I DETAILS ON PAGE 14 CONGRESS LEADER SAJJAN KUMAR ...southasiandaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/1-24_-2.pdf · 01/12/2018 · diana penty and shabana azmi. tiger shroff and shraddha

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

SIKHS IN AMERICA THANK INDIAN PMNARENDRA MODI FOR KARTARPUR CORRIDOR

"WE WILL BUILD A WORLD CLASS CRICKET STADIUM IN BRAMPTON" - MAYOR PATRICK BROWN.YUDHVIR JASWAL(GROUP EDITOR AND CEO- Y MEDIA GROUP) WITH MAYOR OF BRAMPTON PATRICK BROWN DURINGTHE INTERACTIVE SESSION ORGANISED BY INDO CANADA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.I DETAILS ON PAGE 4

CONGRESS LEADER SAJJAN KUMAR SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN 1984 ANTI-SIKH VIOLENCE CASE, HCCALLS 1984 VIOLENCE 'CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY'. I DETAILS ON PAGE 13

KHALISTANI EXTREMISM IN CANADA'S

PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTGovernment will REVIEW terms "Sikh", "Shia", and "Sunni", among others - Minister Goodale

WORDS USED IN REPORT WAS NEVER INTENDED TOENCOMPASS OR MALIGN ENTIRE RELIGIONSCANADA'S SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE AGENCIESCONSTANTLY ASSESS AND REASSESS ALL DATATHE REPORT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYFOREIGN GOVERNMENT

MINISTER OF PUBLIC SAFETYAND EMERGENCYPREPAREDNESS -RALPH GOODALE TALKINGEXCLUSIVELY WITH Y MEDIA

The 2018 Canada public safety repor t mentioned about KhalistaniExtremism among others.The repor ts says Some individuals inCanada continue to suppor t Sikh (Khalistani) extremist ideolo-

gies and movements. This political movement aims to create anindependent homeland for Sikhs called Khalistan, in India. Vio-lent activities in suppor t of an independent Sikh homeland havefallen since their height during the 1982-1993 period when indi-viduals and groups conducted numerous terrorist attacks. The1985 Air India bombing by Khalistani terrorists, which killed 331people, remains the deadliest terrorist plot ever launched in Canada.While attacks around the world in support of this movement have declined,suppor t for the extreme ideologies of such groups remains.

I CONTD. ON PAGE 9

I DETAILS ON PAGE 14

INDIAN SUPREME COURT DISMISSESPETITION INTO RAFALE DEAL

An investigation is not needed into the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets, which isat the heart of a huge government-opposition row, the Supreme Court said, dis-missing petitions. The government had opposed it, questioning the court's exper-tise to review the Rs. 59,000-crore deal for 36 planes with French firm Dassault.The cour t has said the pricing details - one of the most controversial aspects of thedeal -- would not be debated unless the judges think it should be in public domain.Petitions demanding a court-monitored investigation into the deal were filed afterthe Congress took up the issue on a war footing, accusing Prime Minister NarendraModi and his government of corruption and crony capitalism.

NEW IMPAIRED DRIVING LAWS NOW INEFFECT ACROSS CANADA

POLICE OFFICERS CAN NOW ASK FOR A BREATHALYZERTEST WITHOUT SIGN OF IMPAIRMENT

I DETAILS ON PAGE 9

CANADIAN SIKHS THANK INDIA ANDPAKISTAN FOR KARTARPUR CORRIDOR

South Asian community in canada organised an event - Community "BridgingEvent" to celebrate the "Kar tarpur Corridor" initiative of India and Pakistan.The event had witnessed the presence of Mr. Dinesh Bhatia (ConsulGeneral of India),MPP Prabmeet Sarkaria,MPP Deepak Anand, mediapersonalities,ex Air Force officers and community activists.

I DETAILS ON PAGE 7

PHOTO: BASHIR NASIR

2 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

MidWeek 3MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


PAGE 3STAR SCREEN AWARDS 2018:AALIA BHATT WINS BESTACTRESS, RAJKUMMAR RAOAND RANVEER SINGH AREBEST ACTORS

STAR SCREEN AWARDS 2018: AALIA BHATT WINS BEST ACTRESS,RAJKUMMAR RAO AND RANVEER SINGH ARE BEST ACTORS

DEEPIKA PADUKONE WITH HUSBAND RANVEER SINGH.

SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT AND JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ.

KATRINA KAIF AND ALIA BHATT.

ANKITA LOKHANDE AND MOUNI ROY.

DIANA PENTY AND SHABANA AZMI.

TIGER SHROFF AND SHRADDHA KAPOOR.

SALMAN KHAN, ARPITA KHAN AND AAYUSH SHARMA.

REKHA AND MANISHA KOIRALA.



MORTGAGESFSCO# 13078

s p e c i a l r e p o r t

Mayor Patrick Brown had fire side discussion with ICCC membersHis Worship Mr. Patrick Brown, Mayor City of Brampton interacted withmembers of the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce on 7th December 2018at an interactive session. This was his first interaction with a business cham-ber after taking over the charge as Mayor, City of Brampton. Mayor Brownapplauded the role of ICCC in fostering the bilateral trade and investmentbetween Canada and India. The Mayor said that since creating jobs tops hisagenda, he would take every step to make Brampton attractive for busi-nesses and investors from anywhere, including India, by keeping the cost ofdoing business in his city low.Describing Indian and other diaspora communities of his city as its biggestassets, the Mayor said he would use the huge Indian community to pitch hiscity to businesses in India. "The ICCC can open doors for Brampton in Indiaduring their India Missions. I have been India 18 times in 11 years and I willdo now as Mayor to pitch Brampton to businesses in India," he said.Mr. Pramod Goyal, who also took the office of the President of ICCC on thesame day as Mayor Brown took the oath said that the Chamber has beenbuilding business bridges between the two countries for over four decades.He further said that as the oldest Indo-Canadian business organization withdeep reaches within the Indian diaspora, ICCC has successfully harnessedthe community's contribution to the growing bilateral economic relations bybecoming a gateway to business and knowledge networks. ICCC Presidentassured all the help and support to City of Brampton, in fulfilling its objectives.Mr. Goyal also invited the Mayor for joining ICCC for its upcoming IndiaMission 2019 in January. ICCC board members Mr. Abu Becker, Ms. DevikaPenekelapati, Mr. Rakesh Joshi, Mr. Chirag Shah and Ms. Sunita Vyas werealso present along ICCC members and Past President's of the chamber.His Worship Mr. Patrick Brown, Mayor City of Brampton interacted withmembers of the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce on 7th December 2018at an interactive session. This was his first interaction with a business cham-ber after taking over the charge as Mayor, City of Brampton. Mayor Brownapplauded the role of ICCC in fostering the bilateral trade and investmentbetween Canada and India. The Mayor said that since creating jobs topshis agenda, he would take every step to make Brampton attractive forbusinesses and investors from anywhere, including India, by keeping thecost of doing business in his city low.Describing Indian and other diaspora communities of his city as its big-gest assets, the Mayor said he would use the huge Indian community topitch his city to businesses in India. "The ICCC can open doors forBrampton in India during their India Missions. I have been India 18 timesin 11 years and I will do now as Mayor to pitch Brampton to businessesin India," he said.Mr. Pramod Goyal, who also took the office of the President of ICCC on thesame day as Mayor Brown took the oath said that the Chamber has beenbuilding business bridges between the two countries for over four de-cades. He fur ther said that as the oldest Indo-Canadian business organi-zation with deep reaches within the Indian diaspora, ICCC has success-fully harnessed the community's contribution to the growing bilateraleconomic relations by becoming a gateway to business and knowledgenetworks. ICCC President assured all the help and support to City ofBrampton, in fulfilling its objectives.Mr. Goyal also invited the Mayor for joining ICCC for its upcoming IndiaMission 2019 in January. ICCC board members Mr. Abu Becker, Ms. DevikaPenekelapati, Mr. Rakesh Joshi, Mr. Chirag Shah and Ms. Sunita Vyas werealso present along ICCC members and Past President's of the chamber.

ICCC PRESIDENT PRAMOD GOYAL WELCOMING BRAMPTON MAYOR PATRICK BROWN I PHOTO- BASHIR NASIR

FROM L TO R, ICCC BOARD MEMBERS SUNITA VYAS, DEVIKA PENEKELAPATI, ICCC PRESIDENT PRAMOD GOYAL, MAYOR PATRICKBROWN, ABU BAKER, RAKESH JOSHI AND CHIRAG SHAH.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 s p e c i a l r e p o r t

BRAMPTON'S NEW MAYOR OPENS UP TO MEMBERS OFCANADA INDIA FOUNDATION ABOUT HIS AFFINITY FOR INDIA

PATRICK BROWN ADDRESSING THE MEMBERS OF CANADA INDIA FOUNDATION AT AN EXCLUSIVE DINNER RECEPTION HELD INHONOUR OF HIS ELECTION AS THE MAYOR OF BRAMPTON. SATISH THAKKAR, NATIONAL CONVENER, CIF, IS TO HIS RIGHT.

As 2018 draws to a close, and we look at some of the most eventful occur-rences that shaped the year that’s quickly passing into history, we cannot butsit back and admire Patrick Brown, the newly-elected Mayor of Brampton.His has been a remarkable political comeback. He began the year riding awave of popularity, appearing as a clear winner in the race to become thenew premier of Ontario. Brown had built the Progressive Conservative into acohesive battle-ready machine.And when everything seemed to be going according to a plan, Brown’s worldcame crashing down as he was swallowed up by the #MeToo movement.The Progressive Conservatives won effortlessly because of the great cam-paign that Brown had engineered. But he was left out in the cold, consigned tothe dustbin of history. From a rising star of Canadian public life, he became ahas-been in double-quick time.Not willing to accept such a fate, Brown decided that he’d return to public lifeand decided to contest the mayoral elections in Brampton due in October.Ever since Brown decided to run for the mayoral elections, he’s had the near-total support of the Indo-Canadian community.That suppor t is not surprising because for the Indo-Canadian community ofBrampton, Brown is one of the most-loved – if not the most loved – politi-cians. Brampton is home to a large number of Indo-Canadians.For Brown, 2018 was supposed to be a glorious year, but it was all goinghorribly wrong. On one of his trips to India, he’d been to Varanasi, one of theoldest and the holiest cities on our planet, to seek blessings.“It was at Varanasi that I felt a deep connection with the holy city, the holy riverGanga and as I immersed myself into the holy ambiance that envelopeseveryone who goes to Varanasi, I was made to realize that 2018 would be asignificant year for me,” Brown said, at a townhall meeting organised by theIndo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, a few days after he was sworn-in asthe Mayor of Brampton.But then disaster and doom followed, and Brown wondered whether he’dbeen wrong. “But Varanasi, the Ganga, can never be wrong. My victory wasdelayed, instead of June it came in October,” he said. The audience couldn’tcontain its excitement and broke into a thunderous applause.At a private dinner meeting with members of the Canada India Foundation(CIF) at the Pearson Convention Centre earlier this week, Brown recountedthe story of his amazing comeback.“When I decided to return to public life, I met my friends at Canada IndiaFoundation. And instead of recommending me to calm down and let thestorm pass before returning to the public arena, all of them said, ‘Yes, go rightahead. We’re with you.’”Their confidence in him redoubled his own confidence in himself and the pathhe’d chosen. He added, “It’s fitting that my first campaign meeting to be themayor was with CIF and my last campaign meeting is also with CIF.”“Many know that I’ve been to India 18 times and will try to go there everyyear. India is always in my heart. Anyone who’s been to a place 18 timesdoesn’t go there wide-eyed and full of wonder and amazement at what hefinds and discovers. I do that each and every time I go to India,” Brownsaid. In his new bestselling book Takedown, The Attempted PoliticalAssassination of Patrick Brown he tells some great stories about his tripsto India and meeting with the Prime Minister, Modi as well as the Tamil causein Sri Lanka.

CIF MEMBERS WITH PATRICK AND GENEVIEVE BROWN.

He revealed that it was CIF’s leaders who organized his first trip to India topar ticipate in Vibrant Gujarat. “They said, ‘You’ve got to be there.’”Brown became the first leader from the western world to acknowledge the rapideconomic strides the state was taking under the then chief minister NarendraModi. They struck a friendship that thrives to this day.His new wife Genevieve accompanied him at the CIF dinner. To emphasizehis connection with India, he then narrated a deeply personal story about his life.“You know why I have an almost mythical connection to India? Genevieve

decided that I was the one she wanted to be with for the rest of her life, when wewere together on a houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala.”Brown’s association with India goes all the way back when he was akid. His parents had an arrangement where once a week, his dad,who was a lawyer in Brampton, was to cook supper. “But invariably,he’d be busy or tired and would pick up an Indian dinner from the localoutlet called Sweets India,” he said. And since those days, he’s been hookedon Indian cuisine.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018s p e c i a l r e p o r t

DHATT TRANSFREIGHT CHRISTMAS PARTY A GRAND SUCCESS!



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

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C L A S S I F I E D

MISSISSAUGA JOINS GLOBAL NETWORK OF DATA-DRIVEN CITIESThe City of Mississauga has been awarded the International Organization for Standardization 37120 (ISO 37120) platinum-levelcer tification from the World Council on City Data (WCCD) - a global leader in standardized city data. Mississauga is one of ten Canadianmunic ipalities to receive the cer tification. The City joins more than 60 municipalities that are par t of the WCCD global network."We are pleased to be recognized with this honour alongside other world-leaders including London, Dubai and Buenos Aires," said MayorBonnie Crombie. "Increasing transparency and fostering innovation are impor tant priorities for us as we continue to create a connected cityfor the 21st century. Data-driven decision making is vital for us to deliver high-quality programs and services to our citizens."Mississauga repor ted 96 out of the 100 indicators, earning platinum-level ranking."Mississauga is now par t of an international standard," said Janice Baker, City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer. "Not only does itshow how we are doing compared to other cities, but also serves as a benchmark in our planning process. It is impor tant for us to be able tolearn from other cities as we continue to build a world-class city."The standard includes a comprehensive set of 100 indicators that measures a city's social, economic and environmental per formance. TheRegion of Peel, local school boards, utilities and Trillium Hospital contributed data as par t of the assessment.Data now shows that Mississauga is currently ranked one of the top 10 cities in the world and the top city in Canada with the highest numberof businesses per 100,000 population.The City's data was reviewed by an independent third-par ty as part of the process. This ensures that all of the data is consistent."On behalf of the WCCD, it is a pleasure to welcome Mississauga to our global network of data-driven cities," stated WCCD President & CEO,Dr. Patricia McCarney. "Under the leadership of Mayor Crombie, and through the effor ts of her team, Mississauga is now WCCD ISO 37120cer tified at the highest, Platinum level, joining a group of cities that includes London, Dubai, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Quebec City, Surrey and Toronto,amongst others. Harnessing this high caliber, globally standardized and independently verified city data will help to continue to showcase Mississauga locally,nationally and globally as an innovative and attractive place in which to live, work and play." Dr. Patricia McCarney and James Patava, Vice-President of PublicAffairs & International Relations from WCCD presented the City with its platinum-level cer tification today at Mississauga City Hall.

Brampton's 2019 Community Grant program application process now openBRAMPTON, ON - The City of Brampton offers financial support to local community organizations through the 2019 Community Grantprogram. Brampton-based, not-for-profit organizations and registered charities who fall under the program's funding streams areinvited to apply for funding before January 31, 2019.Funding Streamso Festivals and Eventso Arts and Culture Programs, Projects and Capacity Buildingo Recreation and Active Livingo Sport Tourism Hostingo Neighbourhood InitiativesNote: The Neighbourhood Initiatives application window opens January 3, 2019. Applications will be reviewed at the end of each monthuntil the end of the calendar year or until all funds have been awarded. Interested applicants can learn more about the program and howto apply by meeting with the Community Grant Coordinator (by appointment), or by dropping in at an information session. Theseinformation sessions will be held at local recreation centres throughout Brampton from December 17, 2018 to January 24, 2019. Fortimes and locations, visit www.brampton.ca/communitygrants. "Brampton's community organizations make a huge contribution to thevibrant cultural life in our city," said Mayor Patrick Brown. "The Community Grant Program provides direct, tangible suppor t for eventsand initiatives that residents care about." The City, in par tnership with Work in Culture, will host two workshops to help localorganizations develop their grant-writing skills and learn more about how to secure funding:o Secrets to Securing Sponsorship with Jason MaghanovJanuary 7, 2019 at 6-9 pm, Brampton Library, Cyril Clark branch20 Loafers Lake Lane, Brampton, ON L6Z 1X9o Grantsmanship 101 with Diane DavyJanuary 12, 2019 at 10 am-1 pm, City Hall West Tower55 George Street South, Brampton, ON L6Y 1L9

Ontario Takes a Phased Ap-proach to Cannabis Retail Li-censing Due to National Sup-ply Shor tagesToday, the Honourable Caroline Mulroney, Attorney Gen-eral and the Honourable Vic Fedeli, Minister of Finance,released the following statement on changes being madeto the licensing process for recreational retail cannabisstores in Ontario:"It is the federal government's responsibility to overseecannabis production and to provide a viable alternative tothe illegal market by ensuring there is sufficient supply tomeet consumer demand. Yet, we continue to see severesupply shor tages across the country in legal, licensed rec-reational cannabis stores.For example, Alber ta stopped issuing any new retail can-nabis licences after only receiving 20 per cent of the stockit ordered from federally licensed producers, and in Que-bec retail operating hours have been reduced to four daysa week. In addition, the shor tage of supply has restrictedonline sales in many jurisdictions.This is a national issue that demands an immediate re-sponse from Justin Trudeau and the federal government.The Government of Ontario has brought this to the federalgovernment's attention repeatedly. At a recent meeting offederal, provincial and territorial Finance Ministers in Ot-tawa, Minister Fedeli, along with Finance Ministers fromseveral other provinces and territories, raised the issue ofa severe shor tage of supply across the country with Fed-eral Finance Minister Bill Morneau.Taking into consideration the required investments for aprospective Ontario private legal retailer, we cannot in goodconscience issue an unlimited number of licences to busi-nesses in the face of such shor tages and the federalgovernment's failure to provide cer tainty around future sup-ply .That is why today we are announcing that Ontario will betaking steps to ensure that private cannabis retail storesopen in phases. In the initial phase up to 25 licences willbe issued so operators can open for business on April 1,2019 and stay open. To ensure a fair and transparent pro-cess, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario(AGCO) will implement a lottery system to determine whois eligible for the initial licences to legally operate a storein Ontario. All interested par ties will be able to submit anexpression of interest form online to the AGCO from Janu-ary 7 to January 9, 2019. The expressions of interest will beput into a lottery pool for a draw. The draw will be con-ducted on January 11, 2019, with the results to be postedon the AGCO's website within 24 hours.The lottery process will be overseen by a third-party fair-ness monitor to ensure equality and transparency in thetreatment of the expressions of interest, as well as an ap-propriate distribution of stores in each region of the prov-ince, which is set out in the regulation. Fur ther detailson the lottery system will be available on the AGCOwebsite. The OCS continues to work closely with feder-ally l icensed producers to monitor the availability ofsupply and to secure supply for Ontar io, includingthrough regular product calls and frequent visits to pro-ducer facilities. The lottery is going to be a temporarymodel for issuing private retail licences. When Ontariohas determined that the federal government has pro-vided for enough reliable supply, Ontario will commu-nicate next steps for additional private retail stores.Our government refuses to compromise the viability ofOntario businesses. Private retailers need certainty from the federalgovernment that there will be a reliable supply of cannabis to supporttheir business and combat the illegal market. We will continue to urgethe federal government to take immediate action to ensure licensedproducers ramp up production in order to meet the antici-pated market demand for recreational cannabis."

PEEL POLICE ARRESTARSHDEEP MAND INBANQUET HALL STABBINGREGION OF PEEL - Investigators from the 21 DivisionCriminal Investigation Bureau have ar rested a male par tyfor a stabbing incident that had occurred at a banquethall, located in the area of Goreway Drive andDeerhurst Dr, in the City of Brampton.In the early morning hours of Sunday, December 2,2018, police attended the banquet hall in response toseveral 911 calls, regarding a large group of peoplefighting. As a result of the incident, several peoplereceived minor injuries and one man sustained life-threatening injuries and was transpor ted to a traumacentre for treatment.On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, Arshdeep Mand,a 20 year-old male from Brampton, was arrested andcharged with Attempt Murder and Aggravated Assault.Arshdeep Mand was held pending a bail hearing totake place on December 13, 2018, at the Ontario Cour tof Justice in Brampton.

GOVERNMENT OF CANADA DOUBLES THE NUMBER OF LOCATIONSWHERE CANADIANS CAN GET THEIR PASSPORT

TORONTO: Providing quicker and better service to hard working middle class Canadians is the top priority of the Government of Canada.Today, at Toronto Pearson International Airpor t, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development,announced that winter holiday and March break travellers can now get passpor t services at over 300 Service Canada Centres across thecountry. Since 2017, passport points of service have doubled from 151 to over 300 by using Service Canada’s nationwide service deliverynetwork. This expansion provides more access to passpor t services in rural and remote areas—no matter where Canadians live. Canadianshave more options available when applying for or renewing 5-year and 10-year passpor ts and child passpor ts.Quotes“ Our government is making passport services more accessible for Canadians, who can apply for or renew a passpor t at over 300 ServiceCanada Centres. In the spirit of constantly improving service delivery to citizens, we are putting in place new measures to make life easierfor Canadians.”– The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development“The Passport P rogram is one of Canada’s most valuable services that millions of Canadians rely on. As the Minister responsible for thePasspor t Program, my depar tment is committed to continuously improving front-line services, maintaining our excellent service standardsand providing Canadians with more accessible options when applying for or renewing a passpor t.”– The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship.

CANADIAN SIKHS THANK INDIA AND PAKISTANFOR KARTARPUR CORRIDOR


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018opinion

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IS CLIMATE CHANGE APOCALYPSE REAL?PRACTICE IS BETTER THAN PREACHING

E-mail : For [email protected]

BY ARUL LOUIS

Is the looming climate change apocalypse real? In the clearly-de-marcated battle lines, the good guys are those who believe it is andthe bad guys, like US President Donald Trump, are the doubters asany progressive and most of the media would affirm.Yet it is also the good guys, the war riors against climate change, whostrain the credibility of the phenomenon's reality - and it is for them toaffirm its reality through their personal examples.On Thursday, former US Secretary of State John Kerr ypublished anop-ed in The New York Times headlined, "Forget Trump. We AllMustAct on Climate Change." While he had suggestions for US lawmakersonforcing Tr ump to act, he was silent on the personal responsibilitiesfor fighting climate change.At the time that leaders were grappling with climate changestrategiesat the United Nations conference in Katowice, Poland, he had beentoIndia and danced at the wedding of a petroleum billionaire's daugh-ter.On the round trip by air he would have been responsible forabout 2.7tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, besides other greenhousegaseslike nitrous oxides. (For comparison, a typical car in the USputs out 4.6tonnes of carbon dioxide in a year.)Here is a fair question: If the climate change apocalypsewas immi-nent, as he noted in his ar ticle, why did he under take that journey?It's easy to preach about fighting climate change to thegovernment,lawmakers and countr ies l ike India and China (which areoftenhypocritically blamed for the greenhouse gas buildup by theprogressives -though not this time by Kerry - and less hypocriticallyby the deniers).Here's the bottom line: An American emits nearly 15.53tonnes of car-

bon dioxide each year, which is nearly ten times that of anIndian's1.58 tonnes. (And Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, thehighpriest of sanctimony, is not far behind Trump's America: the percapitaemission is 15.32 tonnes.)And countries like France have a comfor table standard ofliving with aper capita emission of 4.37 tonnes, which is less than a third ofanAmerican's.So, realistically, action has to begin with appeals toindividuals to cutdown their greenhouse rather than looking to governmentsandlawmakers - or telling developing countries to do it for them.According to a 2016 Pew Research Center survey, 63 per centof Ameri-cans believe that lifestyle changes are needed to combat climatechangeand 68 per cent of Democrats believe it is a serious problem.Despite all that, it is easy to see why it is almostimpossible to call forlifestyle changes.Just look at France. A violent popular uprising drovePresidentEmmanuel Macron to retreat from his daring attack on climatechangein the name of the Paris Treaty with an with enhanced tax onpetrol.Forget about rousing individuals or society in the climatechange war;the Democratic-run New York that riles against Tr ump and thedeniersis not going to enrage its citizenry by banning the 30,000 lights onaneight-kilometre strand on the city's Christmas tree in a country thatproducesabout 30 per cent of its electricity from coal.Meat diets are another glaring example of the hypocrisy. Astudy ledby researchers at Linda Loma University concluded that becausecattlefarming for beef is greenhouse intensive, the US can right nowreach about 50to 75 per cent of its greenhouse gas reduction targets

for 2020 by merelygiving up beef for legumes as a protein source.Not only would some of the activists not speak out againstmeat-eating in their own countries, but some of their Indian counterpar tswantto promote beef-eating in India.As for Indian activists, greenhouse gas-generating trips totell the Brit-ish Parliament to stop mining in India is an ego trip, but notdemandingthe British do something about the 5.99 tonnes of carbon dioxide gasthateach of them generates every year - especially the politicians whoput outa lot more gas, literally and figuratively - than the average Brit.So is the situation so hopeless and the apocalypseinevitable?The Pew survey found that 24 per cent of Indians believethat technol-ogy can solve the climate change problem - and definitely that'stheway forward as technology is bringing down the price of green en-ergy. AndChina and India can make the most significant contributionsas they leap-frogto greener technologies - and no thanks to preachingfrom the activists of theindustrialised West. So can the other develop-ing countries.In the industrialised nations (as elsewhere), the greenbackis morepower ful than greentalk: As technology advances, corporationsareseeing the monetary benefits of adopting a greener way of doingbusiness.Meanwhile, may be the generals of climate warriors couldtone downtheir holier-than-thou sermons on the climate change apocalypseandinstead lead by example - and try to mobilise their armies ofbelievers toadopt drastic lifestyle changes.(Arul Louis, who pleads guilty to contributing to greenhousegas pollu-tion, covers the United Nation from New York. He can be [email protected] and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

IT'S EASY TO PREACH ABOUT FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE TO THEGOVERNMENT, LAWMAKERS

AND COUNTRIES LIKE INDIA AND CHINA (WHICH ARE OFTENHYPOCRITICALLY BLAMED FOR THEGREENHOUSE GAS BUILDUP BY THE PROGRESSIVES -THOUGH NOT THIS TIME BY KERRY - AND

LESS HYPOCRITICALLY BY THE DENIERS). HERE'S THE BOTTOM LINE: AN AMERICAN EMITS NEARLY15.53TONNES OF CARBON DIOXIDE EACH YEAR, WHICH IS NEARLY TEN TIMES THAT OF ANINDIAN'S

1.58 TONNES. (AND CANADA UNDER PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU, THE HIGHPRIEST OFSANCTIMONY, IS NOT FAR BEHIND TRUMP'S AMERICA: THE PER CAPITAEMISSION IS 15.32 TONNES.)

AND COUNTRIES LIKE FRANCE HAVE A COMFORTABLE STANDARD OFLIVING WITH A PER CAPITAEMISSION OF 4.37 TONNES, WHICH IS LESS THAN A THIRD OFAN AMERICAN'S.

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MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 c a n a d a

General Accounting & Bookkeeping

ONTARIO INTRODUCESMORE GO TRAIN SERVICEON THE KITCHENER LINE

NEW MORNING AND EVENING GOTRAINS WILL INCREASE SERVICETO KITCHENER BY 25 PER CENT

KITCHENER- Ontario's Government for the Peoplecontinues to deliver on its promise to get peoplemoving faster by bringing more GO train service toKitchener.Minister of Transpor tation, Jeff Yurek visited theK i t chene r V IA S ta t i on today to make theannouncement along with Leslie Woo, Chief Planningand Development Officer, Metrolinx."We are now increasing service to Kitchener GO by25 per cent and there will be more news to come,"said Minister Yurek. "This is an impor tant step aswe continue working with CN to deliver more serviceand offer two-way, a l l -day GO tra in ser v ice forpeople on the Kitchener line as soon as possible."Star ting on January 7, 2019, people travelling by GOTransi t between Ki tchener and Toronto 's UnionStation will benefit from additional GO train serviceevery weekday morning and afternoon, with a newtrip option for customers in Kitchener, Guelph andActon.A morning trip that currently begins at GeorgetownGO Station will now begin at Kitchener GO Station at5:40 a.m., stopping at Guelph and Acton GO stationsbefore continuing to serve all stops to Union Station,arriving at 7:43 a.m.The existing trip that currently leaves Union Stationat 3:35 p.m. and ends at Georgetown GO Station willextend to Kitchener GO Station, stopping at Actonand Guelph GO stations before arriving in Kitchenerat 5:43 p.m."Thanks to an enhanced relationship with our railpar tner, CN, we are increasing GO train ser vice forpeople travelling on the Kitchener line without waitingfor a costly rail bypass," said Minister Yurek."The new service on the Kitchener GO line offerspeople more f lex ib i l i ty and more choices whenplanning their commute," said Kitchener-ConestogaMPP Mike Harris."Making it easier and more convenient for peoplecommuting between Waterloo Region and Toronto isimpor tant to growing our economy and creating goodjobs for people through Ontario," said KitchenerSouth-Hespler MPP Amy Fee."Each new transpor tat ion l ink between WaterlooRegion and Toronto makes our entire communitystronger," said Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios.Commuters wi l l a lso benef i t f rom an addi t ionalmorning trip option from Georgetown, Brampton andMount Pleasant GO stations, and a new afternoontrip from Union Station to Bloor, Weston, EtobicokeNor th and Malton GO stations."We ' re very exc i ted to push our GO Expans ionprogram forward wi th new GO tra in serv ice forcommuters in Kitchener and Brampton this January,"said Leslie Woo, Chief Planning and DevelopmentOf f i ce r, Me t ro l i nx . "More se r v ice means morefreedom and more relief from congested roadways.This is the star t of more great things to come for ourcustomers on the Kitchener line."

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1For example, in Canada, two key Sikh organizations, Babbar Khalsa Internationaland the International Sikh Youth Federation, have been identified as being associ-ated with terrorism and remain listed terrorist entities under the Criminal Code.In an exclusive interview with Group Editor and CEO - Y media GroupYudhvir Jaswal Minister, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Pre-paredness Ralph Goodale said Canada's security and intelligence agen-cies constantly assess and reassess all data to be effective in keepingCanadians safe.The terms "Sikh", "Shia", and "Sunni", among others,were used to describe types of extremism in the 2018 Public Repor t onthe Ter rorist Threat to Canada. I am confident the terminology used in thisrepor t was never intended to encompass or malign entire religions. Whilethis terminology has been in use for many years, that does not mean it issufficient or precise enough. Therefore, I have asked officials to conducta review and make the appropriate changes to the language used throughoutthe government to describe extremism. Words matter. We must never equateany one community or entire religions with extremism. Canadians of allfaiths and backgrounds have helped to build our country, and continue to beintegral members of our communities and neighbourhoods. They contribute

KHALISTANI EXTREMISM IN CANADA'S

PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTin inspiring a stronger, more equal, and compassionate Canada that we allstrive for."When asked "what has changed?"Minister Goodale said the repor t has aparagraph about the related issues that speak for itself and people shouldread the whole paragraph to understand. On asking about PM Trudeau'srecent India trip (Any pressure from India?) , Minister said he vigorouslydefends it and the repor t has nothing to do with any foreign government. SikhMPs in the liberal caucus such as Ruby Sahota, Sonia Sidhu, RameshwarSangha and others also met with Minister Goodale to show their con-cerns over mentioning of the term "SIKH" in the repor t . Minister of Inno-vation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains also reachedout on twitter " Words matter. I know the terminology used in the repor thas deeply impacted many in the Canadian Sikh and Muslim communi-ties, myself included. I am glad that my colleague Ralph Goodale hasacknowledged the legitimate concerns that have been raised and commit-ted to taking action". Canadian Sikh bodies, Ontario Sikhs & GurdwarasCouncil, Ontario Gurdwaras Committee, BC Sikh Gurdwaras Council andWSO convene regarding Sikh Extremism in Public Safety Report and de-manded a meeting with Minister Goodale to discuss the report.

BRAMPTON COUNCIL APPROVES LRT ROUTE FOR MAINSTREET, DOWNTOWN REIMAGINED PUT ON HOLDBRAMPTON, ON - Council today approved prioritizing the Light Rail Transit (LRT) route for Main Street as part of the Brampton TransitNetwork Plan and put a hold on the Downtown Reimagined (DR) project.Highlights from the LRT motion include:o Revising the Brampton LRT Extension Study and making any required updates to the original Hurontario-Main LRT EnvironmentalAssessment, including the study and consideration of an underground tunneling optiono Using Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as the technology for Kennedy Road and McLaughlin Road and consider extending those alignmentsfur ther nor th and/or southo Studying rapid transit options from the Brampton GO Station to Mayfield Road on Main Street as contemplated in the Transpor tationand Transit Master Plan (TTMP)o Repor ting back on an implementation strategy for a downtown Mobility HubThe DR project is being put on hold for a number of reasons, including:o The cost of the tender has come in higher than estimatedo Uncer tainties around the cost of utilities and an underground channelo New development plan oppor tunities in the downtown coreo Projects in the downtown core have been modified as a result of the provincial funding cancellation for the universityo Current design for DR precludes an LRT down Main Street as per previous Council's decision"I am happy that Council was united in their stand to provide value for money to our taxpayers," said Mayor Patrick Brown. "Our unitedgoal for the Brampton described in the 2040 Vision includes a modern and effective joint surface and tunnelled LRT transit plan. Thiswill help to ensure that Brampton can attract future economic investment from national and global organizations looking to invest in theGTA region - something we need for a prosperous Brampton. By taking a pause on Downtown Reimagined, we will ensure that we doit right the first time and move forward in an efficient and responsible manner.""This a good oppor tunity for us to evaluate all of the projects that are planned within the downtown," said Harr y Schlange, ChiefAdministrative Officer, City of Brampton. "We're maintaining momentum with some upcoming initiatives, and we're now better able toplan a holistic approach to our commitment to the revitalization of our downtown." Some of the future initiatives include the potentialredevelopment of the downtown transit terminal and the Heritage Theatre Block and a Centre for Cyber Security.Current initiatives include:o Centre for Innovationo The Chang School of Continuing Education (two courses on cyber security star ting January 2019)o A new pilot incubator hub (expected to open Spring 2019)o Expansion of Algoma University

NEW IMPAIRED DRIVING LAWS NOW IN EFFECT ACROSS CANADAPOLICE OFFICERS CAN NOW ASK FOR A BREATHALYZER TEST WITHOUT SIGN OF IMPAIRMENT

" First offence, with blood alcohol content of 80-119 mg: mandatoryminimum $1,000 fine" First offence, with blood alcohol content of 120-159 mg: mandatoryminimum $1,500 fine" First offence, with blood alcohol content of 160 mg or more: mandatoryminimum $2,500 fine" First offence, but refuse to be tested: mandatory minimum $2,000 fine" Second offence: mandatory minimum 30 days imprisonment

" Third or more offence: mandatory minimum 120 days imprisonment" Maximum penalties for impaired driving causing no bodily harm ordeath: summary conviction carries two years less a day imprisonment,indictment carries 10 years imprisonment" Maximum penalties for impaired driving causing bodily harm: Sum-mary conviction for less severe injuries carries two years less a dayimprisonment, indictment carries 14 years imprisonment" Maximum penalty impaired driving causing death: life imprisonment





MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 i n d i a

ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS 2018WE DEFEATED BJP TODAY, WE'LL DEFEAT THEM IN2019 LOK SABHA POLLS TOO, SAYS RAHUL GANDHI

‘The grand old party of India hassucceeded in dealing a body blowto the BJP as it heads for a clearmajority in Rajasthan andChhattisgarh.

The Congress party is taking a clear lead in Rajasthan with the elec-tion trends showing the par ty ahead in more than 108 seats while theBJP trailing behind with a little over 76 seats. In Chhattisgarh again,the Rahul Gandhi-led par ty has been able to take a strong lead on 59seats, while the BJP has been ahead on just 29 seats.

Suppor ters have gathered at the Congress headquar ters in New Delhias the par ty seems to be set to beat the BJP in the two big statesRajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In MP, the contest is close between boththe par ties. While the BJP is ahead on 111 seats in MP, while Con-gress is leading on 107 seats. Poll analysts say the state could leadto hung Assembly.A victory in these elections will give Rahul Gandhi's par ty a strongmomentum ahead of the General Elections in 2019. The AssemblyElection results will decide the fate of as many as 8,500 candidatesacross f ive states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Chhatisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.

CABINET OKAYS LEGALCHANGES TO LINKAADHAAR WITH MOBILES,BANK ACCOUNTS

The government will ask parliament to change twolaws to let private bodies such as banks and phonecompanies to access Aadhaar as one of the ‘knowyour customer’ (KYC) methods.The move comes months af ter the Supreme Cour tstruck down a section in the Aadhaar law that allowedprivate companies to demand that their customersprovide their 12-digit unique identification number.The proposed amendment allows banks and phonecompanies to seed Aadhaar number with bank ac-counts and mobile phone numbers. A second provi-sion allows a child who has been enrolled for Aadhaarthrough his/her parents will have an option to opt outof Aadhaar data base after attaining age of 18 years.But this time, customers have the right to tell banksand phone companies to remove their Aadhaar num-ber from their database.In its verdict upholding the Aadhaar law in September,the Supreme Cour t had ruled that the law should haveonly dealt with matters relating to subsidies and wel-fare schemes and struck down the section that em-powered “body, corporate or person” or private entityto demand an Aadhaar number.

Court blasts Delhi Police for ‘abject failure’ inconducting proper probe in 1984 anti-Sikh riots

The role of Delhi police as an investigating agency has yet againcome under scanner with the Delhi High Cour t slamming it for itsfailure (in 1984) to control anti-Sikh riots that killed 2,733 people andshielding the accused by not registering cases against them.A bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel stated thatthere was an “abject failure” of the Delhi police in registering FIRsand probing the cases, which let the accused roam free for severalyears.“….it requires to be noticed that this is a case where there was anabject failure by the Delhi Police to conduct a proper investigationand this has already been adver ted to extensively hereinbefore,” thecour t said in its judgment.The cour t said that the “law and order machinery had clearly brokendown and it was literally a “free for all” situation which persisted.“The aftershocks of those atrocities are still being felt. That manycases remained to be properly investigated was acknowledged re-cently by the Supreme Cour t by which it was considered appropriateto constitute a three-member Special Investigating Team (SIT) to pro-ceed to investigate as many as 186 cases in which fur ther investiga-tion had not taken place”.The judgment also noted that many witnesses, at several occasions,deposed in their statements of how the police did not register an FIRand even if they did, the cases were not investigated fairly.The cour t also stated that the police did not prepare the site plan andit was prepared only in 2006, 22 years after the incident.

A site plan is a drawing prepared by the investigating officer to ex-plain the crime spot, which is submitted along with other case papersto the cour t.“This is a case based on direct evidence and not circumstantial evi-dence. Had it been prepared contemporaneously at the earliest pointin time, the site plan might have been an impor tant document. In thepresent case, however, the site plan was prepared in 2006, i.e. 22years later,” the cour t noted.Addressing the issue on the credibility of the witnesses, the cour tsaid, “The fact of the matter is that many of these witnesses wereliving in fear and had completely lost confidence in Delhi Police andwere therefore, unsure about coming forward to speak the truth. Theycould gather confidence only after the CBI took over the investiga-tion”.The judge said it was “extraordinary that despite there being as manyas 341 deaths in the Delhi Cantonment area alone over the span offour days beginning Nov 1 1984, only 21 FIRs were registered and, ofthese, only 15 per tained to deaths/murders”.Terming it to be “strange”, the cour t said that despite widespreadkillings in the area, no mention was found in the Daily Diary Register(DDR). “It is clear, therefore, that in those chaotic conditions, thelocal police force was inadequate for the task at hand,” the cour t saidadding that there was an utter failure to register separate FIRs withrespect to each of the five deaths that form the subject matter of thepresent appeals.

DEATH TOLL IN MUMBAI HOSPITAL FIRE RISES TO 8, 147 RESCUEDThe death toll in Mumbai’s hospital fire shot up to eight,while another 147, mostly patients and staff, were rescuedfrom a massive blaze that engulfed the Employees StateInsurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in Andheri (East) onMonday, BMC Disaster Control said.A two month old baby was also among those dead.The level three fire was repor ted at 4:20 pm from the four thfloor of the ESIC Hospital. It was later raised to level four at4:54pm, fire department officials said.According to the fire brigade, smoke spread through outthe multistorey hospital, trapping patients in the corri-dors and on the terrace. The rescued people were sent tothree nearby hospitals.All the nearby hospitals had been aler ted while the rescue operation was continuing.The fire depar tment has sent 10 fire engines, six water tankers, three turn table ladders and as many as 16 ambulances for rescuingtrapped people as senior officials supervised the operation.Of those rescued, 19 have been admitted in Juhu’s Cooper Hospital, including two brought dead, 40 in Holy Spirit Hospital, 44 in SevenHills Hospital including three dead, 39 were taken to Prabodhankar Thackeray Trauma Care Hospital, Jogeshwari, three in HiranandaniHospital and two in Siddhar th Hospital, for treatment. Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, who visited the spot along with othersenior officials, said the fire would be probed and strict action taken against the guilty if any lapses found.

Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik has recom-mended the Centre to impose President’s rule in the stateafter the expiry of six-months of Governor’s rule on Decem-ber 19, officials said on Monday.A communication from the governor’s office has been sentto the Union home ministry which will be taken up by theUnion cabinet before the expiry of the governor’s rule onDecember 19, they said.After the cabinet nod, the same would be signed by Presi-dent Ram Nath Kovind who will issue a proclamation whichdeclares that the powers of the Legislature of the State shallbe exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament.The state plunged into a political crisis in June this year afterthe Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government was reducedto minority following withdrawal of suppor t by the 25-mem-ber BJP in the state.In such cases, since the state has a separate Constitution,six months of governor’s rule is compulsory under Ar ticle92 of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, under which allthe legislature powers are vested with the governor.The governor has to dissolve the Legislative Assembly afterthe tenure of six months is over and the state will directlycome under the President’s rule for following six monthsduring which elections have to be declared in state. In casethe elections are not declared, President Rule will be can beextended by another six months.No Presidential proclamation shall in any case remain inforce for more than three years except for the intervention ofElection Commission of India which has to cer tify that thecontinuance in force of the Proclamation is necessary onaccount of difficulties in holding general elections to theLegislative Assembly. Since the state does not come underPresident’s rule under Article 356 of the Constitution and ispromulgated under Section 92 of the state Constitution, allthe decisions taken thereof shall have a concurrence of thePresident under Article 74 (1)(i) under which council ofMinisters with the Prime Minister at the head will aid andadvise the President.The governor on November 21 dissolved the 87-memberstate assembly after the PDP, supported by the Congressand their arch rivals National Conference, had staked claimto form the government. Simultaneously, the two-memberPeople’s Conference led by Sajjad Lone had also stakedclaim to form a government with 25 members of the BJPand other 18 unknown members. The governor had dis-solved the assembly citing horse-trading and lack of stabil-ity to form a government as the reasons.

Jammu and Kashmirgovernor Satya Pal Malikrecommends president rulein state after December 19


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018i n d i a

RAHUL GANDHI MAAFIN MANGE: BJP MPS TARGET

CONG PRESIDENT IN LOK SABHAThe BJP targeted Congress president Rahul in Lok Sabha over theSC’s verdict on the Rafale deal as they demanded an apology. Plac-ards held by BJP legislators read: “Rahul Gandhi maafi mange (RahulGandhi should apologise).”This led to Opp MPs chanting (gali me shor hai, Modi sarkar chor hai"(everyone knows that Modi government is a thief).The protest seemed to upset UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, whoasked the chair to let Mallikarjun Kharge speak.Yesterday, three members of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha onMonday moved a notice of breach of privilege against the Congresspresident, alleging that he spoke "falsehood" and "misled the House"over the fighter aircraft deal in his speech during a debate in July.Lok Sabha MP and BJP’s chief whip in Lok Sabha Anurag Thakur,Nishikant Dubey and Sanjay Jaiswal have moved a privilege motionagainst Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his comments aboutthe Rafale deal and sought an apology for ‘misleading’ the house in aspeech he delivered in Lok Sabha on July 20 during the no-confidencemotion against the government.In their notice, they called Gandhi’s price comparison of the aircraftwith the UPA ones a ‘figment of his imagination, incorrect and utterfalsehood’.He said: “For reasons of national security, the Government of Indiahas not given out the exact details but has already indicated that theprice of the basic aircraft being purchased now as per the 2016 agree-ment is 9% cheaper and the price of the weaponised aircraft is 20%cheaper compared to the price being negotiated by the UPA.”It added: “A comparative char t of these prices was submitted by theGovernment of the Hon’ble Supreme Cour t in sealed cover. After pe-rusing the prices as claimed by the Government, the Hon’ble Cour tnoted the submission of the Government that there is a commercial

advantage in the prices negotiated in the 2016 deal by NDA Govern-ment. The cour t dismissed the challenge on basis of higher priceoffer as per the 2007 offer.”Lok Sabha proceedings lasted barely for an hour on Tuesday asSpeaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House for the day amid slo-gan-shouting and protests by treasury and opposition benches over arange of issues, including Rafale deal.As the House met at 11 AM, Congress members rushed into the Wellwith placards in their hand and raised slogans demanding a jointparliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale deal.There were more than 30 members from the AIADMK, the TDP and theCongress in the Well during the Question Hour. The TDP memberswere demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh while the AIADMKMPs were protesting against a dam on the Cauvery river.

'Rahul Gandhi can dislodgeBJP': Stalin defends hisbacking to Congress chiefDMK president M K Stalin strongly defended backingRahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate, saying theCongress chief had the strength to dislodge the BJP re-gime at the Centre and sought the suppor t of friendlysecular par ties for his proposal.Amid murmurs in the opposition ranks about reserva-tions over the proposal, Stalin said it may have led to adebate among friendly par ties. "In a democracy, solu-tions have emerged only from debates... these delibera-tions too will cause good outcomes," he said in a letter tohis par ty cadre late Monday.Stalin appealed to other opposition par ties to "strengthenthe hands of Rahul to guard democracy".He said joining of forces was required to trounce the BJPin the Lok Sabha election next year.The DMK chief said his statement was based on the ra-tionale that projecting Gandhi alone would be appropri-ate to bind secular forces.Noting that the Congress beat the saffron par ty in therecently concluded assembly elections in MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, he said Gandhi hadthe strength to defeat the Modi-led BJP government.Stalin said his statement was made keeping with the legacy of hisfather and late DMK patriarch Karunanidhi, who was for takingideas forward at the opportune and appropriate time.

Will take care of anyone whoseeks shelter in Bengal, saysMamata BanerjeeWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tues-day said that the state "will take care of anyone whoseeks shelter." In a tweet on the International MigrantsDay, she tweeted, "It is our humanitarian obligation togive refuge to migrants. In Bangla we will take care ofanyone who seeks shelter in our State, to the best of ourabilities." Her tweet comes in the backdrop of NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam where 40lakh people have been left out of the final draft NRC list,published on July 30. The Supreme Cour t had last weekextended to December 31 the deadline for filing claimsand objections for inclusion of names in the NEC for Assamby those who have been left out in the draft NRC.The draft NRC was published on July 30 in which namesof 2.89 crore of the 3.29 crore people were included. Thenames of 40,70,707 people did not figure in the list. Ofthese, 37,59,630 names have been rejected and the re-maining 2,48,077 are on hold.

PM MODI ON 1984 ANTI-SIKH RIOTS: NOBODY THOUGHTCONGRESS LEADERS WILL GET CONVICTED

Highlighting the delay in justice for victims of 1984 anti-Sikhriots, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said nobody wouldhave imagined that Congress leaders will get convicted in thecase. Modi was speaking at the Republic Summit in Mumbai."Four years ago, nobody ever thought of Congress leaders gettingconvicted in the 1984 Sikh massacre and that people (victims)would get justice," the PM said.Modi's remarks came a day after senior Congress leader SajjanKumar was convicted and sentenced to life term for "remainderof his natural life" in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case by the Delhi HighCour t which said the riots were a "crime against humanity" per-petrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage".The high cour t said though it was "undeniable" that it took overthree decades to punish the accused in the case, it was impor-

tant to assure the victims that despite challenges faced by thecour t, "truth will prevail and justice will be done".At the Summit, Modi also took a dig at the Congress over the recentSupreme Cour t ruling on allegations related to procurement ofRafale jet fighters for the Indian Air Force."For the first time it has happened that the country's top cour t wasapproached over some allegations related to corruption. And theygot a clear verdict which said whatever work has been done (in theRafale deal), has been done with transparency and honesty," Modisaid. Nobody ever thought such thing could take place four yearsago (when Congress was in power), Modi said."We have a psychology wherein we believe more in corruption allega-tions against the government. Whether it is malpractice or corrup-tion charges, the psychology has remained same," Modi said.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 i n d i a

Anti-Sikh riots convict Sajjan Kumarwrites to Rahul Gandhi, quits Congress

Couples at mass marriagein Uttar Pradesh get toiletseats as wedding giftAs a wedding gift, this one is truly novel, and usefulfrom the word go. At least 18 couples in Prayagrajreturned home from their marriage ceremony carry-ing toilet seats, gifted to them by the organisers of themass wedding.Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘SwachhaBharat’ mission, the organisers decided to give toiletseats to the couples instead of the usual crockery,suitcases, sewing machines etc, so that they star ttheir new life in a healthy way.Besides, the couples were also given a sapling andasked to plant it outside their house so that when itgrows it does its bit to control air pollution.The mass wedding programme was organised by theJaiswal Samaj on Sunday. President of Jaiswal Samajlawyer TN Jaiswal gifted the toilet seats and saplingto each couple.Alok Jaiswal, the organiser of the mass marriage, saidwhile members of the Jaiswal Samaj contributed a lotin the development of trade and commerce, they shouldalso not lag behind in giving their contribution to the‘Swachha Bharat” mission.Earlier, the 18 grooms ar rived on horses at the wed-ding venue where all arrangements were made by theorganisers. The Jaiswal Samaj will soon organiseanother mass marriage where couples will be given apledge for environment protection, T N Jaiswal said.

Hamid Nehal Ansari is a free man and has been repa-triated to India from Pakistan today. Ansari, who spentsix years at the Peshawar Central Jail after he wasarrested on November 14, 2012 and sentenced to threeyears in jail in December 2015, was brought to theAttari-Wagah border where he crossed over to the In-dian side around 5.30 pm today.Earlier in the day, Fauzia Ansari, Hamid Ansari’smother had said that he shouldn’t have gone to Paki-stan without a visa. “He went with noble intentions butinit ial ly went missing and was later caught andframed. He shouldn’t have gone without a visa. Hisrelease is a victory for humanity,” she had told ANI.Hamid, a teacher at the Mumbai Management Col-lege, had entered Pakistan on November 12, 2012, tomeet a woman whom he had befriended on socialmedia. He was taken into custody by Pakistani intelli-gence agencies and local police in Kohat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.A fake identity card in the name of Hamza was alsofound on him at that time.Soon after he was picked up by the intelligence agen-cies, Fauzia had filed a habeas corpus petition throughPakistani lawyers and had come to know that he wasin the custody of the Pakistani army and was beingtried by a militant cour t for “anti-state activities”.Hamid, 33, had been handed a three-year sentence in2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card onDecember 15, 2015. Hamid, a resident of Mumbai,had been lodged in Peshawar’s central jail after beingsentenced by the military cour t. His jail term endedon December 15, 2018, but he could not leave for Indiaas his legal documents were not ready.

Freed Indian Hamid Ansarireaches Attari after sixyears in Pakistani jail

‘Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, whowas convicted and sentenced by DelhiHigh Court to life imprisonment in acase related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots,has written to party president RahulGandhi, saying he is resigning fromprimary membership.

Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted and sentenced byDelhi High Cour t to life imprisonment in a case related to the 1984anti-Sikh riots, has written to par ty president Rahul Gandhi, sayinghe is resigning from primary membership, repor ts news agency PTI.Sajjan Kumar has been charged with involvement in the killing of fivemembers of a Sikh family by a mob during the riots after the then-prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh body-guards on October 31, 1984.“I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary mem-bership of the Indian National Congress in the wake of the judgementof the hon’ble high cour t of Delhi against me,” he said in the letter toGandhi, according to PTI.As it reversed the trial cour t’s order acquitting Kumar, the cour t alsodirected him to surrender by December 31, 2018, and slapped a fineof Rs 5 lakh on him and Rs 1 lakh on all other accused in the case.The case related to the killing of Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh,

Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, all of the samefamily, by a mob in Delhi’s Raj Nagar in Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984.Eyewitnesses have said Kumar had incited mobs to attack the Sikh community toavenge the assassination of their “mother” Indira Gandhi. He was also ac-cused of extending political patronage to the rioters.

AMIT SHAH TO GIVE COMPULSORY BOOTH MANAGEMENT CLASSTO OVER 12000 BOOTH INCHARGES OF DELHI BJP UNIT

BJP chief Amit Shah will on Sunday give a management formula toover 12,000 booth incharges of the par ty’s Delhi unit at the IGI sta-dium here in the run up to 2019 Lok Sabha polls.The booth incharges are being issued bar-coded identity cards to ensure thatthey attend event without fail, said party leaders.There are a total of 13,816 polling booths across Delhi and so far over 12,000 boothincharges have been appointed by the party.The district and lower level booth incharge meetings of the party have been held.It is for the first time that a state-level interaction between the national president andthe booth incharges is being organised, said Dharambir Singh, head of booth

management department of the Delhi BJP. “The booth incharges will also be givena chance to put across their suggestions before the par ty president during theinteraction,” Singh said. The par ty will ensure that booth presidents man-datorily attend the event. The bar-coded identity cards with photographswill be scanned when they will arrive for the event at the Indira GandhiIndoor Stadium.Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari and other senior par ty leaders will alsoattend the interactive session. The BJP holds all the seven Lok Sabhaseats, including the Nor th East Delhi constituency represented by Tiwari,that it is gearing up to retain in 2019 polls.

Father-Daughter RS Cheema, Tarannum Cheema Duo In CBI's All-

Sikh Team That Fought Sajjan Kumar 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots CaseNEW DELHI: The Delhi High Cour t verdict that overturnedthe trial cour t's acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case was a rare moment of success for theCentral Bureau of Investigation.Around 3,000 Sikhs had died as armed mobs unleashedviolence in Delhi after then prime minister Indira Gandhiwas assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on the morningof October 31, 1984. Eyewitnesses said the mobs wereled by Congress leaders - Sajjan Kumar was the firstsenior leader of the par ty to be convicted. While thevictims' lawyer HS Phoolka is a well-known figure, theagency also had an all-Sikh prosecution team thatinvolved a father and daughter.RS Cheema was the special prosecutor whom the CBIteam approached to take over the case in 2010.Mr Cheema, known for obtaining many convictions for theagency in the coal scam, including that of high-profile IASofficer and former coal secretary HC Gupta, had tocommute between Delhi and Chandigarh to handle the '84riots case. His daughter, Tarannum Cheema, had recentlygot her law degree and was assisting her father as hisjunior."I would actually give her credit for the work," Mr Cheematold NDTV on phone from Chandigarh. "She moved toDelhi to handle the case. She had to handle all thewitnesses".The conviction of Sajjan Kumar, who repor tedly wrote toCongress chief Rahul Gandhi that he is quitting the par tyafter the verdict, is based on the testimony of two women- Jagdish Kaur and Nirpreet Kaur - both of whom lostfamily members in the riots that hit their colony at theDelhi Cantonment. Ms Cheema had to move as someonehad to sit through the trial to ensure that the women wouldnot be intimidated by the drawn-out cross-questioningprocess.At one point, Nirpreet Kaur realised that the case didn'trelate directly to the murder of her father, Nirmal Kaur.And so it took persuasion to ensure that she continued totestify, despite it not being directly related to her ownloss.Nirpreet Kaur had to leave her home in Amritsar and stayat Punjab Bhawan for two months during her crossquestioning."They would keep trying to underestimate them, theycalled them liars, they even called Nirpreet a terrorist

because she was jailed as a student leader," said TarannumCheema, clarifying that all cases against Nirpreet Kaur werelater dropped. "We had to reassure her that there was noneed to feel like they were on the backfoot, they just had tostick to the truth."While the CBI gathered evidence and witnesses, what reallyhelped was the police daily diary of Raj Nagar that theCheemas presented in cour t. The police log recorded theDelhi police as noting the week of the riots between Novem-ber 1 and 11 as nothing significant happening even though341 people had been killed in that one police post. Thisshocking silence of the police repor t made the High Cour tjudges note the police attitude towards the "atrocities".35-year-old Tarannum Cheema is not done yet though. She isnow the Special Public Prosecutor in her own right, fightingSajjan Kumar in the second riots case relating to Sultanpuri.Did the fact that she and her father are Sikhs motivate hermore? "My father is born in 1947, so he is a child of par ti-tion. We will fight against any communalism, not just thosedirected against Sikhs,'' she said.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018w o r l d

SIKHS IN AMERICA THANK INDIAN PM NARENDRA MODI

FOR KARTARPUR CORRIDOR

The American Sikh community has expressed gratitude to Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi following the laying of the foundation stone forthe Kar tarpur corridor in Punjab."We the Sikh diaspora are thankful to Narendra Modi and his govern-ment for realising the long-cherished dream of Sikhs in India andabroad and laying the foundation stone for the Kar tarpur cor ridor onNovember 26, 2018," the 'Sikhs of America' organisation said in a

resolution addressed to the prime minister."Since the foundation stone was laid on the Pakistan side also, Sikhsacross the globe are looking forward to the much-anticipated pilgrim-age," said the resolution.A copy of the resolution was presented to senior officials of the IndianEmbassy here at an event organised by Sikhs of America in the Mary-land suburb of Washington.The much-awaited corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan'sKar tarpur--the final resting place of Guru Nanak--with Dera Baba Nanakshrine in India's Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movementof Indian Sikh pilgrims, who will only have to obtain a permit to visitKar tarpur Sahib, established in 1522 by Guru Nanak."For the last few months, good news has been coming for the Sikhcommunity in India and abroad," Jasdip Singh, chairman of Sikhs ofAmerica, said as he praised the role of the Indian government inbringing to justice some of the accused involved in the 1984 anti-Sikhriots."We are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. However, there isa lot to be done," Singh said, hoping that in the coming weeks andmonths other politicians involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots wouldalso be brought to justice.He said the government had addressed most of their concerns, in-cluding removal of some Sikhs from the visa blacklist.

NO ONE CAN 'DICTATE' TO CHINA WHAT IT SHOULD,

SHOULDN'T DO: XI JINPINGBEIJING, CHINA: President Xi Jinping warned Tuesday that no onecan "dictate" China's economic development path as the CommunistPar ty marked 40 years of its historic "reform and opening up" policyamid a stern challenge from the United States.In a speech at the grandiose Great Hall of the People, Xi vowed topress ahead with economic reforms but made clear that Beijing willnot deviate from its one-par ty system or take orders from any othercountry."The great banner of socialism has always been flying high over theChinese land," Xi told the par ty faithful."The leadership of the Communist Par ty of China is the most essen-tial feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatestadvantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics," hesaid.The commemoration of the reforms enacted under late paramountleader Deng Xiaoping on December 18, 1978, came as China is lockedin diplomatic spats and a bruising trade war with the United States.The rivals have agreed to a 90-day truce as they seek to negotiate asolution, with the United States seeking a reduction in its massivetrade deficit as well as deeper reforms in China to stop the allegedthef t of intellectual property.Without directly referring to the United States, Xi said China "poses nothreat" to any country but warned that it would not be pushed around."No one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should orshould not be done," Xi said."We must resolutely reform what should and can be changed, wemust resolutely not reform what shouldn't and can't be changed."While Xi promised more reforms, he did not offer any specifics. TheUnited States and Europe have long complained of lingering obstacles

to fully entering China's massive market while Chinese companiesenjoy the benefits of open Western economies abroad.The reforms pulled hundreds of millions of people out of pover ty andturned China into the world's second biggest economy.But it is cur rently facing a debt mountain and a slowing economy,which grew by 6.9 percent last year and is expected by the govern-ment to slow to around 6.5 percent this year.'One-par ty dictatorship'Deng's reforms broke with the chaotic policies of his predecessor,Chairman Mao Zedong.Tuesday's ceremony included the awarding of medals to more than100 individuals whom the par ty recognised as key contributors to thecountry's development, from people involved in rural reform and pov-er ty alleviation to China's richest man, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, andretired NBA legend Yao Ming.

UK body rejects separate Sikh ethnic identifier for 2021 censusThe UK body responsible for holding the 2021 census has rejecteddemands that ‘Sikh’ should be a separate ethnic identifier on theground that it would “not be acceptable to a propor tion of the Sikhpopulation”, disappointing campaigners who say legal action is anoption. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a white paperthat it had always provided an ‘other, specify’ box within the ethnicgroup question to allow respondents to answer as they wish to (suchas defining their ethnicity as Sikh).“The 2021 Census will continue to include a religion question, with aspecific Sikh response option,” the ONS said, adding that a survey ofgurdwaras on the acceptance of a Sikh ethnic group tick-box “showeda high acceptance for inclusion”. It added, “Leaders of Sikh groupshave provided information which has fed into the analysis. There arediffering views within the Sikh population as to whether a specificresponse option should be added to the 2021 Census, and views oneach side are passionately held.”Bhai Amrik Singh of campaign group, Sikh Federation (UK), said,“The ONS has gone to great lengths to maintain the status quo andcontinue with reinforcing the institutionalised discrimination of Sikhsby public bodies. We are aware of some of the pressures that havebeen exer ted on them.”“However, these are proposals and the final decision on the Censusquestions rests with Parliament. Gurdwaras, Sikh organisations andthe community are resourceful and will work with the APPG (All-

Par ty Parliamentary Group) on the year-long campaign launched onSaturday. Legal action against the ONS remains an option.”Singh added that campaigners are confident of securing the suppor tof nearly 350 MPs from across the political spectrum, including min-isters and shadow ministers: “We will be successful in securing anamendment to the Census Order when it is presented to Parliament inautumn 2019.” Population figures according to ethnicity are crucialfor various political, social, cultural and economic purposes, includ-ing distribution of government funds. Over 80,000 Sikhs repor tedlyused ‘Other’ in the 2011 census to identify themselves, and men-tioned ‘Sikh’ on the forms.

New repor ts on Russianmeddling in 2016 US pollsshow extent much widerTwo new reports compiled for a US Senate committeeinvestigating Russian meddling in 2016 say Russianshad used an entire range of social media platforms --and not just Facebook, Twitter and Twitter -- andtargeted African Americans to help President DonaldTr ump win the White House.The repor ts are based on data turned over byFacebook, Twitter and Google and significantlyexpand the extent of the meddling that Americanshave alleged was carried out by the InternetResearch Agency, a St Petersburg company, underthe directions of the Russian government to helpTr ump win.And one of them said meddling continues. “Activeand ongoing inter ference operations remain onseveral platforms,” says a repor t cited by The NewYork Times. It was produced by New Knowledge, acybersecurity firm based in Texas, along withresearchers at Columbia University CanfieldResearch. Such as effor ts to influence Americanson the Syria conflict, in which Russia is backingPresident Bashar al-Assad.This repor t also detailed the meddling focussed onAfrican Americans, which, it said was “mostprolific” compare to effor ts targeting other communi-ties and groups. Of the 81 Facebook pages created bythe Internet Research Agency, 30 targeted African-American audiences, according the NYT repor t. Theeffor t was urge them — African Americans andsuppor ters of Bernie Sanders — to shun HillaryClinton.

WOMEN ARE ON TRACKTO EARN THE SAME ASMEN — IN 202 YEARSThe good news: The global gender gap has improved,slightly. The reality: Differences in economic oppor tu-nity, including pay between men and women, are sovast it’ll take 202 years to fully bridge them, accordingto the World Economic Forum.The group looks at several measures of equalitybetween men and women in this year’s Global GenderGap Repor t, released Tuesday. Overall genderdisparity across politics, work, health and educationimproved by less than 0.1 percent, meaning it’ll take108 years to reach parity. The economic oppor tunitygap -- based on par ticipation, pay and advancement inthe workforce -- remains the area that’ll take thelongest time to close.The figures are a tiny improvement from last year’sresults, where the gap between the achievements andwell-being of men and women widened for the firsttime in more than a decade.“What we’re seeing globally is that we don’t have anycountry that’s achieved gender equality, regardlessof level of development, region or type of economy.Gender inequality is the reality around the world,and we’re seeing that in all aspects of women’slives,” said Anna-Karin Jatfors, regional director forUN Women. She added that “202 years is too long await” for economic equity.Jatfors said governments can help spur improve-ments with equal-pay policies and investment inparental and elder care infrastructure, and byallowing women legal protections including jobsecur ity during pregnancy.There’s been “minimal progress” since last year’srepor t in measuring economic par ticipation andoppor tunity, the WEF said, with the worst-per form-ing countries mainly in the Middle East and Nor thAfrica. Only 34 percent of global managers arewomen, and income gaps have been “par ticularlypersistent,’ with 63 percent of the global wage gaphaving closed so far.

INDIAN CONSTRUCTIONWORKER IN DUBAI GETS 15YEARS IN JAIL FOR STABBINGCOLLEAGUE TO DEATHA 26-year-old Indian construction worker in the UAEhas lost his appeal against a 15-year jail term,months after he was convicted for getting drunkand stabbing to death a colleague and injuringanother fellow Indian who tried to intervene,according to a media repor t.The Dubai Cour t of First Instance convicted theaccused of premeditated murder and murder bid inOctober, the Gulf news repor ted on Sunday.The Indian national, who has not been named,stabbed to death his colleague on December, 2017,at a labour accommodation, the repor t said. Theaccused attacked the victim’s roommate as wellwhen he tried to stop him. Dubai Police’s fo rensicexaminer said the victim succumbed to severe stabwounds in the hear t and chest.The convict, who has not been named, appealed afterthe primary ruling before the appeal cour t and soughtto have a reduced jail term. However, on Sunday,presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif rejected the appeal andupheld his 15-year jail term.

Saudi Arabia slams US Senate vote on Khashoggi’s murder as ‘interference’Saudi Arabia on Monday slammed as “inter ference” US Senate resolutions over its war in Yemen and critic Jamal Khashoggi’s murder,warning that the move could have repercussions on its strategic ties with Washington.The Republican-controlled Senate voted on Thursday to end American military suppor t for a Riyadh-led war in Yemen, and separatelyheld Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for Khashoggi’s killing.The largely symbolic vote dealt a fresh warning to President Donald Trump, who has staunchly backed the Saudi regime in the face ofintense global outrage that analysts say has left the kingdom diplomatically weakened.“The kingdom condemns the latest position of the US Senate that was based on unsubstantiated allegations and rejects the blatantinterference in its internal affairs,” the foreign ministry said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.On the Yemen measure, which more broadly attacks the president’s prerogative to launch military action, 49 Democrats or their alliesvoted in favour, along with seven Republicans, while another three Republicans abstained.The Senate also approved a resolution condemning Khashoggi’s murder and calling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, SaudiArabia’s de facto ruler, “responsible” for it.The Saudi ministry warned that the kingdom would not tolerate any “disrespect” of its rulers. “This position by the US Senate sends thewrong messages to all those who want to cause a rift in Saudi-US relationship,” the ministry said.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 w o r l d

WAR HERO OR MURDERER?TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON MILITARY CASE

‘The Army last week charged Golsteyn, aGreen Beret special operations reservist,with premeditated murder in the shootingdeath of an alleged Taliban bomb-makerin volatile Helmand province in 2010.

A decorated officer in an elite US Army unit killed an unarmed Talibansuspect in Afghanistan. Of that, there appears to be no doubt.What is less cer tain is whether Major Matt Golsteyn, who hasadmitted to the killing, should be considered a cold-blooded killer ora war hero.The Army last week charged Golsteyn, a Green Beret special opera-tions reservist, with premeditated murder in the shooting death of analleged Taliban bomb-maker in volatile Helmand province in 2010.Though highly unlikely, he could ultimately face the death penalty.Golsteyn’s case on Sunday was suddenly thrust into the spotlight,when President Donald Trump suggested he might intervene in the

long-running legal saga.“At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a ‘U.S. Militaryhero,’ Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder,” Tr ump saidon Twitter, having apparently seen a sympathetic segment about thecase on Fox News.“He could face the death penalty from our own government after headmitted to killing a Ter rorist bomb maker while overseas,” Trumpwrote.Army investigators looked into Golsteyn in 2011 after he took a lie-detector test as par t of a job interview with the CIA.He repor tedly told agents he had killed an unarmed, suspected bomb-maker detained by his unit, who he believed was responsible for thedeaths of two Marines who had died in a roadside bombing.According to cour t document excerpts, Golsteyn worried that the sus-pect, who he was unable to detain for more than 24 hours, mightmake more bombs and kill an Afghan tribal leader who had identifiedhim. Investigators have said Golsteyn and another soldier eventuallytook the suspect back to his house and killed him.

US HEADED TOWARDSPARTIAL GOVERNMENT

SHUTDOWN OVER MEXICOWALL FUNDING DEADLOCK

The United States federal government is headed towards apar tial shutdown from Friday with no end in sight yet todifferences over President Donald Trump’s proposal to builda wall along the border with Mexico that are holding up thepasage of a spending plan.Most of the government, three-four ths, will remain openwith their spending plans approved till next September, theend of the next fiscal year. Bills regarding the budgets of thedepar tment of homeland security, which deals with immi-gration, and the depar tments of justice and interior. are heldup over Tr ump’s demand of $5 billion for the wall.The deadline is Friday midnight.Building the wall to stop illegal immigration has been a keyelection plank for President Trump and he has been underpressure from his base to deliver. But the likelihood of theCongress giving him that money has been slim, and he hasn’thad any success even with his own par ty controlling thetwo chambers.Even if the current House of Representatives were toallocate the money, the bill will not pass the Senate with-out the suppor t of Democrats, who have opposed thewall and declared they have no intention of agreeing tothe president’s demand, and have called him out on itpublicly.At a meeting in the White House last week, Tr ump toldDemocratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,that he was willing to shut down the government if hedoesn’t get the border wall funding. “I am proud to shutdown the government for border security. ... I will takethe mantle of shutting it down”.Stephen Miller, a presidential aide considered most hawkishon immigration, doubled down on the president’s threat, andtold CBS News Sunday, “This is a very fundamental issue. Atstake is the question of whether or not the United States re-mains a sovereign country. Whether or not we can establishand enforce rules for entrance into our country.”Democrats are not budging. of course, and have offered toapprove a meagre sum, comparatively, of $1.6 billion for“border security”, and not a wall. And this is the president’slast chance to get the funding he wants as control of theHouse passes into the hands of Democrats next January.Tr ump is trying to shift the blame for what is clearly a badsituation on Democrats. “Anytime you hear a Democrat say-ing that you can have good Border Security without a Wall,write them off as just another politician following the par tyline,’ he wrote on Twitter Monday, reposting a tweet that hadearlier misspelt “border” as “boarder”.

Pakistan minister caught on video expressing support for Lashkar founder Hafiz SaeedPakistan’s minister of state for interior Shehryar Khan Afridi hasbeen caught on video expressing suppor t for Lashkar-e-Taibafounder Hafiz Saeed and his political front, the Milli Muslim League(MML), which was designated a terror group by the United Statesin April. The two-minute video, apparently shot with a mobile phoneduring Afridi’s recent meeting with a group of MML leaders, hasemerged at a time when India and other Western powers are pre-paring to make a case at an upcoming review meeting of theFinancial Action Task Force (FATF) that Pakistan hasn’t deliveredon its commitments to crack down on fund-raising by terror groupssuch as the LeT. In the video, an MML representative can beheard telling Afridi about the par ty’s problems in getting regis-tered with the Election Commission of Pakistan.“Regarding MML’s registration... the Islamabad high cour t hasissued an order to the Election Commission of Pakistan that MMLshould be registered. The US has included MML in the list ofglobal terror groups and it hasn’t been registered,” the represen-

tative says, speaking in Urdu.“They said we have found out this is Hafiz Saeed sab’s group andwe are including it among the global terror groups,” the representa-tive adds. Afridi, who belongs to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pa-kistan Tehreek-e-Insaf par ty, responds: “Insha Allah, (let) anymother’s son (do what they want), as long as we are in the (Na-tional) Assembly and Tehreek-e-Insaf is there, leave alone HafizSaeed sa’ab, anyone who is suppor ting Pakistan’s rights... we willsuppor t them. This is our tradition.”The minister, who too is speaking in Urdu, then adds, “It is myrequest to you that you come and sit in the Assembly and seewhether the others also suppor t us.”The rest of the brief video is devoted to discussing religious mat-ters and the oppression faced by the poor. The MML fielded candi-dates on the platform of Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek for Pakistan’s gen-eral election in July after it was denied registration by the ElectionCommission.



Deepika Padukone on why ex-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor

skipped her wedding reception

KANGANA RANAUT GOESFROM TEENAGED MANU TO

THE WARRIOR QUEEN

Deepika Padukone is IMDb’s top Indianstar of 2018, leaves Shah Rukh Khan,

Salman Khan, Aamir Khan behind

BELGIUM CROWNED 2018 HOCKEY WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS.

KAPIL SHARMA’S WEDDING IN JALANDHAR GRABBED A LOT OF ATTENTION AND HAD A CRAZY TURNOUT. NOT ONLY THAT, WE HAVE LEARNT THAT THEPOPULAR STAND-UP COMEDIAN DONATED ALL THE EXCESS FOOD FROM HIS WEDDING TO AN NGO, FEEDING INDIA, WHICH DISTRIBUTES IT TO THELESSER-PRIVILEGED PEOPLE IN JALANDHAR, AMRITSAR AND THE NEARBY CITIES. A SOURCE SAYS THAT WHEN THE NGO GOT TO KNOW ABOUT KAPIL’SWEDDING, THE OFFICIALS APPROACHED HIM AS THEY KNEW IT WOULD BE A BIG FAT PUNJABI WEDDING AND THERE WILL NOT ONLY BE A LAVISHSPREAD OF FOOD, BUT ALSO IN EXCESS QUANTITY. “WHEN THEY TOLD KAPIL ABOUT THEIR CAUSE, HE SAID YES WITHOUT THINKING TWICE. HE TOLDTHEM TO TAKE THE FOOD FROM ALL HIS FUNCTIONS INCLUDING THE RECEPTION IN AMRITSAR AND DISTRIBUTE IT,” SAYS THE SOURCE.

It is over a month since Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh gotmarried in Italy’s Lake Como and then went ahead and hostedmultiple wedding receptions in India but people’s fascination withthe nuptials is far from over. Deepika, in a new interview, hasanswered all questions around her wedding. One of the most im-por tant, of course, being why did her ex Ranbir Kapoor didn’t attendthe wedding reception.Deepika and Ranveer’s wedding reception had everyone from AmitabhBachchan with family, to Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma and ShahRukh Khan among others. Conspicuous by their absence were Ranbiras well as girlfriend Alia Bhatt.While an online por tal later repor ted that the two actors were busywith shooting of their upcoming film Brahmastra, Deepika has nowsaid, “We’ve not spoken. I mean, we spoke before the reception butwe have not spoken after. But, that’s him. I’m not surprised at all. But,that’s the relationship we share and that’s the beauty of that relation-ship; so much is said without saying much at all.”

Deepika and Ranveer’s wedding took place in Lake Como amid secu-rity that is usually reserved for state heads. Deepika said the choiceof venue was due to privacy. “We announced everything, we announced(wedding dates) a month before we got married and I’d anyway takenthis year off as I needed to replenish emotionally, so it all just workedout. Why outside of India, because privacy was very impor tant for usand somehow when we went around, that place just felt correct.”

Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika trailer begins right at the beginning,with a young girl called Manikarnika —Manu to her family — whowill soon be the Queen of Jhansi. The nearly 3.5 minute trailer shows thetransformation of Manu into Rani Laxmibai. With blood, battle gear, weaponry andfinely draped in patriotism, Kangana’s Manikarnika declares: “We bothwant Jhansi, the difference is you want to rule and I want to serve.”Manikarnika trailer begins with the forces of British East India com-pany soldiers laying siege around Jhansi. As scores of companysoldiers surround, a voice-over informs the viewers that unless asuccessor is found for the throne, the British would annexe Jhansi theway they have done to other princely states across India. Fearless and feisty,we meet Kangana’s Manikarnika. “Kanyay kaise kalaiyaan ghumate hai, maindikhati hun,” she tells a group of sword fighters. In time, she is married to RajaGangadhar Rao of Jhansi and together they have a son, but he dies after fourmonths. So, they adopt Gangadhar’s cousin’s son and name him Damodar Rao.This, of course, was not in accordance to the infamous Doctrine of Lapse. TheBritish attack her fort in Jhansi, she escapes with a small group of her loyalsoldiers, only to meet the Company soldiers some time later.

With just one film in her account in 2018, actor Deepika Padukone hasbeen named the top Indian star of 2018, beating her Om Shanti Om co-actor, Shah Rukh Khan, according to leading global movie websiteIMDb. IMDb on Tuesday unveiled the 2018 Top 10 Stars of IndianCinema list. The list was derived using data from IMDbPro STARmeterrankings, which are based on page views of more than 250 millionmonthly visitors to the platform, read a statement.Shah Rukh Khan, who will appear in the film Zero on December 21,earned the second spot, and was followed by Thugs of Hindostanactor Aamir Khan, Fanney Khan star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Race3’s Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sacred Games’ Kubbra Sait, Ir rfanKhan, the ‘omnipresent’ Radhika Apte and Gold actor Akshay Kumar.“Deepika Padukone's strong per formance in this year's Padmaavatpushed her into the top spot on the 2018 IMDb Top Stars of IndianCinema list," said Neha Gureja, Head of International for IMDb.

HOSTILE AUSTRALIA BLOWINDIA AWAY, LEVEL SERIES

WITH A 146-RUN WINIndia crumbled in the face of Australia’s remarkable metamorphosisand crashed to a 146-run defeat in the second Test here Tuesday,surrendering a rare hard-earned ascendancy in a series Down Under.The hosts levelled the four-match series 1-1 after India were bowledout for 140 runs in 56 overs in their second innings on the fifth and finalday. India had won the opening game by 31 runs to go in front.Starting from overnight 112 for five, India lost their last five wickets for28 runs and it was all over within 65 minutes of play.This was Australia’s first Test win since the ball-tampering scandalbroke out in South Africa earlier this year.Mitchell Starc (3-46) and Nathan Lyon (3-39) finished with threewickets apiece, while Josh Hazlewood (2-24) and Pat Cummins (2-25)took a brace each. Hanuma Vihari (28) and Rishabh Pant (30) hadcontinued their overnight partnership, and batted out only six oversbefore the first wicket fell on this day. Overall, they added 21 runs forthe sixth wicket.Vihari was the first to go, lobbing a catch off Starc to shor t point. Pantthen tried to play a few more attacking strokes, but he didn’t compre-hend the situation well and was confused whether to farm the strike atall. In doing so, he attacked Lyon and holed out to mid on, with PeterHandscomb taking a low diving catch. It hastened the end for India,with Umesh Yadav (2) returning a simple catch to Starc.

YUVRAJ SINGH BOUGHT BY MUMBAIINDIANS FOR BASE PRICE OF RS 1

CRORE AFTER GOING UNSOLD INITIALLY.

VARUN CHAKRAVARTHY TUESDAYFETCHED A SENSATIONAL BID OF RS 8.4

CRORE WENT TO KINGS XI PUNJAB.

ANMOLPREET (R) WAS BOUGHT BYMUMBAI INDIANS FOR RS 80 LAKH,

COUSIN PRABHSIMRAN WAS PICKED UPBY KINGS XI PUNJAB FOR RS 4.8 CRORE.

IPL AUCTION 2019


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018b o l l y w o o d

M O V I E R E V I E W

Swinging it successfully across realities

CAST: SHAMEIK MOORE, HAILEE STEINFELD,

MAHERSHALA ALI, JAKE JOHNSON,

LIEV SCHREIBER

DIRECTOR: BOB PERSICHETTI,

PETER RAMSEY

Fashion has become a structuredindustry now: Malaika Arora

PAKISTAN I&B MINISTER PROMISES HELPTO NANDITA DAS AMID MANTO BAN

A 3D animated spider-man film from the Marvel Universe, this comicbook franchise version is fanciful, conceptually inclusive in terms ofrace and age and broadens the spider-verse into several dimensions- with each Spiderman existing in a time capsule of their own beforebeing thrown together to stop a threat to all reality.The story, though preposterous, is full of beans. The film opens withMiles Morales (Shameik Moore), an Afro-Hispanic teenager, who isbilingual, star ting life at a new advanced school away from his friends.His complicated relationship with his demanding police officer father(Brian Tyree Henry) is offset by a closer bond with his laid-back andsecretive Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali). When Miles accompanieshis uncle to an abandoned subway, he gets bitten by a multi-dimen-sional spider and finds himself in Spiderman’s shoes.In the meantime the original Spiderman dies in the process of tryingto stop Kingpin (Live Schreiber) from using an underground multi-dimensional collider meant to obliterate the entire universe.The beauty of this spider-verse is that it has appropriated heroes who

are struggling with their anointed roles and exist in the present daycontext of merged identities and mixed races. The older Peter Parker(Jake Johnson C) is divorced, and the new ones Spider-Ham (JohnMulaney), Penni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Man Noir (NicolasCage), and Spider-Woman rounded up by the mysterious Gwen Stacy(Hailee Steinfeld) – have varied origins and personalities. Into theSpider-Verse propagates a multicultural ethos even while showcas-ing traditional comic-book heroics.Sony’s first full-length animated theatrical feature is as complex as itis adventurous. The multi-verse of new spider folk (six in all) putsforward many back stories, plot-threads and character arcs and itdoes seem to have too much of a good thing. .Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman fashion a screenplay that sets up allthe thrill and adventure with great balance, thrift and care. The anima-tion quality is top-notch lending visual dynamism and strong defini-tion to each character and moment. The coherence thus earned islikely to enthuse kids and adults alike.

Pakistan’s minister of information and broadcasting FawadChaudhry on Sunday assured his help to filmmaker Nandita Dasin lifting the ban on her latest directorial Manto in the country.Chaudhry took to Twitter to extend his help, saying he wastrying to convince film impor ters to present a “less commercialfilm” like the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer.“I am trying to pursue impor ters to bring this movie to Pak, Ihope someone will definitely take risk of showing a lesscommercial film to the viewers,” he said. Das thanked theminister and replied, “Shukriya @fawadchaudhry#FreeSpeech.” The minister’s statement came in response toDas’ tweet on Saturday where she expressed her disappoint-ment on the ban of the movie, a biopic on celebrated Urdu shor tstory writer Saadat Hasan Manto who had migrated to Pakistanaf ter Par tition.“Disappointed that Manto will not be seen in theatres inPakistan. I was keen as he belongs to both countries equally.

Viacom18 Motion Pictures Namrata Goyal,” the director wrote.Das also expressed her gratitude towards activists, writers andar tistes from Pakistan who raised their voice protesting againstthe ban of her film Manto in the neighbouring country andappealed to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan via an openletter.“I am grateful to the activists, writers, ar tists, and concernedcitizens in Pakistan, who have spontaneously come togetherand signed an open letter to their PM appealing...” she wrote.The filmmaker also shared the link of the letter, which has beensigned by 16 people including Manto’s daughters Nighat, Nusratand Nuzhat.In October this year, the Pakistan Film Producers Association(PFPA) demanded a complete ban on the release of Indian filmsin the country. Chaudhry Ejaz Kamran, a senior official in thePFPA, had said when Pakistani films are not screened in India,why should they screen Indian films in the country.

MUMBAI: Malaika Arora believes fashion industry has evolved alot and has become a well-structured business now.The 45-year-old fashionista says the coming of internationalbrands in the country has made the fashion industry a moreorganised place.“Fashion has become a business now. Earlier there was no struc-ture in the fashion industry. It was more haphazard. But now Ibelieve with professionals, various labels and companies com-ing to the country, the focus has shifted to the business aspect offashion,” Malaika said.The VJ-turned-actor, who was one of the jury members at theLakme Fashion Week Summer/Resor t 2019 female models au-ditions, said if she had mentors during her initial days in theshowbiz, she would have had a better sense of direction. “I be-lieve if I have had the kind of mentorship these young mod-els are getting, I would have had a better sense of direc-tion. When I star ted out, I just figured things with time. Iwas like a fish out of the water. I used to follow my guts andnobody was there to guide. But it also had a good side to it. Itmade me more independent,” she said.Along with Malaika, designer duo Shantanu and Nikhil, showdirector Anu Ahuja, Head of Innovations, Lakme-AshwathSwaminathan and Vice President and Head of Fashion, IMG Re-liance, Jaspreet Chandok, were also par t of the jury.Malaika said she appreciated the LFW’s effor ts to give a platformto new talent every season.“The idea of bringing new faces every season is amazing. Thereare so many aspiring models out there and that’s the only waywe are going to give them the chance. It’s a great platform.”Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2019 will take place fromJanuary 30 to February 3. The five-day extravaganza will return toJioGarden, Bandra-Kurla Complex for the season.

MUMBAI: Sara Ali Khan says she may be pursuing acting as aprofession but her aim is to be as real and relatable as possible.Sara, who made her Bollywood acting debut with Kedarnath andis awaiting the release of her second film “Simmba”, has be-come an instant social media fan favourite.The young actor believes, “People appreciate the fact that I amreal. I endeavour to be most real person. I don’t think too muchand try to be as organic as I can. I do make mistakes. With thesame token you get appreciation and criticism as well and youhave to take it the same way.” Sara said.“I am taking each day as it comes. I will see what offers comemy way and whatever excites me I will take that up. As an actorI want to experiment with different kinds of films. I have alwaysloved acting. I am always dying to be on a film set. Life is emptyfor me without that,” she said.Directed by Rohit Shetty, Simmba features Ranveer Singh in thetitle role and Sonu Sood as antagonist. The film releases on De-cember 28.Also, there are rumours that Sara will be seen in a sequel to IrrfanKhan’s Hindi Medium, will collaborate with Imtiaz Ali and will beseen in Varun Dhawan-star rer Rannbhoomi.

SARA ON BEING HUMAN



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 b o l l y w o o d

hollywood

Jason Momoa, Amber Heard save series fromdrowning; best DC film since Wonder Woman

CAST: JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD,

PATRICK WILSON, NICOLE KIDMAN

DIRECTOR: JAMES WAN

RATING:

M O V I E R E V I E W

Genelia D Souza wishes husband Riteish Deshmukh onbirthday, remembers how their relationship began 17 years ago

The opening few minutes of Aquaman are quite possibly its best, becausethat’s how long it takes director James Wan to set the tone for his film, and todifferentiate his version from others.Two souls meet, like two ships stranded at sea, destined to find each other.There is a warm afternoon glow in the sky, a light breeze in the air and theocean is calm. A love story unfolds, a child is born and difficult decisions aremade. A lifetime passes. All in the time it would take for you to lap anOlympic-sized pool. The soothing sounds of Sigur Ros hang in the air; a JulesVerne quote is invoked.It’s safe to say that these opening few minutes, which bear more resem-blance to Pixar’s Up than Zack Snyder’s heavy metal take on the character,are unlike anything we’ve seen in a DC film before.There is barely any reference made to the Aquaman we’d seen in JusticeLeague, save for Jason Momoa’s on-the-nose James Hetfield impression,and the faint guitar riff that accompanies his arrival on the scene. To callJames Wan’s version a calculated distancing from the Snyderverse wouldbe slightly cynical - and that is not what this film is about. Wan’s Aquaman isperhaps the most earnest superhero movie in many months, probably sinceDC’s own Wonder Woman.It most cer tainly isn’t as polished as that movie - what Patty Jenkins achievedwent beyond having made a good film - but neither is it as putrid as Batmanv Superman: Dawn of Justice. It floats somewhere in the middle; like a life

vest for a rapidly sinking DC Extended Universe. Its themes of identity andbelonging, of being caught between two worlds are remarkably similar to theideas that Andy Serkis explored in his recent Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.Arthur Curry is born of Atlantean royalty, but also has in his veins the blood ofa common human man. He is raised on the sur face, a stone’s throw from theocean - two homes that he has never truly belonged to, or felt accepted by.Crippled by abandonment issues - his mother left him when he was achild, with the promise that she’d return one day - and only just nowdiscovering a purpose in his life (Aquaman is set about a year after theevents of Justice League) Ar thur is summoned to the deep by Mera,played by Amber Heard. Mera is also Atlantean royalty, and sensing abrewing civil war, she decides to seek Ar thur ’s help in defeating the manbehind this upheaval - his half -brother, Orm, played by Wan’s regularcollaborator and star of his Conjuring movies, Patrick Wilson. As the sonof Queen Atlanna (played by Nicole Kidman), Arthur has a stake in thecrown; he only needs to find the strength to claim it. Thus begins a storythat is equal parts Game of Thrones and Indiana Jones - like Black Pan-ther told from Killmonger’s perspective. Wan cleverly touches upon theseShakespearean concepts - feuding brothers, despotic rulers, social revolt -without ever fully diving into them.

Actors Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh often share loved-up posts on social me-dia for each other. On Riteish’s birthday on Monday, Genelia addressed him as‘Dear Forever’ and wrote a note on Instagram talking about their relationship thatbegan 17 years ago. She said, “Dear Forever. I still remember celebrating yourbirthday on Tujhe Meri Kasam sets.. 17years ago.. Time flies and I have had theoppor tunity to celebrate so many of your bir thdays through all these years..Yourbirthday will always be most special to me cos it’s the day the world got its bestcreation and that creation is my partner through thick and thin.. I Love you and i willtake every opportunity to remind you of how much I do.. Happy Birthday @riteishd.”Riteish, on the occasion of Genelia’s birthday in August, had made her a caramelcheesecake. Genelia was impressed with her husband and she had shared on Instagram,“So yesterday was my birthday and I just feel once you are a mom you kinda forgetabout yourself most often but thank god for @riteishd .. he finds ways to make me feelspecial and he baked me this most gorgeous yummiest caramel cheesecake..I’ve known Riteish all these years and cooking or baking was never something hethought of attempting but for us he did and apart from him being sooo good at it,him doing it for you, makes the world go round.” Riteish and Genelia will be seensharing screenspace after 6 years in Riteish’s Marathi movie Mauli. The two willbe seen shaking a leg to a Holi-themed song ‘Sur f laavun dhuvun tak’. Speakingof this, Genelia had said to IANS, “My God it’s been four years since I was last onscreen... Did not even realise it. Thank you Riteish for ‘Dhuvun tak’ and for makingsure I did it...had such a blast.”

Rajpal Yadav is currently serving 3 months’ imprisonment in Delhi's Tihar Jail for failing to repay a loan of Rs 5 crore which he hadbor rowed to produce a film. Now, reportedly, the actor-comedian made his debut on the prison’s stage with a comic act as par t of aKavi Sammelan (poets’ meet) programme for the inmates. As revealed by a jail officer, “His act was a laugh riot. There were severalpoets on the stage but Yadav made sure everyone laughed. Everyone was awestruck to see a celebrity on stage.”Yadav is currently lodged in jail number 7. Also, the comedian is often seen talking to inmates and is working on a play for Christmas.Repor tedly, Yadav along with his inmates, have planned to star t a drama club in jail. Speaking about his conduct, superintendent of jailnumber 7, “Yadav’s conduct has been good. He has not made any demands or asked to be treated differently. He spends his time inthe library. We treat him like any other prisoner.”While per forming on stage is nothing new for an actor like him but the actor may never have got an audience as captive as this one!

ONCE A COMEDIAN, ALWAYS A COMEDIAN!

Aquaman’s Amber Heardfinds the dearth ofrepresentation of women’sstrength in films frustrating

Amber Heard feels there is a tendency to pit womenagainst one another in Hollywood and they are madeto be part of an imagined competition. But that’s farfrom the truth. The actor says women are instead re-fusing to be pitted against one another, and are findingsolidarity in standing together as a unified force.“In my life, the strongest people I know and the onesthat I have learnt the most from have been women,”Heard told IANS in an exclusive sit-down interview.“And to see such a dear th of representation of thatstrength in films, in TV and in the enter tainment industryacross the board is really frustrating. I don’t think it is... anaccurate reflection of real life,” added the actor, who has divedinto the superhero world as the strong and determinedAtlantis princess Mera with Aquaman.

Brad Pitt’s relationship withsons on the rocks, AngelinaJolie told Pax his father neverwanted to adopt him: Report

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s tumultuous custodybattle has caused problems with their children. Pitt,54, is not on good terms with sons Maddox, 17, andPax, 15. "He has accepted that he will likely never beable to repair their relationship," usmagazine.comquoted a source as saying.It is also unlikely that Pitt will have a positive rela-tionship with Jolie, 43, in the near future. "Angelinahasn't offered any concessions about her actions thathave contributed to the situation," the source added.Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016after an alleged altercation involving Maddox and Pitt on aflight from France to Los Angeles. They also share Zahara, 13,Shiloh, 12, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 10. They reacheda confidential custody agreement in November.

Leonardo DiCaprio forced toreturn Oscar, but not the oneyou’re thinking ofLeonardo DiCaprio will have to surrender an Oscar inhis possession - not the one he won for The Revenant,but an Academy Award that he owns. This par ticularOscar belonged to Marlon Brando, and is now en-snared in an ongoing investigation surrounding itsprevious owner.According to the New York Times, DiCaprio re-ceived the Oscar - won by Brando for 1954’s Onthe Water front - from Malaysian financier Jho Low.Low is being investigated for alleged fraud, andDiCaprio has surrendered gifts he had received fromhim - including Pablo Picasso and Jean-MichelBasquiat ar tworks - to the authorities.The Oscar went missing from Brando’s home andwas bought for $600,000 (Rs 4.3 crore) by Lowyears later. According to the report, the Academyof Motion Picture Ar ts & Sciences has the right tobuy back the Oscar once the investigations arecompleted - for $1.DiCaprio won his first Oscar in 2016, for his leadper formance in the survival drama, The Revenant.It was a culmination of many years of receivingnominations, but never crossing that final hurdle.Brando, meanwhile, never gave much impor tanceto the Oscars. He famously refused to accept theAcademy Award fo r h is pe r fo rmance as V i toCorleone in The Godfather, choosing to send a Na-tive American woman to the ceremony in his stead.DiCaprio will next be seen in Quentin Tarantino’s OnceUpon a Time in Hollywood, following which he hassigned on to reunite with director Martin Scorsese forKillers of the Flower Moon.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018b o l l y w o o d

Star Screen Awards: Small films emerge winner as Katrina Kaif,

Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone win red carpet

It was a star-studded night at the Star Screen Awards 2018 asBollywood actors looked ready to sparkle in their red carpet best.While the award event itself belonged to Rajkummar Rao-starrer Stree,Ayushmann Khurrana's Badhaai Ho and Andhadhun, leading starssuch as Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh andDeepika Padukone walked the red carpet.The newly married couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukoneslayed in their matching black outfits as they walked the red carpet.Deepika, especially, chose to go for the dramatic as Ranveer shareda picture on Instagram and wrote, “Damn it feel good to be a gangsta.”The actor walked away with the Best Actor trophy on Sunday night forhis portrayal of Alauddin Khilji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat.Alia Bhatt, who won Best Actor for her per formance in Raazi, lookedlike a princess in her beige outfit that had a ruffled skir t with embel-lished bodice. Rajkummar Rao, who also won the Best Actor award

for his performance in Stree looked dapper in an emerald green suitpaired with black pants, white shir t and a bow-tie. Mouni Roy, whodebuted in Bollywood with Akshay Kumar’s Gold, chose to wear ablush pink coloured gown.Director Dinesh Vijan, who recently tied the knot with Parmita Tanwarwas also present at the award ceremony. He picked the Best filmaward for Stree, one of the big hits of 2018 starring Rajkummar Raoand Shraddha Kapoor.The hosts of the night, Ayushmann Khurrana and Vicky Kaushaltwinned in a black suit and pant paired with white shir t.Salman Khan was also present at the event and so was Rekha. AyushSharma also attended the award ceremony with his wife Arpita Khan.Manisha Koirala, Katrina Kaif, Shraddha Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, IshaanKhatter, Sushant Singh Rajput, Jacqueline Fernandez and others werealso present.

Kesari new pics has Akshay Kumar in all his soldierlyglory with Parineeti Chopra, film releases March 21

Akshay Kumar’s next film, Kesari, is months away from release andthe makers have now released the first look of the actor and the film’sleading lady, Parineeti Chopra. Akshay is a proud soldier as he wearsa heavy turban in one shot while he is sharing the frame with Parineetiin a more homely surrounding in another photo.Sharing the photo, Akshay wrote on social media, “And it’s a wrap for#Kesari...a film which swells up my chest with immense pride.See you in cinemas on 21st March,2019.” Akshay usually choosesIndependence Day and Republic day for his film’s releases butKesari appears to be a March release now.Earlier, Akshay had shared a photo from the film, which is basedon the famous Battle of Saragarhi; Akshay plays Havildar IsharSingh who led the Sikh Regiment against Afghan tribesmen in abattle in 1897 that took place at Saragarhi. Posing with a band ofmen dressed in Army uniforms, he had written with the photo,“On #SaragarhiDay, here’s the first look of #KESARI - our humble

tribute to the mar tyrs of Saragarhi! “Aaj meri pagdi bhi Kesari...Jobahega mera woh lahu bhi Kesari... Aur mera jawaab bhi Kesari.”Speaking about the film, Akshay had said, “I’ve star ted shootingfor my film Kesari, where I’m in the heaviest turban and beardI’ve ever had to wear. So I shaved my head to make my life a littleeasier. I’m known for hating wigs, prosthetics and so on, andKesari is quite demanding. It’s probably my favourite look, thoughit’s taxing to fight and sweat in this avatar. But I wouldn’t changeit for the world.” Directed by Anurag Singh, Kesari will hit the-atres on Holi 2019.WHAT IS BATTLE OF SARAGARHI?In September 1897, the Sikh regiment, under the leadership of HavildarIshar Singh, fought for several hours against 10,000 Afghan tribes-men of the Orakzai and Afridi tribe at Saragarhi, Nor th Western Fron-tier Province (NWFP). They knew that they were outnumbered butthey still held their ground and fought for several hours.

Anushka Sharma on marriagewith Virat Kohli: When both

people are busy andaccomplishing a lot, life is normal

Anushka Sharma is cer tainly one of most successful youngstars in Bollywood today. Her last three films have been amixed bag with Jab Harry Met Sejal and Pari not workingso well at the box office while Sui Dhaaga emerging as ahit as the actor remains one of the top-billed actors in theindustry. Her mar riage to cricketer Virat Kohli has been inthe news with both of them walking the fine line of keep-ing their relationship private while living their public lives.Before the release of her film Zero, Anushka spoke toTimes of India on a number of issues ranging from hermarriage with Virat, relationship with Shah Rukh Khan,working in a two-heroine film, pregnancy rumours andwork-life balance.Talking about how life has changed after her wedding al-most a year ago, she said, “When you are two individualswho are really busy and accomplishing a lot in your re-spective lives, your marriage is as normal as normal canbe. That’s how it is for everybody.”On the issue of marriage hampering a female actor’s ca-reer prospects, Anushka said that the thought nevereven crossed her mind. She said if people have thebelief in themselves and value their own wor th, thensuch concepts become redundant. “Today, women havechildren, they go out to do their jobs and come home.Work is par t of life and so is mar riage and you have toenjoy both. You can’t live in fear, I don’t and I have alwaysdone what I wanted to do.”On constant speculation on her pregnancy, she said that itwas “dhakianusi” (regressive) that people should thinkthat way. “Just because you are married, it doesn’t’ meanthat the next step is to go the family way.” Besides, preg-nancy wasn’t something one could hide and if after fourmonths (from when such rumours begin), people knowand feel silly, she said.It may be recalled that in 2008, Anushka began herBollywood with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, opposite Shah Rukh.Speaking about it, she said it hadn’t even occurred to herthat she had completed 10 years in Bollywood and that lifehad come a full circle. Working with Shah Rukh in Zerowas special as he never failed to amaze. “It’s even morespecial because Shah Rukh is somebody I have alwaysadmired, be it his drive, his passion or his ability to takeevery day as his first day. To have that kind of drive is noteasy — to come on the set everyday, be willing to breakyour bones, hurt yourself and do anything for the sake of afilm.” She also contested the notion that working in a two-heroine project affects her decision making. In her de-fence, she said that at the time of deciding on a film, allshe is thinking about is the character. She added how shewouldn’t do a role, even if it was a solo-heroine project, ifit didn’t interest her. Meanwhile, she did Dil DhadakneDo, just because she wanted to work with Zoya Akhtar.

Sushant Singh Rajput elated withaudience response to Kedarnath

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput has said that he was reallyhappy with the audience response to his recently releasedfilm Kedarnath because whenever an audience appreci-ates a movie, then it encourages an actor to do better.Sushant was interacting with the media at Star ScreenAwards 2018 on Sunday.Director Abhishek Kapoor’s romance-drama Kedarnathfeatures the actor opposite debutant Sara Ali Khan and thefilm is set against the backdrop of the disastrous 2013Uttarakhand floods. The movie has managed to collect atotal of Rs 42 crore after the end of its first week. Talkingabout the film’s success, Sushant said: “I am really happywith the audience response to the film. When an actor’swork gets appreciated then it feels good because throughthat he gets an encouragement.He added, “The kind of minute detail we have shown inthe film, they are getting connected to it and appreciatingit. As an actor or as a filmmaker, all we want is that what-ever we wanted to say should reach towards the audiencewithout any obstacle.”Sushant’s former girlfriend of six years Ankita Lokhandeis also gearing up for her Bollywood debut in Manikarnika:The Queen Of Jhansi. Last week, casting director MukeshChhabra shared her first look from the film on his Instagramand captioned it: “Here is the official look of actress AnkitaLokhande as Jhalkari Bai in her debut film - Manikarnika.A woman soldier in Rani Laxmibai’s army, Jhalkari Baieventually rose to the position of an advisor to the Queen.”

SANJAY DUTT GETS READY FOR PANIPATSanjay Dutt plays a lead role in the periodic drama Panipat alongside Kriti Sanon andArjun Kapoor. The actor will be por traying the antagonist Ahmad Shah Dhurrani, a rulerof Afghanistan’s Dhurrani empire where he fought against the Maratha empire.The film is based on the third Battle of Panipat that occurred on January 14, 1761.Sanjay Dutt was recently spotted with his team undergoing make-up, hair and cos-tume trials for his character.The film is slated to release on December 6, 2019.

ALIA’S RESTING FACE A few days back some pictures of Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor went viral from thesets of Brahmastra. In the pictures, Alia was seen in a serious look, sitting next toRanbir, who was busy with his phone. These photos became a butt of jokes on socialmedia. While some said, “It seems #Alia is upset with #Ranbir as the latter is busywith his #mobile.”, another said “Alia is shooting for an intense scene”. Fans werewor ried what’s going on and finally, Alia has an answer for all queries.The actress, who was present at an award function recently, said, “That’s my facewhen I rest. It’s my resting face. I wasn’t upset at all. I am very happy and I’m a veryhappy person but that’s my resting face. Some people call me Naani because of that-I am always frowning. But, I wasn’t upset at all.”



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


10songsKAMARIYA STREE

PROPER PATOLA NAMASTE ENGLAND

CHOGADA LOVERATRI

URVASHI URVASHI

KAMARIYA MITRON

MORNI BANKE BADHAAI HO

DILBAR SATYAMEVA JAYATE

MERE NAAM TU ZERO

AKH LAD JAAVE LOVEYATRI

DEKHTE DEKHTE BATTI GUL METER CHALU

top

SONG

MIDWEEK HIT OR FLOP2.0 ( HINDI) 170 CRORE

THUGS OF HINDUSTAN 143 CRORE

BADHAAI HO 130 CRORE

KEDARNATH 35 CRORE

FANTASTIC BEASTS 2 20.2 CRORE

MIDWEEK BOX OFFICETHUGS OF HINDUSTAN ( HINDI) FLOP

BHAIAJI SUPERHIT FLOP

FANTASTIC BEASTS 2 AVERAGE

BADHAAI HO SUPER HIT

BAAZAAR FLOP

b o l l y w o o d

FILM

1SWEETHEARTKEDARNATH

DEEPIKA PADUKONE SHARES THAT RANVEER SINGHWAS ALREADY DATING SOMEONE ELSE WHEN HE

STATED FLIRTING WITH HER

TAAPSEE PANNU TAKES ONTROLL WHO SAID HE LOVED

HER BODY PARTS LIKE A BOSS

Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh have become the talk of thetown ever since the DeepVeer wedding took place on November 14and November 15. The wedding, a much-awaited one, which tookplace in Lake Como, Italy, was a dreamy affair with Deepikalooking pretty in pink and red at her Sindhi wedding ceremony andRanveer being his usual energetic and enthusiastic self!Now, as per recent reports doing the rounds, Ranveer was on cloud9 after Deepika accepted his marriage proposal, exactly 3 yearsafter he decided that she is the girl whose finger he wants to put aring on to. And it looks like the sexy lad always had the hots for theNation’s queen Deepika Padukone, as the actress herself revealedin an interview to Pinkvilla.During a media interaction, she recalled their first meeting saying,"I was at Yash Raj and he was there and he was flir ting like it’s

nobody’s business and he was dating somebody else at this pointand I was smiling to myself and told him, ‘You are flir ting withme.’"It isn’t very hard to guess who Ranveer would have been datingthen, and that the two would end up becoming ‘The Thing’ consider-ing they would then be signed for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘GoliyonKi Rasleela: Ram Leela’ and later complete the 3-film-deal with‘Bajirao Mastani’ and ‘Padmaavat’.Coming to their equation with SLB, Deepika also talked about ameeting they can never forget. “Sir called us over for lunch and wewere eating and apparently there was a piece of crab stuck in mytooth and he wanted to make me awkward and he said, ‘oh there’sa crab stuck in your mouth’ and I said, ‘Then take it out’. Thatmoment all three of us won’t forget,” she told the por tal.

KATRINA KAIF REVEALS WHY SHE AGREED TO DO'ZERO' DESPITE HAVING LESSER SCREEN-TIME

Over her 15 year-long career (and her 40-plus films), Katrina Kaif hascome a long way from being just an eye-candy. Today, The actor, whogained prominence in the mid 2000s with films such as 'Maine PyaarKyu Kiya', 'Namastey London' and 'Singh is Kinng' among others, hascome to be known as one of top female stars in the commercialsphere of Bollywood.She has played everything from a scuba diver in 'Zindagi Na MilegiDobara', ball-busting ISI agent in 'Ek Tha Tiger', to even a journalist in'Jagga Jasoos'. She has build a durable career that sees her in not onebut three releases ('Thugs of Hindostan', 'Zero' and 'Bharat') with thethree Khans over a span of less than a year. Her film choices are (andhave always been) largely based on her gut instinct, the material athand and the directors but she 'took a leap' with 'Zero', she says. Forthis is the first time (after her having become a star) when she hasaccepted the role of a second female lead in a film.During an exclusive chat with DNA, Katrina admitted being a bit ap-prehensive about taking the role of Babita Kumari initially since sheknew her screen time was relatively lesser than Anushka Sharma's.But, she decided to take the leap and hopes and wishes, with all hermight, that it pays off.'Zero', starring Shah Rukh Khan as a ver tically challenged man, and

Anushka Sharma as a NASA scientist with cerebral palsy, stars KatrinaKaif in the role of Babita Kumari, an alcoholic, obnoxious superstar,whose career is on the downhill. 'Zero' will also have a cameo by SalmanKhan and special appearances by Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, KarismaKapoor, late Sridevi, Rani Mukerji, Kajol and Juhi Chawla. The AanandL Rai directorial will hit the screens on December 21.

Taapsee Pannu who has been pretty vocal about what shefeels and is known for not mincing words, sure knows howto live life on her own terms.The Manmarziyan actress always speaks her mind, bothin public and on social media.Taapsee, on several occasions, has raised her voice againstwhat she thinks is wrong. While sometimes she has beenharsh, the others, she has just been witty or sarcastic.This time again, the actress took on a man who made aninappropriate comment on Twitter about her.A man on wrote on Twitter, “@taapsee i love your body par ts.”To this, the actress commented with, “Wow! I like themtoo. BTW which is your favourite ? Mine is the cerebrum.”If this is not how you slay it, then what is?Taapsee Pannu’s fans also backed her up and took on thetroll.While one called her "you boss lady,” another said, “”Terri-bly mean of you to boast about the body part that the trolldoesn’t have.”This is not the first time that Taapsee Pannu has taken onhaters on social media.“Worst looking actress in Bollywood. Hope i don’t have tosee her again. 2..3 movies more n she will be out ofBollywood,” a person had earlier written on Twitter.On this, the actress had replied saying, “But 3 toh alreadyho gayi (I have already got three).... #Mulk #Manmarziyaanand then #Badla and sorry to disappoint u but main al-ready do aur sign kar chuki hu (I have already signed an-other two)..... thoda toh aur jhelna padega (you will have tobear with me some more)."Taapsee Pannu who was last seen in Anurag Kashyap'sManmarziyan, will next be seen in Mission Mangal whichalso stars Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha,Sharman Joshi and Kriti Kulhari.The film will present the story of the team behind India’sMars Mission.

CHINESE UNIVERSITY DENIES AAMIR KHAN PERMISSION TOPROMOTE 'THUGS OF HINDOSTAN'The venue of a fan meet of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan was shifted to a hotel after a Chinese university denied permission to use itscampus to promote his latest film Thugs Of Hindostan, according to a media repor t.Aamir Khan is cur rently in China to promote Thugs of Hindostan, which failed to register a strong per formance in the Bollywood andwas panned by the critics. The film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif among others was released onNovember 8 in India and is slated to release in the country next week.The fan meet, which was to take place in Guangdong University of Finance and Economics (GUFE) in Guangzhou, capital of southChina's Guangdong Province, was cancelled by the university over the failure to seek prior permission to use the campus, accordingto a media repor t, the Global Times repor ted. According to the Chinese media, the school did not know about the promotional eventuntil Monday. "The message was spread only among a small group of students through social media. The school only knew about itwhen students talked about the event hours before it was about to take place," the repor t quoted an employee of the varsity as saying.However, the Weibo account that promotes Khan's films announced the school had cancelled the event "unilaterally" as the "thestudents were overly enthusiastic". The post angered many students, who said the university did not know about the event at allbefore Monday. Many students said they waited outside the event site for over an hour.

WOULD BE BETTER IF I WAS A PAKISTANI SINGER, WOULD ATLEAST GET OFFERS FROM INDIA: SONU NIGAMSonu Nigam is one of the finest singers that the Hindi film industry has today.The singer-actor-per former, who has a career spanning over two decades in the music industry, has established himself as one ofthe most sought af ter ar tistes.The versatile singer who has crooned one of the most memorable songs has a huge fan following with people going crazy over hisvoice. However, recently, at the Agenda Aaj Tak 2018, Sonu Nigam took a dig at the offers coming the way of Pakistani singers."Sometimes, I feel like it would be better if I was from Pakistan. At least I would get offers from India," he said.The singer also talked about the current state of affairs in the music industry."Nowadays, singers have to pay music companies for shows. If we don’t shell the money, they will play songs sung by other singersand highlight them. Then, they will take money from them," he claimed.However, this treatment is only meted out to Indian singers, Sonu revealed."They don’t do the same with Pakistani singers. But then why single only Indian singers out? Atif Aslam is a very close friend of mine.He is never asked to pay to sing at shows, neither is Rahat Fateh Ali Khan," he said.Sonu Nigam blames the increasing number of remixes for the same.

INDIA VS AUSTRALIA: VIRAT KOHLI NEVER SAID HE’S THEBEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD: BCCI RUBBISHES REPORTS

Australia name unchangedsquad for last two India testsAustralia have retained the same 13-man squad for theremaining two matches in Melbourne and Sydney afterbeating India in the second test in Per th, the country’scricket board said on Tuesday.The hosts beat the world’s top-ranked test side by 146runs at the Per th Stadium to level the series at 1-1 af terthe opening loss in Adelaide.Uncapped paceman Chris Tremain will continue to remainout of the squad af ter being released before the Per th match,Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement.“With Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood andPeter Siddle in the squad we believe we have enough fastbowlers to choose from, so we’ve made the decision tostick with the 13 person squad for the remaining two testmatches against India,” national selector Trevor Hohns said. “Webelieve it’s important to keep this group together to build on themomentum we have established in Per th.”

Tim Paine relieved afterAussies level series in PerthAustralia captain Tim Paine was a relieved man after histeam beat India by 146 runs in Per th Tuesday to level theseries with their first Test win since the ball-tampering‘sandpapergate’ scandal that rocked international cricket.Set 287 to win, India resumed at 115 for five on the final day andnever threatened to pull off a miraculous victory, losing their last fivewickets for just 21 runs. India were dismissed for 140, with spinnerNathan Lyon claiming 3-39 to finish with eight wickets for the matchand guide the home team to a drought-breaking success, theirfirst in seven Tests spanning almost 10 months.It was Paine’s first Test win in five matches since takingover from the suspended Steve Smith in South Africa, andalso the first victory for new coach Justin Langer, coming in hishometown.Paine, who was involved in a verbal spat with Indian counterpartVirat Kohli on the third and fourth days, said the overwhelming emo-tion was relief at finally being able to put a dark period in Australiancricket behind them.“I’m relieved personally,” he said.“It’s been hard work -- the first two Tests of this serieshave been really tough.“We’ve got some inexperienced players in terms of Test matchesplayed, to get a win like that against the best Test team in the world isgoing to give them a huge boost of confidence.”

‘The BCCI have released a statement sayingthat these claims were based on hearsayand the BCCI would like to bring intonotice that no such words were spoken onthe field by the Indian captain.

There were repor ts suggesting that the Indian captain Virat Kohli hadtold Australian captain Tim Paine that he’s the best player in the worldand Paine is just a stand-in skipper during the second Test in Per th.However, the BCCI have released a statement saying that these claimswere based on hearsay and the BCCI would like to bring into noticethat no such words were spoken on the field by the Indian captain.Australia captain Tim Paine on Tuesday played down the verbal show-downs with Virat Kohli during the second Test but insisted that hewon’t sit back and be “walked all over” if faced with a similar situa-tion in the remaining matches. India lost the second Test by 146 runs,allowing Australia to draw level in the four-match series. The thirdgame is scheduled to star t on December 26 in Melbourne.The two skippers had quite a bit of banter in the middle, so much sothat they almost made physical contact at one point. But Paineshrugged it off, saying that Australia will invite India for a beer in thechange rooms as per their team tradition.

“I don’t think we did touch to be honest. It got pretty close. It was ahighly competitive Test match from both teams. There’s a lot on theline and both teams desperately want to win and sometimes that stuffhappens” Paine said in the post-match press conference.“I love it. I enjoy watching Kohli, I always have. I think he brings outthe competitive spirit in a lot of people which is great, and I’m sure itwas great to watch,”?added Paine.

IPL Auction 2019: I was hoping to get a Rs 20 lakh bid,says Varun after bagging Rs 8.4 crore deal

Tamil Nadu mystery spinner Varun Chakravarathy, who has asmany as seven variations up his sleeve, is over the moon afterbeing bought by Kings XI Punjab for a whopping Rs 8.4 crore,more than 40 times his base price, at the IPL auction in Jaipur onTuesday. The 27-year-old from Chennai was an unknown quantitytill he turned heads with his per formances in the Tamil NaduPremier League and the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this year.The architect-turned cricketer said getting a buyer for a base priceof Rs 20 lakh was the only thing on his mind.“I am over the moon. I never expected this (to be picked up forsuch a big amount). I thought I would be bought at my base price,”Varun told PTI.He broke into the Tamil Nadu 50-overs team on the back of im-pressive per formances in the TNPL for eventual championsSiechem Madurai Panthers and subsequently made his Ranji Tro-phy debut.He said being picked by an IPL team would help him grow as acricketer as he could learn from Indian stars including KXIP cap-tain and fellow Tamil Nadu spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.“It is a big oppor tunity for me. I can’t express my happiness inwords. I hope to learn a lot from people like Ravichandran Ashwin,who is the captain of Kings XI Punjab and the others. I can pick thebrains of leading international stars and use it to become a bettercricketer,” he said.Varun was designing buildings a few years ago, having com-pleted Bachelors in Architecture from SRM University in Chennai.He initially bowled medium-pace before taking up spin. However,injury forced him to give up bowling medium-pace and turn tospin and his fortunes changed as he began to make an impact inthe highly competitive city league.“I stopped being a medium-pacer and took up spin bowling as Ifelt it would put less pressure on my knee (which I had injured).

As it happened the move worked,” he said.Varun said his good show in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, during whichhe took 22 wickets, helped him get noticed and brought him on theradar of IPL franchises.“My good show in the Vijay Hazare Trophy brought me to promi-nence and probably IPL franchises would have taken note. I amlooking forward to sharing the dressing room with the big namesof the game,” he added.He attracted attention during the TNPL for his ability to bowl avariety of deliveries. He mixed off-spinners and leg-cutters mak-ing it tough for batsmen to pick him. He picked up nine wickets inthe TNPL and was able to carry on the good work in the VijayHazare Trophy.He also attended trials with IPL team Mumbai Indians earlier thisyear. S Vincent, who coached Varun during his early years at StPatrick’s school in Chennai, and is now based in Dubai, said thespinner is a fast learner.Apar t from being a quality slow bowler, Varun is adept with the battoo, Vincent added. He said given the talent Varun possessed andhis dedication, he was going to go places and the IPL could be thefirst step in that direction.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 s p o r t s

IPL auction 2019: Indian teenagers emergeas costly buys as franchise rope them in

IPL auction: Yuvraj Singh our biggeststeal in history - Akash Ambani

Mumbai Indians paid Rs one crore for Yuvraj Singh in a last-minute buy and franchise owner Akash Ambai called it theirbiggest steal in the tournament’s 11-year -old history.Mumbai Indians also brought back Sri Lankan pacer LasithMalinga, who served the team for long, at his base price ofRs 2 crore. “To be honest, we had budgeted a lot more forYuvraj and Malinga. At Rs one crore, a player like Yuvraj isprobably a (biggest) steal of 12 (sic) years. He has wonevery trophy there is to be won,” Ambani told the host broad-caster of the auction. “We focussed on experience a lot aswell on the youngsters. We have identified specific roles forboth of them (Yuvraj and Malinga).” Yuvraj initially wentunsold in the auction and it was only after he re-entered theplayers’ pool, Mumbai Indians bought him. Both Yuvraj andMalinga are past their time and it remains to be seen howMumbai utilise their services in the 2019 edition.

PLAYERS BOUGHT BY THECHENNAI SUPER KINGSThe Chennai Super Kings, who had a settled side before theauction, were happy with just two players at the auction.They had let go of England’s fast bowler Mark Wood andnow they have replaced him with India’s Mohit Sharma. TheSuper Kings have acquired the services of uncapped playerRuturaj Gaikwad from Pune.Here’s a look at the two players CSK bought at the auction.Mohit SharmaMohit Sharma, who played for the Kings XI Punjab in the lastIPL, has returned to the Chennai Super Kings for a price ofRs 5 crore. The fast bowler has the ability to pick up wicketsduring the powerplay overs and can bowl at a decent economyrate. The 30- year-old has picked up 109 wickets in 110 T20 matches.Ruturaj GaikwadRuturaj Gaikward has shown good form in his recentmatches. The opening batsman scored 67 against Sri Lankain the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup earlierthis month and notched a century against Baroda in theRanji Trophy in November.Gaikwad has played 5 T20s in his career so far, scoring 131 runs atan average of 26.20. He bats at a decent strike-rate of 137.89.

Little-known Indian teenagers Prabh Simran Singh and Prayas Ray Barmanattracted astonishing bids during the IPL auction to laugh their way to thebank on a day when superstar Dale Steyn went unsold and once a hot-property Yuvraj Singh struggled to find a buyer.Punjab’s wicket keeper batsman Prabh Simran, all of 18, was taken by PreityZinta owned Kings XI Punjab for Rs 4.80 crore while Virat Kohli-led RoyalChallengers Bangalore shelled out Rs 1.5 crore for 16-year-old Barman, whois an all-rounder from Bengal. Both the players had a base price of Rs 20 lakh.In contrast Yuvraj was sold for Rs one crore by Mumbai Indians late in theday having got a deal of Rs 14 crore by the RCB in 2014.The intense bidding for the two youngsters showed that the teams werewilling to loosen purse strings for talent and not just the names.Prabh Simran has played only four List A matches and was part of the Indianteam which finished a runner-up at the recent ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cupin Sri Lanka. The Punjab batsman idolises explosive Virender Sehwag. Theattacking batsman scored 298 runs for his side in the Under-23 tournament.In the Cooch Behar trophy in season 2017-18, he scored 547 runs for Punjab,hitting three centuries.“I am glad I was picked by the Punjab side. I would give my best to win

matches for my side and do well this season,” said Singh. Barman, a leg-break bowler, is just nine Last A game old but was very impressive during theVjjay Hazare Trophy.Meanwhile, 17-year-old Rasikh Salaam was picked at his base price of Rs20 Lakh by Mumbai Indians.He is only third cricketer from Kashmir to havebeen picked by an IPL franchise.“What an exciting moment to go through. I can’t control my emotions,a dream come true,” Dar, who hails from restive south Kashmir Kulgamdistrict, said. The right arm quick, who made his List A debut in VijayHazare trophy this year, had attended trials at Mumbai Indians inOctober.Jammu and Kashmir Ranji captain Parvez Rasool was the first crick-eter from the valley to feature in IPL when he was signed by now-disbanded Pune Warriors franchise. He was later picked by SunrisesHyderabad but did not find any takers at the previous auction.Manzoor Dar aka Pandav, who has been given the moniker for his mon-strous hitting,became the second Kashmiri cricketer to be picked by anIPL franchise when he was signed by K ings XI Punjab. However, he did notget any game in the 2018 edition.



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I DETAILS ON PAGE 14 CONGRESS LEADER SAJJAN KUMAR ...southasiandaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/1-24_-2.pdf · 01/12/2018 · diana penty and shabana azmi. tiger shroff and shraddha