2 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, MAY 03, 2016

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

DETAILS ONPAGE 23

YUDHVIR JASWAL, GROUP EDITOR AND CEO OF YMEDIA WITH SANDIP SINGH SANGHA DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH THE PATIALA MPDHARAMVIRA GANDHI AND DR J S CHEEMA AT CHANNEL Y STUDIOS. CHANNEL Y CAN BE VIEWED ON ROGERS 857 AND BELL FIBE 828.

PATHANKOT AIRBASESECURITY WAS NOT ROBUST:

PARLIAMENTARY PANEL

PRINCE HARRY MET WITH PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU IN TORONTO FOR EVENTS MARKING THE COUNTDOWN TO THE 2017INVICTUS GAMES. (PTI)

RAHUL AIDE INVOLVED INAGUSTAWESTLAND, CWG

SCAMS, ALLEGED BJP

NEW DELHI, (IANS) A parliamentary panel has said security at thePathankot airbase in Punjab was not robust and pointed out shor t-comings there ahead of the January 2 terror attack. The security coverat the airbase was not robust and its perimeter wall was poorlyguarded and the base did not have a road around it for patrolling,the parliamentary standing committee for home ministry said.The repor t of the committee was tabled in parliament on Tuesday.The committee, which visited the Indian Air Force base, ques-tioned how terrorists from Pakistan managed to reach the airbase."The committee is unable to understand how despite a terror aler t(having been) sounded well in advance, the terrorists managed tobreach the high-security airbase and subsequently attack it," thepanel said.It asked the government to pay attention to effectively sealing theborder (with Pakistan) through increased patrolling as well asfencing and floodlighting etc. Seven Indian security personnelwere killed in the January 2 attack at the IAF base by terroristswho had crossed over from Pakistan.

DR DHARAMVIRA GANDHI DARES AAPLEADERSHIP TO OUST HIM FROM PARTY

BY SHAZIA MALIKONTARIO - I want AAP leadership to take decision on my fate and oustme from the par ty if my political philosophy clashes with theirs. Thiswas stated by Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi during his interviewwith Yudhvir Jaswal, Group Editor and CEO of YMedia.Explaining fur ther his point of view he said that he joined the par ty forthe common good and bring reforms in Indian politics by star ting ananti-corruption movement but the party star ted drifting from its focalpoint and thinking AAP as a democratic par ty, raised his voice againstsome ills. But he clarified that the par ty has only suspended him andnot expelled him. Therefore, as an AAP worker he will keep on work-ing for the cause of the poor.Answering questions of the diaspora who thought Gandhi made awrong choice of annoying the par ty and so had to face the brunt thatcan be damaging for Punjab politics, Dr Gandhi said his hear t alsofeels for Punjab and has same sentiments but the Punjab unit couldnot be run as a colony of Delhi. He said when a par ty is formed allmajor decisions are made with the consultation of senior par ty mem-

bers. But that is not the case in AAP any more. Also the par ty wasstar ted with the slogan that only clean candidates could join it buteven that has been compromised as people with dubious backgroundare being welcomed which he cannot tolerate. Gandhi also mentionedthat AAP is fast becoming a one-man show thinking he is par ty andthe par ty is him but that is not how they thought this par ty would berun. This is the pattern of other political parties in India and it was thismindset they wish to fight against.Another caller asked him to quit if he was so unhappy with these stateof affairs. Gandhi said he would not as he has been elected by thepeople of his constituency who have put their trust in him not for beingassociated with AAP but for his long struggle for common man and sohe does not owe to the par ty or Kejriwal. He fur ther explained that thefour MPs from Punjab garnered 25% of the total votes in Punjab and ifthe par ty wishes to repeat the Delhi success in this province in 2017,senior leaders must be consulted in decision making. He also urgedthe community not to be fooled by a handful of oppor tunists who wishto ruin AAP.

NEW DELHI, (IANS) The BJP on Tuesday accused Kanishka Singh, anaide to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, of being involved inthe AgustaWestland and 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) scams.Bharatiya Janata Par ty (BJP) MP Kirit Somaiya accused KanishkaSingh of having shares in Emaar MGF Land Ltd., a real estate com-pany that also has Guido Ralph Haschke, one of the accused in theAgustaWestland case, as its director."Hashke is/was the Director in Emaar MGF, who was found involvedin CWG scam. Emaar MGF company was formed by family of Mr.Kanishka Singh, who is advisor/Principal Secretary to Shri RahulGandhi," Somaiya tweeted. Somaiya also appealed to the CBI andEnforcement Directorate to"check the connections of AgustaWestland Helicopters and CommonWealth Games, EmarMGF company, Kanishka Singh to Rahul Gandhi."Asked about Somaiya's allegations, Congress vice president RahulGandhi accused the BJP government of targetting him. "I was alwaystargetted and I am happy to be targeted," he told repor ters.Meanwhile, Kanishka Singh described "all the allegations as base-less, false and given with an ulterior political motive. Somaiya hasbeen making these false allegations about Kanishka Singh withmalafide intent since February 2013. Kanishka Singh rejects theseallegations in their entirety," the Congress said in a statement. "In sofar as Kanishka Singh is concerned, he has absolutely nothing to dowith the matter. Singh wishes for par ties, including AgustaWestlandor Hashke or Emaar-MGF, to be punished in the harshest possibleway if found guilty," the statement said.

Do you have Rogers or Bell?Enjoy Channel Y on Bell for$4, Roger for $5 per month

MISSISSAUGA - Good news for all Channel Y viewers as now youcan watch this 24-hour, seven-days -a-week fun-filled station on Bellfor only $4 per month. Launched by the YMedia Group the channel hasreceived rave reviews for the content it has been generating in a short spanof time especially its coverage of all local events missed by mainstreammedia. The channel currently can be viewed on Rogers for $5. Channel Y airsa host of shows including Punjabi and Hindi programmes, live discussions,health shows, entertainment, sports, Hindi and Punjabi news, exclusiveinterviews of government officials and global celebrities from the world ofsports and cinema.Besides Channel Y, the group publishes a weekly English newspaper - Mid-week every Tuesday. The group also has maximum number of radio hours on770AM with three daily shows from Monday to Friday - Southasian PULSEMorning Time from 6am to 7am; Southasian PULSEPrime Time from 10:00am to 12 noon and Southasian PULSE Drive Timefrom 3:00pm to 4pm. The group CEO also produces other shows that areaired on Rogers basic cable 10 every Monday to Friday at 8pm. YMedia alsohas an app for downloading the latest news. The group has an interactiveonline portal www.SouthasianDaily.com that disseminates minute to minutenews about issues related to the South Asian community.

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BIPASHA BASU TIES KNOT WITH ACTOR KARAN SINGH GROVER IN MUMBAI (IANS).

Kangana's deposition after lot of delay,drama, says Hrithik's legal team

MUMBAI, (IANS) Actress Kangana Ranaut, who is locked in a bitterlegal battle with actor Hrithik Roshan, finally recorded her statementon Saturday and his legal team says a lot of delay and drama hashappened before this first step. "We welcome the move. It has takenso long for them to take this basic first step. Recording of statement isthe first step in any investigative process. A lot of delay and dramahas happened before this first step."It's not for them to say if police is happy with them or not, let thatcome from the investigative agencies. Let's not try and confuse thematter fur ther with various statements. Let the investigation speakfor itself," said Hrithik's lawyers in a statement.Kangana was asked to visit the Cyber Cell to record her statement buthad been delaying it for a long time. However, she finally recorded itbefore a police team that came to her residence. However, post re-

cording her statement, Kangana's lawyer Rizwan Siddique said sheis fully convinced that there is no impostor, who sent the emails asHrithik claims. "My client Kangana Ranaut shall never succumb toany pressure..... The world including people from the film industryneed to learn that in today's changing time, no woman is scared ofanything if she is fiercely determined, and has the truth by her side.""My client knows and is fully convinced that there is no impostor ashad there really been one, than Hrithik himself would have immedi-ately acted on my client's sister complaint which he received on hiscorrect email id on May 25, 2014," he said, adding "his own acts ofcommissions and omissions after receipt of the said emails from myclient's sister, coupled with his blatant lies from time to time, speakvolumes of his conduct. A lot of things will soon unfold in due courseof time," he added.

SRK: GIRLS LOVE MYEYES, REALLY??NEW DELHI, (IANS) Superstar Shah Rukh Khan says thatgirls often fall for his eyes. Speaking about his eyes, KingKhan said: "My eyes are bedroom eyes, they are supposed tobe sexy, they are not tired. Girls love these eyes." In a candidconversation on #fame - live video social platform; the Kingof romance takes a breather from a hectic schedule to chatwith his fans from all over the world on the sets of his upcom-ing film "Raees". Battling the inflow of questions from fanswith much ease and offering insights on his life and work,Shah Rukh talks about his character in the Rahul Dholakiadirectorial. Talking about his Surma (kohl) eye look from thefilm, he said: "Aankhon mein kajal hai (There is kohl in myeyes), which is very scary... everyone tells me. Mujhe bhilagta hai main thoda sa mean lagta hun (I also feel that I looklittle mean)... industry mein kaafi saare co-actors, actors,actresses mujhe bolte hain ki main bohot mean lagta huniske andar (there are many co-actors in the industry who saythat I look mean in kohl)." Duringthe live session, he also openedup about his movie watching ex-per ience with son AbRam."Abram and I have watched'Minions' 200 times and it isour all-time favourite," he said.

FARHAN SLAMS MEDIAFOR TAKING MILKHA'SVIEWS OUT OF CONTEXTNEW DELHI, (IANS) Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, whobrought the life of Milkha Singh to the silver screen with"Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", on Thursday extended his suppor tto the legendary Indian athlete, saying he is "completelyentitled" to have his opinion. Farhan also condemned themedia for taking Milkha's views on superstar Salman Khan'sappointment as India's goodwill ambassador at the RioOlympics out of context. He said Milkha didn't "say any-thing against the actor".When asked about the controversy, Farhan said: "It is genu-inely not for me to decide. It is for the Indian membercommittee to decide who they want to sign as an am-bassador. If they feel it's the best decision then I am noone to say anything.

BOLLYWOOD EX-ACTRESS, SPOUSE UNDERPROBE IN NARCOTICS RACKET

MUMBAI, (IANS) Former Bollywood actress Mamta Kulkarni and herKenya-based husband Vicky Goswami have come under the scannerof police and enforcement agencies in connection with a Rs.2,000-crore narcotics racket unear thed in Thane, a senior police officer

said. Last week, the Thanepolice seized 18.50 tonnesof ephedr ine and 2.50tonnes of acet ic anhy-dride, both banned par tydrugs valued at more thanRs.2,000 crore in the inter-national market, from apharmaceutical factory inSolapur and other loca-t ions in Thane andMumbai. "It is an interna-

tional racket and Vicky Goswami is the main link in it. As for MamtaKulkarni, we shall probe her role in the matter," Thane Police Com-missioner Parambir Singh told the media here. Eight persons, includ-ing Nigerian Sipren Chinassa, have been arrested in what could beIndia's biggest drug haul. The Maharashtra and Gujarat police are onthe lookout for at least four other people who are missing and repor t-edly on the run.Chinassa led the police to other accused who include Manoj Jain,director of BSE-listed Avon Lifesciences Ltd., Punit Shringi, PradeepGill, Sagar Powale, Mayur Sukdhare, Dhaneshwar Swamy andDnyaneshwar Dhimri. The US Drug Enforcement Administration toohas joined in the probe. The US agency met Thane police officials for

details as Goswami is allegedlywanted in the United States. Inci-dentally, Vicky and Mamta weredetained by Kenyan authorities in2014 on the charge of drug traf-ficking.Goswami, 52, was earlier impris-oned for 25 years in the United ArabEmirates in 1997 for traffickingaround 11.50 tonnes of Mandraxbut was released in November2012 on grounds of good conduct.In 2013, he marr ied MamtaKulkarni, now 44. The couple isrepor tedly based in Mombasa inKenya. "During questioning, the arrestedaccused revealed they had travelled toKenya and met Goswami with plans toset up a drug factory in Mombasa,"Singh said. During the 1990s, MamtaKulkarni was paired with some of thetop Bollywood stars like Shah RukhKhan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, SaifAli Khan, Akshay Kumar, SanjayKapoor, Atul Agnihotri and manymore. She had par ticipated in aTV show and bagged a Feminaaward too.

SUNNY LEONE AND TANUJ VIRWANI WITH FILMMAKER JASMINE MOSES D'SOUZA AT A PRESSCONFERENCE FOR FILM ONE NIGHT STAND IN NEW DELHI (IANS).

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MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

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Chandigarh to host Modi on International Yoga DayCHANDIGARH, (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join hun-dreds of people in Chandigarh on the occasion of International YogaDay on June 21. Haryana's Spor ts and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vijon Tuesday said the governments of Haryana and Punjab and theChandigarh administration would jointly host International Yoga Day

in Chandigarh on June 21."Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be present on this occasion,"Vij said here. The event, being organised by the central government,is likely to be held at the sprawling Capitol Complex in Sector 1."More than 10,000 people from Haryana would par ticipate in the event.

The participants would include school and college students and teach-ers, Home Guards and police personnel," Vij said. The UN had listedJune 21 as International Yoga Day in 2014. The first International YogaDay was celebrated in New Delhi last year with Modi leading theyoga enthusiasts.

WEARING 'PUNJABIAT' THROUGH TRADITION AND CATCHY SLOGANSBY AASTHA AHUJACHANDIGARH, (IANS) Thisis one thing that Punjabisdon't mind wearing on theirsleeves - 'Punjabiat'. Eventhe younger generation ofPunjabis, be it in India orabroad, are quite inclined to doso. With the demand fortraditional Punjabi things, whichare packaged in tune with thetimes and latest demand,increasingly in the last fewyears, stores dealing withtraditional items and evencatchy Punjabi one-liners arecreating business out of thedemand.In a leading mall in Chandigarh,where top brands vie with eachother for maximum footfalls andselling trendy and latest stuff, anew store has taken up thechallenge of offering the vibranttradition and culture rootedin Punjab. From the sign-board at the entrance, whichproudly proclaims 'ThekaKhushiyaan Da' (Vend ofhappiness), the store, 'UrbanTheka', is an amalgamationof Punjab's colour ful,humorous and vibrant life.This 'mini Punjab' guaran-tees you a true and rawtaste of Punjab. Located onthe second floor in ElanteMall, this store can bespotted from a distance,thanks to its bright ambi-ence, handmade figurinesand 'phulkaris'. "Our openingcoincided with Baisakhi --Punjab's colour ful festival.The happiness surroundingBaisakhi goes well with thetheme of 'Urban Theka'," I. P.Singh, an entrepreneur, whoalong with his wife, SunnyThakral, has painstakinglyput together the concept,told IANS.The husband-wife duo saythat the "idea is to mergePunjab's age- old ruralculture with its modernity".The trend was star ted over adecade ago by popular brand'1469' which cashed on thedemand for 'anythingPunjabi'. Its 'Pure Punjabi'brand of T-shir ts have beena runaway hit among youthand even the older ones.The 'Urban Theka' storereminds one of the Punjabifolklore and traditions withladies weaving and embroi-dering dupattas in phulkaris,men and women doing the'bhangra' and men with'dhols', 'chimtas' and 'sapps'(traditional musical instru-ments). "You get a feel ofrural Punjab. One can seebeautifully chiselled figu-rines of Punjabi womenchurning butter using'madhaani' (traditionalbutter-making equipment),women using the 'charkha'and the like. The store alsotakes you to the times of'Bhai Kanhaiya', a Sikhsevadar who served waterto the Mughal enemy forcesinjured in the war againstthe Sikh forces. Punjab'shistory is highlightedthrough figurines and bustsof personalities like 'MaiBhago', 'Banda Bahadur', alife size statue of 'MaharajaRanjit Singh' and manymore," Singh said.Other items in the store like'bantey' (marbles), 'gullidanda' and 'gulail' are sureto take you down memorylane and revive childhoodmemories. To catch thefancy of the youth, the storesells funky T-shir ts with

quirky text like "Dheet(stubborn) by Nature" and

"Installing muscles - BassVekhi chall". The price ranges

from Rs.500 to Rs.1,500. Theoutlet has been curated with

accessories that incorporate agood, humorous style, so

typical of Punjab, whichmakes it a "must own".

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A coulourful and successful Vaisakhi event held in Downtown Toronto

SIKH HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATED AT BRAMPTON CITY HALL

BRAMPTON - Recently the City of Brampton hosted its second annual Sikh Heritage Month reception.This year, four outstanding citizens were honoured for their contributions to Brampton and the Sikhcommunity. "It is always an honour to celebrate Sikh Heritage Month at Brampton City Hall," saidCouncillor Dhillon. "This year was special because we celebrated the achievements and successes ofindividuals who continue to inspire us through their daily work, not only on a City level, but on aninternational level."At the annual reception, the following were recognized:" Jasmeet Raina (aka Jus Reign) - internet and YouTube sensation" Raj Ghuman - local radio host, singer, songwriter and international ar tist" Amrik Singh Ahluwalia - newly-appointed Chair of the Peel Police Services Board" Iqbal Mahal - influential media pioneer and personality

MidWeek 7MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

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MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

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ONTARIO EXPANDING GO BUSSERVICE TO BRANTFORD

YMEDIA TEAM - RAGHBIR CHAUHANA AND SIA LAKHANPAL WITH INDIAS TASTE OWNER RANJIT SINGH DURING A SPECIAL INTERACTION.

ONTARIO - Premier Kathleen Wynne was at Brantford Transit today tomake the announcement. Beginning this September, Metrolinx willintroduce GO bus service between downtown Brantford and AldershotGO Station in Burlington, stopping at McMaster University along theway. GO buses will run every hour during weekday peak periods andevery two hours during weekday off-peak periods and on weekends.In total, there will be 26 trips every weekday and 18 trips on bothSaturday and Sunday.Ontario is making the largest investment in public infrastructure inthe province's history -- about $160 billion over 12 years. This issuppor ting 110,000 jobs every year across the province, with projectssuch as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals. In2015, the province announced suppor t for more than 325 projects thatwill keep people and goods moving, connect communities and im-prove quality of l i fe. Expanding transit options is par t of thegovernment's economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on itsnumber-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs. The four-

par t plan includes investing in talent and skills, including helpingmore people get and create the jobs of the future by expanding accessto high-quality college and university education. The plan is makingthe largest investment in public infrastructure in Ontario's history andinvesting in a low-carbon economy driven by innovative, high-growth,expor t-oriented businesses. The plan is also helping working Ontariansachieve a more secure retirement.Investing in transit strengthens our communities. Expanding GO Busservice to Brantford is par t of our government's commitment to pro-vide modern, accessible transit infrastructure that will reduce com-mute times, grow the economy and improve people's daily lives. -Kathleen Wynne, Premier of OntarioWe are responding to our local needs. This is an exciting time as thenew GO Bus servicing Brantford will give residents better transit anda direct connection to the larger GO Transit network, improving re-gional mobility and helping to manage congestion. - Steven Del Duca,Minister of Transportation

MP RAJ GREWAL, HARJIT SAJJAN HOSTLEADERSHIP EVENT IN BRAMPTON EAST

BRAMPTON - Raj Grewal, Member of Parliament forBrampton East and the Harjit S. Sajjan, Defence Minister,spoke about the value of public service in Brampton,Ontario recently.Taking unfiltered questions from theaudience, both MPs discussed the impor tance of diversityin politics, how young people can get more engaged inpublic service, and the responsibilities of serving as aMember of Parliament. Members of Parliament, SoniaSidhu, Ruby Sahota, and Kamal Khera, joined Grewal andMinister Sajjan for this event."The people of Brampton value the role of government andpublic servants. It was a pleasure to be a par t of thiswonder ful event and I'd like to thank MP Harjit S. Sajjan fortaking the time to come to Brampton." said MP Raj Grewal.Raj Grewal was elected in October 2015 as the Member ofParliament for the riding of Brampton East. Prior to hiselection, he practiced corporate law at a Bay Street lawfirm, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Grewalholds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and alaw degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.Harjt S. Sajjan is the Member of Parliament for the riding ofVancouver South. Before entering politics, Minister Sajjancompleted his career as a detective with the VancouverPolice Depar tment's gang crime unit. As a member of theBritish Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), hepar ticipated in four operational deployments - one to Bosniaand three to Afghanistan.

FedDev Ontario SupportsInnovative Productivity

Improvements

ORANGEVILLE - Ruby Sahota, Member of Parliament for BramptonNorth, on behalf of Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Scienceand Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedDevOntario, has announced funding of up to $2 million to help QualityCheese Inc. increase its competitiveness and expand its productioncapabilities. The Government of Canada is investing to help busi-nesses and entrepreneurs become more innovative, competitive andsuccessful. This funding will support the installation of state-of-the-art equipment at Quality Cheese Inc.'s new 64,000-square foot facilityin Orangeville, Ontario. These upgrades are expected to increaseQuality Cheese's production of specialty cheeses including brie,camembert and blue cheese. The increased production capabilitieswill also enable the company to scale up its operations to meetgrowing demand in domestic and international markets.Through this project, Quality Cheese Inc. will improve energy andwater efficiencies in their cheese production by integrating a watermanagement system that improves environmental performance. Thisresponds to an increasing number of environmentally-consciouscustomers who are looking for sustainable, locally-produced cheese.This funding will also benefit local supply chains, including Ontariodairy farmers, as additional products will be required to meet in-creased production demands."Our Government continues to support the growth of quality manufac-turers across southern Ontario. Today's funding demonstrates ourcommitment to helping manufacturers increase productivity, whileusing environmentally-friendly technologies. This in turn will givethem the competitive edge they need to succeed, while strengtheningOntario's manufacturing sector and creating jobs in this region."Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic De-velopment and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Devel-opment Agency for Southern Ontario"Our Government is proud to support companies that source localproducts for use in their own operations and manufacturing. Investingin companies such as Quality Cheese will not only help the companygrow, but will also create increased demand for Ontario's dairy farm-ers. It is important to support companies that actively support theirlocal economy and communities." - Ruby Sahota, Member of Parlia-ment for Brampton North

ONTARIO PREMIER KATHLEEN WYNNE AND MPP AMRIT MANGATWITH A GUEST AT THE MBOT EVENT (TWITTER.COM)

CHANNEL Y TEAM COVERED NAGAR KIRTAN IN MALTON. SEEN HERE ARE (L TO R) VIC MATHARU, ONTARIO PREMIER KATHLEEN WYNNE AND SIALAKHANPAL. COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE EVENT CAN BE VIEWED ON CHANNEL Y THAT COMES ON ROGERS 857 AND BELL FIBE 828.

8 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

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'INDIA, PAKISTAN WERE POISED TO SIGNPEACE TREATY, BUT US PLAYED SPOILER'

BY VIKAS DATTA

NEW DELHI, (IANS) India and Pakistan had agreed on a peaceand no-war treaty and were on the verge of signing it in July1984 before Pakistan President Zia ul-Haq, who had evendismissed any need to discuss Kashmir, backtracked on adviceof American lawmakers, reveals former Indian foreign secre-tary M. K. Rasgotra. In his autobiography "A Life in Diplomacy"(Penguin India, Rs.699), Rasgotra, who was foreign secretary1982-85 and is now in his nineties, recalls ahead of his visit toIslamabad, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was leaving on avisit to the US, gave him a free hand, telling him "..you know itall and you can talk to them about any subject they want to talkabout, including Kashmir and the No War Pact they are so keenabout". She only wanted to know if "there is a grain of sincerity"in Gen. Zia. As Rasgotra called on him at the President'sHouse in Islamabad, President Zia, with the humility and charmhe was known for, was standing in the verandah close to towhere he would get out of the car and welcomed him with a bighug. During the talks, to India's willingness to talk aboutKashmir, Zia's response was "notewor thy". "Rasgotra Sahib,what is there to talk about Kashmir? You have Kashmir and wecannot take it. I want you and (Pakistani foreign secretary) NiazNaik to work on a Treaty of Peace and Good Neighbourlinessincluding a No War Pact," he quoted the Pakistani leader assaying. He said progress was made in discussions on theagreement, to the extent that in March 1984, Niaz Naik himselfproposed that the Indian draf t of a Treaty of Peace and Friend-ship and Pakistan's draft of a 'No War Pact' should be "merged".By May 1984, there was "full agreement on all the six or sevenclauses in the draft treaty's preamble and also on nine out ofthe eleven ar ticles of the treaty's operative par t", and both

sides reached agreement on these two too."Accordingly Naik announced in the final plenary meeting of thetwo delegations that on clauses IV and V, he and I had reachedan understanding to which he would obtain the president'sapproval on his return from the UAE and we would all meet inDelhi in July to initial or sign the treaty."But the July meeting never took place." According to Rasgotra,there were two reasons why Zia changed his mind - and theprimary one was the advice of his American "well-wishers"."While awaiting the President's return from the UAE, Naik hadtelegraphed the text to Foreign Minister Sahabzada Yaqub Khanwho was on a visit in Washington DC. Khan took the text aroundto his friends in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and inthe Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives,who strongly advised him against signing a treaty of that kindwith India". Rasgotra says he learnt of this from a Congress-man friend of his, from his earlier stints in the US, and memberof the House Foreign Affairs Committee "asking me why we

were coercing Pakistan into signing an anti-American treaty!"The other reason was India's current troubles in Punjab "inwhich Zia-ul Haq saw an oppor tunity to weaken India bysuppor ting a violent secessionist campaign by Sikh extremistgroups lead by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale..", says Rasgotra. OnZia himself, Rasgotra said that he repor ted to Mrs Gandhi af terhis first visit and meeting that he had "seemed anxious to winIndia's goodwill, I had my doubts about his sincerity".Rasgotra, in a repor t of his meeting with then Pakistan Presi-dent Pervez Musharraf in 2000 (attached as an appendix to thisbook) , said this Pakistani ruler was "shrewd, and perhaps alsonot without cunning but he is not wily like Gen. Zia ul Haq. Nordoes he possess the bluff exuberance of Gen. Mod. Ayub Khan".On his recommendations, he said his "gut impression" was thatPakistan will give up sponsorship of violence only when we(India) can demonstrate, in actual deeds, that we can hur t themin PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) the same way they arehur ting us in the Valley."

Can BJP emerge kingmaker in Bengal?KOLKATA, (IANS) Eyeing double-digit number of seats in the ongoingWest Bengal assembly polls, the BJP is hoping to play the role of akingmaker once the results are out on May 19, asser ts its Bengal unitchief Dilip Ghosh. Notwithstanding factionalism, organisational defi-ciency and dipping electoral for tunes after its splendid performancein the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Ghosh - who took over the reins lastDecember -- insists the BJP has left behind its tag of an "also ran" inBengal."It's a fact that BJP was never in the reckoning in Bengal. But movingfrom strength to strength we're in a position of reckoning now. Thereis no doubt BJP will emerge as the deciding factor. We will be thekingmaker. We're confident of getting double-digit seats," Ghosh toldIANS in an interview.When it was pointed out that double-digit could mean anything be-tween 10 and 99 in the 294-member assembly, Ghosh shot back:"That depends on one's perception. For you it can be 10, for us it canbe 99, or, may be, even more. We are confident of a good showing."Traditionally considered weak in the state, the BJP came up with asurprisingly inspiring per formance in the 2014 general elections.Besides winning two seats -- Darjeeling and Asansol-- its vote-shareleapfrogged to 16.8 percent against around six percent in the 2009 LokSabha elections and the measly four percent it got in the assemblypolls two years later.Months after the 2014 general elections, the BJP won its only seat inthe present assembly in a by-poll when Samik Bhattacharya wrestedBasirhat (South) from the CPI-M. The assembly success came 15long years after its only other legislator in the state's history - BadalBhattacharya - won from Ashokenagar, also in a by-poll.However, the BJP failed to retain the momentum and suffered re-verses in the state's civic polls last year, when it could not takecontrol of a single municipal body. Even in the metropolis, it could winonly seven of the 144 wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.Crediting the 2014 performance to the "wave" surrounding its thenprime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Ghosh admitted that"organisational deficiencies" led to the decline in its electoral for-tunes. "It was the Modi wave that carried us forward and we couldn'thold on to that lead because of our organisational deficiencies," saidthe 52-year-old contesting from Kharagpur Sadar constituency in WestMidnapore district."But over the past one year, our focus has been on developing ourorganisation at the grassroots and strengthening it across the state.The results are already visible. People have star ted accepting us asthe only alternative," Ghosh added. Even as he spoke of the BJP play-ing a decisive role in government formation, Ghosh remained eva-sive on whether in case of a hung assembly, it will suppor t the MamataBanerjee-led Trinamool Congress or the CPI-M-led Left Front and theCongress which have forged a tie-up. "Whether we suppor t othersand form the government or stay as the opposition can only be de-cided when we arrive at such a situation," Ghosh maintained.During the campaign, the BJP's star campaigners, including Modi andpar ty chief Amit Shah, have been scathing in their attack on both theTrinamool and the Left-Congress combine. But Ghosh insists the fightis between development and destruction. "The election is not aboutBJP fighting its political opponents, the fight is development versusthe destruction which the Congress, Left and the Trinamool have un-

leashed on Bengal during their respective regimes."The fight is to provide an alternative that the people of Bengal havebeen yearning for decades now, having suffered at the hands of theCongress, Left Front and now Trinamool," he maintained. Dismissingthe Left-Congress' refrain of a "Modi-Mamata" understanding, Ghoshalleged there was bonhomie between the trio of Trinamool, Left andthe Congress. "If there is no bonhomie, then why hasn't the Naradasting been sent to the ethics committee in the Rajya Sabha yet? Theyhave the majority there."In the Lok Sabha, we have the majority and the matter was sent toethics committee as soon as it came out," said Ghosh, referring to asting operation by Narada News in which several top Trinamool lead-ers have been purpor tedly seen accepting bribes.Ghosh also said his image as an "RSS man, more than a politician",has helped in strengthening the organisation at the grassroots andasser ted there is no dissent or factionalism. "The RSS is synony-mous with nationalism and acts as a binding force. In a democracy,there can be dissenting voices, there can be arguments but that can-not be termed factionalism," Ghosh contended.

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416-907-4420

TORONTO MAYOR JOHN TORY AT THE BRAIN PROJECT STARTED TO RAISE AWARENESS AND FUNDS IN SUPPORT OF CARE, RESEARCH,EDUCATION AND INNOVATION AT BAYCREST HEALTH SCIENCES - A LEADER IN THE FIELD OF AGING AND BRAIN HEALTH.

ONTARIO CONTRIBUTES $500,000 TOEARTHQUAKE RELIEF IN ECUADOR

PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU MET WITH THE FILE HILLS QU APPELLE TRIBAL COUNCIL (PHOTO BY ADAM SCOTTI).

ONTARIO - Premier Kathleen Wynne released the followingstatement today to announce suppor t for relief effor ts for the peopleaffected by the ear thquake in Ecuador:"Since the tragic ear thquake on April 16, our thoughts and prayershave been with the people of Ecuador. It has been devastating towatch the number of dead and wounded rise. But it has also beenhumbling and inspiring to watch the outpouring of suppor t asdedicated rescue workers have arrived to help and supplies havebeen flown in from around the world.Yet there are still so many who remain in desperate need offood, water, medical care, shelter and sanitation. Our provincehas a long and proud history of coming to the aid of people

around the world in times of disaster, and we will do so again.The Ontario government will contribute $500,000 to the Cana-dian Red Cross to help its relief effor ts for the people ofEcuador. These relief effor ts include providing emergencysupplies for families, as well as pre-hospital care, psychoso-cial suppor t, search and rescue, and suppor t for evacuation andtelecommunications throughout the country.I want to thank the many people here in Ontario who have cometogether to help, and I would encourage everyone to considermaking a personal donation to the Canadian Red Cross. Onbehalf of the Government of Ontario, I offer my sincere condo-lences to all those who have been affected by this tragedy."

Ontario Recovers Thousands of Dollars Owed to InternsONTARIO - Recently Ontario recovered nearly $140,000 in wagesowed to interns at workplaces across the province. From September1 to December 31, 2015, Ministry of Labour employment standardsofficers visited 123 workplaces believed to have internship programsand investigated whether interns were entitled to minimum wage andother employment standards such as public holidays and vacation.Out of the 77 workplaces that had interns:" 18 employers (almost 25 per cent) did not meet the require-ments under the Employment Standards Act (ESA)" 18 employers (almost 25 per cent) had paid interns andwere in compliance with the ESA" 41 employers (more than 50 per cent) were found to haveintern programs that were exempt from the ESAThe blitz found $140,630 in wages that were owed to interns, and

since that time a total of $138,731 has been recovered. This includes:" $85,968 in owed wages voluntarily paid by 13 employers" $52,763 in owed wages recovered by the ministry throughorders issued to four employers"With very few exceptions, unpaid internships are illegal, and it'simperative that employers know their obligations to interns and arefollowing the rules. If you work in Ontario as an intern, and are notexempt, you deserve to get paid at least minimum wage and receiveother entitlements under the Employment Standards Act. This blitzshows us there are still employers who don't understand or decidenot to follow the rules, and we will continue to work to level theplaying field for those that do follow the rules. We will also continue towork to ensure everyone doing an internship is treated fairly and theirrights are respected."- Kevin Flynn, Minister of Labour

INVESTING $3 MILLION INCONFEDERATION COLLEGEONTARIO - Ontario is expanding postsecondary education op-por tunities in Nor thwestern Ontario by making investmentstotalling $3 million in Confederation College's campuses inThunder Bay and Sioux Lookout. In Thunder Bay, PremierKathleen Wynne announced the investments in the two facili-ties, which are targeted to open in September 2017.The province will provide $2 million through the Nor thernOntario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) for a StudentWellness Centre on the college's main campus in Thunder Bay.It will be a venue for students and the community to improvetheir physical and mental health in new athletic facilities, meet-ing and training space. Ontario will also invest $1 millionthrough the NOHFC in a new facility to house ConfederationCollege's Sioux Lookout campus.The college is developing the facility within the new SiouxLookout High School that the Keewatin-Patricia District SchoolBoard is building, which will enable the college and high schoolto share resources such as labs and shops. These cost effi-ciencies and modern facilities will allow the college to expand enrol-ment and add new programs that teach skills local employers are lookingfor, including hospitality, culinary arts, environmental sciences and ap-plied health sciences. This investment will open up new possibilities forstudents and build up communities in Northwestern Ontario. We arestrengthening postsecondary education as part of our plan to make surethat people in every corner of Ontario have the opportunity to achieve theirfull potential. - Kathleen Wynne, Premier of OntarioWe're so proud to be providing a total of $3 million to support the building ofthese two new facilities that will provide additional space for the College toexpand and deliver innovative and exciting programs for their studentshere in Northwestern Ontario. - Michael Gravelle, Minister of NorthernDevelopment and Mines These two projects will further solidifyConfederation College's connection with the local communitiesthey operate in, while encouraging more local youth to par tici-pate in postsecondary education. - Reza Moridi, Minister ofTraining, Colleges and Universities.

CANADIAN ECONOMYSHRINKS IN FEBRUARYOTTAWA - After rising for four consecutive months, real grossdomestic product edged down 0.1% in February. The output ofgoods-producing industries declined in February, while theoutput of service-producing industries was essentially un-changed. After increasing 0.9% in January, the output of goods-producing industries contracted 0.6% in February primarily asa result of decreases in manufacturing and mining, quarrying, and oiland gas extraction. Declines were also registered in the agricultureand forestry sector as well as in utilities. Construction edged up.The output of service-producing industries was essentially unchangedin February, after rising for four consecutive months. A notable de-cline in wholesale trade was offset by gains in retail trade and, to alesser extent, the public sector (education, health and public adminis-tration combined) and accommodation and food services.Wholesale trade contracted 1.8% in February after rising the previousthree months. Most subsectors were down. Retail trade expanded1.4% in February, after rising 1.6% in January. After rising the previousthree months, manufacturing output fell 0.8% in February. Durable-goods manufacturing was down 1.8% in February, after expanding forthree consecutive months. Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extrac-tion declined 0.8% in February, after increasing 1.0% in January. Fol-lowing a 1.9% increase in January, support activities for mining andoil and gas extraction retreated 5.1% in February. The oil and gasextraction contracted 0.6%, mainly as a result of a 1.7% decline innon-conventional oil extraction. Conventional oil and gas extractionincreased 0.4%. Mining and quarrying (excluding oil and gas extrac-tion) grew 0.5% as a result of an increase in metal ore mining. De-creases were registered in non-metallic mineral and coal mining.Construction edged up 0.1% in February along with the public sector(education, health and public administration combined) and the fi-nance and insurance sectors. Accommodation and food servicesrose 0.7%, transportation and warehousing services declined 0.2%in February, and Utilities decreased 0.2% also.

PROPOSAL TO BAN MENTHOLIN MOST TOBACCO PRODUCTSOTTAWA - Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, has announcedconsultations on proposed amendments that would restrictmenthol flavoured tobacco products on the Canadian market and wouldfurther protect youth from the dangers of tobacco use. The proposal wouldbuild on changes that came into force in 2009 and 2015, which banned theuse of certain additives, including flavours like chocolate and bubble gum,in all cigarettes, blunt wraps and most cigars including little cigars, tomake them less attractive to youth. This new proposal would expand onthese restrictions by prohibiting menthol, an additive used by tobaccomanufacturers to improve the palatability of their products and increasetheir appeal. A 30-day consultation period will begin when a notice de-scribing the proposal is published in Canada Gazette, Part I on April 30,2016. Interested parties are encouraged to submit their comments on theproposal online or via regular mail during the consultation period. "Tens ofthousands of Canadians die each year from smoking-related illness andstudies have shown that the younger a person starts smoking, the greaterthe risk of premature death. By banning menthol flavouring, which isshown to be popular amongst those under 25, we can help steer youthaway from experimenting with tobacco in the first place." - JanePhilpott, Minister of Health

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PRINCE HARRY, PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU AND PREMIER KATHLEEN WYNNE MEET ATTHE INVICTUS GAMES ANNOUNCEMENT IN TORONTO.

Leader of the Official Opposition Patrick Brown and MPP Todd Smith (Prince Edward-Hastings)celebrated Vaisakhi by hosting a Sikh Heritage Month Reception at Queen's Park. They were joinedby many prominent members of the Sikh community.

Securing New Chinese Investment to Create Green JobsONTARIO - Last week Deputy Premier Matthews and Minister Chan par ticipated in a successful invest-ment roundtable discussion and the renewal of a long-time friendship agreement between Ontario andHenan Province, China, while also securing an investment in green energy innovation.In Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan Province, the Ministers hosted an investment roundtableand delivered a compelling business case for Ontario as a choice destination for 25 Chinese investorsconsidering Nor th American expansion oppor tunities. Following the roundtable, HauHauNiu MilkIndustry Inc. and the Henan Medical Devices Association expressed interest in visiting Ontario tolearn more about Ontario's dairy and medical devices sectors respectively.Also in Zhengzhou, Deputy Premier Matthews renewed a friendship agreement with Henan Provincethat was first signed in 2007. The agreement will encourage economic cooperation and trade be-tween the two provinces, as well as advance their exchanges in the fields of education, tourism andculture.While in Shanghai, the Ministers witnessed the signing of a green energy agreement that will seeMenergy Corporation of Ontario collaborate with four Chinese par tners to establish a Green EnergyInnovation Centre in the Greater Toronto Area. This investment in Ontario will help to showcasegreen energy solutions, act as an incubator for green energy companies and create market accessfor Canadian products in China. The project is expected to create 125 green jobs by 2021.Finally in Shaoxing, the Ministers toured the headquar ters of Wanfeng, the parent company ofMeridian, to learn about their investments in Ontario and potential plans for expansion. Meridianoperates a facility in the London, Ontario area that produces magnesium and aluminum cast products forthe global transpor tation industry, and a flight school in southwestern Ontario.

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MEMBERS OF ALL-DELHI TEMPO AND MINI TRUCK OWNERS UNION PROTESTING AGAINST GREEN TAX AT JANTAR MANTAR (IANS).

MODI HAS FAILED TO FULFILLPROMISES: KANHAIYA KUMARPATNA, (IANS) JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Sunday saidPrime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to fulfill any of his prom-ises. "There has been no relief from price hike nor have people gotjobs as promised," Kanhaiya Kumar said at an event in Patna, whichwas marred by people waving black flags at him.Asser ting that freedom of speech was his right, the Jawaharlal NehruUniversity Students' Union president said Modi had promised to bringback the black money stashed in other countries and deposit Rs.15lakh in everyone's bank accounts. "I have been checking my bankaccount daily, but Rs.15 lakh as promised by Modi is yet to come," hesaid during his 80-minute speech in Hindi."Modi-ji, how do I remain silent and not speak against you," he askedat the event which was organised by the All India Students Federa-tion. As Kanhaiya Kumar addressed the packed S.K. Memorial Hall in

Patna, two youths waved black flags and raised slogans of 'BharatMata Ki Jai'. Both youths were thrashed by Kanhaiya Kumar's sup-por ters despite his repeated requests to them not to do so.Police detained the youths, allegedly associated with a Hindutvaorganisation. The JNU student leader said he was not scared of any-thing. "Whether you hurl a shoe or a stone at me or oppose me, I willcontinue to speak. Such opposition will not demoralise me," he said.Kanhaiya Kumar said there was need to differentiate between "Modibhakti and desh bhakti".Kanhaiya Kumar said poor people hardly get bank loans, while "onlycapitalists get loans from banks... they do not repay the loans andinstead they fly to London overnight" -- a reference to industrialistVijay Mallya, who is in Britain after defaulting on a bank loan of overRs.9,000 crore.

33 with criminal cases, 15crorepatis in Bengal last phase pollsKOLKATA, (IANS) At least 33 candidates have criminal casespending against them while 15 candidates are crorepatis ofthe 170 contestants in the fray in the sixth and last phase of theWest Bengal assembly elections. Twenty five constituenciesspread across the twin districts of Cooch Behar and EastMidnapore will go to the polls on May 5 in the last phase.According to a repor t released by the West Bengal ElectionWatch, of the 33 candidates with criminal cases, 27 face seri-ous charges including murder. Trinamool with seven hasfielded the most number of candidates with criminal cases,followed by the BJP with six, while the CPI-M and the ForwardBloc each have two such nominees.The BJP's Dadhiram Ray, contesting from Mekhliganj in CoochBehar, faces the most number of criminal charges, 118, ofwhich 54 are serious charges. On the financial front, there are15 crorepatis (multi-millionaires) in the fray. The Trinamoolheads the crorepati list with eight nominees, while the CPI-M,Congress and the Forward Bloc each have one such nominee.

Centre realized mistake of callingoff talks with Pakistan: OmarSRINAGAR, (IANS) Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minis-ter Omar Abdullah on Monday said the central governmenthad "thankfully realized its mistake of calling off talks withPakistan on the issue of separatist leaders meeting the Paki-stan high commissioner". Speaking to repor ters on the side-lines of a National Conference (NC) function here, Omar said:"We had said that time that it was a mistake to call off talkswith Pakistan. "Thankfully, they (central government) haverealized the mistake now." Omar was referring to Minister ofState External Affairs V.K. Singh's written reply in the Parlia-ment on the issue. In a reply in parliament, Singh said, "Sincethe entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral par t ofthe Union of India and these so-called Kashmiri 'leaders' areIndian citizens, there is no bar on their meetings with repre-sentatives of any country in India." One of the reasons forwhich the dialogue process between New Delhi and Islamabadwas halted by the central government was the invitation andsubsequent meetings of local separatist leaders with the Pa-kistan high commissioner in Delhi just ahead of bilateral offi-cial talks. The NC working president also alleged the stategovernment headed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti "is with-out any vision and direction. You cannot see this governmenton the ground as it does not exist there."

Forest fires ravage 3,000 hectaresin Himachal, rains in storeSHIMLA, (IANS) Summer fires in Himachal's grasslands andforests have caused 378 incidents, mainly in the low hills,and destroyed flora and fauna in over 3,000 hectares, a seniorforest official said on Monday. But a major relief is store, withthe state's weather depar tment forecasting rain on Tuesday."The sudden rise in mercury and the prolonged dry spell aremainly the reasons for these forest fires. Most of the fire-related cases are from the Shivalik ranges in Bilaspur,Hamirpur, Kangra, Solan and Sirmaur districts and a majorityof them are ground fires," principal chief forest conservatorS.P. Vasudeva told IANS.Records of the forest depar tment said 22 percent or 8,267sq.km of the total forest area in the state is fire-prone. A ma-jority of the fires were repor ted from the pine forests sinceduring summer, the trees shed pine needles that are highlyinflammable due to the rich content of turpentine oil.The pine forests are found up to an altitude of 5,500 feet. For-est fires have also threatened the existence of the world heri-tage Kalka-Shimla rail line at several points near Dharampurtown, 65 km from here. "Both sides of the track were underfire but the fire was doused after some hours. The rail trafficwas affected for sometime but now normal traffic has beenrestored," a senior Indian Railways official said.

RELAX DIESEL CAB BAN: DELHI GOVERNMENT URGES SCNEW DELHI, (IANS) The Delhi government on Tuesday urged the Supreme Cour t to relax its order banning cabs operating on diesel, asprotesting taxi drivers created a gridlock in large par ts of the national capital region for the second day.The bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur asked the city government to give a roadmap for phasing out diesel cabs and switchingover to cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel.The government told the cour t that it will file a roadmap by Tuesday evening after which the matter was listed to be heard on Wednesday.The Delhi government later sought two days' time to submit the roadmap. Thus, the consideration of the plea for relaxation of the April30 ban order is unlikely to take place on Wednesday.The cour t on Tuesday said its order to ban diesel taxis was not to cause any inconvenience to the people but to curb rising pollution inthe capital, considered one of the worst polluted cities in the world.As the Delhi government said it was "fully committed to tackling pollution" but "a problem has arisen for the citizens", the bench said:"We also don't intent to create a human problem but whenever such measures are taken it does lead to some inconvenience."The court had on April 30 refused extension of time to diesel cab operators for switching over to CNG, saying it had already given severalextensions and could not go on extending it.

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General Accounting & Bookkeeping

DIESEL CAB OWNERS STAGE A DEMONSTRATION AGAINST SUPREME COURT BAN ON DIESEL VEHICLES IN NEW DELHI (IANS).

PUNJAB SEEKS MORE WB AID FORWATER SUPPLY, SANITATION SCHEMES

Haryana government withdrawsfacilities for ex-CMsCHANDIGARH, (IANS) The Haryana government on Friday an-nounced that various facilities, including cabinet minister sta-tus, for former chief ministers would be withdrawn. The deci-sion was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar here on Friday.Other facilities include a government bungalow, official car, staff and otherfacilities to which cabinet ministers are entitled to. "In view of the resent-ment among the public and political parties on the facilities of cabinetminister to ex-chief ministers at state headquarters, the state governmenthas decided to withdraw these facilities," a government spokesman saidafter the meeting. The facilities were extended to former chief ministers bythe Congress-led government in May 2013. Terming the facilities a "bur-den on the state exchequer", Haryana's leader of opposition Abhay Chautalalast week urged the government to withdraw the same. In a letter toKhattar, the Indian National Lok Dal leader said the facilities were extendedto ex-chief ministers by the previous Congress government headed byBhupinder Singh Hooda towards the fag end of its term.

AAP to launch anti-drugscampaign in Delhi, PunjabNEW DELHI, (IANS) The Aam Aadmi Par ty (AAP) is all set tolaunch an anti-drugs campaign, primarily in Delhi and Punjab,a par ty source said on Friday. The campaign, "Ek Nasha",comes at a time when the party has stepped up its effor ts towin next year's assembly elections in Punjab."A big awareness campaign is going to be launched in Delhiand Punjab. Our leader Kumar Vishwas will be the face of thecampaign," the source told IANS. "We are trying to bring onboard some NGOs which work on anti-drug awareness and some of thevictims who have been rehabilitated to create an understanding amongpeople on the hazards of consuming drugs." The widespread consump-tion of drugs is a major problem in Punjab. According to a National DrugDependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) report, opioids worth Rs.7,500crore are consumed in Punjab every year. Of these, heroin's share totalsRs.6,500 crore. Based on previous studies, Punjab's opioid dependentsare four times more than the global average."While around 2.3 lakh people are opioid-dependent in Punjab, around 8.6lakh are estimated to be opioid users. Heroin-dependents are the highestat 123,414," the report says. AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal has blamed a section of police, bureaucrats and politiciansfor the spread of drugs in Punjab.

Punjab to spend Rs.3,500 croreon urban mission: SukhbirCHANDIGARH, (IANS) Aiming to accelerate the pace of devel-opment works in the state, Punjab Deputy Chief MinisterSukhbir Singh Badal has announced the government wouldspend Rs.3,500 crore on strengthening urban infrastructure.Presiding over a meeting here called to review the status ofurban projects, he said the state would develop a world-classinfrastructure in the towns and cities and make them cleaner.Badal said to give practical shape to the state urban mission,Rs.1,500 crore have been released to the depar tment of localgovernment and directions have been issued to release an-other instalment of the same amount. He asked the local bod-ies depar tment to accord priority to developing and strength-ening roads and streets in towns where sewerage and watersupply works have been completed.

CHANDIGARH, (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal onThursday urged the World Bank to sanction additional funds for thetimely execution of water supply and sanitation schemes in water-logged areas of the state. The chief minister said nearly 40,000 toiletsneeded to be constructed in waterlogged areas, with each toilet cost-ing around Rs.28,400. The construction cost in normal areas comesto Rs.15,000. The additional cost should be provided by the WorldBank so that the task could be completed within the scheduled time

limit, Badal said while reviewing the progress of the ongoing WorldBank-funded schemes in the state. World Bank team leader SrinivasaRao Podipireddy told Badal that the water supply schemes have beenimplemented in 317 villages. Work on 194 other such schemes hasbeen initiated. As many as Rs.305 crore were released during the lastfiscal, while budgetary allocation of Rs.403 crore has been made forthis fiscal. Additional works wor th Rs.960 crore have been proposedfor the 2016-17 fiscal.

Congress, AAP want to turn Punjab into desert: BadalCHANDIGARH, (IANS) Urging people not to spare water from Punjab's rivers to other states, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal onWednesday said the Congress and AAP wanted to turn the state into a deser t. Addressing public meetings in Muktsar Sahib district, thechief minister said these par ties were inimical to the development of Punjab as they were weaving plans to deprive the Punjabis of theirriver waters. Cautioning the people not to fell prey to "malicious propaganda" of the Aam Aadmi Par ty and the Congress, he said boththese parties were hell bent upon ruining the state. Soliciting the suppor t of people for saving the waters of Punjab's rivers, Badal said:"All of us will have to struggle relentlessly to ensure that not even a single drop of water is taken away from us."Criticising the AAP leadership for adopting double standards over sharing the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water with neighbouringHaryana, Badal said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's anti-Punjab mindset had been exposed in its affidavits submitted in theSupreme Cour t. He said Kejriwal hailed from Haryana and so was naturally inclined towards safeguarding the interests of his parentstate and nothing good for Punjab could be expected from him.

Gujarat to give 10 per cent quota for economically backward classesGANDHINAGAR, (IANS) Ten per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions will be given to the economicallybackward classes (EBCs) in Gujarat, the ruling BJP announced. The reservation will be extended to all castes not covered under theexisting 49 per cent for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBC). The quota will be extended to thosewhose annual income was Rs6 lakh or less, Gujarat BJP president Vijay Rupani told the media at the par ty headquar ters, flanked byChief Minister Anandiben Patel and senior minister Nitin Patel. An ordinance on the issue will be issued on May 1, the foundation dayof Gujarat. A bill will be introduced later in the state assembly, he said. The decision on more reservation in Gujarat was taken in a corepanel meeting chaired by national BJP president Amit Shah on Friday morning at the state Bharatiya Janata Par ty headquar ters here.Rupani said the state government will defend the ordinance in both the high cour t and the Supreme Court, if need be.

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Iran, South Korea ink energycooperation agreementTEHRAN, (IANS) National Iran Gas Expor ts Company and theKorean Gas Corporation signed a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) here on Sunday to cooperate in energy sec-tor, Petro Energy Information Network repor ted. Under thedeal, Iran will expor t liquefied natural gas to South Korea andthe two countries will cooperate on exchanging related expe-riences in the gas industry, Xinhua repor ted.The agreement is signed concurrent with the arrival of theSouth Korean President Park Geun-hye in Iran's capitalTehran. Park's visit is aimed at the talks on bilateral tiesand economic cooperation as well as regional and inter-national issues. During her three-day visit, Park will meetwith Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and a number ofsenior Iranian officials to discuss topics of mutual inter-est. Tehran and Seoul will sign a number of MoUs thattouches the fields of energy and telecommunications, toenhance their cooperation.

Twin car bombs kill 33 in Iraq Baghdad, May 1 (IANS) At least 33 people were killed and63 others injured on Sunday in two car bomb explosions inMuthanna province of Iraq, a security source said. "Our re-por ts said that 33 civilians were killed and 63 others woundedby the massive blasts of two car bombs in central Samawa,"the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The attacksoccurred around noon when one booby-trapped car parkednear the provincial government compound detonated, whileanother car bomb ripped through a busy parking lot in al-Sharji district in downtown Samawa, the source said. Ear-lier, the source put the toll at 20 killed and more than 40wounded. Iraq has been witnessing a wave of violence sincethe Islamic State group took control of par ts of Iraq's nor th-ern and western regions in June 2014.

ABU SAYYAF FREES 10INDONESIAN HOSTAGESMANILA, (IANS) The Philippines-based extremist group AbuSayyaf has released 10 Indonesian sailors it had held hos-tage. The maritime company for which the Indonesian hos-tages were working and whose vessel was hijacked towardsthe end of March, paid a million-dollar ransom to Abu Sayyafon Friday for their release, EFE news repor ted. Sourcesclaimed the sailors were handed over to authorities earlieron Sunday in front of the residence of the governor of theisland of Jolo. The release comes six days after Abu Sayyafdecapitated a 68-year-old Canadian hostage, John Ridsdel,after the deadline it set to receive a $6.4 million ransom forhim expired. Ridsdel was abducted along with fellow coun-tryman Rober t Halla, Norway's Kjar tan Sekkingstad and aFilipina, Marites Flor, in September last year. The jihadi group car-ries out frequent kidnappings to secure ransoms with which it financesits operations. It is still holding nine other foreigners captive -- fourIndonesian fishermen, four Malaysians and Dutch nationalEwold Hurn -- as well as Halla and Sekkingstad.

IS more dangerous in Europethan Al Qaeda was in 1990sWASHINGTON, (IANS) The threat against Europe from theIslamic State (IS) militants is worse than the threat from AlQaeda was in the late 1990s, a US exper t has said. "I thinkthe situation in Europe is even more dire than what washappening with Al Qaeda in the 1990s," Colin P. Clarke, anassociate political scientist at the US think tank RAND Cor-poration, told Xinhua news agency.IS was not only on the march in the Middle East by takingover large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria but had shown itsteeth by launching a series of horrible terror attacks all overEurope. In November, IS gunmen killed 130 victims in a vi-cious attack in Paris that made headlines worldwide.And just last month, the IS struck again in Brussels, simulta-neously setting off three nail bombs -- bombs packed withnails that fly out at lighting speed and pierce through flesh --at an airpor t and metro station that killed more than 30 vic-tims. These terror attacks reminded people of the onelaunched by Al Qaeda, the terror group run by terror master-mind Osama bin Laden, against the US homeland on Sep-tember 11, 2001 that killed about 3,000 people in New Yorkand Washington DC.US top intelligence official James Clapper said earlier thisweek that the Islamist radicals have cells in Britain, Ger-many and Italy. He made the comments just after US Presi-dent Barack Obama asked European leaders to step up theireffor ts and contribute more to the fight against IS.

Russia, US urge strictobservance of truce in SyriaMOSCOW, (IANS) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovand US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged theconflicting par ties in Syria to strictly abide by the cease-fireregime. In a phone conversation, the two sides stressed theneed to ensure Syria's cessation of hostilities with the ex-ception of the fight against terrorist groups in the war-torncountry, the Russian foreign ministry said in an online state-ment. Moscow and Washington, as co-chairs of the Interna-tional Syria Suppor t Group, vowed to take fur ther steps toprepare for the next talks aimed at finding a political settlement of thefive-year-long crisis, the statement added. The Russia, US backed planfor cessation of hostilities took effect late February. The truce has beenkept despite sporadic violations until the last few weeks, when the truceregime has been put to test and even collapsed in certain areas in Syria.Earlier in the day, Kerry during his trip in Geneva, Switzerland,called on all par ties to the Syrian conflict to end violence andrestore cease-fire in a bid to salvage the regime in Syria.

Will get F-16s from elsewhere,Islamabad warns Washington

ISLAMABAD, (IANS) Pakistan will acquire F-16 fighter jets from else-where if the US does not arrange funding for the sale, Sar taj Aziz, theprime minister's adviser on foreign affairs, cautioned the US as bothcountries lock horns over the purchase of the multirole warplanes.Pakistan had earlier reached an understanding with the US for buyingeight F-16 jets. Under the deal, Pakistan was required to pay about$270 million from its national fund. The US was supposed to providethe rest from its Foreign Military Financing Fund. But at a congres-sional hearing, US lawmakers last Wednesday made it clear that theywould not allow the Obama administration to use US funds for thedeal. Last Friday, a State Depar tment official told Dawn that Congresshad placed a hold on the deal, forbidding the administration fromusing US funds for enabling Pakistan to buy the warplanes.On Monday, the depar tment confirmed that Pakistan will have to useits own funds if it wants the planes. The latest announcement practi-

cally kills the deal as Pakistan may find it difficult to buy the planes ata price that is two-and-half times more than previously agreed. Azizsaid Pakistan valued the F-16s for their effectiveness, but said thatthey could be replaced by JF-17 Thunder jets in its anti-terrorismcampaign, Dawn repor ted. The JF-17 Thunder fighter jet has beenjointly developed by China's Aviation Industry Corporation of China(AVIC) and its Pakistani par tner, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex(PAC). Earlier Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to Prime Ministeron Foreign Affairs, also said that bringing Congress around to thedeal was the (President Barack) Obama administrat ion's job."There is a strong opposition to provide subsidised arms to othercountries in the US Congress, but the Obama administration's offer ofmilitary aid to Pa-kistan still stands," Fatemi said. "Pakistan has already rendered greatservices in the war against terror, so its case is strong."

Pakistan slams Donald Trump on release of 'CIA doctor'ISLAMABAD, (IANS) Pakistan on Monday condemned remarks by US Re-publican presidential front-runner Donald Trump that he would ensure Paki-stani physician Shakil Afridi, who allegedly helped the US kill Osama binLaden, was freed from jail within two minutes.Afridi, who is known in Pakistan as a CIA doctor and has been described asa hero in the US, is serving a 33-year-long jail term for treason. Trump, whois famous for his controversial statements, talked about the Pakistani doctorin a recent interview with Fox News. "I think I would get him out in twominutes. I would tell them (Pakistan) let him out and I'm sure they would lethim out," Trump said. Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan saidthe fate of Shakil Afridi was going to be decided by the Pakistani courts andPakistan government and not by Donald Trump even if he becomes the

President of the US. "Shakil Afridi is a Pakistani citizen and nobody else hasthe right to dictate to us about his future," the interior minister said respondingto Trump's interview. Khan said it is not only about Shakil Afridi but Trump'sperception, and the comments about Pakistan in his interview are highlymisplaced and unwarranted. "Contrary to Trump's misconception, Pakistanis not a colony of the US of America. He should learn to treat sovereigncountries with respect. Donald Trump also seems to be ignorant, historically,of the huge scarifies Pakistan and its people have made while standing withor supporting US policies over the years." Trump also said he plans to lever-age US aid, "because we give a lot of aid to Pakistan. We give a lot of moneyto Pakistan." But the Pakistani Minister said the "peanuts" that the US hasgiven to Pakistan in return should not be used to threaten or browbeat the

country into following Trump's mis-guided vision of foreign policy.

Saarc ministerialin Nepal to forgecooperation onmigrants' rightsBY ANIL GIRIKATHMANDU, (IANS) The eight-member Saarc grouping has forthe first time star ted exploringpossible areas of cooperation toensure the rights of their migrantworkers who go to the Gulf andMalaysia. The migration issuewas included among the areas ofcooperation during the 18th SaarcSummit in Kathmandu, in No-vember 2014.Nepal is hosting the first Saarcministerial summit, which beganon Tuesday, to finalize the firstSaarc Labour and Migration Ac-tion Plan and will approve a re-gional body to cope with the is-sue jointly. South Asia is home to36 million migrant workers, saidNepal Labour Minister DeepakBohara inaugurating the regionalSouth Asian Association of Re-gional Cooperation (Saarc) meet."Most Saarc nations send labourto the Gulf and Malaysia, whichis common in the region, and wehave to make a common positionon migrants' rights," he added.India sends the largest numberof migrant workers among Saarcnations and receives the highestremittance in the region.The conference will seek possibleareas of collaboration among theSouth Asian nations on the pro-tection and promotion of the rights oflabourers and migrant workers asagreed among the heads of states atthe last Saarc summit, said Nepal'slabour ministry in a statement.

DEMONSTRATORS MARCH IN PROTEST AGAINST FRENCH GOVERNMENT'S REFORM OF THE LABOR CODE, IN PARIS, FRANCE (IANS).

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TONY BLAIR COURTED CHINA FORSAUDI PRINCE'S OIL FIRM

JOURNALISTS PROTESTING AGAINST KILLING OF A JOURNALIST BY SOME POLITICAL GROUPS 11 YEARS AGO AT FORTRAILWAY STATION IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA.

ISLAMABAD, (IANS) Pakistani activist Tabassum Adnan, who fights forwomen's rights, has won the Nelson Mandela - Graça Machel InnovationAward 2016, it was reported recently. The award was publicly announcedon Thursday in Colombia, Geo News said. Adnan received the award inthe individual activist category, Geo News reported. The Swat Valley resi-dent is the founder of Khwendo Jirga, the first women-only 'jirga' in Paki-stan. Married at age 13, Adnan suffered 20 years of physical and mentalabuse before she divorced her husband, causing her to lose her children,her home and money, Geo News said. She started her NGO, KhwendoJirga (Sister's Council), which meets weekly to address issues of women'sright, including honour killings, and acid attacks. The jirga campaigns forwomen in Swat Valley, including issues related to women's security andtheir voting rights. In March 2015, Adnan, from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa prov-ince, was awarded the International Women of Courage award in the US.

Taliban can't discus border withPakistan: AfghanistanKABUL, (IANS) Kabul has reacted sharply to the Taliban lead-ers' visit to Pakistan shor tly after the group announced it willhold talks on refugees and border issues with the Pakistaniauthorities. Taliban will never have the authority to discuss theborder issues, considering the international laws, the Afghanpresidential palace said in a statement.It called on Pakistan to maintain its relations with the govern-ment of Afghanistan and respect the national sovereignty of the country.According to the statement, the visit by Taliban delegation from Qatar toPakistan was "vague" since the terror groups are not allowed to visitnations. Noting the visit by the Afghan refugees minister to Pakistan lastweek, the statement said the government has continuously workedwith Islamabad and international organisations to assess thesituation of the refugees.

Pakistani female activist winsNelson Mandela award

WASHINGTON, (IANS) Tony Blair obtained a "blessing" from Chinese lead-ers for a company owned by a Saudi prince to do business in Beijing as partof an arrangement that paid the former British prime minister's firm 41,000pounds a month and a two percent commission on any multimillion-poundcontracts he helped to secure. A series of documents show how Blair courtedChinese leaders in 2010 and then introduced them to the Saudi-owned com-pany PetroSaudi that he worked with. The company was not allowed todivulge his role without permission, the Guardian cited a contract as saying.The emails suggest PetroSaudi was told of fears that the city regulator wastargeting Blair over concerns he was not just opening doors but arranging andadvising on deals for investors -- a regulated corporate function that he is notauthorised to conduct. Blair began lobbying for PetroSaudi, a London-basedcompany co-owned by Prince Turki bin Abdullah -- the son of Saudi Arabia'sthen monarch -- in the summer of 2010.By the end of the year, the emails show, the former prime minister hadarranged a meeting between the chair of the China National Petroleum Cor-poration, one of the largest companies in the world, and PetroSaudi in SaudiArabia. During discussions over the proposed hiring of Blair in November2010, PetroSaudi pressed for him to "help deliver transactions, not just makethe intros". However, this did not prove possible. In email correspondence,PetroSaudi explained that Blair's team could not arrange deals "as this coulddeem TB to be carrying out regulated activities. Certain people at FSA [the

Financial Services Authority] are out to get him. In summary, TBA [Tony BlairAssociates] has said TB will assist in delivering transactions but cannothave it on paper that this might be the case (which no doubt still causes potentialproblems with the FSA)." A spokesman for the former prime minister said "his rolewas made known to the regulators ... and he has never undertaken anyactivity other than making introductions. He does not do 'deals'."

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Don't let Obama's legacy fall to Trump: Clinton GARMENT WORKERS MARCH DURING A PROCESSION TO MARK THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR DAY IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH (IANS).

WASHINGTON, (IANS) "We cannot let Barack Obama's legacy fallinto Donald Trump's hands," Democratic front-runner Hillary Clintonhas said. "Let's not endanger the promise, the potential, the dream ofour country by giving in to these voices of hatred," the Senator andformer Secretary of State said on Sunday night.She was addressing a National Association for the Advancement ofColoured People (NAACP) dinner, where she contrasted Obamaand Republican hopeful Trump. In her speech in Detroit, she men-tioned Trump's ties to the "insidious bir ther movement" and hisinitial struggle to disavow former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke,

The Washington Post reported.Clinton said bringing the country together was more urgent than everwith Obama's presidency ending. The NAACP dinner was her firstpublic event in Michigan since losing the state's March 8 primaryby a percentage and a half to rival Bernie Sanders. Attendee andClinton suppor ter Shawn Thomas said he thought she struck theright tone on Sunday in going af ter Trump but he urged caution."Everybody who goes af ter Trump just gets dragged into the mud,"he said. The NAACP is an African-American civil rights organisationin the US, formed in 1909.

CIA WANTS 9/11 REPORT SECRET CHAPTER KEPT UNDER WRAPSWASHINGTON, (IANS) A secret section of the 9/11 Commission Report that repor tedly details Saudi Arabian funding for the attackscontains "uncorroborated, un-vetted" information and should not be released, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hassaid. John Brennan, who runs the intelligence agency, voiced his suppor t for keeping the notoriously redacted "28 pages" in the 2004text from the public domain for fear of fuelling unfounded rumours, the Independent repor ted. Brennan insisted the section was"thoroughly investigated and reviewed" by the official inquiry into 9/11. He also maintained America had a "very strong" relationshipwith Saudi Arabia, a country from which 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers hailed. "This chapter was kept out (of the public domain) becauseof concerns about sensitive methods (and) investigative actions," he said on NBC's Meet The Press. Brennan said the repor t was "acombination of things that are accurate and inaccurate". He maintained the inquiry into 9/11 "came out with a very clear judgement thatthere was no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution, or Saudi officials or individuals, had provided financial suppor t toAl Qaeda. "I think some people may seize upon that uncorroborated, un-vetted information... to point to Saudi involvement, which I thinkwould be very, very inaccurate," he said. Meanwhile, the families of the 9/11 victims were awaiting the outcome of legislation thatwould allow them to bring lawsuits against the Saudi government over attacks, which has not yet been possible.

Sharif launches National HealthProgramme in BalochistanISLAMABAD, (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifon Monday inaugurated the National Health Programme in thecountry's southwestern province of Balochistan. According to re-ports, the National Health Programme under which 300,000 poorpatients were likely to avail free treatment, will initially be launchedin Quetta, Loralai, Turbat and Lasbela districts of Balochistan."The programme has been launched to provide health facilities topeople living below poverty line," Sharif said during an address inthe Balochistan Governor House, the Express News reported. "Some76,000 families in Balochistan will receive their national health cardstoday," the premier said, adding that through this programme, thepoor can get treated for fatal diseases without spending any money."We need to change the political culture in the country," he added."We have to change the ongoing culture in which only the wealthyand powerful have privileges. Providing the nation with healthfacilities, education and employment is not a favour, it is eachcitizen's fundamental right," Sharif added.

SRI LANKA, CHINA TO HOLDDISCUSSIONS ON FTACOLOMBO, (IANS) Sri Lanka and China will hold high leveldiscussions in June on the possibility of signing a bilateralfree trade agreement (FTA), Sri Lanka's Ministry of Industry andCommerce said in a statement here on Monday. "China is a promis-ing market for Sri Lanka's select, premium products such as gems,and an important round of bilateral talks on Sri Lanka-China FTA isscheduled for next month," Xinhua news agency reported citing thestatement. It said Sri Lanka was committed to pursuing an outwardoriented trade regime following the principles of the World TradeOrganisation, with a view to enhancing overseas market access forits export products and achieving greater integration into the worldeconomy. Sri Lanka has already signed free trade agreements withIndia and Pakistan and both the agreements allow more than 4,000product lines to be expor ted to these markets at zero duty.

16 SHIA PILGRIMS KILLED INBAGHDAD BOMBINGBAGHDAD, (IANS) At least 16 Shia pilgrims were killed and43 injured in a car bomb explosion in Baghdad on Monday,police said. A booby-trapped car was detonated near a pro-cession of Shia pilgrims moving on foot in the southern par t ofthe city, Xinhua news agency said.The attack came as thousands of Shias marched from Baghdaddistricts to the mausoleum of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, also inBaghdad, to commemorate the death of the seventh of themost revered 12 Shia Imams. Kadhim's tomb is in a golden-domed mosque in the centre of the old par t of the holy ShiaKadhimiyah district. Insurgent groups, including Islamic State(IS) militant group, frequently attack Shia pilgrims who per-form religious rituals in Iraq, killing and injuring hundreds in abid to provoke sectarian strife.

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JUHI CHAWLA'S INSIGHT ONWORKING WITH SRK, AAMIR KHAN

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NEHA DHUPIA AND VJ RANNVIJAY SINGH AT THE LAUNCH OF NBA DIGITAL DESTINATION IN MUMBAI (IANS).

MUMBAI, (IANS) Actress Sunny Leone is appearing in a new Peoplefor the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) adver tisement headlined"Be an Angel for Animals! Adopt a Dog From the Street or a Shelter".Sunny wants to draw her fans' attention to the plight of dogs waiting inanimal shelters for loving homes, as well as those suffering on thestreet. She knows adoption, not buying, is key to fighting the world-wide crisis of animal homelessness. "I believe in not buying - andadopting … because there are so many dogs out there (who) need ahome, (who) were left on the streets", the actress said in a statement."If you can rescue an animal, then that's one of the greatest gifts youcan give somebody," she added. PETA and Sunny also promotesterilisation of companion animals.Sterilisation is a routine, affordable surgery that can prevent thou-sands of animals from being born only to suffer and struggle to sur-vive on the streets, be abused by cruel or neglectful people, or end upin animal shelters. Just one unaltered female dog and her offspringcan produce 67,000 puppies in six years. In seven years, one femalecat and her offspring can produce 370,000 kittens. Sterilising elimi-nates the stress and discomfort that females endure during heat andgreatly reduces the risk of developing mammary cancer. It also makesmales far less likely to roam or fight.

MUMBAI, (IANS) Actress Juhi Chawla, who was last seen on screenin the 2015 film "Chalk n Duster", says she enjoyed working withsuperstars Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan the most during hercareer. Juhi had held a question and answer session for her fans andwell-wishers on Twitter recently. A fan asked her whom she enjoyedworking with the most in cinema, to which Juhi replied: "Sharukh andAamir". Juhi has been a par t of Hindi cinema for three decades and

has shared screen space with Shah Rukh in popular films like "Darr","Duplicate", "Ram Jaane", "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" and "Yes Boss".She also created waves with her on screen chemistry with Aamir inhit films like "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak", "Love Love Love", "TumMere Ho", "Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke" and "Ishq". Asked by anotheruser if she ever acts with superstar Salman Khan, what genre of filmwould that be, Juhi replied: "It would be a comedy."

HRITHIK ROSHAN IN A COMIC ROLE, NO WAY!MUMBAI, (IANS) After giving a string of hits in the genre of action and romance in Bollywood, actorHrithik Roshan says he is now inspired to do a comedy film. The "Bang Bang!" star, who lauded thetrailer of the for thcoming comedy movie "Housefull 3", has shown a desire to tickle the funny boneof his fans. "This 'Housefull 3' trailer is mad. I wanna watch! Bravo Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh,Nargis Fakhri, Jacqueline Fernandez, Abhishek Bachchan. Inspired to do comedy!" Hrithik tweetedrecently. Directed by filmmaker Sajid-Farhad Samji, "Housefull 3" also features actor Chunky Pandeyas Aakhri Pasta and Aakhri Aastha. Riteish and Akshay have been a par t of the first two instalmentsof the "Housefull" franchise.

AMITABH BIPASHA, AISHWARYA RAI AND ABHISHEK BACHCHAN AT THE WEDDING CEREMONY OF BIPASHA BASU IN MUMBAI (IANS).

Afridi, Shehzad, Akmal droppedfrom Pakistan squadLAHORE, (IANS) The ripples of Pakistan's disastrous WorldTwenty20 campaign continues to resonate with star playersShahid Afridi, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal being excludedfrom the probables list for the tour of England next month.Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who recently re-signed as Afghanistan coach to head the Pakistan CricketBoard's (PCB) selection committee, announced a list of 35players for a training camp in Kakul near Abottabad inKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa province from May 14 to June 4.Afridi attracted much criticism after Pakistan's poor per-formance in the World T20 and Inzamam asser ted that theveteran batsman will have to prove himself at the domes-tic level in order to be considered for the national team.Shehzad and Akmal meanwhile, were dropped due to a com-bination of poor per formance and indiscipline. Lef t-armpacer Mohammad Ir fan was also excluded from the campdue to fitness issues."Since we are playing only four Twenty20 matches thisyear we want to give new players a chance, and that willalso allow Afridi to rest and per form in domestic matches,"Inzamam told the media here on Monday. "Ahmed Shehzadand Umar Akmal have not been included in the trainingcamp taking into view their past disciplinary record.Neither is their discipline good nor their recent per for-mances consistent and impressive," he added.

CHANNEL Y NOW AVAILABLEON BELL FOR $4 PER MONTHMISSISSAUGA - The 24-hour, seven-days Channel Y can now bewatched on Bell for only $4 per month. Launched by the YMedia Groupthe channel has received rave reviews for the content it has beengenerating in a shor t span of time especially its coverage of all localevents missed by mainstream media. The channel currently can beviewed on Rogers for $5. For more informat ion v is i t :www.SouthasianDaily.com

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LOVELY TO MEET FUNNY, CHARMINGBARACK OBAMA: PRIYANKA

BIG B, NAWAZUDDIN RIDESCOOTER IN 'TE3N' POSTERMUMBAI, (IANS) The first poster of Ribhu Dasgupta's thriller"TE3N" has been unveiled and it shows megastar AmitabhBachchan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui riding a blue scooter onthe streets of Kolkata. The poster, which was shared by Big Bon Saturday night on Twitter, also shows Kolkata's yellowtaxis and tram in the background. "The first release poster of'TE3N'... Enjoy," Amitabh wrote on Twitter. Producer SujoyGhosh also mentioned that the film, which is slated to releaseon June 10, will see Vidya Balan in a "guest appearance".

R. MADHAVAN HAS 'SOMUCH TO LEARN' FROM SRKMUMBAI, (IANS) Actor R. Madhavan says Shah Rukh Khanmakes his fans feel "royal" and he has a lot to learn from thesuperstar. "Shah Rukh Khan how awesome and royal you makeyour fans feel chief... Have so much to learn from you,"Madhavan tweeted on Sunday. Madhavan also shared a pho-tograph of SRK along with his wife Sarita Birje in his tweet.Madhavan, who has starred in hits like "Tanu Weds Manu","Tanu Weds Manu Returns" and "3 Idiots", was last seen onscreen in "Saala Khadoos". On the work front, SRK was lastseen on screen in "Fan" and will next be seen in RahulDholakia's upcoming film "Raees".

RGV TO MAKE FILM BASED ON'GREATEST GANGSTER EVER'MUMBAI, (IANS) Maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma ismaking a film titled "Rai", which is based on the life of formerunderworld don Muthappa Rai. "'Rai' mega launch. First lookof the film I am making based on the life of underworld donMuthappa Rai... The greatest gangster ever," Varma tweetedrecently. The "Satya" helmer, who currently awaits the re-lease of his for thcoming film "Veerappan", also shared infor-mation about the budget of "Rai" and mentioned that it wouldbe his "most expensive film ever"."'Rai' film is going to costmore than Rs.55 crore, which will be my most expensive filmever by leaps and bounds," he said. "'Rai' is going to be shotin Mangalore, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Dubai, London andKazakhstan," Varma added.

Neha Bhasin croons romanticnumber for 'Sultan'

NEW DELHI, (IANS) Singer Neha Bhasin, who recently re-leased her seventh folk single titled "Nai Jaana", has nowcrooned a romantic number for superstar Salman Khan'supcoming film "Sultan". Bhasin, who was a member of thepopular all-girl band VIVA, said she has also sung a dancenumber for the sequel to the 2002 film "Aankhen".The "Dhunki" hitmaker said that the composition of the songfor "Sultan" has a dash of folk. "You will hear a little bit of folkin the song from 'Sultan' as well. I mean it's not a folk song,but the composition is a little bit like that... It has a Rajasthanitouch. The track for 'Aankhen 2' is like a typical film (song)...It will be the title track," Bhasin told IANS over phone fromMumbai. "The track for 'Sultan' is a romantic song and'Aankhen 2' is a dance number. 'Sultan' will be out soon inJuly. 'Aankhen 2' will release later this year," Bhasin added.Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Â"SultanÂ" is said to be basedon life of Sultan Ali Khan -- a wrestler who is faced withproblems in his professional and personal lives. To get holdof the character in the best possible way, Salman gainedweight and underwent rigorous training.

TIGER SHROFF HAS UTMOSTRESPECT FOR FAIR SEXJAIPUR, (IANS) Tiger Shroff took the vir tual route to set therecord straight over his allegedly "sexist" remarks. The ac-tor says he is "totally for women empowerment and equal-ity" and has utmost respect for the fair sex. There were re-ports that Tiger had stated in an interview that he had settleddown with a "housewife-type" of a girl. Tiger took to Twitteron Wednesday to clear the air about the repor ts."I am totally for women empowerment and equality and al-ways talk about how they are as strong or stronger thanmen. I respect my mother and sister too much to say some-thing like that. I know I'm barely a year old in the industry butfor those who know me and who have accepted me youwould know. Anyway love always," Tiger wrote.

WASHINGTON, (IANS) Actress Priyanka Chopra was elatedto meet the "very funny and charming" US President BarackObama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White HouseCorrespondents' Dinner here. The 33-year-old actress, whofound global recognition with her character Alex Parrish in theAmerican TV series "Quantico", looked ravishing in a deep-cut, striped black gown at the dinner held on Saturday night.Priyanka also shared a photograph of herself along with thetwo. The US President looked dapper in a black suit andcrisp white shir t which he teamed with a black bow tie,while Michelle Obama looked lovely in an embellished beigegown. "Lovely to meet the very funny and charming BarackObama and the beautiful Michelle Obama," Priyanka cap-tioned the photgraph. "Thank you for a lovely evening. Can-not wait to star t working on your girls education program,"she added. The 2016 White House Correspondents' dinner,which was President Obama's last in office, was hosted bycomedian Larry Wilmore.

RUNNING SUCCESSFULLY

MALAIKA ARORA KHAN, RANDEEP HOODA, FILMMAKER OMUNG KUMAR, KIRRON KHER, AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN AND KARANJOHAR PROMOTING FILM SARBJIT ON THE SETS OF INDIA'S GOT TALENT SEASON 7 IN MUMBAI (IANS).

MidWeek 19MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

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TUESDAY, MAY 03, 2016

20 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

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Movie Review

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DO PEG MAAR ONE NIGHT STAND

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HIGH HEELS KI & KA

LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE BAAGHI

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FILM

FILM:FAN1 JABRA FAN

hollywood

'Baaghi': Sincere but lacklustre

CAST: TIGER SHROFF, SHRADDHA KAPOOR,

SUDHEER BABU POSANI, PARAS ARORA,

SUNIL GROVER DIRECTOR: SABBIR KHAN

RATING: **1/2

BY TROY RIBEIRO

Adapted from two films, the Indonesian movie "The Raid: Redemp-tion" (2001) and the 2004 Telugu release "Varsham", "Baaghi" is anaction-packed, run-of-the mill love story of a rebel and his ladylove. Afraid of his son Ronney (Tiger Shroff) going wayward orbeing a rebel, Colonel Samarjit Singh packs him off to his friend'sgurukul, in Kerala, to "make a man out of him".En route on his journey to meet his father's friend in Kerala,Ronney meets Siya (Shraddha Kapoor) in the train. Loveblossoms but not before laying the seeds of the various ob-stacles which include Siya's oppor tunist father, E.P. Khuranaand Raghav, his guru (teacher)'s son, an equally formidablefighter, who also happens to be on the same train and falls inlove with Siya, too.Tiger Shroff per forms competently, displaying his impressive,mar tial ar ts skill effectively. Though charismatic and sincere,he fails to leave an impact as Ronney. There is somethingendearing and ear thy about Shraddha Kapoor as Siya. She isequally effor tless in the dancing and action sequences. SunilGrover as her father, Mr. Khurana gets into the skin of hischaracter with ease. With a tinge of comic and subtle slimi-ness, he reminds one of Shakti Kapoor, in his hey days.Sudheer Babu as Raghav is imposing. He is equally agile as

Tiger and leaves an impact as the antagonist. With interestingcamera angles capturing the moments of action and drama,cinematographer Binod Pradhan's camera work is striking.Also, his interior shots with aesthetic lighting and wide angledexterior shots in natural lighting are picture perfect.Julius Packiam's background score with its adrenaline packedbeats is effectively used to create frenzied tempo of the action.The songs, "Toh naachu mein aaj, cham, cham", an extemporedance in the rain, seems forced and the song "Agar tu hota to,na rote hum" doubles up as a background score. In totality, thesongs are well picturised, but add nothing to the progression ofthe tale.While the film is technically dazzling, the director has not paidattention to the narrative. The story written by Sanjeev Dutta ishackneyed and predictable, laden with loopholes and aban-doned sub-plots. You expect this to be the story of a rebel, butunfor tunately the rebel in Ronney does not sur face, except in aweak exposition where his father writes a note to his friendstating that Ronney is a lovable rebel.The script, punctuated with comic and action sequences, isformulaically craf ted. This makes the narration super ficial andshallow in nature, making it difficult for the audience to relate tothe characters. The first two acts are moderately paced, it isthe climax that is overstretched with a never-ending chase and

action sequence, making theviewing a bit tedious. Overall,with a string of oft seenscenes and action sequences,"Baaghi" offers no novelty, interms of visual and narrativestance, making it neitherexciting nor appealing.

ANISTON STOLE MONEYFROM HER MOTHER AS A KIDLOS ANGELES, (IANS) Actress Jennifer Aniston has revealedthat she stole money from her mother's purse as a child. The 47-year-old has revealed she used to steal cash from her actressmother Nancy Dow to spend on video games and at the local arcadewith her friends, femalefirst.co.uk. Asked to name the worst thingshe did as a child that she hid from her parents, Aniston told HELLO!magazine: "I don't know ... Taking money from her purse, maybe adollar. I don't think I would steal large sums of cash. A dollar went along way when we were kids. It was for video games, the arcade,nothing serious," she added. Meanwhile, Aniston claimed to haveinherited her sense of humour from her parents. She said: "She hada great sense of humour. And my dad".

Nicky Jam, Iglesias win big at 2016Billboard Latin Music AwardsMIAMI, (IANS) Singers Nicky Jam and Enrique Iglesias, who deliveredthe global hit "El Perdón", were the big winners of the 2016 Billboard LatinMusic Awards, collecting six trophies each, including Hot Latin Song ofthe Year, Vocal Event, Airplay Song of the Year, Digital Song of the Year,Streaming Song of the Year and Latin Rhythm Song of the Year. Addition-ally, Iglesias won Latin Pop Songs Artist of the Year, Solo, while Jam wonLatin Rhythm Songs Artist of the Year, Solo, reports billboard.com. Afterthanking god, his genre Latina, Billboard and the people of Colombia andPuerto Rico, Jam gave a shout-out to his father, who he was separatedfrom for much of his childhood. "I never brought home to you a medalfrom school," he said. "But here is your medal, Papi."

BEYONCE PRAISES JAY ZAMID INFIDELITY DRAMAMIAMI, (IANS) Singer Beyonce Knowles has praised her hus-band Jay Z amid rumours that she sang about his infidelity onher latest album "Lemonade" It was earlier alleged that the34-year-old singer seemingly hit out at her husband -- whomshe married in 2009 and with whom she has four-year-olddaughter Blue Ivy -- in her new video of a song from "Lemon-ade" for committing adultery.In the clip, which sees the couple cuddling up to one another,she sings: "Looking at my watch he should have been home.I regret the day I put that ring on."

SALMAN TO ADDGLAMOUR, VISIBILITYTO RIO OLYMPICS:GANGULYKOLKATA, (IANS) Former Indiacricket captain Sourav Gangulybelieves the appointment ofBollywood actor Salman Khan asthe goodwill ambassador for theOlympics will add glamour andbring visibility to the mega event."I am fine with Salman being ap-pointed as the ambassador as hecan bring visibility and glamourquotient to anything," Ganguly saidhere on Thursday at an event. The43-year-old also voted for an op-tion of having multiple ambassa-dors for the Olympics. "Salman ispopular and would bring visibilityto the Rio Olympics, you cannotdeny that. He is an entertainer. It isabsolutely fine to have him as theambassador. I think they can haveother ambassadors as well, it'snowhere written that they can onlyhave one ambassador," he said. Elabo-rating on the issue further, he added,"There have been some outstandingathletes who have brought laurels tothe country, I'm sure they can team upwith Salman. There is no harm at all inhaving other ambassadors. They canwork alongside Salman to combineglamour, entertainment and sports. Wehave some legends in the country whocan be a part of it." Ganguly, whoco-owns Indian Super League (ISL)franchise Atletico de Kolkata, alsogave examples to support his state-ment from opening ceremonies ofsports events where enter tainmentand sports are brought together.

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MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

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Took liberty to up entertainmentquotient in 'Azhar': Emraan

To Advertise or to feature your business on the show Please call 647-242-4746 / 905-670-3687/ 647-965-6370MALAIKA ARORA AT THE INAUGURATION OF A STORE IN NOIDA (IANS).

FILMMAKER OMUNG KUMAR, ACTORS RANDEEP HOODA AND RICHA CHADHA DURING THE LAUNCH OF SONG TUNG LAKFROM FILM SARBJIT IN MUMBAI (IANS).

MUMBAI, (IANS) Actor Emraan Hashmi, who will be seen essayingformer cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin's role in "Azhar", says themakers took the liber ty to increase the "enter tainment quotient" inthe biopic. "Our popular culture is music so you have to take liber tyof that. Azharuddin has never sung such songs for sure but we havesome lovely songs in this film. For few scenes we took the liber tyto privatise it... We took some liber ty to increase the enter tainmentquotient," Emraan told IANS about taking cinematic liber ty for thefilm. Emraan, who claims he was a huge fan of Azharuddin, wasupset when the former captain of the Indian cricket team wasaccused of match-fixing in 2000. "I have been a huge fan of Azharbhai and I was upset because his name was dragged into match-fixing. I thought it was wrong where people star ted believing that hetook money, but that was wrong because our judicial system has a courseand their investigation went on for 12 years after which he was acquitted of allcharges. It was all about patience for his fans," Emraan said.

Bring honest characters to the audience: Manoj BajpayeeMUMBAI, (IANS) Actor Manoj Bajpayee, who will be seen as a traffic constable in the upcoming thriller"Traffic", believes that he always brings honest characters in front of the audience through his films. "Ibelieve I do good movies and bring honest characters to the audience. I try to give a satisfying experienceto moviegoers. Therefore, whatever is needed I would do that so that the film reaches to the maximumpeople," Manoj said. "I am always available for promotions. Whatever I am needed to do I will do that.Even if they ask me to stand on the road wearing a traffic constable costume, I can do that too," the 47-year-old actor added. Manoj is also to meet senior officials of traffic police. "Traffic" is based on a road tripfrom Mumbai to Pune. The story revolves around transpor tation of a harvested hear t for a hear t transplantcase, chasing a strict deadline. During the mission, the characters face numerous difficulties and ob-stacles, traffic being one of them.

KALKI KOECHLIN GETS PRAISEFROM MELINDA GATESMumbai, April 28 (IANS) Actress Kalki Koechlin is on cloud nine after getting a letter from MelindaGates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, praising her for bringing "attention toviolence and discrimination against women" through a 'thought provoking' poem. The actress got aletter from Melinda and shared a snapshot of the letter on photo-sharing site Instagram. It read:"Dear Ms Koechlin: I appreciate your taking the time to join me in a discussion on empoweringwomen and girls in India. Your video poem, 'The Printing Machine', was power ful and thoughtprovoking. Thank you for bringing attention to violence and discrimination against women. Yourvoice helps bring much needed attention and suppor t to these issues - and I am grateful for youreffor ts. It was a pleasure meeting you during my visit."

desiFEST CELEBRATES 10YEAR OF SUCCESSTORONTO: desiFEST, Nor th America's premier outdoor SouthAsian music concer t is back for the 10th year. Since its incep-tion, desiFEST has grown in both size and influence, attractingbig name acts from across the country and overseas. ThedesiFEST stage has been host to fan favourites such as MasterD, Apache Indian, Mickey Singh, Zack Knight, Raxstar, LadyPista, Taz and Stereonation and many more. Now 10 yearslater, desi urban music lovers will unite once again as desiFESTshowcases musical talents across four exciting days!Presented by returning sponsor TD and hosted by founder SathishBala (also known as Sats B), this year's concert will feature astar-studded line up of emerging and established musical ar t-ists and per formers. desiFEST has become the most antici-pated kick-off event of the summer and a premier platform withinthe South Asian music scene. This year, desiFEST will hostthree additional events to showcase the growing talent in theSouth Asian community. Wednesday, May 25, 2016 from 10 PM - 2 AM: All female lineup called 'She Rocks'.At Adelaide Hall, 250 Adelaide Street West, TorontoThursday, May 26, 2016 from 10 PM - 2 AM: Open Scream Night(All proceeds to Canadian Cancer Society) with DJs A-Slam, DJSoulversatile, DJ SatsB and YouAt Adelaide Hall, 250 Adelaide Street West, TorontoFriday, May 27, 2016 from 7 PM - 9 PM: Host a distinguishedpanel of industry exper ts with a discussion of all aspects of theSouth Asian music industry in Nor th America.At George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 ChurchStreet, TorontoSaturday, May 28, 2016 10 AM - 10 PM: desiFEST Nor thAmerica's outdoor Premier festivalAt Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto

Salman, Priyanka, Hrithik,Deepika to perform at IIFA 2016NEW DELHI, (IANS) It will be the celebration of Indian cinema inSpain when Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, PriyankaChopra, Deepika Padukone and Sonakshi Sinha will perform at the 17thEdition of The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) in June.To be held in Madrid, capital of Spain, the four-day cinematic celebration willstart on June 23. Bollywood stars Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Kapoor willhost the gala night. Farhan, who was here to announce the 17th edition of thefilm festival along with actor Anil Kapoor, can't wait to share the stage withShahid. "We had a wonderful time. There is a certain ease and chemistrywhich we have with each other and I look forward to it," he told IANS.The 42-year-old is equally excited to visit Spain."I have fond memories of being in Spain especially having shot my movie'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'. Even now when I plan my holidays, I prefergoing to Spain. It is a different experience and I am so happy thatthe country is hosting this year's IIFA," he said. Anil, who hasbeen associated with IIFA for more than a decade now, says thatthe for thcoming edition of IIFA is cer tainly going to be one of thebiggest till date.

PRINCE HARRY HELD MEETING WITH CANADIAN ATHLETES ALONG WITH PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU DURING HIS VISIT TOTORONTO TO PROMOTE THE 2017 INVICTUS GAMES THAT THE CITY IS HOSTING FROM MAY 2.

ROHIT'S UNBEATEN 85POWERS MUMBAI TOTHUMPING WIN OVER PUNEPUNE, (IANS) Leading from the front, skipper Rohit Sharmasmashed a match-winning unbeaten 85 off just 60 balls toguide defending champions Mumbai Indians to a comfor t-able eight-wicket victory over Rising Pune Supergiants inthe Maharashtra derby of the Indian Premier League (IPL)here on Sunday.Batting first, Pune posted 159/5 in 20 overs, thanks to openerSaurabh Tiwary's much-needed 57 off 45 balls. In reply, Rohitcame up with another impressive knock which included eightboundaries and three sixes, as Mumbai chased down thetotal posting 161/2 with nine balls to spare.After win, Mumbai climb to second position in the pointstable with 10 points from nine games, having won five andlost four. Chasing a challenging target of 160, in-form open-ers Rohit and Par thiv Patel got Mumbai off to a good star tscoring 24 without losing any wicket in the first three overs.But the four th over witnessed a see-saw battle as Par thivafter striking Ashok Dinda for three consecutive boundarieseventually got a thick edge off a wide off stump deliverywhich was collectively well by a diving wicket-keeperMahendra Singh Dhoni, leaving Mumbai at 39/1.

IPL: SUNRISERS BEAT RCBBY 15 RUNSHYDERABAD, (IANS) Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) backed upDavid Warner's scintillating 50-ball 92 with a clinical bowl-ing effor t to grab a 15-run victory over Royal ChallengersBangalore (RCB) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encoun-ter at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here.Chasing Sunrisers' 194/5 during the match on Saturday, RCBonly managed to post 179/6 with Lokesh Rahul top scoringwith a 28-ball 51. AB De Villiers contributed with a 32-ball 47.Ashish Nehra, Mustaf izur Rahman, Bar inder Sran,Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Moises Henriques picked up onewicket each for the hosts.Royals Challengers had star ted off with a flyer with the in-form Virat Kohli and Lokesh Rahul scoring 29 runs of the firstthree. But then Kohli (14) who scored a scintillating hundredin the last game fell trying to drive a Mustafizur Rahmandelivery on the up. After six over's RCB were 45-1.Rahul kept the scoreboard ticking at a healthy pace smash-ing Barinder Sran for 13 in the 9th. He then completed his fiftybut was out caught behind a little later. Shane Watson (2) toofollowed Rahul back to the dug out as he fell shor t of hiscrease trying to steal a single.De Villiers who was living a charmed life having beingdropped twice then stepped on the gas. He star ted off bybelting Moises Henriques for two consecutive sixes in the14th over which yielded 19 runs and followed it up with aboundary of Sran. But the South African then failed to connectone and was easily caught in the deep by Kane Williamson.With De Villiers went RCB's hopes as well and though SachinBaby (27) and Kedar Jadhav (not out 25) tried hard they fellshort in the end.

AXAR, MOHIT HELP PUNJABBAG SECOND WIN IN IPLRAJKOT, (IANS) Axar Patel (4/21) and Mohit Sharma (3/32)helped Kings XI Punjab register their only second win in sevenIndian Premier League (IPL) games as they overcame table-toppers Gujarat Lions by 23 runs here on Sunday.Chasing 155, Gujarat were reduced to 34/2 in five oversaf ter r ight-arm pacer Mohi t d isturbed the stumps ofBrendon McCullum (1) and Suresh Raina (18). Then Axarbroke Punjab's back in the seventh over, removing WestIndian Dwayne Smith (15), Dinesh Kar thik (2) and DwayneBravo (0) -- the final two wickets fell in the fifth and sixthdel iver ies.Then, after a bowling change, Axar was brought back intothe attack in the 11th over. On the f irst bal l , he sentRavindra Jadeja (11) packing, taking the first hat-trick ofthe edition -- 14th overall in IPL's history. Gujarat werethen reeling at 57/6 and were in desperate need of a par t-nership. Ishan Kishan (27) and James Faulkner (32) in-fused hopes in the home team's camp. But the job was toostiff, as they fell shor t by 23 runs.

Delhi beat KKR by 27 runs to move to second spotNEW DELHI, (IANS) Delhi Daredevils produced a thorough all-round performance to notch up their four th win, beating Kolkata KnightRiders by 27 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash here on Saturday. Delhi recovered from a poor star t to post an strong totalof 186/8. It was enough as they claimed wickets at regular intervals to bowl out KKR for 159 in 18.3 overs. It moved Delhi to second inthe standings, with eight points from six matches, demoting KKR to third, due to an inferior run rate. KKR have also played a game more.Delhi skipper Zaheer Khan (3/21) led the way for a disciplined bowling performance. West Indies' World T20 hero Carlos Brathwaite (3/47) also chipped in with the ball after hitting a quick-fire 34 while batting. A 106-run four th wicket par tnership between Karun Nair (68)and Sam Billings (54) shaped Delhi's innings at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.

ONTARIO - Ontario is committing up to $10 million over two years insuppor t of the Invictus Games, which will be held in Toronto fromSeptember 26 to 30, 2017. Premier Kathleen Wynne made the an-nouncement in Toronto alongside Prince Henry of Wales (PrinceHarry), who founded the Invictus Games in 2014. The Games are

an international adaptive spor ting event for wounded, injured andsick servicemen and women, both serving and veteran. They har-ness the power of spor t to inspire recovery, suppor t rehabilita-tion and generate a wider understanding and respect for all ofthose who serve their country.

TORONTO TO HOST 2017 INVICTUS GAMES;INVESTS $10M IN GLOBAL SPORTING EVENT

Pathan, Russell winmatch for Knight Riders

against RCBBENGALURU, (IANS) Batting knights Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russellwon the match for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore (RCB), scoring 189/5 with five balls to spare atChinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday in the 30th match of IPL Sea-son Nine.Pathan (60) and Russell (39) star ted hitting regular boundaries forKKR halfway after the match to bring down the asking rate from 9.3runs an over at the beginning of the chase to 47 runs in 24 balls and 21runs in 16 balls finally after the dismissal of Russell to one run in fiveballs in the 20th over.Russell blasted four sixes and a four in 24 balls to reach 39 whilePathan remained unbeaten on 60 with half a dozen fours and a threesixes. Pathan destroyed Watson in the 17th over, he smashed twosixes, three fours and a double to heap 24 runs. Russell and Pathanlogged a 96 runs par tnership in 45 balls for the sixth wicket. Pathanreached his half century in 27 balls in the 19th over. Except for captainGautam Gambhir (37) in the top order, other batsmen including RobinUthappa (1), Chris Lynn (15) and Manish Pandey (8) got out cheaply.Yuzvendra Chahal 2/27 emerged the most successful bowler for RCB,he claimed danger man Russell in the 18th over, caught near theboundary line by Stuar t Binny while attempting a big six. Shane Watsonleaked 38 runs in three overs claiming just a wicket. Earlier, RCB seta target of 186 runs for KKR, scoring 185/7 in 20 overs.

Delhi Daredevils thrashGujarat Lions by eight

wickets in IPLRAJKOT, (IANS) Rishabh Pant (69) and Quinton de Kock (46) pro-duced a match-winning opening stand to guide Delhi Daredevils to aconvincing eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions in an Indian Pre-mier League (IPL) match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Sta-dium here on Tuesday. Batting first, Gujarat posted 149/7 in 20 overs,thanks to a much-needed half-century by Dinesh Kar thik (53). In re-ply, riding on an impressive 115-run opening par tnership by Pant andde Kock, Daredevils chased down the total comfor tably posting 150/2 with 16 balls to spare. Chasing a target of 150, Delhi got off to arollicking star t, cour tesy openers Pant and de Kock.The duo helped the team score 61 runs without losing a wicket afterthe completion of powerplay. Both the left-handed batsmen, even af-ter the fielding restrictions were over, kept on playing positively tobring up the 100-run par tnership for the first wicket in the 12th overitself. But as the duo was looking comfor table to get the team over theline without losing any wickets, the home side struck in successiveovers, in the 13th and the 14th, to remove both of them. Pant in his 40-ball innings struck nine fours and two sixes while de Kock hit fourboundaries and one six.But incoming batsmen Sanju Samson (19 not out) and J.P. Duminy (13not out) played sensibly to ensure the team got past the victory linewith ease. For Gujarat, Ravindra Jadeja and Shivil Kaushik pickedone wicket each.

BAN KI-MOON (C), UN SECRETARY-GENERAL, THOMAS BACH (L) INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) PRESIDENT AND CARLOSARTHUR NUZMAN, BRAZIL'S OLYMPIC COMMITTEE PRESIDENT POSE WITH THE OLYMPIC FLAME LANTERN AT THE EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERSOF THE UNITED NATIONS IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND. THE OLYMPIC FLAME FOR THE RIO DE JANEIRO GAMES WAS BROUGHT TO THE UN ONFRIDAY BEFORE IT HEADS TO BRAZIL FOR THE TORCH RELAY AHEAD OF THE OPENING CEREMONY IN RIO (IANS).

IPL 2016 SCHEDULE, TIME TABLE & FIXTURES

Winners Announced for Toronto Regional of MoneyGram Cricket BeeMETUCHEN - Over 300 people registered for the Toronto regional of the MoneyGram Cricket Bee held at Don Bosco Secondary Schoolrecently. The three winners of the second regional answered trivia questions about cricket to solidify their position at the finals.Vaibhav Patel of Edison, NJ was declared second runner up, Iqtedar Khan of Toronto, ON was first runner up and the Regionalchampion was Vidyasagar Sethu of Scarborough, ON. The competition allows cricket fans to compete for prizes while sharing theirknowledge of the game in an effor t to win a cash prize of $10,000.Open to those 18 and older, the contest began with regional rounds in New Jersey, San Francisco and concluded in Toronto, eachtesting participants' general cricket knowledge. The regional contest will have two components, a written test and an oral test. In thewritten qualifier, contestants will be asked 35 questions. They must get at least 25 correct in order to advance to the oral round. In theoral round, the contest will be held on a miss and out basis; simply if a contestant misses the right answer, they are eliminated.Unlike quiz shows, the Cricket Bee will be conducted so that contestants are actually competing with themselves and the question posed to them asopposed to their peers. The finals are slated for May 7 and are open for the public to watch. For reserving seats, call 732-710-4361.

IPL: Smith, McCullum help Gujarat stun Pune by three wicketsPUNE, (IANS) Gujarat Lions rode on a collective batting effor t by Dwayne Smith (63 off 37) and Brendon McCullum (43 off 22)which helped them edge past Rising Pune Supergiants by three wickets in a nail-biting Indian Premier League (IPL) match atthe Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Friday. Batting first, Steve Smith (101 off 54) struck up his maiden IPL ton asPune posted an impressive 195/3 in 20 overs. He was well suppor ted by Ajinkya Rahane (53). In reply, openers Smith andMcCullum set the per fect platform as middle order batsmen delivered in bits and pieces as the visitors chased down the totalposting 196/7 in 20 overs.Chasing a challenging target of 196, hard-hitting Smith and McCullum got Gujarat off to a rollicking star t scoring 72 runswithout losing any wicket after completion of powerplay. The duo put on a 93-run stand for the first wicket, before McCullumgave his wicket away trying to step up the scoring rate. Despite losing his opening par tner, Smith played his natural game byscoring runs at good pace to take his team to the 100-run mark in the ninth over itself. As he was looking set after striking nineboundaries and one six to take the game away from the home side, Perera stuck in the 11th over to send Smith packing andhave Gujarat reduced to 115/2.Dinesh Kar thik (33) too depar ted in the 17th over af ter giving good suppor t to skipper Suresh Raina (34). But there af terwickets fell one after the other but in the end, James Faulkner (9 not out) and Praveen Kumar (0 not out) remained unbeaten to taketeam to victory off the last ball. Ashok Dinda (2-40) and Thisara Perera (2-41) were the pick of the bowers for Pune.

Tendulkar joins Salman, Bindra as goodwill ambassador for Rio 2016NEW DELHI, (IANS) Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday accepted the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) offer to becomegoodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent for the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro. Tendulkar now joins Bollywood superstarSalman Khan and 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra as the goodwill ambassadors for the Rio-bound contingent. "Ihave had the privilege and honour of representing our nation for 24 years and I continue to bat for India off the field. The welfare ofspor tspersons and encouraging them to give their best is very dear to me," Tendulkar wrote in a letter to IOA after accepting the offer."I strongly believe that the spor tspersons from different par ts of the country, pursuing their unique skills are the true ambassadors ofthe growing spor ting culture in this country," added the 43-year-old whose international career spanned from 1989 to 2013.

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TUESDAY, MAY 03, 2016