons and Burger King each have strong franchisee networks and iconic brands thatare loved by their guests. Following the closing of the transaction, each brand will be managed independently, while benefitting fromglobal scale and reach and sharing of best practices that will come with common ownership by the new company.Source -www.Timhor tons.com

DON'T USE CELLPHONE WHILE

DRIVINGDistracted Drivers could face$1000 fine, 3 demerit points

Ontario is set to introduce newer, harsher punishments for dis-tracted driving, making them harshest in the country and bringingthe war against texting motorists to a whole new level. And youngdrivers should especially take notice.Ontario's Transpor tation Minister Steven Del Duca told the TorontoStar that the distracted driving laws would be introduced aftersessions resume at Queen's Park in October. Once those lawsare installed, effectively a given with the Liberals holding a ma-jority government, the punishment for driving under the influenceof a cellphone will become financially more staggering and alsoleave a significant permanent mark on your driving record. Ontariolaws currently allow distracted driving fines of between $60 and$500. That range would be increased to between $300 and $1,000.On top of that, those caught will also receive three rather than twodemerit points, negative marks left on a person's driving record thatcan result in suspensions and higher automobile insurance rates.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014c o m m u n i t y

THOUSANDS FLOCKED TO CELEBRATE THETD FESTIVAL OF SOUTH ASIA

DANDY PARADE.

BY SHAZIA MALIK

Toronto - The main aim of orga-nizing Gerrard India Bazaar BIA -largest marketing place of SouthAsian goods and services inNor th America - is to createawareness about the South Asiancul ture, says Chand Kapoor,Chairman of Gerrard India Bazaar.He adds the event, braved bythousands is being organized forthe last 12 years with a lot of suc-cess and is a celebration of di-versity that par t of the world of-fers. The first edition of festivalwas attended by about 5,000people but it grew from strengthto strength and was attended by200,000 people last year. Thisyear the event, sponsored by TDbank along with a number of oth-ers, saw a footfall of 250,000. Thestreets were closed on both sidesfor local families soaking up theatmosphere with friends to sing,dance and savor specialty disheswithout the fear of vehicles zoom-ing by.However, Kapoor wishes to raisethe standard and attraction of thefestival that can rival Danfor thFest ival held in the hear t ofToronto's Greektown and drawsmillions annually during summer.Kapoor says the event show-cases the best of South Asia andwith hundreds of shops and res-taurants that represent regionaldiversities of their culture, food,music and products, Gerrard In-dia Bazaar - a groundbreaking

venture - offers a wide selectionof products exhibited in an exoticdisplay of sights, sounds, tastesand aromas, blurring boundariesand defying genres.The products on display under-score South Asian cultural andreligious traditions, and attractNor th Americans due to theircolourful costumes and bhangradance. The Bazaar represents awide range of cuisine from SouthAsia that vary from restaurant torestaurant as chefs incorporatelocal produce into new dishesand given them a new twist thatcan be enjoyed by the cosmopoli-tan crowd of Toronto.The Bazaar also brings to for thembroidered classics that aretrademarks of Subcontinent andornately sequined ready to wear

traditional shalwar kameez andsarees are always a big hit. Onecan also buy unstitched materi-als and get dresses tailored to fitand according to one's taste. TheBazaar brings gold from all par tsof the world - Dubai, India, Paki-stan, Singapore - to this stretchof Gerrard Street, pop up in a bandof sparkling jewelry shops. Onecan also find all kinds of earrings,bangles, r ings and necklacescrafted in 22-carat gold that canbe mixed and matched to cos-tume jewellery.Music options are equally variedas the Bazaar houses a wide col-lection of ancient classical songsto today's trendy Bollywood beatsand remixes in the Bazaar's au-dio-video stores that are enjoyedby millions of people across the

globe. Meanwhile, the athletestried their luck at the hand-eyecoordination at the Canada DryCricket Challenge. Toronto Rap-tors Mobile Fan Zone was openedon Saturday afternoon for hoopsfans. Former Raptor captain,Alvin Williams also made a spe-cial appearance to sign auto-graph. The festival was also spon-sored by Celebrate Ontario, Cityof Toronto, Canada Dry, OMNITelevision, CUPE Local 79, Kijiji,Toronto Hydro and Toronto Ar tsCouncil.Kapoor urged media to extend itsmaximum suppor t so that it gainsfuel in the coming days. TheGerrard India Bazaar is a not-for-profit organisation that puts on anannual sustainable festival and isrefreshingly electric.

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1Canadians appear to be warming to the idea of taxing to maintainor enhance social programs, which is in contrast to the Conser-vative mantra of cutting taxes and limiting spending. This could atleast par tly explain some of the shift in suppor t away from theTories and towards the Liberals over the past two years.Finding the right budgeting mix can be a difficult job for govern-ments, par ticularly when many Canadians are mixed or contra-dictory in their opinions. While 50% say they suppor ted increasedtaxation to fund social programs, two in three (64%) 'agree' (27%strongly/37% somewhat) that 'governments must spend withintheir means even if that requires cutting some programs andservices', down 1 point since 2011. Conversely, one in three (32%,up 4 points) 'disagrees' (8% strongly/24% somewhat) that bud-gets must be balanced, while 8% don't know (up 1 point).Moreover, most (66%, up 2 points) 'agree' (33% strongly/33%somewhat) that they'd 'rather get a tax break than a new govern-ment program', while just one in four (23%, down 3 points) 'disagree'(5% strongly/18% somewhat) and 10% don't know (up 3 points).Source: Ipsos Reid

Harper Tories (31%) Sputter asTrudeau Liberals (38%) Cruise intoLead, Mulcair (24%) In the Hunt

DESK REPORT

Markham - Shusmita Sharma, ayoung community role model anda candidate for Ward 7, MarkhamCity Council, held a successfulfundraiser gala at India Gr i l lHouse, Markham, recent ly. Anumber of government leaders,prominent members and commu-nity trailblazers attended the gala.The evening began with modera-tor Jake Dheer welcoming Sena-tor Dr Asha Seth, Dr Arun Seth,Parm Gill, Member of Parliamentfor Brampton Springdale andother dignitaries. Sharma spokein detail about her mandate, Cre-ate - Communicate - Connect forChange."I am aware of the pivotal issuesthat concern the people of ourcommunit ies here and I wi l ltackle them head on," she said."Such Issues include Public Tran-sit, Road Improvements, SnowPloughing and more Police Vigi-

lance but are not limited to these.We have lots of work to do goingahead. I am well aware that residentswant to know how their tax dollars arebeing spent and I want to have greaterinput on community planning inMarkham."The high achiever, who has raised thou-

sands of dollars for various causes andhas been active in volunteerism sinceher pre-teen days, also emphasized afocus on youth, seniors and communi-ties if elected as councillor."Youth involvement is of great impor-tance to any community not only in pro-viding the foundation for long-term con-

nections between its members and en-hancing their experiences, but also toshape the community's identity. I wouldallocate more funding to youth programsand encourage them to participate insocietal causes so that they focus theirenergies to become meaningful, suc-cessful and proud members of

Markham's vibrant and diverse society," she stated. Senator Dr Asha Seth com-mended Sharma for her strength, courage and determination to bring about change."Shusmita Sharma has years of community service, has proven she's a leaderand she wants to bring Markham to the centre stage. More importantly, she wantsto listen to you, probe and act on it," she said.Parm Gill, Member of Parliament from Brampton Springdale, then took the stage toendorse Sharma. "There are two types of people. One set keeps complaining andcomplaining. Then there are those who stand up and change the situation," saidGill. "I applaud Shusmita for everything she has achieved. She is truly a role modelfor youth." The guests were then regaled with performances by students of NrityaKala Mandir and Bosco Caesar Dance Company trainers.

SHUSMITA SHARMA HOLDS SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISERFOR POLL CAMPAIGN FOR WARD 7, MARKHAM

SHUSMITA SHARMA LIGHTING THE LAMP WITH DIGNATORIES.

Bosco Caesar Dance company perform at Fundraiser.

Parm Gill, Member of Parliament for Brampton Springdale extendedhis support for Shusmita Sharma, candidate for Ward 7, MarkhamCity Council, who held a successful fundraiser gala at India GrillHouse, Markham, recently.

Shusmita Sharma, Senator Dr. Asha Seth and Dr. Shivani Sharma


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014 c o m m u n i t y

Prof. Anil Kumar's lectured on selftransformation to packed halls in Toronto

Toronto - Three captivating talks in the GTA by Prof. Anil Kumar from Indiaduring the weekend to packed halls raised conscious level of the audiencewho are looking for self transformation and seeking spiritual path in themodern world. Prof. Anil Kumar is an eminent educationist and he has servedas Principal of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in Bangalore(Brindavan Campus) and Professor in Bio Sciences at the Prasanthi NilayamCampus of the Institute. Prof. Anil Kumar has had the unique opportunity ofbeing the personal translator of Sri Sathya Sai Baba for over 23 years andever since the physical departure of Sai Baba he has been traveling aroundthe world giving lectures on practicing human values based on Sai Baba'steachings.Addressing the students, teachers, parents and trustees of the Sathya SaiSchool of Canada at Scarborough, he emphasized that education is fortheelevation of human personality and raising the character. The end of educa-tion is character.He spoke that the standard of life today has improved but thequality of life has not improved; the teacher's greatest happiness is fromstudents when they become successful and come back to teachers and say:"I was your student."Prof. Anil Kumar complimented the Sathya Sai School for taking the initiativeto construct their own school building and for consistently maintaining thehigh academic standards by holding the top rank among the Ontario PrimarySchools. He congratulated for forming Canadian Institute of Sathya Sai Edu-cation to train teachers and teaching Human Values Education and ParentingPrograms in Canada.The Sai educational institutions have been established around the world notmerely to enable students to earn a living but to make them acquire goodtraits, lead ideal lives, and give them ethical, moral and spiritual strength.During his talk on Saturday to the Sai Devotees at Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centreof Toronto-York Centre,Prof. Kumar stressed that individuals should also seta mission and vision of life and not waste their time in worldly pleasures; wejust lead the life and not live the life. He urged that we must gain deepknowledge of life to uplift and evolve to higher levels; the value of man shouldgo up by righteous conduct so that the value of material comes down; ourmission should be to serve others and bring greater awareness within our-self to transform.Prof. Anil Kumarnicely explained that the vision of Sai as Sath (existence, Ilive), Chit(awareness, knowing) and Ananda(bliss). He added that we mustmove from the stateof joy and happiness to the transcendental and perma-nent state of bliss;we must deeply understand the nature of mind;filter our

actions by listening to our'conscience'and awaken our mind by being more'conscious'. "Staying in a state of 'Sath Chit Ananda', we can take our mindfrom body and worldly materials towards Divinity and the state of 'con-sciousness'. Our ego is the biggest hurdle in this journey that has to bestrongly curbed".Prof. Anil Kumar narrated many interesting stories from the life of Sathya SaiBaba that had meaningful lessons for our life. He separately met the officebearers of the Sri Sathya Sai Baba Organization in Canada and urged them tobe exemplary in the Canadian society to make a difference.Earlier, Dr.Thayaparan, Chair of Sri Sathya Sai Baba Organization in Canada welcomedProf. and Mrs. Anil Kumar.On the occasion of Sri Krishna Janamashtmi, Prof. Anil Kumar addressed apublic meeting at Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre of Scarborough. He took upmany practical examples from the life of Lord Krishna. He stated, "The needof the hour is to know the meaning and significance of all our festivals andscriptures so that the next generation understands and emulates". Prof. Anil Kumarstressed the need to respect all religions as they all teach good things only; they allspeak of truth and love; let us travel from ritual to spiritual; true spirituality is in theservice of mankind and practicing good values in our daily lives.The Q & A sessions were handled by him with lots of wit and humour;motivating the audience deeper into spirituality and the meaning of life.Prof. Anil Kumar will be addressing public meetings at Ottawa, Edmontonand Vancouver Sai Centers. Around 300 youths are gearing up for a Sai YouthConference at Val-Morin, Quebec to be addressed by Prof. Anil Kumar.

PROFESSOR ANIL KUMAR WITH SRI SATHYA SAI BABA.

CONSTRUCTION SITE OF SATHYA SAI SCHOOL.

BY SHAZIA MALIK

Toronto - Little Terrors - a 90-minute Canadian production bringshome the message to go back to basics and comprehend Islamin its true colour instead of following the version of self-pro-claimed leaders. The film scripted in English and soon to be fullydubbed in Hindi has been directed by award-winning filmmakerManinder Chana and produced by Dev Mangat and Ken Gill.The movie has a delightful mix of an international star cast in-cluding veteran actor Om Puri, Deep Dhillon and Nirmal Rishialong with a younger, newer cast such as Armaan Kabli, HarjotThandi and Dulha Bajwa. The movie is made behind the back-drop of terrorism and revolves around a young teenager year boytrained to commit a terror attack and he took a U-turn and showedreluctance to carry out the act. The movie is set to release acrossCanada on September 12, 2014.Midweek sat with both Maninder and Dev to get behind the scenesstory and how the movie was conceptualized. Dev Mangat who is running a kids acting academy - GurukulAr ts - approached Maninder Chana and presented his conceptfor the movie. Chana instantly liked the broad storyline of themovie and agreed to write the screenplay. Chana who comesfrom a journalism background wrote a story that revolves aroundSouth Asian kids born and brought up in Nor th America and areconfused between the two cultures. Chana said: "It was a delight-ful experience working with Om Puri but the younger crowd alsodid not fail me. The youngsters had some experience of acting onstage and initially found it difficult to embrace a massive change.But with a few days of coaching exercises and memory tech-niques, they gelled well in the script."Chana informed a trial run of the movie was showcased to theaudience in Tampa Bay, Florida during IIFA Awards this year andthe movie got rave reviews from the community. He added: "Butbasically the movie is directed for the Western audience andbrings to fore the true image of Islam" .As the story develops the characters in the movie speak severallanguages such as English, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi. The film ismostly shot in Aaam Khas Bagh, Sirhind, Balachor, Patiala,Fatehgarh Sahib in par ts of Punjab and Rajasthan.After casting the young actors, the crew and cast flew to India fora 35-day shoot initially but they stayed there for about four months.Though the veteran star Om Puri has given a brilliant perfor-mance, the young cast has also impressed movie critics. Devurged movie goers to come out on September 12 and suppor t aproject.Though the veteran star Om Puri has given a brilliant perfor-mance, the young cast has also impressed movie critics. Devurged movie goers to come out on September 12 and suppor t aproject that talks of wrong choices sometimes parents makefor their chi ldren. The lead is played by the 14-year-oldArmaan Kabli from Mississauga who is trained by a terroristoutfit to become a suicide bomber. He began his acting ca-reer on his fif th bir thday in the musicals of Gurukul and madehis debut in Little Terrors while in grade nine. Eight-year-old DulhaBajwa is the youngest actor in the film and hopes to make it toHollywood one day.

MIDWEEK EXCLUSIVE

Little Terrors draws ananguished lifeline of Muslim

youth facing cultural conflicts

Om Puri, Aamrik Arjun and Armaan Kabli in Little Terrors.

Niagara Falls Discount Store for sale specializingin party supplies, helium balloons, greeting

cards, stationery and seasonal items. Sales $400k/yr Price of $150,000 includes

inventory. email - [email protected]


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014opinion

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 Advertising

[email protected]

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 Advertising

[email protected]

Newspaper

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLYPublished in English every Tuesday

Radio

SOUTHASIAN PULSE Mon to Fri; 10:00 AM to 12 Noon on AM 770

Television

SOUTHASIAN 360 DEGREESOn FILMYChannel Right Across North America

Canada - (Rogers - Channel-830, Bell fibe TV

Channel-798 ),

USA - DirecTV - Channel 2008

Timings- Friday6-7 PM,Sun -1-2 PMWed - 6:30-

7:30PM-EST

Online

WWW.SOUTHASIANDAILY.COMONLY News Portal for Southasian-Canadians

Cricket

CANADIAN PROFESSIONAL

CRICKET (CPC) 6th Annual

CPC Inter-City Cricket Cup Starting June 2013

6 Months of Non-stop cricket action

Events

7th AnnualMidweek Southasian Awards 2013

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 ADVISOR

NAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMA INDIA MARKETING HEAD

CHETAN PATILCHETAN PATILCHETAN PATILCHETAN PATILCHETAN PATILMARKETING EXECUTIVE

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

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

SHAZIA MALIKSHAZIA MALIKSHAZIA MALIKSHAZIA MALIKSHAZIA MALIKCONTRIBUTING WRITER

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 LOONAMEDIA COORDINATOR

US gurdwaras to help project positive Sikh imageBY ARUN KUMAR

Washington (IANS): Over 100representatives from gurdwarasacross the US have pledged sup-por t for National Sikh Campaign'splan to engage top US politicaloperatives and media firms forpresenting the community posi-tively.Meeting here over the weekendfor a grassroots meeting calledby the newly formed NSC, thegurdwara representatives set atarget of raising $5 mill ion toshape the Sikh image in America,according to a media release.During the strategy session, GeoffGarin of Har t Research, whoserved as Hillary Clinton's formertop political strategist and Isaac

Baker of AKPD Message andMedia, President BarackObama's media firm, outlined aroadmap of how Sikhs can changeperceptions in the US and howcrucial the campaign will be tothe future of Sikhs.Garin, also gave the meeting's par-ticipants an exclusive update onNSC's groundbreaking messagingresearch that will underpin the effortand inform the community how it caneffectively communicate to theAmerican public.NSC executive director GurwinAhuja said, "The Sikh communityin US has never been more edu-cated, more wealthy, and moresuccessful than today."In a strategy session focused onspecific action steps to make last-

ing change in the US, Sikh Lead-ers worked together to create arealistic region by region break-down of US gurdwaras andfundraising strategies.Rajwant Singh, President of theSikh Council on Religion and Edu-cation and senior advisor to NSC,said, "The consensus was thatthere is a critical need for this kindof media strategy for the Sikhcommunity."Secondly, all possible effor tsneed to be made to include asmany gurdwaras as possible inthe network as par tners," he said."Thirdly, our goal is to keep thefocus on introducing Sikhism andthe Sikh identity while showingthe positive contribution of thecommunity in the media,"

Rajwant Singh said.Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Presi-dent of the Oak Creek Gurdwara,Wisconsin, where six worship-pers were killed in a shootout onAug 5, 2012, said:"We are 100 percent behind thiscampaign.""The aim of the campaign is tocounteract the negative imageand perceptions Americans haveabout Sikhs and Sikhism and cre-ate a positive image of Sikhs andour faith," he said Sikh represen-tat ives came from Cal i fornia,Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois,Indiana, Maryland, Michigan,Minnesota, New Jersey, NewYork, Nor th Carolina, Ohio, Penn-sylvania, South Carolina, Texasand Virginia.

BY SAEED NAQVI / IANS

It is widely known that New Delhi tilts towards Israel in its dealings withWest Asia, particularly since the 1999 Kargil war when the Jewish stateprovided the ammunition required for India's field guns. Other mutual in-terests have since multiplied.It therefore made practical sense that External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj restored the balance somewhat when she dwelt at length on tradi-tional ties with the Arab world while opening an India-Arab media confer-ence organized by her ministry and attended by media managers from theArab world.The media link is a tenuous one because an independent media is not theArab world's strongest feature, Al Jazeera's inexplicable credibility not-withstanding. It is an enigma: an independent channel owned by a Sheikh-dom which hosts the US Central Command.

Even during India's non-aligned phase, there were groups and individualswho saw Israel as a model for the wrong reasons. The late M.L. Sondhi, forinstance, sketched a grand design in my presence in the conference roomof Jerusalem's King David hotel: two non-Muslim countries surrounded byproblematic Muslim neighbours. Both also had "problematic" Muslimswithin.After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, it seemed a dream scenariofor these "two" countries to clasp the hand of the world's sole superpowerand live happily ever after.It would be useful for Sushma Swaraj to recall the goings on in Atal BihariVajpayee's cabinet. L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh had agreed to sendIndian troops to govern the Kurdish North of Iraq, exactly the region theAmericans have now returned to in military formation. Why was Indiawilling to subserve US occupation of a friendly country? In fact possiblythe friendliest country India ever had. In every UN debate, Iraq was the onlyMuslim country that stood with India on Kashmir.In 2003, there was great faith in the durability of the sole superpower. AfterSaddam Hussain's fall, the Indian ambassador to Baghdad was not askedto return to New Delhi. He was asked to mark time in a three star hotel inneighbouring Amman and wait for Americans to take charge in Baghdadwhence he would rush to present his credentials.The person who read the future right was Vajpayee. On April 9, SaddamHussain's statue was pulled down at Baghdad's Firdous Square by USMarines. The global media gave it a different spin. Angry Iraqis had pulleddown the statue, the world was told. Vajpayee described the US as an"awesome" power on the move. From Srinagar he called off the eye ball toeye ball confrontation with Pakistan.I have inserted this piece of history the world knows little about, deliber-ately at a time when a handful of Arab media representatives are presentin New Delhi. The Arab media itself had been pushed beyond the marginsduring the occupation of Iraq. The show was being largely controlled byBBC and CNN. It is worth mentioning that Doordarshan was the only non-Western media to have comprehensively covered that piece of history.

Sushma Swaraj was the information and broadcasting minister then.US Vice President Dick Cheyney, even more than Defence Secretary DonaldRumsfeld, was keen to declare victory on global TV. Obstructing celebra-tions was a singular problem. There was no demonstrable public enthusi-asm for Saddam's ouster. The entire choreography of the war had beendesigned for TV. How could the US declare victory if there were no streetcelebrations?The only people willing to celebrate Saddam's downfall were Shias in thesouth and east of the country. They could not be magically produced inBaghdad. In any case Shias would be ultra cautious coming out on anAmerican invitation because after Operation Desert Storm in 1992 theyhad mounted an uprising in the South against Saddam Hussain. Theymistakenly thought they had US protection. But Washington looked theother way. Saddam Hussain brutally crushed the uprising.Cheyney's men did some quick thinking. After the 1992 uprising,Saddam Hussain had settled rebellious Shias from the south in aghetto outside Baghdad called Saddam city. These Shias could becommandeered if their leaders, Ayatullah Baqar al Hakeem andMuqtada Sadr, could be persuaded. They agreed. That is when Shiascame out of their ghetto slapping Saddam Hussain's photographswith heir sandals. Saddam city was overnight renamed Sadr city byan American edict.Only after operation Deser t Storm did Saddam Hussain place "AllahO Akbar" on the Iraqi flag. His message was simple: the "agnostic" and"atheistic" Baath Sunnis would from now on not be averse to the easier,more emotional, religious mobilization. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is a subse-quent creature of this duality. Baathist education with a religious edge.An ability to organize, administer, hold territory, derives from his Baathisttraining. Macabre actions like James Foley's beheading and suicide bomb-ing are a specialization of recent Sunni Jehadism. The two can be alter-nately stoked against the American infidel in Iraq and the Shia exclusivismof Baghdad. Now the US, Baghdad and Iran are laying traps to catch thisanimal.

The difficult task of finding friends and foes in West Asia

High prices possible cause of BJP bypoll defeatsBY BISWAJIT CHOUDHURY

New Delhi (IANS): With explanations like the missing Modi factor orlocal conditions unable to fully explain BJP's by-election losses inlight of its recent overwhelming win nationally, the phenomenon ofinflation, especially of food prices hur ting people everywhere, hasemerged as a possible answer to this poll puzzle.In this season of deficient rainfall, consumer price (CPI) inflationaccelerated to a two-month high of 7.96 percent in July against7.46 percent in June, pushed up by rising prices of vegetables,fruit and milk, government data shows.Wholesale food inflation rose to 8.43 percent in July from 8.14percent in June. Primary ar ticles rose by 2.7 percent in July froman increase of 6.84 percent in June.The sticky food inflation meant fruits became costlier by 31.71percent in July against 21.70 percent in June. Potato prices zoomed

by 46.41 percent year-on-year against 42.52 percent in June. Whileprices of protein-based food like pulses rose by 3.31 percent,egg, meat and fish became dearer by 2.71 percent.Given this situation and the monetarist stance of Reserve Bank ofIndia Governor Raghuram Rajan, industry chambers, hopeful of arate cut to boost industrial activity, have sounded cautious."Amidst the current situation where prices of food ar ticles arestill elevated, it is amply clear that the Reserve Bank will main-tain a watchful stance," said Federation of Indian Chambers ofCommerce and Industry (FICCI) president Sidhar th Birla, com-menting on the inflation data.One clear lesson from the bypoll results in Bihar is that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and his message of development do nothave the same impact at the state level as they did in the April-May Lok Sabha elections.The alliance of ex-rivals, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar,

along with the Congress, won six of the 10 seats for which bypollswere held and had a combined vote share better than that of theBJP-led National Democratic Alliance."Voters across the country have rectified the mistakes made inthe Lok Sabha elections," tweeted Lalu Yadav, even as other lead-ers of the alliance highlighted its social aspects, in how it wasfitting that Mandal politics should be reborn on Aug 25 - the bir thanniversary of B.P. Mandal, who headed the commission that recom-mended reservations in government jobs for backward classes.In Karnataka, the shock loss for the BJP is the Bellary Rural seat vacated byB. S. Sriramulu after his election to the Lok Sabha, where the BJP candidatelost by a massive 33,000 votes to the Congress. The BJP had won 17 of the 28Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka while the state's ruling Congress won nine.To round-off the confusing picture, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lost both theassembly seats in Punjab, the only state from where they have wonseats to the Lok Sabha.

YvanMaininiPresidentInternational Basketball Federation/Federation Internationale de BasketballRoute Suisse 51296 Mies - SwitzerlandAugust 25, 2014Dear President Mainini,As a representative for a Canadian riding with many Sikhsin a country with vast multiculturalism I must urge you to reconsider FIBA'sban on turbans. It concerns me that Sikhs are not able to par ticipate in International Basketball Federation (FIBA) unless they take offtheir turban, which is integral to their faith.Please look to the example of FIFA who have recently changed its policies to permit Sikhs to wear turbans while playing soccer. Thisdecision came after The Quebec Soccer Federation chose to enforce a ban on turbans last year, causing outrage from Canadians-bothSikh and non-Sikh alike. The Quebec Soccer Federation was subsequently suspended by the Canadian Soccer Association. After 20months of observation, FIFA determined the risks of spor t injuries from turbans, hijabs and kippas were not significant and did notjustify a ban. The international soccer federation officially ruled that players are allowed to wear headwear on the field, includingreligious garb. Jerome Valcke, the Secretary General of FIFA acknowledged that this was an issue of discrimination at the pressconference announcing the decision.In a tolerant society, people should not have to choose between practicing their religion and practicing a sport. I hope that you will re-examine the existing policy with respect to Sikh turbans and suppor t a change when FIBA's Central Board meets at the end of this month.Sincerely,Kyle Seeback MPBrampton WestKS/PI



canada PM ANNOUNCES LAUNCHOF THE NATIONALRESEARCH COUNCILARCTIC PROGRAM IP10

416-907-4420

PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER

ANNOUNCES MEASURES TO PROMOTE

NORTHERN AGRICULTURE

PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER ANNOUNCES MEASURES TO PROMOTE AN ECONOMICALLY VIABLE, JOB-CREATING, COMMERCIALAGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY IN CANADA'S NORTH. (PMO PHOTO BY JILL THOMPSON)

"The initiatives announced today will help provide Northerners with the skillstraining, technology and capital they need to help take local food production tothe next level. This will contribute to healthier, locally grown, and lower pricedfresh food for northern families and less reliance on southern producers anddistributors. It will help provide northern solutions for northern challenges." -Prime Minister Stephen Harper.Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced measures to promote an eco-nomically viable, job-creating, commercial agricultural industry in Canada'sNorth. These include support to help establish a permanent campus for theNorthern Farm Training Institute (NFTI) in the Northwest Territories, and thelaunch of the Northern Greenhouse Initiative, which is aimed at advancingthe commercialization and enhancing the productivity of greenhouse projectsacross Canada's North. The Prime Minister also profiled research into prom-ising new modular farming technology, developed in conjunction with theAurora Research Institute's South Slave Research Centre in Fort Smith, thatmay extend the Northern growing season and substantially expand the North-ern agriculture industry. The announcement was made during the PrimeMinister's ninth annual Northern Tour, taking place from August 21 to 26,2014. He was joined by Bernard Valcourt, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs andNorthern Development, and Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment,Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and Min-ister for the Arctic Council.These new measures are intended to boost the growing Northern agriculturalsector, by addressing gaps in available skills, technology and capital. Theresulting increase in the amount of food grown locally will help to provideNortherners with better access to healthy fresh local produce at lower costs,and result in communities being less reliant on far-away producers.The support being announced today for the NFTI will allow it to offer itsprograms year-round from a new permanent campus in Hay River, targetedtowards students from every community in the Northwest Territories. It willenable the Institute to better deliver agricultural training tailored to meet theneeds of Aboriginal and northern communities in the Northwest Territories.The graduates from the Institute will be able to take the skills they learn -including training in greenhouse operations - back to their home communi-ties, such as Fort Smith, promoting the sharing of their know-how across theterritory.The Northern Greenhouse Initiative will provide support to advance the com-mercialization and enhance the productivity of greenhouse projects acrossCanada's North. The Government of Canada, through its Canadian NorthernEconomic Development Agency, will, in the coming days, call for partnershipproposals to advance this initiative. More viable commercial greenhouseswill improve access to healthy food options in the North and increased jobsand economic opportunities in the three territories.Quick Facts" The NFTI is an initiative of the Territorial Farmer's Association(TFA) which has held workshops in Hay River and Fort Smith for the past twoyears. Students have come from communities throughout the Deh Cho andSouth Slave regions, including Nahanni Butte, Trout Lake, Wrigley, Jean MarieRiver, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Hay River and the HayRiver Reserve. A number of former students have started Agricultural busi-nesses in the Northwest Territories." The TFA and the Town of Hay River are establishing a permanentcampus for the NFTI. In collaboration with Aurora College, they will offertraining in farming, greenhouses, and livestock, as well as establishing ag-ricultural employment in farming, silviculture, and compost.

" The NFTI's permanent campus will be situated on a 300 acre par-cel of arable land made available by the Town of Hay River. It will houseseveral agricultural initiatives in the Northwest Territories, including theAgNorth pilot project - based on LED modular farm technology - and theNative Seed Commercialization Project, both coordinated by Aurora Collegeand previously supported by the Government of Canada." Extensive consultations were conducted in 2013 during the devel-opment of the Hay River Agricultural Strategy, the NFTI business plan as wellas on the AgNorth pilot project. Discussions were held with business people,communities, mine operators, and other stakeholders to determine interest,need, opportunities, concerns, and seek local knowledge." The Northwest Territories imports approximately $17 million ofproduce annually. The initial intent of the NFTI is to annually offset $5 to $6million of imported food with locally grown produce." The Government of Canada's support for these initiatives will helpestablish a more robust agricultural sector and diversify the economy of theNorthwest Territories. By helping to grow produce locally, this initiative willdecrease reliance on imported foods, reduce transportation costs, createjobs, and help to provide greater access to fresh food across the NorthwestTerritories.

Ottawa - Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently joined communityand senior business leaders from Canadian companies for a roundtableto discuss how the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement will signifi-cantly boost trade and investment ties between our two countries,creating jobs and opportunities. The session was hosted by Ed Fast,Minister of International Trade. Korea is a priority market for the Govern-ment of Canada. The two countries announced the conclusion of negotia-tions for the Free Trade Agreement in March 2014 and are working expedi-tiously through the remaining steps so that the Agreement can enter intoforce as soon as possible. Once implemented, the Agreement will immedi-ately bring substantial benefits to Canadian consumers, exporters, produc-ers and investors across all regions of the country.Quick Facts" Korea is one of Canada's largest trading partners in Asia (after Chinaand Japan). Total merchandise trade between the two countries reachedapproximately $10.8 billion in 2013." On the day the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement comes into force,Canadian businesses will immediately benefit from Korea's removal ofduties on 82 per cent of tariff lines. Once the Agreement is fully implemented,Korea will have removed duties on 98 per cent of tariff lines." The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement is projected to boostCanada's economy by $1.7 billion and increase Canadian merchan-dise exports to Korea by 32 per cent." Tariff elimination under the Agreement will be particularly advantageousfor Canadian businesses because average Korean tariffs are three timeshigher than Canada's (13.3 per cent versus 4.3 per cent)." Canadian businesses will benefit from a level playing field with theircompetitors in the Korean market, notably competitors from the UnitedStates and the European Union.Quote"The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, Canada's first free tradeagreement in the Asia-Pacific region, will create thousands of new jobsin Canada and provide Canadian businesses with a gateway to theAsia-Pacific region, enhancing their global competitiveness. I ampleased to have been here today with Canadian businesses to discussthe ways our country can benefit from the new trade and investmentopportunities this historic agreement will provide. I would also like tothank our businesspeople for their valuable input, which helped toinform negotiations." - Prime Minister Stephen HarperSource: pm.gc.ca

Prime Minister Stephen Harper participates in a roundtablewith community and senior business leaders to discussCanada-Korea trade relations.

PM HIGHLIGHTSOPPORTUNITIES CREATEDBY THE CANADA-KOREAFREE TRADE AGREEMENT

Canadian gaming start-upto launch India operationsMumbai (IANS): Play It Interactive, a Canada-based mobilegaming star t-up, will invest $1.1 million (Rs.6.6 crore) to driveits business and product development in India."This round of financing will allow Play It Interactive to buildon oppor tunities in India and surrounding countries," said CoryCleveland, president and co-founder of Play It Interactive"We are excited about our traction and early success in theIndian market," Cleveland noted.Play It Interactive that delivers a connected gaming experi-ence to both users on feature phones and Android deviceswill open its head office in Mumbai and recruit local talent toenhance and localise its product offering, as well as managelocal par tnerships, a company statement said.The mobile content platform first piloted its engagement plat-form for an Indian audience via a Fantasy Football app, tocoincide with the FIFA World Cup."During the event (FIFA World Cup) Play It saw over 500,000users, with an average user session time of over 14 minutes.These early indications point to tremendous engagement po-tential of our platform in the Indian market," Ray Newal, inter-national head of the star t-up noted.Newal had earlier founded Jigsee, a bandwidth efficient mo-bile streaming platform for media companies in the Indianmarket."Play It is designed to engage a wide audience of spor ts fansin India by enabling immersive experiences, that are acces-sible to mobile subscribers at the lowest price point possible,"Newal added.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014c a n a d a

PM ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF

THE NATIONAL RESEARCH

COUNCIL ARCTIC PROGRAM

PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (NRC) ARCTIC PROGRAM.

Ottawa - Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the launchof the National Research Council (NRC) Arctic Program. As par t ofthe Arctic Program, the NRC will enter into research par tnerships,which focus on technology aimed at improving the lives of Nor th-erners and advancing Nor thern economic development. The an-nouncement took place at the Yukon Cold Climate Innovation Cen-t r e , w i th in t he Yukon Resea rch Cen t re o f Exce l l ence a tYukonCollege, where the Prime Minister highlighted NRC-sup-por ted practical research into high efficiency home insulationsuited for Nor thern climates. The announcement was made dur-ing the Prime Minister's ninth annual Nor thern Tour, taking placefrom August 21 to 26, 2014. He was joined by Ed Holder, Ministerof State (Science and Technology), James Moore, Minister of In-dustry, Bernard Valcourt, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Nor thernDevelopment, Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment, Ministerof the Canadian Nor thern Economic Development Agency and Minis-ter for the Arctic Council, and Ryan Leef, Member of Parliament forYukon.The NRC Arctic Program will focus on four main priority areas: re-source development; nor thern transpor tation and shipping; marinesafety technologies; and community infrastructure.The research and development per formed through the Arctic Pro-gram will have several benefits including:" Increasing the safety of resource development in ice-cov-ered waters by reducing the uncer tainty in ice loads, and increasingthe reliability of ice management, as well as enabling the effectivedetection and remediation of oil under ice;" Developing and implementing technologies that will reducethe number of incidents and vessel structural damage;" Increasing the number of days of operational use of ice roads;" Increasing the survivability rates in lifeboats;" Increasing the performance of immersion suits in a coldand harsh ocean environment; and,

" Reducing catastrophic failures in urban infrastructure, andincreasing energy efficiency and durability of nor thern housing, therebydecreasing the cost of maintenance and repairs.Quick Facts" Our Government is taking additional steps, as promised inits Economic Action Plan 2013, to position the NRC as Canada's pre-mier Research and Technology Organization focused on translatingresearch and technology into economic prosperity for Canadians." Through the NRC Arctic Program, the Government ofCanada is taking fur ther steps to suppor t Canada's Nor thern Strat-egy while suppor ting its goal of promoting social and economicdevelopment." For example, our Government continues its collabora-tion with the Yukon Research Centre at YukonCollege to develop,test and deploy energy efficient and innovative cold climate hous-ing technologies." Other major initiatives that our Government has taken toimprove Canadian lives in the Nor th include funding for the con-struction and operation of the Canadian High Arctic Research Sta-tion; the opening of the Arctic Training Centre in Resolute Bay,Nunavut; and, most recently, an investment for the new Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk all-season highway.Quotes"The Government of Canada is committed to harnessing science,technology and research to fur ther develop Canada's Nor th andimprove the lives of Nor therners. The new National Research Coun-cil Arctic Program will help improve housing, transpor t and resourcedevelopment. Our Government recognizes the full potential of the North.We will continue to suppor t nor thern development by ensuring sus-tainable, low impact, responsible resource development in the Arc-tic, while creating jobs and improving the quality of life for residentsof Nor thern communities." - Prime Minister Stephen HarperSource: pm.gc.ca

PROVINCE SUPPORTING THEINFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS OFSMALL COMMUNITIESOntario - Ontario is providing small, rural and nor thern munici-palities with stable, annual funding to build and repair critical infra-structure and help to create jobs across the province.Premier Kathleen Wynne and Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Foodand Rural Affairs, were in St. Thomas to announce that the new OntarioCommunity Infrastructure Fund will provide $100 million per year infunding for critical road, bridge, water and wastewater projects.Half of the funding for the initiative will be allocated annually using a fairand transparent formula, which recognizes that municipalities havedifferent infrastructure and fiscal needs. The remaining $50 million willflow through an application-based process, allowing municipalities tocontinue partnering with the province to invest in critical infrastructureprojects that will create jobs and support growth.The Premier also announced that Ontario municipalities can now pro-pose infrastructure projects to be considered for support through theSmall Communities Fund. Through this fund, Ontario and the federalgovernment will each provide $272 million to support projects in mu-nicipalities with populations less than 100,000.The new Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund is par t of thegovernment's comprehensive plan for a strong Ontario that builds people'stalents and skills, builds a more dynamic business environment, buildsnew infrastructure and builds a more secure retirement for Ontarians.QUOTESI believe the success of our small, rural and northern communities isintrinsically connected to the success of our entire province. The fundwe are launching today will help build up our infrastructure, and createjobs and opportunity in every part of the province.Kathleen WynnePremier of OntarioWise investment in infrastructure is the backbone of our economyand suppor ts communities across Ontario. These communitiesnow have the security that permanent provincial funding will bethere to help them achieve their goals.Brad DuguidMinister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastruc-tureOur government is fulfilling a commitment to provide a perma-nent infrastructure program that will continue to build up small,rural and nor thern communities. We listened to our municipalpar tners, who know what's best for their communities. This iswhy providing predictable, sustainable, annual funding is a keycomponent of this new fund.Jeff LealMinister of Agriculture, Food and Rural AffairsSource: premier.gov.on.ca

NDP commits to restoringhealthcare fundingIn an historic speech before the Canadian Medical Association,NDP Leader Tom Mulcair promised that a New Democrat gov-ernment would restore previous levels of healthcarefunding tothe provinces and cancel the Conservatives' $36 billion in cuts."Money alone cannot solve the problems facing our healthcaresystem. But without money, we won't solve a thing," Mulcairdeclared to members of the CMA this morning.This was the first time in 147 years that the leader of the OfficialOpposition was invited to speak before the General Council ofthe influential association.



india HOTTEST AUG 25 IN DELHI INSIX YEARS IP12india

AAM AADMI PARTY (AAP) LEADER ARVIND KEJRIWAL ADDRESSES A RALLY AT ROHINI IN NEW DELHI ON AUG 24, 2014. IANS

CONGRESS, LALU-NITISH DERAIL BJPIN BY-ELECTIONS FOR 18 SEATS

OUT OF THE 18 SEATS IN FOUR STATES FOR WHICHBYPOLLS WERE HELD ON AUGUST 21, CONGRESSAND ITS ALLIES WON 10 WHILE SEVEN WENT TOBJP AND ONE TO ITS ALLY SAD.

“Delhi, (IANS) In results it admitted were not to its liking, the BJPsuffered stunning reverses in by-elections in Bihar, exactly threemonths after it swept the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress scored gainsboth in Karnataka and Punjab but lost 1-2 to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.In the first pan-India popularity test after the May Lok Sabha verdict,the new alliance of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal-United and Congress shocked the BJP by winning six of the 10 as-sembly seats in Bihar. The Congress wrested Bhagalpur, an urbanseat, from the Bharatiya Janata Par ty after a gap of 23 years.In Karnataka, the ruling Congress wrested the prestigious Bellaryreserved seat and retained the Chikkodi-Sadalga seat. The BJP wonfrom Shikaripura in the Aug 21 by-elections held in four states.The best news for the BJP came in Madhya Pradesh where its candi-dates won from Aagar and Vijayraghavgarh constituencies, while theCongress snatched Bahoriband from the BJP.In Punjab, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress won oneseat each. The Aam Aadmi Par ty, which won four Lok Sabha seats,was defeated in both places. Congress candidate and former unionminister Preneet Kaur won from Patiala in Punjab, defeating BhagwanDass Juneja of the ruling Akali Dal by over 23,200 votes. Preneet Kauris the wife of former chief minister Amarinder Singh, now a Lok Sabhamember from Amritsar.Akali Dal's Jeet Mohinder Singh won from Talwandi Sabo by over46,600 votes, defeating Harminder Singh Jassi of the Congress.BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told IANS here that the re-sults were not to the par ty's satisfaction but claimed they did notreflect the national mood."The results do not reflect the national mood. There were local issuesand factors such as popularity of the candidate," he said. He added

that the results did not indicate a revival of the Congress which wononly 44 seats -- its worst ever showing -- in the Lok Sabha battle.The Congress was buoyant."The BJP gave the impression that the Narendra Modi wave, whichwas based on false promises, will carry it through in the bypolls butunfor tunately people did not vote as they expected," Congress gen-eral secretary Shakeel Ahmed told IANS."The results are a positive signal for the Congress," he added.RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar, both formerchief ministers of Bihar, were jubilant. After the Lok Sabha disaster,they ended their animosity of two decades to take on the BJP.Lalu Prasad tweeted from Mumbai: "It seems people have correctedthe wrong of the Lok Sabha polls."Nitish Kumar vowed to step up effor ts to form a nationwide anti-BJPfront.In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, BJP's Sanjay Pathak defeated BrajendraMishra of the Congress in Vijayraghavgarh by over 50,000 votes.Pathak was the outgoing Congress legislator who joined the BJP.In Aagar, BJP's Gopal Parmar trounced Rajkumar Gore of the Con-gress by over 27,000 votes. Manohar Untwal vacated this seat afterbeing elected to the Lok Sabha from Ujjain.The Congress hit back in Bahoriband where Sourabh Singh defeatedBJP's Pranav Pandey by over 7,000 votes.

By Pardeep SinghGurgaon, (IANS) For a state known to ban marriages within thesame 'gotra' (clan), a community in Haryana's Gurgaon districthas been forced to abandon a 600-year-old tradition of brother-hood within the community and allow such marriages.The tradition has taken a break mainly because of rampant fe-male foeticides leading to a skewed sex ratio of 879 girls for every1,000 males, making Haryana the worst among Indian states in thisaspect. The country's sex ratio improved to 943 in the 2011 Censusagainst 933 females per 1,000 males in the 2001 census.The Jat Khap Panchayat (community council) of Jaurasi-Fatehpur vil-lage near Taoru, some 32 km from here, recently decided to put an endto the ban on marrying children within same village and brought the proposalto Gurgaon Gaon village recently.Jaurasi-Fatehpur holds 'Chaudhar' (leadership) of 12 villages while GurgaonGaon enjoys this status in 18 villages."Jaurasi village, later extended and established as Fatehpur village, hadbrotherhood relations with Gurgaon Gaon, Basai, Dhanwapur, Garauli Kalan,Garauli Khurd and Kadipur for over 600 years," Atalvir Kataria, a panchayatleader, told IANS. Marriages were not allowed among these villages."The panchayat of 25 villages was held recently and it decided to lift the ban.Now Jaurasi-Fatehpur and other six villages can marry their youth in eachother's communities," Kataria said."The low ratio of females in the region was one of the main reasons behindlifting the ban," social worker Raj Nirbhik told IANS.The majority of Jat families in the region preferred to marry their youth in andaround Gurgaon district and avoided Rohtak, Jind, Sirsa and other districts."People have relationships in Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh too, butGurgaon, Jhajjar and Delhi are given preference," Nirbhik said.Marriages between five Gotras including own, mother's, grandmother's (Dadiand Nani) were not allowed earlier, but now the situation has changed. Somemarriages are now being allowed by the communities."This step will make things better. The earlier rules of the communitieswere too strict regarding marriages. Young men and women werefinding it difficult to get the right life partner. Now, the options will in-crease," Abhay Kumar, a youth from one of the villages in Gurgaondistrict, told IANS. The sex ratio in Gurgaon district is the worst inHaryana - only 854 females against 1,000 males. The state governmentrecently honoured Wazirpur and Bhora Kalan villages in Gurgaon forbetter sex ratios of 1,046 and 947. The village panchayats were re-warded Rs.100,000 and Rs.50,000 respectively. Both villages are domi-nated by the Rajput community.

THANKS TO LOW SEX RATIO,600-YEAR-OLD TRADITIONDONE AWAY WITH

UNION MINISTER FOR FINANCE, CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND DEFENCEARUN JAITLEY DURING 13TH ICSI NATIONAL AWARDS FOR EXCEL-LENCE AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN KOLKATA. (IANS)



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

i n d i a

SHIROMANI AKALI DAL (SAD) LEADER JEET MOHINDER SINGH SIDHU CELEBRATES HIS VICTORY IN TALWANDI SABO BY-POLLS ON AUG 25,2014. (PHOTO: IANS)

Modi to begin Japan visit Aug 31New Delhi (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visit-ing Japan from Aug 31 to Sep 3, it was announced Friday.External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said Modi willreach Japan on the evening of Aug 31, hold a series of meetings there onSep 1-2, and is expected to fly back home on Sep 3.Akbaruddin said more details of the visit and meetings with politi-cal leadership in Japan are not immediately known.

Second Mumbai Metro projectto take off todayMumbai (IANS): Mumbai will get its second Mumbai Metro Line,between Colaba and SEEPZ, with Japanese assistance, unionMinister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu said recently.The ground-breaking ceremony for the Rs.23,000 crore, 33-kmmetro line will be held at Andheri Aug 26, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavansaid after a meeting with Naidu.The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide Rs.13,000crore for the project which will be fully underground with 27 stations en route,he said. Mumbai Metro Line III is the second mega project on the proposedmetro rail network. The first, 11.40 km running elevated between Versovaand Ghatkopar, has proved to be popular with Mumbaikars.Naidu said: "The central government wants to connect entire Mumbai with alarge metro network to decongest existing road and rail traffic and make thecity pollution-free." "The Colaba-SEEPZ link has been approved. Work willbegin soon and we have another metro plan for the city on the agenda," Naidusaid. It had been approved in-principle by the erstwhile central governmentin February 2012. Naidu will perform the ground-breaking ceremony in thepresence of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and others,probably beating the model code of conduct that may be enforced inMaharashtra soon for assembly polls.Besides, Naidu added that the Centre will soon approve the proposed PuneMetro to ease congestion in the state's cultural and academic capital.Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday laid the foundation stone for theproposed Nagpur Metro Rail. Naidu said the Centre plans to beef up metrorail connectivity with the existing surface railway lines for which discus-sions would be held with the Railway Ministry. The state government hasplanned a total nine metro lines criss-crossing Mumbai over 161 km, andestimated to cost nearly Rs.68,000 crore over the next decade. It has put onhold the proposed 32-km-long Mumbai Metro Line II, on the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd route, owing to certain technical issues.

Less storage capacity hurdle to watermanagement in India'New Delhi (IANS): India's water management efforts have not been mean-ingful due to lack of storage capacity as rainfall in the country is restricted tobarely 100 days in a year, Central Water Commission chairman A.B. Pandyasaid Thursday. India's per capita water storage amongst BRICS nations is amere 210 cubic metres compared to 753 of South Africa, 1,111 of China,3,145 of Brazil and a whopping 6,103 of Russia.Speaking at a seminar organised by FICCI on 'Water Risk and Water Stew-ardship', Pandya put the challenge facing the country in perspective bypointing out that India has 2.4 percent of world's land area, four percent of itsrenewable water resources, 18 percent of the population, but the primarysource of water, surface rainfall, is limited to about 100 days in a year, that tooin spells and uneven distributed.

Hottest Aug 25 in Delhi in six yearsNew Delhi, (IANS) Delhi Monday saw the hottest Aug 25 in thepast six years with the maximum temperature recorded fivenotches above the season's average at 39.1 degrees Celsius.Similar weather conditions are expected Tuesday."It was only 2009 when the temperature on Aug 25 crossed 37degrees," said an official of the India Meteorological Depar t-ment.

The minimum temperature Monday was 27.5 degrees Celsius, anotch above the season's average, while humidity rose to ahigh of 70 percent.Tuesday is expected to be no better."The sky will be mainly clear on Tuesday and the maximum andminimum temperatures are likely to hover around 39 and 28degrees Celsius respectively," the official added.

By 2030 more than 50% of India's population will be below 30 yearsKolkata,(IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Sunday said it is "absolutely necessary" to impar t skill training to 500 million India youthsby 2020 in order to increase the employability of the work force."By 2030, India is going to have 20 percent of the whole world's working population living in the country. More than 50 percent of India'spopulation will be below 30 years," Mukherjee said while inaugurating the Management Development Institute (MDI) campus in Jangipurarea of West Bengal's Murshidabad district."The vast multitude" of working forces can be transformed into skilled manpower through proper training, and this would enhance their jobprospects."The demographic dividend which we talk of... if we conver t this vast multitude of working forces into skilled workers, their employabilitywill increase manifold and therefore the target of providing skill to 500 million young persons in India is absolutely necessary," he said.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014 w o r l d

MALAYSIAN ARMY SOLDIERS CARRY BOXS CONTAINING REMAINS OF THE MALAYSIANS KILLED IN THE MH17 DISASTER. IANS

ABU DHABI TO ATTRACTMORE INDIAN TOURISTSAbu Dhabi (IANS/WAM): With Indian visitors emerging as thelargest number of international hotel guests in the United ArabEmirates over the past year, Abu Dhabi's tourism industry haslaunched a five-city road show in India aimed at keeping thedestination foremost in the minds of Indians travelling abroad.The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) has organiseda road show Aug 25-29 across the Indian cities of Mumbai, Ahmedabad,Bangalore, Chennai and New Delhi.About 14 Abu Dhabi tourism stakeholders, including Etihad Airways andYas Island hotels have joined the road show.In the first six months of this year, as many as 107,995 Indian guestschecked into Abu Dhabi's hotels and resorts - a growth of 35 percentover the same period last year."The destination is benefiting from excellent air uplift from India at themoment with our national airline, Etihad Airways and its partner JetAirways, providing convenient and quick travel options to Abu Dhabifrom tier-1 and tier- 2 cities all over the country," said Mubarak AlNuaimi, director of promotions and overseas offices at TCA Abu Dhabi.Presently, Etihad Airways operates 112 flights per week from ten Indiandestinations to United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital Abu Dhabi."We anticipate further consumer interest coming for the destination withthe release this October of the much-anticipated Bollywood movie 'BangBang', starring Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif, par ts of whichwere shot in Abu Dhabi," Al Nuaimi said.Indian weddings have also been actively pursued by Abu Dhabistakeholders.

UN TO HOLD EMERGENCYMEETING ON UKRAINE CRISISUnited Nations (IANS): The UN Security Council is to hold emer-gency consultations amid media repor ts of a major escalation inthe Ukraine conflict. The emergency session, scheduled for Fridayevening, was requested by Lithuania, Xinhua quoted the UNspokesperson's office as saying. UN Assistant Secretary General forPolitical Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco was to brief the 15 councilmembers on the recent development in Ukraine. The meeting was calledamidst reports that Russian military personnel were manning artillerywithin Ukraine in support of pro-Russian rebels. "The Russian militaryhas moved artillery units manned by Russian personnel inside Ukrai-nian territory in recent days and is using them to fire at Ukrainian forces,"The New York Times said, quoting NATO officials. These reports fol-lowed the arrival in Ukraine of a Russian humanitarian convoy of 280vehicles. However, Vitaly Churkin, the permanent representativeof Russia to UN, has dismissed the media repor ts.

Arab League condemns killingof American scribeCairo (IANS): The Arab League Thursday condemned the killingof US journalist James Foley by militants of the Islamic State (IS) Sunniextremist group, MENA news agency reported."The League condemns this tragic crime that runs counter to the nobleIslamic teachings," Deputy Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmedben Helli, told reporters. The IS posted a video on the internet Wednes-day showing the beheading of journalist Foley in revenge for US airstrikes in Iraq. The footage shows a masked man - speaking in Englishwith an accent - killing Foley, who was abducted by armed men in Syriain November 2012. The IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraqand Greater Syria (ISIS), established in June an "Islamic caliphate" inthe territories under its control in Syria and Iraq. Since then, its mem-bers have indulged in sustained persecution of non-Sunnis and otherreligious communities.

90 DEAD AND MISSING INWESTERN JAPAN FLOODSTokyo (IANS/EFE): The number of those missing in the torrentialrains lashing Hiroshima in western Japan this week rose to 51Friday while the death toll stood at 39.Authorities fear the numbers will grow as rescue operations con-tinued. Around 3,000 policemen, firemen and troops of the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) are searching for people swept away inrivers and canals, landslides or mud flows. Rescue operationshad to be suspended Thursday as heavy rain in the region threat-ened to cause more landslides. Japan Meteorological Agency(JMA) has predicted fur ther torrential rain and storms in the samearea and other par ts of the country between Friday and Saturday.On Wednesday, Hiroshima received record rainfall, equivalent toprecipitation for the entire month of August in the mountainousregion. The floods have destroyed 46 houses and caused seriousdamage to 139 others in the region, where a thousand peoplehave already been evacuated, the Kyodo news agency repor ted.

INDIAN FOUNDED FIRM BUYS OUT GHANAIAN COMPANYBangalore (IANS): US-based leader in mobile applications Kirusa, foundedby an Indian, has acquired instant messaging provider Saya in Ghana for anunspecified amount to expand its footprint across the African continent."The acquisition of Saya's technology, workforce and IP (intellectual prop-erty) will enable us to provide our InstaVoice mobile apps (applications)across Africa," Kirusa founder chief executive Inderpal Singh Mumick saidWednesday in a statement here.The New Jersey headquartered company has a software development facil-ity in this tech hub and expanded its India operations by buying PlusRayInnovations Ltd, a city-based start-up that built mobile messaging app Cooltok,in May for an undisclosed sum."Africa remains a top priority for our business in view of the phenomenalgrowth of the mobile industry in the continent, with huge potential to buildproducts for the region," Mumick said on the occasion.Three-year-old Saya focuses on delivering compelling messaging applica-tions which enhance mobile user experience and are tailored to mobileconsumers in emerging markets, including Africa.Popular for its real-time 'Street Chat' messaging application in the West

African country, Saya's platform includes social network integration, loca-tion-based and group chat across multiple phone platforms such as J2ME,Android and iOS."Though we wanted to create a world class product made by Africans, forAfricans, we remain focused on empowering millions of mobile subscribersworldwide," Saya chief executive Robert Lamptey said in the statement.Saya was incubated in 2011 at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Tech-nology, which trains, mentors and invests in technology start-ups at Accra inGhana.As a leader in voice messaging and social media apps that enable mobilesubscribers to have a voice and share their stories with their family andfriends the world over, Kirusa offers product solutions like InstaVoice, CelebConnect and Sports Connect to about 80 million users across Africa, India,Latin America and West Asia.Built on patented technology, the company's apps are scalable, multimodaland cloud platforms, which process over a billion events a month. Saya'sinvestors include the Meltwater Foundation, Forward Partners and Progressthrough Business.

WHICH IS LIFE'S LONGEST

LASTING RELATIONSHIP?London, (IANS) Do you know which is life's longest lasting relationship?It is the bond between siblings."It lasts longer than our relationship with our children, certainly longerthan with a spouse, and with the exception of a few lucky men andwomen, longer than with a best friend," wrote authors Stephen Bank andMichael Kahn in their latest book "The Sibling Bond".Sibling relationships provide children with their first peer interactionsand the first opportunity to handle the different aspects of long-term andintimate relationships. Some people are able to let go of negative expe-riences better than others. And siblings seem especially capable of this."The relationships which we have with our siblings thrive on differences- not only the ones we have had as children, but those which we continueto create as adults," Bank and Kahn added.

Difference - like similarity - helps to make lively our connections evenwhen these connections are upsetting or uncomfortable. Being differentmakes the bond work.According to Huffington Post, "Siblings that experience traumatic eventstogether, whether it be the divorce of their parents or the sudden loss of aloved one, maintain the ability to put their differences aside and bandtogether for strength and support".They work through the pain, experience tough life lessons with a stablesupport system and often grow closer than ever.Earlier research shows that as people get older, their morale seems to behigher if their siblings are also living.In addition, elderly men with sisters seem to be more emotionally securethan those without sisters, the report added.

FRESH CASES OF EBOLA RECORDED IN NIGERIA: OFFICIALAbuja (IANS): Fresh cases of the Ebola virus disease have been recorded in Nigeria, where the highly contagious disease has alreadyclaimed five lives, Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu said Friday.The minister said the new cases of Ebola are spouses of health workers who had primary contacts with the index case, Patrick Sawyer,a Liberian-American, who spread the virus to Africa's most populous country, Xinhua repor ted.The new cases are the first secondary contacts to test positive to the Ebola virus in Nigeria, noted Chukwu, who spoke to reporters inAbuja, capital of the West African country."The secondary contacts had been under surveillance since the outbreak of the disease in Nigeria," he added.On Wednesday, the official said Nigeria had been able to control the spread of the Ebola virus, confirming that only two people were livingwith the virus in the country. Earlier this month, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a national emergency, saying a sum of1.9 billion naira ($11.6 million) would be released to prevent fur ther spread of the epidemic.Ebola spreads through body fluids and has killed over 1,300 people in West African countries.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014w o r l d

PAKISTANI SUPPORTERS OF OPPOSITION POLITICIAN IMRAN KHAN GATHER DURING AN ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTEST IN FRONT OF THEPARLIAMENT IN ISLAMABAD, CAPITAL OF PAKISTAN. (XINHUA/AHMAD KAMAL/IANS)

Fuel cell technology gets a boostWashington (IANS): In an impetus for fuel cell technology to build"smar t" cars, scientists at Stanford University have developed a low-cost, emissions-free device that uses an ordinary AAA battery to pro-duce hydrogen by water electrolysis.The battery sends an electric current through two electrodes that splitliquid water into hydrogen and oxygen gas.Unlike other water splitters that use precious-metal catalysts, theelectrodes in the Stanford device are made of inexpensive and abun-dant nickel and iron."Using nickel and iron which are cheap materials, we were able tomake the electrocatalysts active enough to split water at room tem-perature with a single 1.5-volt battery," explained Hongjie Dai, a pro-fessor of chemistry at Stanford University.This is the first time anyone has used non-precious metal catalysts tosplit water at a voltage that low. "It is quite remarkable because nor-

mally, you need expensive metals like platinum or iridium to achievethat voltage," Dai added.Fuel cell technology is essentially water splitting in reverse.A fuel cell combines stored hydrogen gas with oxygen from the air toproduce electricity that powers the car.The only byproduct is water - unlike gasoline combustion that emitscarbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.In 2015, US consumers will finally be able to purchase fuel cell carsfrom Toyota and other manufacturers.Although touted as zero-emissions vehicles, most of the cars will runon hydrogen made from natural gas - a fossil fuel that contributes toglobal warming. "In addition to producing hydrogen, the novel watersplitter could be used to make chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide,another impor tant industrial chemical," researchers concluded.The study appeared in the journal Nature Communications.

CLIMATE CHANGE PUTS EUROPEAT DENGUE RISKLondon (IANS): Dengue fever could make headway in popularEuropean holiday destinations if climate change continues onits predicted trajectory, according to an alarming research.The study by University of East Anglia (UEA) used current datafrom Mexico where dengue fever is present and informationabout the European Union (EU) countries in order to model thelikelihood of the disease spreading in Europe.They found that coastal regions in around the Mediterraneanand Adriatic seas, the Po Valley and Nor th East Italy were mostat risk."Our study has shown that the risk of dengue fever is likely toincrease in Europe under climate change," said lead researcherPaul Hunter from UEA's Norwich Medical School.For this study, researchers wanted to estimate how likely thedisease is to become established in Europe as its climatechanges up to the end of the century.The results of the long-term projections found an increased riskof the disease when compared to baseline conditions.The incidence rate is predicted to go from two per 100,000 in-habitants to 10 per 100,000 in some places.The areas anticipated to be at most risk were found to be alongthe Italian cost and Po Valley in Italy, the Spanish Mediterra-nean and southern Spain in general.Each year, dengue infects 50 million people worldwide andcauses approximately 12,000 deaths, mostly in south-east Asiaand the western Pacific.The study appeared in the journal BMC Public Health.

India-US natural partners: US diplomatNew Delhi, (IANS) India and the US are natural partners and the worlddemands that the two nations cooperate, US diplomat Kathleen Stephenssaid Monday."Our ability to work together remains a foundation for strong partnership,"Stephens, the charge d'affaires at the US embassy in India, said at thelaunch of the International Innovations Corps Leadership Speaker seriesof the University of Chicago centre here.Stephens said: "I arrived in India at a very consequential moment. Not onlyfor India-US relations but for India itself with the new government takingover."Stating that the US government wants to work in a positive direction likethat laid down out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said the USwants to cooperate with India in the fields of health, climate change and

infrastructure building."India needs to create a million jobs per month. You don't have all the timein the world," she added.Asked about the prime minister's scheduled visit to the US nextmonth, she said: "I hope they (Modi and US President BarackObama) are able to meet face to face".The International Innovations Corps (IIC) fellowship programmeof the University of Chicago Center in Delhi aims to jump star t theprocess of solution-based innovation in the Indian public sector.Specifically, the IIC recruits, trains and send teams of recent Uni-versity of Chicago and leading Indian university graduates to workon ambitious development projects with the Indian government forone year.

BRITISH INDIAN MP TO TACKLEVIOLENCE AGAINST WOMENLondon, (IANS) British Indian MP SeemaMalhotra has been appointed the first evershadow minister tasked with tackling vio-lence against women in Britain, Oppositionleader Ed Miliband announced.Seema Malhotra, 42, who will join ShadowHome Secretary Yvette Cooper's front benchteam, will champion the needs of all victimsof rape, domestic and sexual violence, aswell as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, traffickingand prostitution, a statement on the Labour Party website said Mon-day. Commenting on her appointment, Malhotra said, "It is significantthat Labour has made this issue such a priority and I look forward toworking with colleagues to try and make a real difference to womenwho have experienced huge trauma in their lives." Malhotra was electedLabour Co-operative Party MP for Feltham and Heston constituency inwest London in December 2011. The former management consultantwill also play an important role in shaping Labour's Women's SafetyCommission to develop proposals for legislation to tackle vio-lence against women and girls, which will be prioritised if theLabour Par ty comes to power. "I am delighted that Seema hasagreed to become Labour's first ever Shadow Minister for Pre-venting Violence against Women and Girls. She undoubtedlybrings real exper tise to this impor tant role," Leader of the LabourPar ty Ed Miliband said. A shadow minister is a member of themain opposition par ty in Parliament who would hold ministerialoffice if their par ty were in power.

Indian online market set toexplode: Google studyMumbai (IANS): With the Indian online market set to explode,telecom companies stand to generate an additional revenue of$8 billion and EBITDA of $2.9 billion over the next three years, ajoint study by Google and AT Kearney has forecast.India will witness a major mobile explosion with over 155 mil-lion mobile Internet users today, which will more than double to480 million by 2017, the study, released here Thursday said.During that period, the smar tphone penetration will grow sixtimes to touch 385 million, users making online transactions will growto 160 million, data consumption on mobile phones will triple and con-sumers would buy five times more content, the study said."Indian telcos are poised to leapfrom directly into a digital play since theshift from data to digital will happen much faster in India, as more digitalcontent and services are adopted by users. Within three years, Indiantelcos revenue is expected to reach USD35 billion, with data revenuesgrowing at over 70 pecent annually till then, and new digital VAS streamsemerging and growing exponentially," said Nikolai Dobberstein, of ATKearney, one of the authors of the study.The four top priority areas that could unlock huge revenues for the Indiantelcos are E-store and E-care, with online recharges for prepaid mobilephones accounting for more than one-third of all recharge value, MediaContent and Services to creat more than $6 billion in additional data andcontent revenues. There is also Mobile Business Apps for SMEs with apotential of $1 billion revenues and M-Payments enabled e-stores, paidcontent and app transactions which would create additional rev-enue streams for the Indian telcos.Google India Vice-President and MD for sales and operationsRajan Anandan said that according to their market research, 73percent of mobile data consumers would be willing to spendmore time online if more enter tainment content like online musicand videos were available in an engaging format.

Looking forward to working with Modi government: Singapore PMSingapore, (IANS) Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Friday said his country hopes to work with India in areas of infrastructureand education, and expressed his desire to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi who "came in with a thumping mandate", a mediarepor t said.Speaking at the opening day gala dinner in Global Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Alumni conference, IIMPACT 2014, here, Lee saidhe was optimistic about bilateral cooperation with India on areas like urban and port development, water and sewage projects, as wellas education and training, The Straits Times repor ted.He noted that new Indian prime minister has a majority in the Lok Sabha, which is "something that has not happened for a very, very longtime".Over 1,000 alumni, many of whom are leaders in multinational and major Indian companies, from the IIM network of prestigiousbusiness schools in India attended the conference.Lee, who spent an hour answering questions from the audience on developments in the region, said: "There are great hopes for India totake the next step forward. India is a massive country so you do not expect transformation within 100 days."But we do hope that it will be going in a positive upward and accelerated direction, connecting to the world, fulfilling its potential,attracting investments, engaging with the global trading system, and playing a role, also strategically, in the wider region."







ACTORS DHARMENDRA AND GIPPY GREWAL DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE TO PROMOTE THEIR UPCOMING FILM 'DOUBLE DITROUBLE` IN NEW DELHI. THE MOVIE IS RELEASING ON AUGUST 29. (IANS)

ATTENBOROUGH'S 'GANDHI' CHANGEDLIVES OF ALL OF US: OM PURI

'Finding Fanny': Censorsshy away from virgin-ity

Priyanka not interestedALS Ice Bucket ChallengeActress Priyanka Chopra has been nominated by many to take up theALS ice bucket challenge, but she doesn't seem to be interested.The challenge involves dumping buckets of ice water over one's headto spread awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or LouGehrig's disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinalcord. Apar t from Hollywood stars like Tom Cruise, Rober t Pattinsonand Nicole Kidman accepting it, Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar,Bipasha Basu and Abhishek Bachchan also took up the challenge.But Priyanka is not joining the league.`Thank u for all the nominations but... RT @shrishtiarya: NewsreaderBeautifully Shuts Down Ice Bucket Challenge pedestrian.tv/news/ar ts-and-culture/newsreader-beautifully-shuts-down-ice-bucket-chall/600a2c06-7dec-4f27-a74a-1ab99a534c75.htm ...... (sic),` the ̀ Don`star tweeted Sunday.The link shared by her shows an Australian newsreader LincolnHumphries, who firmly shuts the idea down. Humphries acknowl-edged the good that the ice bucket challenge has done, then sug-gested some other things that can be done to make a difference, includingspreading the love around to other deserving causes like cancerand fresh water charities, and not wasting so much ice.Earlier, Sonam Kapoor had refused to take up thechallenge after being nominated by`Fukrey` fame Pulkit Samrat.`@Pu lk i tSamra t already made adonat ion!! Not dumping water :-( waste of resources!`, shehad tweeted.Hol lywood actress Pamela Andersonhas also refused as she said she can'tsuppor t an organisation thatdoes testing on ani-mals.

BY SUBHASH K. JHA

Mumbai (IANS): Om Puri, who had a miniscule role in British film-maker Richard Attenborough's Oscar winning film "Gandhi", says the filmchanged the life of everyone who has been associated with it."Richard Attenborough's Gandhi changed the lives of all those who wereassociated with the film. Most of all, it changed Ben Kingsley's life. Thereaftereach time Gandhi's picture flashed across our mind, we saw Ben's facealong with Gandhiji," said Puri."I had barely one-and-a-half-minute screen-time in Gandhi. But what an im-pact my cameo made! I believe it was shown as the footage during the Oscarnominations, a huge honour in a film that starred the most distinguished castpossible...," he added. Oscar winning filmmaker Attenborough died Sunday.

He was 90. Puri says that his going away is sad, "but then death is inevi-table". "However the pain of his going away is diminished when we con-sider the fact that an artiste and a visionary like Sir Richard has gone awayafter using his creative powers to the maximum. Such people become apart of history and a source of inspiration for many generations to come."He was an accomplished actor and a filmmaker. With Gandhi he achievedthe pinnacle of success. With the film he changed India's image abroad. Avery large section of the Western world did not know our values, culture andethics, our struggles and triumphs as a nation. Because 'Gandhi' was sucha success, it reached into the recesses of hearts all over the world...," hesaid. The actor, who has worked in several international films in lead roles,the recent one being "The Hundred Foot Journey", had just a cameo in"Gandhi". Puri played a man who had lost his son."I played a cameo as Nahari. Sir Richard had seen me in 'Aakrosh' and haddecided to give me the role of 'Nahari in 'Gandhi'. I shot for just one night. Ihad screen time of barely 90 seconds. But my scene came at a veryimportant point in the narrative and it was so well written. But it was amemorable night," he said.The purpose of the multiple-Oscar winning film was to highlight the human-ism of Gandhi. "Sir Richard made Gandhi with complete passion. He wasnot so much interested in the politics of Mahatma Gandhi as he was inhis humanism. The film focused on the non-violence and the free-dom struggle of the Mahatama. Sir Richard deliberately didn't fea-ture Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the script. If he had been present,'Gandhi' would've become a political film, which Sir Richard didn'twant it to be.

The Censor Board has objected to the use of the word 'virgin'uttered by Deepika Padukone in a dialogue in the film 'FindingFanny' The Central Board of Film Cer tification (CBFC) has clearedthe English version of Homi Adajania's Finding Fanny with a U/Acer tificate and two cuts.One of the deletions is a scene where Deepika Padukone's char-acter tells Arjun Kapoor that she is a virgin. A source says,`Apar t from the scene where Deepika is talking about her vir-ginity, there's one more scene where Deepika is shown pullingoff her bra strap. This too has been deleted by the examiningcommittee of the Censor Board."The source adds that the committee is also said to have wantedto delete a scene where Pankaj Kapoor is shown staring at DimpleKapadia's butt, but the makers of the film apparently arguedagainst the move. `They finally convinced the committee to re-tain the scene as a flash rather than a two-minute scene. TheHindi version of the fi lm is yet to be cer tif ied,` says thesource. The film was supposed to have a premiere on August25, but it was postponed to September 1, since the film'smakers were not sure if it would get timely clearance fromthe CBFC due to its backlog of work after the arrest of CBFCCEO Rakesh Kumar. A road trip set in Goa, Finding Fanny starsactors such as Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Dimple Kapadia,Arjun Kapoor and Deepika Padukone and it's slated for releaseon September 12.

Kangana's character in 'Katti Batti' does not equate motherhood withmarriage, causing a rift in her relationship. Mirror (July 30) had in-formed that Kangana Ranaut has given the nod to Nikhil Advani's'Katti Batti', opposite Imran Khan. Now, we have learnt that the filmrevolves around the couple's live-in relationship which hits a roughpatch when she gets pregnant.When the news is broken, Imran's character, Maddy, reacts with,"Let's get married?" But Payal (Kangana) takes him by surprise byretor ting, "Why? Because I'm pregnant? So what's the big deal!" Nikhilpoints out that both the characters have shades of grey, creating manytwists. Payal who comes from an affluent family in Delhi, has re-freshingly different ideas about love, marriage and parenthood. ButMaddy, a middle-class boy from Pune, is structured in his views,comfor table in his space and the only risk he's ever taken is to fall inlove with this unpredictable, volatile girl who turns his life topsyturvy.It's scripted by Anshul Singhal, a boy from Saharanpur who went to IITand fell in and then out of love with a girl. The nail on the coffin wastheir conflicting views on star ting a family. "I agreed to do the film juston the basis of the original title, Saali Kutiya: A Love Story.The cen-sors would have never passed it, so we changed it to Katti Batti. ButI have retained Anshul's modern take on an age-old institution. Itreflects the fact that Indian women today are confident, progressive,empowered and ready to take chances," says Nikhil.The director was always keen on casting Imran as Maddy, but gettingthe nod from Kangana for Payal was a bonus. "After the narration, we

sat together for three hours discussing details of the character. I couldsee that Kangana was as excited as I was," he reminisces.Siddhar th Anand's 2005 love story, Salaam Namaste, too revolvedaround a livein relationship, which unravels when Preity Zinta's char-acter discovers that she is pregnant and her par tner, Saif Ali Khan,doesn't want to get married. However, Nikhil points out that while thatcouple was based in Australia. Maddy and Payal , who meet in ar tschool, live in Mumbai. "Our story is rooted in and unfolds in urbanIndia and that's the big difference," he reasons.

For Kangana, pregnancy without marriage not a problem


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014b o l l y w o o d

FIRST EDITION OF NORTHEASTFILM FEST STARTS IN CAPITALNew Delhi (IANS): Minister for Information and BroadcastingPrakash Javadekar Friday opened the first edition of nor theastfilm festival in the capital and said the government is committedto mainstream new initiatives in the region.Organised by the directorate of film festivals, ministry of infor-mation and broadcasting in coordination with north east division(HM) and NElim and ministry of culture, the three-day event titledFragrances from the Nor th East will screen nine films, includingseven feature and two non-feature films."The government is fully committed to mainstream new initia-tives in the nor theastern region across different sectors. Theobjective was to harness the rich potential of the region withregards to its geographical and cultural diversity," Javadekarsaid at the opening ceremony.At the event Javadekar was happy with the enthusiasm shown bythe audience, mostly youngsters from the region.Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mukul Sangma, who was also at theevent, said the state government has already star ted buildinginfrastructure, which will be "befitting to host any kind of interna-tional event".Fi lm personali t ies from the region such as Manju Borah,Geetanjali Thapa, Oinam Gautam Singh, Mapuia Chawngthu andAlex Lalchhuankima, also attended the opening ceremony, whichwas followed by Assamese singer Papon and his band The EastIndia Company's performance.After that "Khawnglung Run", a film from Mizoram, was screened.Directed by Mapuia Chawngthu, the action-romantic film, basedon historical massacre of Khawnglung during the 19th century,left many in awe.

Emraan Hashmi turns love guruNew Delhi (IANS): EmraanHashmi, who is tagged asa serial kisser, is set togive advice on love on thesmall screen.The actor's "Raja Natwaral"will release Aug 29, but be-fore that his fans can catchhim on Bindass' new show"Pyaar Ka The End".The show tries to createawareness about how lovetakes a wrong turn and Emraan will give advice on how to dealwith such complex situations and prevent regretful actions, reada statement.The episode, which will be aired Friday, revolves around Suraj,who is dating Juhi but cheats on her with his boss Smita.What happens to the trio forms the rest of the story.

Hope 'Mardaani' works, so wecan make part 2: RaniMumbai (IANS): "Mardaani", which deals with the issue of girltrafficking, carries a message on women's empowerment andthe film's lead actress Rani Mukerji hopes that it works so thatthey can bring out par t two.Directed by Pradeep Sarkar, "Mardaani", which sees Rani as apolice officer, hits the screens Friday."'Mardaani' carries a message on women empowerment. It dealswith the issue of trafficking of girls," said Rani."It is time women should take up matters like self-protection intotheir own hands. I don't want any girl to be dependent on herfather or brother to go somewhere just because she is scared,"she said referring to rise in crime against women in the countryand how parents "worry" when their daughters step out.Rani feels it is high time girls should be self-reliant"I want gir ls to enrol in self-defence classes l ike karate,kickboxing etc. I hope the film works, so that we can come upwith 'Mardaani-2' and tell another story that will make an impact.I also think more films like Mardaani should be made," she said."MARDAANI" IS COMING OUT WITH AN A-CERTIFICATE "Unfor tunately, in our country, we don't have a separate censorcer tificate for people above 12 years and below 18 years. Eitherwe have an A cer tificate, which is only for adults or UA-cer tifi-cate for people of all ages. "I would love to see people, espe-cially women and girls, across all age groups watching the film.The film will inspire girls to speak their mind, be brave and bringout their 'mardaana' (brave and bold) spirit," he said.

Big B's screen son, daughtershare special bond in real lifeBy Subhash K. JhaMumbai (IANS): Young actors Aahana Kumra and Pavail Gulati,who played Amitabh Bachchan's children from his two marriagesin the serial "Yudh", have a real life sibling bonding betweenthem.In fact, Aahana says she is as close to Pavail as she is to herown brother."When Pavail came to Mumbai from Delhi, I was his first friend.He and I studied together and we depend on one another foradvice and suppor t," she said, adding that even his family is likeher own."When I go to Delhi I stay in his place," she said.Aahana even ties a rakhi to Pavail like she does to her ownbrother."From the time he came to Mumbai, we've been like family. I amthe only family he has in Mumbai. He looks after me and I lookafter him," she said.The two actors have often worked together on stage, and havenow worked on the small screen too."Since we spend so much time together we end up fighting likeall normal siblings. I wasn't surprised when I ended up playingPavail's stepsister in 'Yudh'. I just wish we had more scenestogether," she said."Yudh", which marked Amitabh's foray into fiction on TV, hasbrought Aahana and Pavail even closer together."I think we make a great team. I hope we get more opportunitiesto work together," Aahana said.

I've no clue: Sakshi Tanwar on Ekta Kapoor's showBy Subhash K. JhaMumbai (IANS): Popular actress Sakshi Tanwar of "Kahaani GharGhar Kii" and "Bade Achhe Lagte Hain", says Ekta Kapoor has askedher for a meeting, but as of now, she is clueless about whether a newshow is in the pipeline with the TV czarina.There have been repor ts that following the end of "Bade...", Sakshi isset to join hands with Ekta once again, in a show titled "Itna Na KaroMujhe Pyaar", featuring Ronit Roy.But Sakshi says she's in Delhi with her parents ever since the cur-tains came down on "Bade Achhe..." in July."I've been in Delhi with my parents ever since 'Bade...' got over. Ektahas asked for a meeting when I return to Mumbai. But as of now, I'veno clue what it is for," said Sakshi.She admits that she was approached for a show by Ekta earlier."This was for another show before 'Bade...' ran its course. I had toregretfully say no to that offer. At that time I wanted to take abreak. Ekta was a real sweethear t about it. She said, 'You let meknow when you're done with your break and we'll do somethingtogether'."At this point of time, Sakshi says she has no idea what Ekta has inmind for her.

"Until I meet her I can't really say what we'll do together," saidSakshi, who still regrets the end of "Bade..."."It was a beautiful journey filled with happy memories. But like theysay, 'All good things must come to an end.' I suppose every end is anew beginning," she added.

Attention Alia Bhatt haters: She justproved why she's cooler than youAnd no, the memes you have had such fun laughing at have nothing to dowith it.In fact, unless the jokes you have laughed at the most have something todo with a Sajid Khan film, there's little chance that you might havefound the following remotely hilarious: "Alia Bhatt is so dumb thatshe thinks India's national animal is Tiger Shroff".Ever since she said Prithviraj Chavan was the President of India,Alia Bhatt became synonymous with stupidity, the way Roadiesis with Chandigarh. In the same Koffee with Karan episode, hercolleagues Varun Dhawan and Siddhar th Malhotra had too failedto answer the question but got no meme love from the world ofInternet haters.Now All India Bakchod has come up with a new video titledGenius of the Year, a spoof on the thriving Alia memes andjokes doing the rounds of the internet. The video, whichalso stars Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra and KaranJohar, shows how Alia Bhatt trains under guys fromAIB to turn into a person deemed 'intelligent' bythe masses.The video, directed by Dharma Productionsfavourite Shakun Batra, who also directedthe quirky Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, deserves someinternet love for three reasons.1. Alia Bhatt: If you have laughed because ofan Al ia Bhatt meme, here 's where she justwhooped your posterior. Because there is nosharper weapon to counter criticism than some self-deprecating humour. Basically, in this video, Bhattjust laughed at herself along with you and killed all thefun for you, didn't she?The paradox of India's relationship with Bollywood is whilemost of us can't spend one satisfying weekend without itor can't organise one great shaadi without a fair bit of helpfrom it, we equally love to hate Bollywood. For us, everyinsider in Bollywood is a par ticipant of the drama of the

absurd and is wor th ridiculing - stereotypes are rampant, criti-cism always legitimate.More than laughing with Bollywood, strangely enough, we enjoylaughing at it. Especially it's women - who according to the aver-age Indian person are almost always stupid. It doesn't help thatBollywood stars counter criticism with cold dismissal.However, Alia Bhatt, has just broken new ground and decided topar ticipate in the orgy of memes and jokes built around her al-leged stupidity. It's like she just turned back and lobbed the jokeback at the meme makers' cour t by just being the cooler person.2. Karan Johar: Bollywood haters would probably say that KaranJohar has single-handedly made it impossible to woo girls with-

out singing cloying Hindi songs, without dressing up likeKen, without saying lines which would be indispensable if

Twilight was to be written in Hindi.You blame him for making women seem dumb chiffonmodels, you blame him for making weddings look likeIndia-themed Olympics opening ceremonies with whitebackground dancers, you blame him for making ShahRukh Khan look like the best thing to have happened

to women since Tarzan.Two drinks and one Bob Dylan track down, you can-

not utter his name without prefixing it with the Hindiword for brother-in-law. And then he comes on

this video and tells you he knows exactly whatyou think about him. Some would say, that'sone way of saying, he doesn't give a damn.And a damn cool one, too.3. Arjun Kapoor: He agreed to appear in a

video that calls him 'gareebon ka Wolverine'.All the men who ever aspired to appear on Roadies

suffer from the same condition, but they'd probablystop using hair gel and embrace the scary new worldof having human hair than agree with such a charac-ter description.

Nargis Fakhri denies dating reports with Varun DhawanActress Nargis Fakhri has denied reports of dating her 'Main Tera Hero' co-star Varun Dhawan, saying she is romantically linked with herself andnot anyone else. "What? No way dude. Oh, really it's been written? I haven't read that. I don't have any idea about that. People just right stuff, right.That's hilarious," Nargis told in an interview on the sidelines of the unveiling of Myntra's style helpline here.Indirectly blaming the media, the 34-year-old model-turned-actress said such stuff is written out of blues, without any truth in it. "There was a rumourthat I was dancing with another actor all night long in a party when I hadn't even seen that person. No offence, but people just write stuff," she said.Asked what was her idea of a good date, she said Indian boys should not be fanciful but creative while dating girls. "Indian boys should learn to dateproperly. You needn't have to be fancy but creative. Ask the girl for a date. Do something nice. Don't expect anything - that is the main thing. Neverexpect anything. Have a nice time. Have conversation," she said.It goes same with her also, Nargis said, adding, she keeps that standard and does not go any lower than that. "I had one good date in New York. Theperson picked me up on my doorstep. Took me to hotels and nightclub and dropped me at my home. Can you imagine? That was the mostmemorable date I ever had and to me I keep that standard. you can't go any lower than that," she said.

First look of Madhur Bhandarkar's next movie Calendar GirlsMadhur Bhandarkar all set withhis next movie based on theglitzy and glamorous world offashion, today unveiled the firstlook of Calendar Girls.Interestingly, the director choseto keep the faces of his five newfinds hidden in the first poster.Dressed in shimmering goldswimsuits, the five ladies showoff their perfect-10 figure buttheir faces.According to reports, Madhurplans to keep the girls hiddenuntil the completion of the film.Not only has Madhur restrictedvisitors at the shoot, but hasalso forbidden his team fromcarrying mobile phones or cam-eras. The cast and crew havebeen bound by Non-DisclosureAgreement too.Calendar Girls, starring fivenewcomers, revolves aroundmodels who gain fame after fea-turing in calendars.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014 b o l l y w o o d

2 Mardaani Me Tum Ko Nahi Choroungi

3 Double di Trouble Aisi Mulaqat

4 Kick Jumme Ki Raat

5 Enter tainment Johnny Johnny

6 Kick Hangover

7 Ek Villain Galliyan

8 Enter tainment Veerey Di Wedding

9 Ek Villain Banjaara

10 Kick Yaar Naa Miley

top

10

MOVIE COLLECTIONS

HIT OR FLOP MIDWEEKENTERTAINMENT SUPERHIT

MARDAANI HIT

SINGHAM RETURNS SUPERHIT

KICK BLOCKBUSTER

EK VILLAIN SUPERHIT

UpcomingBOLLYWOOD Movies

FILM

songs

BANG BANGRELEASE DATE: Oct 02, 2014

STAR CAST: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Danny

Denzongpa, Javed Jaffrey, Pawan

Malhotra

DIRECTOR(S): Siddharth Anand

PRODUCER(S): Fox Star Studios

SONG

SAMJHAWAN

Film: HumptySharma Ki Dulhania1

DAAWAT-E-ISHQRELEASE DATE: September 5, 2014

STAR CAST: Aditya Roy Kapur, Parineeti Chopra

DIRECTOR(S): Habib Faisal

PRODUCER: Aditya Chopra

DESI KATTEYRELEASE DATE: August 28, 2014

STAR CAST: Sunil Shetty, Akhil Kapur, Jay

Bhanushali, Sasheh Aagha, Tia Bajpai, Murli Sharma

DIRECTOR(S): Anand Kumar

PRODUCER: Anand Kumar

HAPPY NEW YEARRELEASE DATE: Oct 23, 2014

STAR CAST: Shahrukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika

Padukone, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah, Jackie Shroff,

Kareena Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Dadlani, Dino Morea

DIRECTOR(S): Farah Khan

PRODUCER(S): Gauri Khan, Shahrukh Khan

DOUBLE DI TROUBLERELEASE DATE: August 29, 2014

STAR CAST: DHARMENDRA AND GIPPY GREWAL

DIRECTOR(S): Smeep Kang

GENRE: Comedy

Double Di Trouble, a screwball romantic comedy thatcan be enjoyed by the whole family: Manmord Sidhu

BY SHAZIA MALIK

Toronto - Wish to get trapped inthe funhouse? Watch the latestPunjabi flick Double Di Troublethat opens to public on August 29internat ional ly and in GTA atCineplex Si lvercity Brampton,Cineplex Cour tney ParkMississauga, Landmark SquareOne Mississauga, and AlbionCinema Etobicoke.A White Hill Production starringglobal ly recognized Punjabisinger and actor Gippy Grewaland directed by Smeep Kang,Double Di Trouble is based onShakespeare's well known playthat takes a desi twist when afather-son pair discover theirmi r ror images in a d i f fe ren tcountry. The riot of laughter be-gins when people around thisduplicate wisecracking charm-ing duo keep confusing betweenthe two! The situation gets fur therconfounded when the duo tries toput its own logic behind the newfaces behaving like old pals. Thevisually striking film has legend-ary actor Dharmendra, PoonamDhillon, Minisha Lamba, GippyGrewal, Kulraj Randhawa andGurpreet Gugghi.M idweek sa t w i th G ippyGrewal and Manmord Sidhu,whose White Hill Productions isreleasing the upcoming Punjabiflick Double Di Trouble. Accord-ing to Gippy the film is full timeconfus ion as characters runinto circles. He said: "In thissituational comedy I am play-ing a double role along with leg-endary Bollywood star DharmBhaji. The del ightful vi l lagersGippy and Dharmendra are fun-nier as they expose the unso-phisticated side of characterswhereas the ones residing in thecity are more sophisticated buttheir encounters at wrong timesand places perplex their rela-tives."Gippy was al l praise forDharmendra who he said "did nothave any airs and made every-one extremely comfor table on thesets of the movie with his wit,

compassion and humor. I wasalso awed by the beauty andglamour of Poonamji." He in-formed that he will soon appearin a Hindi film but confessed thathe struggled with Hindi. "But thebest par t is that the movie has aPunjabi backdrop. I am reinvent-ing myself and taking diverseprojects. I was associated withcomedy films only but now I'mtrying to shed that image and takeup a myriad of roles to prove myprowess in acting."Gippy informed that Bollywoodicon, Aamir Khan has shown tre-mendous interest in Punjabi filmsand asked to look for an appro-priate script for him to be part ofregional movie industry. The nextPunjabi film might see SunnyDeol embracing this industry.Gippy professed tottering odys-sey of mythical struggle in hisearly l i fe but his passion fors ing ing could not be scrpedthough taunted by several as afai led ar t ist . No heeding any

cri t ic ism, Gippy released hisfirst album in 1998 that floppedbadly at music box office.The nex t a lbum re l eased i n2002 received mixed reactionsand did not get the imaginationof people however, one track'Phulkari' from his 2003 albumrocked the country and every TVand radio channel was abuzzwith that number. But the restof the album did not do well andso the dream to make it big inthis field once again died. Dur-ing his long years of struggleduring 2002 to 2006, Gippy wasoscillating between Vancouverand Punjab, India.He told: "I used to spend sixmon ths i n Vancouve r do ingthree jobs from throwing news-papers in houses to moppingshopping malls floors to secu-rity guards. I used to l ive onbare minimum in Vancouver tokeep my head above water andalso collect money to release anew a lbum on my re tu rn toPunjab. However, my fate tooka tu rn fo r t he be t t e r a f t e rPhulkari became a smash hit itprovided a glimmer of hope asI star ted getting the chance tosing in private par ties for $500to $1,000."Gippy said sailing into the landof movies was a natural pro-gression and since then he hasstuck to Punjabi film industry.Though he was offered someroles in Bollywood in 1995-96but as the roles were not so in-spiring, he turned them down.Today Gippy has his own pro-duction house - Gur fateh Films- that intends to introduce newfaces in Punjabi film industry.According to Gippy, the Punjabicinema revolves around onlytwo heroes - him and Diljit andthe i r depar tu re wou ld meancollapse of Punjabi film indus-try."This automatically brings a lotof responsibility on our shoul-der and the fear of a flop loomsafter the film is released. Com-

pa red to us i f a Bo l l ywoodmovie flops, it does not hur t thehero or the director as the scopeof those movies is enormousand recoups money," he added.He also mentioned that Punjabifilms are slowly seeping in theInd ian soc ie ty and now dosomewhat well in Delhi but theymus t a t t r ac t c rowds i n UP,Ca lcu t t a , Pune and ma in l yMumbai to get force.Whereas Punjabi films are do-ing good business overseas dueto a la rge Punjab i d iaspora,some of the Bollywood films arenot even promoted out of Indiaand they sti l l become swash-buck l ing h i ts in the count rysuch as Aashiqui 2 that gener-ated IRs200 crores by beingscreened across India alone.For new comers his recipe forsuccess in life is: "Though luckplays a major role in one's suc-cess but hard work combinedwith your passion are the keys.But s ta rdom does not comecheaply and one has to earn it.Only then one can value fame."Ta l k i ng abou t Doub le D iTrouble, Manmord Sidhu pro-fessed that the movie is beingpromoted in Canada, Thailand,UK, Hong Kong, Pakistan, andSingapore along with India dueto the presence of Dharmendraand hoped i t wou ld do we l lamong Pun jab i -speak ingdiaspora across the globe aswell. He said: "The budgets ofPunjabi f i lms are very smal ldue to limited audience whichmakes i t hard to rope in bigBol lywood stars. But Punjabifilm industry is slowly makingits mark."He opined the movie is hopedto do well in Pakistan as it willbe screened throughout Paki-stani Punjab, mainly Lahore.The country is constructing 20more theatres that will help inthe promotion of Indian Punjabif i lms . "A lso , my p roduc t ionhouse is inviting a number ofPakistani stars to act in ourf i lms. Th is w i l l fu r ther he lpPunjabi films to reach a wideraudience. Thus I feel the futureof Punjabi films is very bright.It is the next happening thing.The purveyors of Bo l lywoodci rcu i t though current ly jus tadmiring and not actively en-joying Punjabi cinema, they willsoon."Giving details about Double DiTrouble, Sidhu informed: "Not onlythe movie but the music of thefilm will please audiences as itis given by Rahat Fateh Ali Khanwho has also sung a few songsin the movie but the one withJazzy B is amazing. Gippy hasalso sung four songs that willcast a spell on audiences. I feelboth Dharmji and Gippy shareda g rea t chemis t ry and pe r -formed in a thoroughly engag-ing double act." He admired allthe cast and crew of the fi lmincluding Dharmendra sayingall stuck to the schedules andper formed very well. Slated tobe one of the big-budget Punjabimovie, Sidhu has spent CAD1.5million on its production.

MIDWEEK EXCLUSIVE



ARMED WITH CWG GOLD, SHUTTLERKASHYAP READY FOR BIGGER THINGS

NANJING-- GOLD MEDALIST DUANGANKSORN CHAIDEE(C) OF THAILAND, SILVER MEDALIST SVETLANA SHCHERBAKOVA(L) OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND BRONZEMEDALIST TATYANA KAPUSTINA OF KAZAKHSTAN POSE FOR PHOTOS ON THE PODIUM DURING THE AWARDING CEREMONY OF THE WOMEN?S +63KG MATCH OFWEIGHTLIFTING EVENT AT THE NANJING 2014 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES IN NANJING, CAPITAL OF EAST CHINA'S JIANGSU PROVINCE. (XINHUA/SHEN PENG/IANS)

BY SANDIP SIKDAR

New Delhi (IANS): The Common-wealth Games gold medal is a bigmotivating factor for top Indianshuttler Parupalli Kashyap to pre-pare for the tougher World Cham-pionships and Asian Games.But not much has changed for the27-year-old after he emulated leg-ends Prakash Pradukone (1978)and Syed Modi (1982) by winningthe men's s ingles gold atGlasgow."Nothing has changed in life, bar-ring a couple of pleasant recep-t ions on return home by thespor ts ministry in Delhi and theTelangana government inHyderabad," Kashyap told IANS

from Hyderabad."I am happy at making it to therecord books as a gold medalwinner. Otherwise there is notmuch to talk about," said theHyderabadi.The Pullela Gopichand protege isnow concentrating on the Aug 25-31 World Championships inCopenhagen and the Sep 19-Oct4 Asian Games in Incheon."I got back to training straight af-ter we came back as the twoevents are very impor tant and Iam just concentrating on them."The former World No.6 was aim-ing for a top-10 rank to earn abetter draw at the world meet.However, a major shoulder injurystopped him from hitting top form

and re-entering the top-10 in theworld."I was aiming for a better rankingwhich would have given me aneasier draw. However, I wasranked somewhere around 20swhen the draw was made and thatexplains the tough draw," saidKashyap.The World No.27 has drawnGermany's Dieter Domke in theopener at the World Champion-ships. Though the Indian has astrong 5-1 record against theWorld No.43, Domke beatKashyap the last time the twoplayed at the Thomas Cup in NewDelhi in May.If the Indian wins, Malaysia'sWorld No.1 and top seed Lee

Chong Wei will most likely bewaiting for him in the secondround. Against the Malaysian, theIndian is yet to take a game letalone winning in their previousfour meetings."I just need to play my best game.I don't have any special plans. Atthe World Championships, everyonehas a chance. The important thingfor me is to maintain my focus. It alldepends on how the conditions arein Copenhagen," said Kashyap, whocame close to winning the bronze atthe 2013 Guangzhou World Champi-onships.However, the Arjuna Awardee hasn'thad much time to prepare for theworld meet due to the CommonwealthGames which, according to him,

have been very taxing."I have had very little time to preparefor the World Championships, onlyabout 7-10 days. CWG was a longevent, almost 20 days which in-cluded preparation t ime, teamchampionships followed by theindividual championships," saidKashyap, who also won the CWGmen's singles bronze and theteam championship silver in 2010."It was physically and mentallyvery taxing. Even though the levelis not that high, it drains you out.It takes time to recover and getback in shape for another bigtournament and I am trying mybest to get into shape for theCopenhagen and Incheon ma-jors."

Real Madrid aimfor big-six seasonMadrid (IANS): If pre-seasonresults were anything to look onthen Real Madrid coach CarloAncelotti would be feeling hotunder the collar and lookinganxiously over his shoulder fol-lowing four defeats, one win anda draw.Fortunately for Ancelotti the fourdefeats came in friendlies, thedraw in the first leg of the Span-ish Super Cup and the win in theEuropean Super Cup final, mean-ing his side has bagged anotherpiece of silverware to add to lastseason's Champions Leagueand Kings Cup while keepingtheir options alive of adding an-other, reports Xinhua.This is a big season for the clubwho have the chance to add theClub World Cup to their trophycabinet in December while at-tempting to once again reign inEurope, retain the Cup and winthe La Liga.If all that seems like a huge de-mand, the fact is that no otherclub in Spain or in fact the worldhas spent as much on playersover the past five years as RealMadrid and with this summer'sarrivals, winning six titles is abig ask but not impossible.Once again Real Madrid presi-dent Florentino Perez has al-lowed himself to be swayed bythe headlines and World Cupperformances, spending 80 mil-lion euros on James Rodriguez,the Colombian who ended asthe top scorer in Brazil and afurther 10 million on Costa Ricagoalkeeper Keylor Navas, oneof the stars of the World Cup.It's not sure whether Navas willbe first choice ahead of IkerCasillas or where Rodriguezshould play or even if he shouldplay ahead of Angel di Maria,whose days at the club couldbe numbered if the right offercomes in. Di Maria was argu-ably Madrid's best player lastseason with a series of gamechanging displays and his paceand energy would be missed ifhe left.However, one man who shouldmake an immediate differenceis German Toni Kroos. Krooshas to be seen as the long termreplacement for Xabi Alonso andhas shown in his appearancesthat he possesses the range ofpassing and the tactical aware-ness to fill the shoes of the Spaininternational.That is good news as Alonso isslowing down, AsierIllaramendi showed last seasonthat he still has a lot to learn andwith Sami Khedira in the lastyear of his contract, the club iskeen to move him on, all ofwhich means Ancelotti is lack-ing defensive midfield cover.Of course many would argue thatis not important. After all, he hasan attack which consists ofCristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Baleand Karim Benzema, who all guar-antee goals and in the case ofRonaldo and Bale, lightening paceon the break. Add Isco, Rodriguezand, for the moment at least, diMaria to that equation and it'sclear that Real Madrid shouldwin majority of their leaguematches against sides con-structed on the basis of loansand free transfers at a canter.However, the departure of young-ster Alvaro Morata does mean thatif there is another signing to bemade this summer it will be an-other No.9 to provide competitionfor Benzema.

CRICKET SCHEDULE



WORLD KABADDI LEAGUE

TORONTO'S YO YO TIGERS REGISTERSECOND CONSECUTIVE VICTORY

HAMPSHIRE RE-SIGN SOUTHAFRICAN LEGGIE TAHIRLondon (IANS): Eyeing a promotion to the top flight after threeyears, English county club Hampshire have re-signed South Afri-can leg-spinner Imran Tahir for a shor t-contract subject tovisa clearance.The 35-year-old Pakistan-born cricketer will be available forthe last two County Championship matches against Kent andGlamorgan, repor ts BBC.In the past, Imran, who has 40 Test wickets for South Africa,has made 77 appearances for the club."It's the business end of the season and there is no (pacebowler) Kyle Abott," Hampshire director of cricket Giles Whitewas quoted as saying by BBC Wednesday."So Imran comes in and hopefully gets us over the line interms of promotion. As the season goes on it's more condu-cive to spin, that and the fact he has been with us beforemeans he will fit in easily and make a difference," he said.Imran first played for Hampshire in 2008 and his most suc-cessful season was in 2011 when he picked up 50 wickets.But it was also in 2011 that Hampshire were relegated fromDivision One of the County Championship.They are now in Division Two and are currently second, 25points behind leaders Worcestershire and eight ahead of Sur-rey in third. The top two teams will be promoted to the firstdivision.

Delhi to double cashincentives for medal winnersNew Delhi, (IANS) The cash incentives for Delhi players winningmedals in international, national and state tournaments in allspor ts will be doubled, Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung said Sunday.Announcing the measure, he said that there will be liberalallocation of funds for promotion of spor ts in Delhi."The allocation will be doubled in the current year and willbe fur ther increased in the coming years," he added.Jung also directed the depar tment of education to prepare avision and a strategy to promote spor ts at mass level acrossthe city and to produce champions in every game.The cash incentives varies from Rs 2,000 for zonal levelmedal winner to Rs.1 crore for Olympics gold medal winner.Cash incentives are being provided in 24 categories of sportevents. The Delhi government has also decided to provide cashincentive to the coaches of spor ts persons who bring laurels tothe country in Olympic Games, Asian Games, CommonwealthGames and World Championships.

SATHIYAN, POULOMI WIN SINGLES TITLESNew Delhi (IANS): Petroleum Spor ts Promotion Board's (PSPB) G.Sathiyan and Poulomi Ghatak emerged champions in the men's andwomen's singles, respectively, in the AAI 44th Inter-Institutional TableTennis Championships at the Thyagraj Stadium here Friday.Sathiyan was in a rampaging form and defeated PSPB colleague anddefending champion Soumyajit Ghosh 11-1, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 10-12,11-9 in the final.At 10-9 serving for the championship point, Sathiyan must have hadhis hear t in his mouth. Luckily, the rally yielded him the last pointwhich came off a backhand flick. It was very badly needed as Sathiyanhad goofed it up in the previous game, as he missed two champion-ships points while allowing Ghosh save six."A great victory, coming after a long time," said Sathiyan who alsobagged two more crowns here -- men's doubles with Sourav Sahaand also the team title three days ago. "I was really delighted to keepmy attacking posture right through. Credit to my coach S. Raman(former national champion)," he added.In the final game, Sathiyan went ahead 2-1 before letting Ghosh stagea comeback in the fif th game. Leading comfortably at 9-5 he let thechance go by as Ghosh, slowly but surely, closed in on to narrow down themargin to 2-3. But in the decider, Sathiyan surged ahead with a 9-2 lead, onlyto make a few errors at the net raising doubts about his ability to hold on abigger stage. But in the end, he came calm and clean to win the crown andwith it the winner's cheque for Rs.75,000.Similarly, fit-again former national champion Poulomi demonstratedthat all was well with her play to defeat young Pooja Sahasrabudhe inthe women's singles final 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8. Poulomi

had defeated second-seed Madhurika Patkar in the semi-final.Poulomi's effor ts fetched her Rs.58,000.Poulomi was slow to begin but picked up steam midway, winning oneand losing one. She made several errors in the third and four th gamebut managed to win the last to go 3-1 up. Never theless, the error-prone Pooja put up a semblance of fight in the fifth to win it 11-8. Butthat was all she could do as the veteran Poulomi won the next rathereasily to claim the title.For hosts Airpor ts Authority of India (AAI), a consolation title came inthe shape of women's doubles win as Nikhat Bhanu and KritwikkaSinha Roy combined well against the PSPB pair of Reeth Rishya andNarasimha Priya to win 3-0. The men's doubles title went to G. Sathiyanand Sourav Saha who beat Ghosh and Harmeet Desai 3-0.Results:Men (Final): G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) 4-2 (11-1, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9); Semifinals: Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB)bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 4-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10), G. Sathiyan (PSPB)bt Sar thak Gandhi (FCI) 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7)Doubles (Final): G. Sathiyan/Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt Soumyajit Ghosh/Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-9)Women (Final): Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabudhe(PSPB) 4-2 (12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8); Semifinals: PoojaSahasrabudhe (PSPB) bt Mousumi Paul (PSPB) 4-2 (11-8, 9-11, 7-11,11-3, 14-12, 11-6), Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar(RSPB) 4-3 (2-11, 12-10, 11-13, 5-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3)Doubles (Final): Nikhat Bhanu/Kritwikka Sinha Roy (AAI) bt ReethRishya/Narasimha Priya (PSPB) 3-0 (1107, 11-8, 11-9)

UNITED SINGHS PLAYER RAVI KUMAR AND BALDEV OF CALIFORNIA EAGLES IN ACTION DURING 9TH MATCH OF THE WORLDKABADDI LEAGUE 2014 IN NEW DELHI . (IANS)

Yo Yo Tigers registered their second consecutive win by defeatingRoyal Kings USA 58-54 in the 11th match of the Wave World KabaddiLeague at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here Sunday.Last week while Yo Yo Tigers defeated Vancouver Lions while RoyalKings USA lost to Lahore Lions during the Birmingham leg of theinternational Kabaddi league.The quar ter star ted on a balanced note with a flurry of attacks andcounter attacks by both the teams displaying some amazing movesby the raiders at both ends. The first quar ter was dominated byraiders leaving no scope for stoppers to ground them.Gursewak Singh and Satish Khattar of Yo Yo Tigers were invin-cible with their pace, while Sohan Singh and Jaskaran Singh werethe best of the stoppers grounding the opponent on few incidents.The second quar ter star ted on a very impressive note by suc-cessfully conver ting the raid into a point for Yo Yo Tigers.

Sandeep Kumar of Yo Yo Tigers won another point for the team inthe second raid made by the team. Royal Kings USA were trailingin the first quar ter by three points but they bounced back andscored few quick points by successfully conver ting their raidsand stops.In the 25th minute of the quar ter Royal Kings USA's Harkirat Singhmade an amazing stop and did not let the raider move a singlestep earning another point for the team.It was a very intense quar ter and Royal Kings USA completelytook over and got one point lead over Yo Yo Tigers with a score of 29-28 on the scoreboard.The third quar ter star ted with an impressive note as both the teamsgave tough competition to each other. The final quar ter got more ex-citing as both the teams gave their best shot but Yo Yo Tigers justmanaged scrape past.

MEGASTAR AMITABH BACHCHAN, ABHISHEK BACHCHAN AND AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN WITH THEIR PRO KABADDI LEAGUETEAM JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS AT SAWAI MANSINGH STADIUM IN JAIPU. (PHOTO: RAVI SHANKAR VYAS/IANS)

Basketball has Olympicdreams for 3x3 versionNanjing (China), (IANS) The world governing body for basketballFIBA is targeting the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for the 3x3 basketball."We have good cards to play and can give the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) something to help rejuvenate theirprogramme, something urban, something very youth-orientatedand something that marries technology with enter tainment,"said FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann watching thecompetit ion at the ongoing Youth Olympics here Sunday,repor ts Xinhua.FIBA made a serious push to include 3x3 for the 2016 RioGames but fell shor t. It had hoped to create a popular newOlympic event, much like volleyball with the introduction ofbeach volleyball and cycling with BMX."We wanted Rio and were very c lose but Rio has morepressing issues so it is understandable that the IOC did notchange the programme. We hope that with changes in theagenda for 2020, we will have the right flexibility and the IOCwill make its choice," Baumann said.Baumann said this while watching the 3x3 competition here,adding that much has changed since the spor t took its placeat the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics. He noted the NanjingGames are much more competitive."You see Venezuela beating Russia, China beating France. That doesnot happen very often in 5-on-5 and for us that is good news becauseit means we are on the right track," he said.Former Spain international Jorge Garbajosa has played the gameat all levels, including the NBA, World Championships 5-on-5and the World 3x3 Championships. He said that while thereare similarities, the games are very different."You have a ball and you have a basket but the way to play isvery different. You do not have time to rest. You have to makequick decisions which makes the game more exciting andthere is a small par ty around the game which is great forplayers and fans," said Jarbajosa.FIBA sees 3x3 basketball, which is a popular recreationalspor t around the wor ld, as a vehic le for non-tradi t ionalpowerhouse hoopster countries to have a chance at Olympicglory.New Zealand coach Anthony Corban agrees and would like tosee 3x3 in Tokyo restricted to countries not competing in 5-on-5 compet i t ion , shou ld the spor t be inc luded in theprogramme."It is a great spor t for development nations. New Zealand is adeveloping basketbal l nat ion. Austral ia is the big dog inOceania. For a lot of those countries that can't go to theOlympics, where it is 5-on-5, this is a great way to developthe game. Tunisia, I had to go to Google to find out where thecountry is. Andorra as well. It is good to see those countrieshere."Brazil coach Fernando Coloneze, though, disagrees with theidea of limiting entries."Volleyball has regular volleyball and beach volleyball. I do notsee why you should restrict the countries," he said.The last word went to United States coach Travis Johnson."It has to be the next thing. We are pushing for it to be the nextthing. It is awesome. Look how beach volleyball has taken off.The setting on the sand with the music, that is the same thing thatFIBA is trying to do here," he said.



Stills from upcoming Tamil film Kaaviya Thalaivan. (IANS)

JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS OWNER ABHISHEK BACHCHAN WITH HIS TEAM MEMBERS.

b o l l y w o o d

Bipasha loves being

'crusaderof horror'

in BollywoodBipasha Basu, who has acted in several films in the horror and supernatural genre, says she is happy being'crusader of horror films' in Bollywood. Bipasha has acted in Aatma, Raaz, Darna Zaroori Hai, Rakht, and willnext be seen in Vikram Bhatt's Creature."I am a greedy actor. I want to do good...meaty roles irrespective of the genre. I am happy filmmakers thinkof me when it comes to horror films. Also my roles in such films have been different and strong. I amhappy being the crusader of horror films," Bipasha said in an interview

here.The dusky beauty however thinks the horrorgenre in India is in the nascent stage."Horror genre is not explored much here.This genre is in its nascent stage here inIndia. There are many interesting things toexplore in horror space," she said.But her acting in horror films has not madeher immune to fear in the real life. "Even ifthere is a little noise around me, I get scared,"she said.Creature, she said, is different from usual ghost,spirit and supernatural films and has a different ele-ment of fear."It is the first Indian creature film being made here,the special effects are done in India. Its a bold stepand I am glad I got to be par t of this film. I don't thinkwe made the film thinking it as an answer to Holly-wood films like Jurassic Park," Bipasha said."It was very difficult film for me to shoot initially as Ihad to imagine the Creature. But Vikram's guidancehelped me a lot. We used to do every shot at leastthree times due to technical reasons," she said.

PK row: Court asksAamir to reply to suitagainst nude pose

A civil cour t has asked Bollywood actor Aamir Khan to file a reply toa civil suit filed against him seeking a ban on the poster and releaseof film PK, where he is seen in the buff standing on railway trackswith a radio covering his private par ts.The direction was given by civil judge MS Sharma who on Fridayasked Khan to file a reply by August 25.The judge also asked the plaintiff's lawyer RN Kachave to satisfy thecour t whether a case of obscenity and vulgarity was made out againstthe actor who allegedly posed nude.The suit, filed by activist Hemant Patil, prayed for a permanent in-junction from the cour t from releasing the film all over India with aban on publicity and adver tisement of the nude picture of Aamir Khanuntil such time the objectionable scenes are removed.The defendants are Censor Board office bearers, actor Aamir Khan,film's producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and director Rajkumar Hirani.According to the suit, the nude poster which has been circulated allover is vulgar and obscene and can corrupt the minds of the people.This poster is being shown in newspapers and television and also oninternet since last one month, the plaintiff claimed.The plaintiff said that Aamir is a good actor and a host of popular TVshow Satyamev Jayate. He has a good and clean image in the eyes ofpublic. However, by appearing nude in this poster for the sake ofpublicity, the actor had done a 'shameful' act and hence he shouldwithdraw such obscene images immediately.The Supreme Cour t had recently dismissed a PIL which sought a banon the exhibition of posters in which a semi-naked Aamir stands onrail tracks for promoting the film PK.The apex cour t was of the view, "If you don't like then don't watch thefilm but don't bring religious facets in it," adding that, "these are mat-ters of ar t and enter tainment and let them remain so."





Harper Tories (31%) Sputter as Trudeau Liberals (38 ...

Documents