details on page 4 aap forms government in...

MidWeek 1MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013

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

AAP forms government in DelhiDETAILS ON PAGE 4

Zaheer Khan reaches 300-wicket mark in Test cricket

CONTD. ON PAGE 4

Thousands in dark due to storm "DON'T VOTE FOR A PARTYIN 2014, VOTE FOR INDIA" -

MODI IN MUMBAI

CONTD. ON PAGE 5

COURTESY: TWITTER IMAGES

KEJRIWAL TO BE THE CHIEF MINISTERThe AamAadmi Party is to formgovernment in Delhi with supportfrom the Congress makingArvindKejriwal, a former civilservant, chief minister in thecapital of the country.

The party conductedreferendums over the weekendto find out from the publicwhether it should form agovernment with Congress'ssupport. Although, no formerresults of the referendum werereleased, reports confirmedresponse was "overwhelminglyyes."

"The response is anoverwhelming 'yes' and wecannot run away from thisresponsibility given to us by thepeople," said AamAadmi Partyleader Manish Sisodia reportedEconomic Times.

Kejriwal said 280 publicmeetings were held out of which257 favoured forming a

government while the rest optedout reported Times of India.

"We got responses from thecitizens through website, phonecalls, SMS and by holding publicmeetings and most of themfavoured government formationby AAP. We are now going togive the letter to LG saying thatAAP is ready to form thegovernment," Kejriwal toldreporters.

Kejriwal met with lieutenantgovernor Najeeb Jung andhanded him a letter asking toform government.

The swearing-in ceremonywould take place at theJantarMantar, where the anti-corruption crusade startedinstead of Raj Bhawan where theritual usually takes placereported Economic Times.

"Just like how we want topass the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill inthe Ram Lila Maidan, the party

wants Kejriwal to take his oathin the presence of all the voters,volunteers and supporters whomade our electoral victorypossible. But we need to seekthe L-G's permission for this,"said a party official in confidence

to Economic Times.AAP has been against

forming a government with BJPand Congress initially,competing with both parties towin the assembly election.

BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, NarendraModi addressed crowdin Mumbai calling out to citizens to vote for India rather than a partyin elections next year.

The rally held at the Bandra-Kurla complex was attended bymany, where Modi accused Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhiof corruption. He said, "On one hand, Maharashtra governmentdecides to save the corrupt and on the other, a Congress leader isgiving sermons in Delhi," he told the gathering.

He referred to the vice-president's speech on Saturday at aFicci conference he said," "The speech of a Congress leaderyesterday left me befuddled. He belongs to a party which is neck-deep in corruption. But he spoke with such an innocent demeanourthat it appeared he belonged to a different party. It was an unparalleledexample of audacity. Look at the paradox. He was speaking ofcorruption just after the Congress government had tried to bury theAdarsh scam," reported Times of India.

NEW DELHI: Zaheer Khan became the fourth Indian to achievethe 300-wicket mark in Test cricket when he dismissed JacquesKallis on the fif th day of the first Test at the Wanderers inJohannesburg on Sunday.But Zaheer was lucky to get the wicket of Kallis as the batsmanwas ruled out leg before wicket even through there was aninside edge on to his pads. Zaheer joins Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh inthe elite list.A fit again Zaheer came up with a superb bowling effor t to grab4/88 in the first innings.Zaheer has gone through a lot of late. Injuries, lack of form andfitness issues had seen him out of the Indian team for quite awhile. It was a difficult road back for him to come back.Zaheer, when he star ted off in the Champions Trophy in Kenyain 1999, used to work up a pace of 140 plus. Over the years hispace came down but he added some more skill in his reper toirelike the knuckle ball and the ar t of reverse swinging the old ball.Zaheer, alongwith Yuvraj Singh, trained hard for 42 days at astretch at Metaspor t Athletic Per formance Centre in Francewhere they learned new things in terms of exercise, food anddiet.

CONTD. ON PAGE 21

Canadian economy in an upward direction

Canadian economy grewmore than expected inOctober this year,

expanding for the fourth month ina row with signs of finally beingable to move on from one of theworse recessions that had animpact on most of the world.

Statistics Canada reportedMonday that growth rate inOctober was 0.3 per cent whichwas more than expected rate at 0.2per cent."I'm delighted to see thesenumbers, particularly for themanufacturing sector," said Peter

Hall, chief economist at ExportDevelopment Canada."That speaks to a U.S. reboundthat is actually having an effectnorth of the border."Reports confirmed the positivegrowth seeing down in the U.S.has had some impact north of the

border. Bank of Canada believesthere is "potential" for growth inthe upcoming year reportedCanadian Press. 2014 will also seea "natural" growth as for the pastthree years, Canada has witnessedan un-natural growth.Growth has been achievedbecause federal and provincialgovernments of Canada haveinjected money into the economywhich is borrowed reported theCanadian Press. Both Canada andU.S. have kept their interest rates lowto encourage consumers to borrowand spend money. Manufacturingoutput increased 1.3% in October,after rising 1.2% in September.

Cour tesy: Sharon Drummond/Flickr Commons

CONTD. ON PAGE 4

2 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY




page 3 BOLLY CELEBS ATDEEPIKA PADUKONEBLACK N GOLDPARTY I25

Ash on failing B-town marriages:It's unfair to be judgemental

Aamir Khan invites SachinTendulkar for specialscreening of Dhoom:3

I will sue Sofia Hayat

Aamir Khan has been busy promoting his upcoming film — hehas been sporting a bowler hat at events all over the city —but that hasn’t stopped him from thinking about his friendsand family. The actor is holding a special screening of Dhoom:3on the same day as the film’s release, December 20. And he hasinvited his friend, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, for the event."Sachin is relatively free now (after his retirement last month)and he’s a good friend of Aamir. So Aamir has invited him forthe special screening at a city theatre on Friday," says a sourceclose to the actor. The show will be held late in the evening sothat the guests can finish their prior commitments through theday. The source reveals that Aamir is set to watch the film withhis children Junaid, Ira and Azad. His wife Kiran Rao’s father,who will be flying in from Bengaluru, and his sisters, who willbe coming from Pune, will also join the party."Azad was reportedly very excited to see the film’s promos, soAamir is taking him for the screening. Many of his friends fromthe industry have been invited as well," says the source.The actor is actively looking into the arrangements for theshow and has personally invited his guests.When contacted, Aamir’s spokesperson confirms the newsand says, "To keep the mystery of the movie at its peak, thereis no preview or premiere for it. Aamir wants to show his workto his friends and family and has organised the screening forthat reason."

'Bigg Boss 7' contestant Armaan Kohli's father plansto file a defamation suit against Sofia HayatArmaan Kohli was arrested on Monday night from the BigBoss 7 House for physically abusing Sofia Hayat, his co-contestant in the reality show. The Lonavala Police arrestedhim late Monday night for assaulting his co-participant, Britishsinger Sofia Hayat. He was produced in the Wadgaon MavalCourt and he got bail last afternoon. Sofia Hayat had registereda complaint with Santacruz Police Station, following which thepolice booked Kohli under Sections 324, 509, 506 and 504 of theIndian Penal Code (IPC). Sofia accused Armaan of hitting her with awooden mop, inside the Bigg Boss 7 house in Lonavla on December4. The complaint was later transferred to the Lonavla police stationfor investigation. Armaan spent the night at the Lonavala PoliceStation. Before arresting Kohli, the Lonavala police had contactedthe the reality show organisers, seeking unedited video footage fromtheir set. Inspector Vishnu Pawar of the Lonavala police station ismonitoring the investigations. Armaan's father, producer RajkumarKohli -- who's right now in Lonavla, is waiting for Armaan to come outon bail -- sounds furious. `I have already submitted the papers to mylawyer and I am going to file a case against Sofia Hayat. I'm definitelygoing to sue this girl for defamation.` When asked if Armaan isshort tempered otherwise, he says `Not at all, Armaan is a verynoble person. He is not like this but in the Bigg Boss 7 House heis being provoked. And if you provoke anyone constantly thenthe person will get irritated and react. It's the nature of the person,people shouldn't irritate him the way she did.`

In the backdrop of crumbling

marriages in Bollywood,

actress Aishwarya Rai

Bachchan feels that its

unfair to limit and judgerelationships. "I don't think it is

fair to get judgemental and limit

relationships or strengths or

inability to hold themselves or

limit it to showbiz. What

happens in society is each to

his own. What would be fair and

respectful is belief in people to

allow them to live their lives

and finding strength in choices

they make," the actress said in

response to a query on effects

of showbiz on marital life.

Recently, Hrithik Roshan and

his wife of 13-years Sussanne

decided to separate. Also,

filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and

actress wife Kalki Koechlin are

taking time off their marriage.

I will have a love marriage: Sonakshi SinhaShotgun junior is busy delivering movies and that’s leaving her notime for love. But actor Sonakshi Sinha has made it clear that she’llhave a love marriage. She talks about love, work and rumours.

What’s happening to you love life and marriage plans?You know my parents have had a love marriage, so I have made it pretty clear tothem that I too will have a love marriage. However, at this point of time, it’s onlywork that’s keeping me busy.What’s on the work-list right now?I have had a very satisfactory year. And, I have a very satisfactory year comingup. I have already started my next film with Prabhu sir, Action Jackson. Then myfilm with Akshay, Holiday, is almost complete. In January there is another filmwith Arjun Kapoor, which is a south remake. And there isanother film for next year.Do you think you are being offered the same kind of roles?That does happen to people sometimes when the audience accept theactor in that space. The audience like to watch me in that space.Does it affect you that people discuss your weight or that you playsimilar kind of roles.It hasn’t affected me at all, so far. I try to shut out thenegativity, I like to surround myself with positive people whomake me laugh. I am doing some good work which I am veryhappy about. There’s really not much that people can pickon me for my work, so obviously they find other reasonsto writesomething bad about me. I mean, people enjoy readingbad stuff about people.What is the wackiest thing you have heard aboutyourself?This one time when I was actually shooting in Patialaand it was published in a paper that I was inside a spawhile the BMC came and demolished it from outside.So, they had killed me when I was shooting somewhere.That was really funny.

Bolly Celebs at Deepika Padukone Black n Gold Party

MORE PICS ON PAGE 25


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013special report

Thousands in dark due to stormA major storm past weekend hasleft many in dark in Ontario with thou-sands facing a possibility of a darkChristmas this year as thick layersof ice caused power outages in manyparts.Early Monday Toronto Mayor RobFord said crews have been workingto restore power to more homes bythe hour.Anthony Haines, the CEO of TorontoHydro said Monday morning proved"good success" for the crews butwarned people to prepare for theworst. "We are star ting to makeprogress into the neighbourhoodsand into the communities and re-store power to those customers, butfrankly we have a long way to go,"he told CTV News. "Our crews con-tinue to work around the clock in very,very dangerous and very, very try-ing conditions."While Toronto Hydro has Twitterhandle has been tweeting back an-swers to queries however, the ques-tion of when would the power be re-stored is still unanswered.Initially Toronto Hydro said peoplecould estimate about 72 hours with-out power however Haines saidthere's a chance that number wouldsurpass leaving some in dark forChristmas, reported 680 News.About 75,000 homes received power

Sunday night but about 225,000 arestill for power to be restored Mon-day morning, reported Globe andMail. Ford said the city of Torontoisn't declaring a state of emergency."We are doing fine as is," he said.On Sunday, Ford said the storm wasone of the worst ones in Toronto his-tory.Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne hasbeen in touch with mayors of affectedareas across the province, a releaseon Sunday confirmed. However,there were no reports of any contact

with Mayor Ford, instead her pointof touch have been deputy mayorNorm Kelly should the city declarea state of emergency."I spoke with Toronto Deputy MayorNorm Kelly earlier today, as wellas Mayor McCallion ofMississauga, Mayor Bratina ofHamilton, Mayor Bevilacqua ofVaughan, Mayor Fennell ofBrampton, Mayor Mer tens ofPrince Edward County, MayorFarbridge of Guelph, and WaterlooRegional Chair Seiling," the state-

ment read. "I want to assure every-one living in these areas that all avail-able resources are working to keepyou and your families safe and to re-store power as quickly as possible."On Sunday, Haines called the"weather catastrophe" worse than theice storm that hit Ontario in January1998."Thoughts are with those withoutpower due to the ice storm - pleasestay safe," said Prime MinisterStephen Harper in a tweet on Sun-day.

Pakistan to ‘reiterate’demand for greater UNobservers’ role along LoCLAHORE: Pakistan is likely to reiterate its demand for a "greaterrole" for the UN military observers to end cross-Line of Control(LoC) tensions and to ensure better implementation of the 2003ceasefire agreement along the 778-km long de facto India-Paki-stan border in Jammu & Kashmir.Pakistani daily 'The Express Tribune' repor ted this citing un-manned officials on Tuesday ahead of director general of militaryoperations (DGMO) Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia's meeting with his Paki-stani counterpar t, Maj Gen Amir Riaz, on the Pakistani side ofthe Wagah border near Lahore a day later.The repor ted proposal is unlikely to be acceptable to New Delhi,as there has been a growing consensus on the irrelevance of theUN military observers in Jammu & Kashmir, where they werefirst deployed in January 1949 following the Pakistan-backedtribal invasion. They have been stationed there permanently tooversee the observance of the ceasefire after the 1971 war.Union minister Shashi Tharoor recently highlighted the consen-sus as he maintained the observers were "wasting their time''while describing their presence as needless following the 1972Simla Agreement.Earlier, India's envoy to the UN Hardeep Puri's similar statementat a UNSC debate in February had led to an argument with hisPakistani counterpar t, who insisted "no bilateral agreement be-tween India and Pakistan has over taken or affected the role orlegality'' of the UN observers. The statement was in line withPakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani earlier call for agreater role for them.Despite India's clear stance, the Pakistani daily quoted an anony-mous official saying Islamabad would urge India to allow theobservers "to work freely'' to ensure ceasefire along the LoC."We have given UN military observers unhindered access on ourside of the LoC, but they do not enjoy the same freedom on theIndian side...Their movement has been highly restricted," theofficial was quoted as saying.The daily quoted an anonymous Pakistani military official sayingthey would go "into the talks with a positive frame of mind'' asPakistan "does not want fur ther escalation in tensions".Maj Gen Riaz had invited Lt Gen Bhatia for the first such talks in14 years to discuss a mechanism to end tensions along the LoCceasefire after the two spoke over hotline last week. This camethree months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pa-kistani counterpar t, Nawaz Sharif, agreed to hold DGMO leveltalks to ease tensions following their meeting at New York inSeptember.The two leaders had met came amid near-daily exchange of firealong the LoC, which led to large-scale displacements of resi-dents from forward areas for the first time in a decade duringwhich the ceasefire had largely been observed. But in 2013,195 ceasefire violations were repor ted along the LoC, mak-ing it the worst year in terms of the breach of the 2003 agree-ment.Separately, New Delhi rejected Pakistan proposal to involvediplomats in the DGMO talks even as repor ts said Washing-ton had asked India to accept the suggestion. Foreign Secre-tary Sujatha Singh was quoted rejecting the proposal sayingIndia "did not see a diplomatic role in an essentially a mili-tary issue''.Yet Pakistan foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslamreiterated Pakistan's "desire to include the two Foreign Of-fices in the DGMOs meeting to make it broader based''. Aslamadded this was not acceptable to India. She added the meet-ing will be between the DGMOs "for the time being" but theproposal "is still on the table".Another Pakistani official hoped the rare meeting would re-sult in the resumption of talks between the political leader-ship of the two countr ies with a caveat. "Restor ing theceasefire along the LoC will cer tainly be good for the atmo-sphere but, in the long run, both countries need to address theroot cause of these problems.''

Now, India and US clash over Modi's Mumbai rallyNEW DELHI: India has rebuffed attempts by the US to raisesecurity concerns over Gujarat CM Narendra Modi's rally inMumbai on Sunday, saying that ensuring security was itsresponsibility and it was not for anyone else to determinewhere Indian political parties conduct their politicalactivities.

As India and the US seek to control the fallout from theDevyani Khobragade crisis, it is the issue of security whichis proving to be the latest dampener. Despite Indiarepeatedly asserting that security of no US installation inthe country has been compromised after the recent removalof barricades, US authorities raised the issue again justahead of the rally saying its consulate had been renderedvulnerable to possible attacks by people attending the rally.

MMRDA Grounds, where Modi's rally was held, is inthe same Bandra area where the US consulate is located.India conveyed to the US that expressing concern about a"legitimate political rally" by a mainstream party on thebasis of "specious" security concerns was completelyunacceptable. US ambassador Nancy Powell was alsoinvited for the rally initially but the invitation was laterwithdrawn by BJP.

Several layers of security were provided to the USconsulate in Bandra and more security staff were deployedin the area. Officials though were stunned when US securityconcerns on Modi's rally were communicated as part of theneed to tighten security.

It is learnt that the US insisted before Indian authoritiesthat people likely to attend the rally on Sunday could be athreat to the consulate and its officials. Indian officialsmaintained throughout that the security issue raised by theUS was a red herring and that the real issue in the ongoingcrisis was the humiliation of an Indian diplomat and thesubsequent US action to "evacuate" the family of SangeetaRichard to New York.

India has maintained that while the removal ofbarricades will impact traffic movement, it will have nobearing on the security aspect and that India remainedcommitted to Vienna conventions in this regard. Theremoval of barricades, it said, was a reciprocal measure andnot a retaliation.

As the two countries seek a way out of the Khobragadecrisis, India is also going ahead with other reciprocalmeasures it took after the diplomat's humiliation. USconsular officials in consulates in all parts of India are tosubmit their identity cards by Monday.

India, it is understood, will insist that the new identitycards for consular officials and diplomats have the samelanguage which the US has for Indian diplomats posted inconsulates in the US, making it clear they will be liable tobe arrested in case of contravention of Indian laws.

It is interesting that the Americans are seeking moretime, beyond the December 23 deadline, to submit detailsabout embassy staff spouses teaching in the local AmericanSchool. Indian officials believe it may be worth finding outif there are dependents of US officials who have therequisite work permits to work in India or are there any whomay have fallen foul of Indian requirements. Further, issuesof compliance with Indian tax requirements for dependentsof non-diplomatic staff working in American schools maywell come tumbling out of the closet.

In fact, those accustomed to receiving Christmas andNew Year gifts from the embassy and consulates may alsohave to wait a little longer. US containers containing thesegifts have also been held up.

AAP FORMSGOVERNMENT

IN DELHIContd. from Page 1BJP refused to form a government while Congress wrote to

the lieutenant governor about providing unconditional supportto the AAP reported Times of India.

Both BJP and Congress had blamed AAP for refusing toform a government initially, claiming that the party was "shyingaway" from its responsibilities reported Times of India.

Kejriwal had been the top choice for the chief ministerposition. "There were rumours about who will be the chiefminister. AAP had said earlier that the party would contestelection with ArvindKejriwal as CM candidate. Then in ourmanifesto also we have reiterated this. After the election resultswere out, he was elected as the leader of the legislative party.So ArvindKejriwal will be the chief minister," Sisodia said asreported by the Times of India.

AAP had bagged 28 seats during assembly election kickingCongress out with only 8 seats, while BJP was the single largestpart with 31 seats.

The party faced criticism for leaving the decision on publicopinion but the decision was defended by Kejriwal who saidAAP wants public participation on important issues definingdemocracy reported Times of India.

"It's a 'Dhramsankat' (dilemma) and these are trying times,so we have left it for the people to decide," said MrKejriwal asreported by NDTV.

CANADIAN ECONOMY IN ANUPWARD DIRECTION

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1Manufacturing of non-durable goods grew 2.3%, mainly because of in-creases in the manufacturing of chemical, food and beverage and to-bacco products, reported Statistics Canada.Wholesale trade grew 1.4% in October, up for a fourth consecutivemonth. Wholesaling of machinery, equipment and supplies wasthe main source of growth while Retail trade increased 0.3% inOctober, after rising 1.0% in September.The output of real estate agents and brokers declined 3.3% inOctober, the first decline in eight months, as activity in the homeresale market decreased.

Harper Government Taking Action to Stand Up for ConsumerChoice and Affordable Prices in Canada's Wireless SectorOTTAWA: Industry MinisterJames Moore today announcedthat the Government of Canadawill take legislative action ondomestic roaming rates to betterprotect consumer interests inCanada's telecommunicationsmarket. Today's announcementis delivering on theGovernment's Speech from theThrone commitment to reduceroaming rates on domesticnetworks in Canada.

"The roaming rates thatCanada's largest wirelesscompanies are charging otherdomestic providers can be morethan 10 times what they chargetheir own customers. For toolong, Canadian consumers in thewireless sector have been thevictims of these high roamingcosts," said Minister Moore."Canadians have been clear thatthey want their government totake action in the wireless sectorto provide more choice, lowerprices and better service. With

domestic roaming rates onnetworks capped, Canadianconsumers will benefit from morecompetition in the wirelessmarket."

In the coming weeks, theGovernment will introduce anamendment to theTelecommunications Act that willput a cap on domestic wirelessroaming rates, preventingwireless providers from chargingother companies more than theycharge their own customers formobile voice, data and textservices. Currently, highdomestic roaming rates hold backmany providers, especially newentrants, from offering morechoice, lower prices and betterservice to Canadians. Thismeasure will be in place until suchtime as the Canadian Radio-television andT e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n sCommission (CRTC), which isnow investigating the issue,makes a decision on roaming

rates. In addition, MinisterMoore also announced newenforcement measures that willincrease consumer protection in thetelecommunications sector. Thesenew measures will provide Canada'sregulatory bodies with the toolsneeded to ensure that companiescomply with the rules. TheGovernment will amend both the

Telecommunications Act and theRadiocommunication Act to givethe CRTC and Industry Canadathe option to impose monetarypenalties on companies thatviolate established rules such asthe Wireless Code and thoserelated to the deployment ofspectrum, services to rural areasand tower sharing.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013 breaking news

"Don't vote for a party in 2014, vote for India" - Modi in MumbaiContd. from Page 1The estimated crowd that

turned out was 300,000 according tothe police while BJP's number wasover 500,000 people reportedHindustan Times. The agencyreported a wide variety of peoplewere seen in attendance includingstudents and women.

BJP's ally the Shiv Sena was notseen in the anywhere at the rallyconfirmed reports. NDTV reportedsenior leader of the party, LK Advanidid not find a spot even in theposters.

He touched on irrigation scamin Maharashtra last year and spokeabout the progress made in Gujarat.

"Farmers in Maharashtra haveto face drought. They choose to endtheir lives out of frustration andmounting debts. This is because ofthe wrong policies of the stategovernment," he said.

"There is acute power shortagein Maharashtra, while in Gujarat wehave electricity all 365 days. Twovillages dotting the border of Gujaratand Maharashtra can bedistinguished by the absence ofelectricity. While the Gujarat villagehas power, the neighbouring villagelanguishes in darkness," he noted.

"While the annual collection atthe Gujarat check post is pegged ata staggering Rs 1,470 crore, theneighbouring check post inMaharashtra earns Rs 437 crore. Wehave an IT network at our checkposts and the human interventionin the toll collection is barestminimum. However, the Maharashtracheck post is manually managed.Hence, it has far too many leakages,"Modi said.

He shared that while SardarPatel unified India, the Congress

divided India and made brother fightwith brother, villages fight with citiesand even made the states fight overwater. He pointed to the lack of goodgovernance in Maharashtra,describing the Local Body Tax (LBT)as 'Loot Baatne Ki Technique' (atechnique to share the loot). Hequestioned why there is so muchcorruption in the irrigation projectsin Maharashtra.

Modi urged the Centre to allowthe installation of gates on theSardarSarovar Dam as it can benefitMaharashtra, which would get freeelectricity worth crores. He took upthe issue of INS Vikrant, saying thaton one hand the Congress wants tobreak it while the Gujarat Governmentis collecting iron from all over Indiato build Statue of Unity. ShriModialso gave an idea of a Film University

to cater to the Human ResourceDevelopment potential associatedwith the film industry.

Some claimed Modi had madeerrors in his history facts, yet again.

"Modi's knowledge of historyproves to be weak again. Since 1960,Maharashtra has had only 17 chiefministers and not 26 as claimed byModi," said NCP spokespersonNawab Malik.

Congress was quick to step inand criticise. "The crowd might havebeen large but where did it come from?The majority of the crowd was gotby BJP from Gujarat, MadhyaPradesh and Rajasthan for the rally.In Maharashtra, his appeal is limitedand without getting trains fromoutside, the rally wouldn't have filledup," said Congress spokespersonRatnakarMahajan.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013 c o m m u n i t y

MP PARM GILL MARKS THE

OPENING OF NEW TRANSHELP

FACILITY FOR THE REGION OF PEEL

MP PARM GILL, LEFT AND REGIONAL CHAIR EMIL KOLB MARK THE OPENING OF TRANSHELP SERVICECOURTESY: FACEBOOK

TransHelp, the Region ofPeel's paratransit serviceprovider, has opened a

new state-of-the-artheadquarters that will maketransit service more efficient forpersons with disabilities.The 45,000 square-footTransHelp facility includes anadministrative office with acommunications dispatchcentre, a mechanics garage, anindoor parking garage that canstore 25 TransHelp buses, twobus wash bays, and a fuellingstation."Through federal Gas Tax Fundand Infrastructure StimulusFund contributions, ourGovernment is proud to helpensure that residents andfamilies in the Region of Peelhave safe and efficientaccessible public transitservices," said Parm Gill, Memberof Parliament for Brampton-Springdale, on behalf of theHonourable Denis Lebel,

Minister of Infrastructure,Communities andIntergovernmental Affairs, andMinister of the EconomicDevelopment Agency of Canadafor the Regions of Quebec. "Weare delivering on infrastructureprograms that help communitiesfrom coast to coast to coast, byproviding flexible funding thathelps them address their biggestpriorities, across a range ofneeds." The $17-millionTransHelp project comprised theconstruction of their newheadquarters and therehabilitation of an adjoiningCopper Road public worksbuilding in 2011. The Region ofPeel directed over $9.6 millionfrom its federal Gas Tax Fundallocation towards theheadquarters facility and thegovernments of Canada andOntario each contributed$425,000 for the 2011rehabilitation through theInfrastructure Stimulus Fund.

The remainder of the cost wassupplied by the Region.The federal Gas Tax Fundtransfer provides long-termfunding to municipalities acrossthe country to build and revitalizetheir local infrastructure. TheGovernment of Canada has nowmade the Gas Tax Fund a permanentsource of funding. The Fund thatwill grow from its current $2 billionper year to reflect indexingestablished in Economic Action Plan2013, which also provided increasedflexibility on how the money can beused to address local infrastructurepriorities. The Government ofCanada provides $746.8 million inannual funding for municipalinfrastructure in Ontario. Todate, the Government of Canadahas made over $222.6 millionavailable to the Region of Peelthrough the Gas Tax Fund toimprove local infrastructure.Canada's Economic Action Plan2013 is delivering $70 billion forpublic infrastructure, including a

$53 billion New Building CanadaPlan to build roads, bridges,subways, commuter rail, andother public infrastructure incooperation with provinces,territories, and municipalities.Thanks to the Government ofCanada's leadership and ourstrong economic and financialfundamentals, the Canadianeconomy has recovered from theglobal recession better thanmost other industrializedcountries. Canada has been aleader among G-7 countriesthroughout the recovery withmore than 1 million net new jobscreated since July 2009."This project will enable theRegion of Peel to ensure thatresidents and families continue tohave access to safe accessible publictransit services. Projects like the onewe are celebrating today meaninvesting in safer, more efficientaccessible transportation services,better infrastructure, and a strongereconomy," commented MP Gill.

SHMC condemnsdesecration ofKomagataMaru

MEA 'bent' rules to favour Devyani Khobragade

The Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada (SHMC) stronglycondemns the racist desecration of a Canadian Monumentcommemorating the infamous KomagataMaru incident this pastweek. Even more worrisome to the Sikh Heritage Museumof Canada are the racists responses and comments tovarious articles published covering the desecration. `Ìam troubled and concerned by the deliberate racist act ofdesecration and disappointed and offended by furtherracist comments and responses``, said Pardeep SinghNagra, Executive Director of the Sikh Heritage Museumof Canada. ``Public Indecency is a crime in of itself andshould be condemned by all Canadians. To make mattersworse intentionally urinating on a Canadian Memorial isboth racist and a hate crime and I urge the local policedepartment in British Columbia to fully investigate andprosecute the disgraceful act as a hate crime`Òn May 23, 1914, the KomagataMaru, a Ship carrying 376immigrants from British India, was turned away when ittried to land in Vancouver`s harbour. The passengers onboard, like Canadians at the time were British subjects.Many of them were veterans of the British Indian Armywho had fought to defend and expand the empire. Theybelieved it was their right to settle anywhere in the empire,bu t they were wrong . Enforc ing the ` `con t inuousjourney`` regulation, immigrant boats surrounded the shipa half mile offshore. Thus began a dramatic standoff thatwould escalate over the next two months. The turningaway of the KomagataMaru became one of the mostinfamous `ìncidents`` in Canadian History.``We are on the verge of celebrating 100 years since theKomagataMaru, and the legacy of pioneer Sikhs in Canadaand their contribution to the building of our nation. Thislatest incident is a stark reminder of the awareness andeduca t ion requ i red to c rea te an unders tand ing andacceptance of all Canadians``, said Colin Kulbir SinghDhillon, Chair of the Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada.The Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada`s mission is toin t roduce the cu l tu re , h i s to ry and l egacy o f S ikhCanadians to all Canadians, while creating a tribute tothe history of the Sikh community and their contributionsto the building of our nation. In addition the SHMC seeksto educate Canadians on the importance of heri tage,tolerance and cultural understanding.

NEW DELHI: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade had been ago-getter right from the day she entered Indian Foreign Service(IFS) and got what she wanted, thanks to her 'influential' IASfather and benevolent political connections. The rules for allotmentof foreign language to the IFS officers on the basis of their rank inthe select list was changed only for her batch (1999) to ensure shegot her chosen language. The Supreme Court found this in ajudgment that was delivered three and half years ago whilereinstating a dismissed IFS officer Mahaveer V Singhvi andimposing a fine of Rs 25,000 on the Union government forwrongfully terminating the services of the 1999 batch IFS officer.In this judgment, the court noted the sensational allegations ofSinghvi against his batch-mate Khobragade. His lawyer JayantBhushan said, "Authorities were desperate to cover up the highlydubious and motivated manner in which the rules of allotment (offoreign language) were altered only in respect of the 1999 batch ofIFS appointees in order to favour a particular candidate who was graded lower than Singhvi." Bhushan said despite being gradedhigher than five other candidates in the select list of 10, Singhvi was denied right of preference relating to allotment of a foreignlanguage of his choice in order to accommodate one Devyani Khobragade, who was graded at two places below Singhvi and wantedGerman as her first preference. "A great amount of political pressure was brought to bear upon the authorities concerned to ensure thatKhobragade was allotted German as her language preference, as she happened to be daughter of a powerful IAS officer in Maharashtra,"Bhushan had alleged. A bench of then Justices Altamas Kabir, J M Pnachal and Cyriac Joseph said, "From the facts as disclosed andthe submissions made on behalf of the respective parties, there is little doubt in our minds that the order dated 13th June, 2002, by whichthe Singhvi was discharged from service, was punitive in character and had been motivated by considerations which are not reflected in thesaid order.""The Union government and ministry of external affairs have not been able to satisfactorily explain why the rules/norms forallotment of languages were departed from only for the year 1999 so that the Singhvi was denied his right of option for German and suchchoice was given to Khobragade who was at two stages below Singhvi in the gradation list," the bench said. "The mode of allotment wasamended for the 1999 Batch in such a calculated fashion that Ms Khobragade, who was at Serial No.7, was given her choice of German overand above Singhvi, who was graded at two stages above her," the bench had said in its judgment delivered on July 29, 2010.

The Government ofCanada Supports

the Canadian Curl-ing Association

The Honourable BalGosal, Minister of State (Spor t),announced Government of Canada funding for theCanadian Curling Association (CCA) on the occasion

of the Tim Hor tons Roar of the Rings Canadian CurlingTrials, being held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from December 1to 8, 2013. "We are proud of the world-class reputation ofour curlers, and our commitment will help them in theirpursuit of excellence. I congratulate the Canadian CurlingAssociation on their dedication, and I wish the best of luckto all the athletes on the road to Sochi," said Minister ofState Gosal. "Through Spor t Canada's Spor t Suppor tProgram, the Government of Canada is pleased to providethe Canadian Curling Association with funding for the 2013-14 fiscal year."The Canadian Curling Association is the national governingbody for the spor t of curling in Canada. The CanadianCurling Association encourages and facilitates the growthand development of curling in cooperation with its networkof affiliates. It is also responsible for overseeing theCanadian national teams at world championships, as wellas at Olympic and Paralympic Games."The Canadian Curling Association is grateful for thecontribution of the Government of Canada's Spor t Suppor tProgram as we pursue world-class results in our spor t,"said Greg Stremlaw, Chief Executive Officer, CanadianCurling Association."Our curlers have represented Canada proudly on theinternational stage, and we appreciate the suppor t of thefederal government in making that happen." The Govern-ment of Canada is the single largest contributor to spor t inCanada and suppor ts par ticipation and excellence fromplayground to podium. Spor t Canada's Spor t Suppor tProgram has approved more than $2.5 million for theCanadian Curling Association through Spor t Suppor t for2013-14. In 2012-13, almost $633,000 was providedthrough the Athlete Assistance Program to help 67 curlerswith living and training expenses.


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Shri Rahul Gandhi's Valedictory Address at the86th Annual General Meeting of FICCI

While addressing the valedictory session at FICCI, Congress VicePresident Rahul Gandhi put forward his economic vision and ad-dressed the key concerns of the industry. Gandhi emphasised thatunder that India has been a fast moving economy under the UPA gov-ernment and slow decision making should not be a criteria for holdingthe industry back.Gandhi also described corruption as the biggest menace in the coun-try and said that it is an unacceptable burden on the people of thecountry. “Corruption is bleeding our people dry. We must fight corrup-tion with all our strength and determination,” said Gandhi.The Congress Vice President also said that fascism in India will bedefeated and harmony will triumph in the country.Full Speech"Thank you, Madam President and members of FICCI, for inviting meto speak to you today.You represent the great entrepreneurial skills that our people pos-sess. The businesses you have built are symbols of the immensepotential that lies at the heart of India.Let me begin by acknowledging that my last quar ter results have notexactly been resounding. I now know how it feels when you have togo to your AGMs with bad news.The recently held elections have made their point. We need to havethe foresight and humility to accept the messages being expressed tous without resor ting to the usual props of statistical data and excusemaking.A political par ty’s strength lies in the voice of those it represents. Wewill listen to the voices we represent. The Congress Par ty has longprided itself in this very ability and used it to rise from adversity timeand again. We will renew ourselves. And will fight strong and confi-dent in order to protect the values of tolerance and compassion thatare the essence of India.

You are stakeholders of the Congress Par ty. Our bonds with you dateback to 1931 when Mahatma Gandhi addressed FICCI's four th AnnualMeeting. We have charted the growth of our nation side by side. Youunderstand the global economic environment well; listening to yourvoice and heeding it is imperative.Over the last few months, many of you have spared time to meet withme and discuss your views. For this I am grateful.I am in complete agreement with the need for the regulatory systemto be rapidly and radically modernized. Frankly, there are no excusesfor the length of time required to clear some of these projects. We area fast moving economy. We cannot allow you to be held back by slowdecision making. Accountability has to be clear, fixed and time bound.The Cabinet Committee on Investment and the Project MonitoringGroup are a recognition of the need to fast track clearances. Some300 projects with an investment of over Rs. 5 lakh crores, about 5% ofGDP, have been cleared. Sectors affected by delays in clearancessuch as power, petroleum and mining have been the biggest benefi-ciaries of this focused approach. Of course, many projects are stillstuck – some for good reason and some for no good reason at all.However, much of the information about these cleared projects re-mains obscured from the public domain .Unfor tunately, good newsabout this government doesn’t seem to sell newspapers these days.Many of you have expressed your frustration with environmental clear-ances that are delaying projects unduly. There is excessive adminis-trative and judicial discretion. The loopholes are so big you can drivea truck through some of them! Environmental and social damage mustbe avoided, but decisions must also be transparent,timely and fair.Accessing land is difficult and time consuming. It’s a struggle. Theblack market in land has got to go. We need to build a robust and openreal estate market, so that businesses, especially small star tups,have affordable access to land.The UPA Government is considering a Natural Resource InvestmentSPV. The idea is to obtain all clearances before auctioning projects toprivate players. This is a powerful and innovative idea.Corruption is bleeding our people dry. It is an unacceptable burden onthe people of our nation. We must fight corruption with all our strengthand determination. Recently, we have been able to ensure that con-victed criminals are kept out of Parliament. In the process, I got tolearn that it is not polite to ask that ordinances be torn and thrown intothe dustbin!This week, we took a huge step. We passed the Lokpal Bill. But, as Ihave said on numerous occasions, we need to go fur ther. The Con-gress Par ty has developed a framework against corruption. I haveappealed for the passage of six critical anti-corruption bills throughParliament. Let me tell you about two. The amendment to the Preven-tion of Corruption Act will protect honest officers and be much moreeffective against those who are corrupt. The Grievance Redressal Billwill ensure that every citizen has the right to timely delivery of goodsand services by their government. It includes a mechanism to re-dress their grievances in the event of any lapse.This government has done more than any other government to com-bat corruption. The Right to Information Act has been our most power-ful weapon in the fight against corruption. The power of information isfinally in the hands of the people. This has created a paradigm shift.Few governments have had the courage to enact legislation that ren-dered their processes more transparent and open to scrutiny. I amproud to say that the RTI has shown all concerned the writing on thewall and, in some cases, it has shown them the wall of Tihar Jail!I would now like to talk about some key policy areas. We desperatelyneed better knowledge and innovation systems. We need you to in-crease investment in education and R&D. Most impor tantly, we needto rid ourselves of the idea that academia and industry are separatesilos.We need to drastically upgrade the skill level of our people and sim-plify our processes.India has the brightest youngsters in the world. But let me be blunt –our current education system does not do them justice. There hasbeen a massive scaling up of investment in education and training.But we need to do much more.This is the land that produced Buddha,Kabir, Tagore and Ramanujan. We have to produce many more world-class scientists, ar tists, and philosophers.Over the last decade we have achieved the fastest economic growthin the history of India. Despite global headwinds, Indian industry hassustained growth because of the energy of our business community.The political stability and rational policy environment provided by ourgovernments also made this possible.We believe that economic prosperity must include everyone. Pover tyis neither befitting of human dignity, nor is it conducive to good busi-ness. I would like to state clearly that pover ty cannot be fought with-out growth. Maintaining robust growth has enabled the UPA Govern-ment to invest in people. In ten years almost a third of India’s poorhave risen above the pover ty line.There is a view that our investments in food security, employment

guarantee and rural development are a drag on economic growth. Idon’t believe there is a trade off between investments in the socialsector and economic growth. It is today’s investments in people thatcreate tomorrow’s markets. It is today's markets that allow us toinvest in our people's future.A mindset revolution is the fuel for economic growth. Today self helpgroups have shattered the hold of moneylenders. They have enabledmillions of women to seek credit to finance their aspirations. Theyare the new age customers for the banks. Women now claim credit astheir right and see it as an oppor tunity. Such mindset changes are theresult of years of sustained political effor t and investment in people -- in their education, their health, in rural infrastructure and job cre-ation. The most impor tant thing that we have to do is to create fulfill-ing and rewarding jobs for our youngsters. Those who are poor, thosewho belong to the middle class and those among the 700 millionpeople above the pover ty line but below the middle class thresh-old. These are the craftsmen who are building India.India must become the global leader in manufacturing. This hasto be one of our core missions. Let’s target growing the manufac-turing sector to 25% of GDP generating 100 million new jobs inthe next decade. I sincerely believe that this can be done. Thedramatic improvement we need in productivity demands that weprovide the right enabling environment.This wil l require the polit ical wil l to make diff icult reforms inlabour laws. Old labour laws have forced businesses to use con-tract labour. As you know, they are of ten underpaid and unpro-tected. India needs a modern and flexible labour market wherelabour has a fair share and is protected by international labourstandards.We must reform the power sector and ensure that businesseshave reliable and affordable access to power.While absorbing thelatest technologies from around the world, Indian manufacturingmust also be built around Indian patents.We have to open up our manufacturing sector and foster competi-tion. The Industrial Corridors – Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Bengaluru,Bengaluru-Chennai and Ludhiana-Kolkata –will revolutionize highvalue added manufacturing and provide millions of jobs.Agriculture is an equally high priority. We are on the threshold ofa second Green Revolution. Price realization and improved pro-ductivity have raised farm wages significantly in the last decade.We have made greater investments in critical areas such as mi-cronutrients, microirrigation, satell ite weather forecasting andaccess to affordable credit to farmers. Our effor ts to raise pro-ductivity and farm income will continue unabated.High inflation on the back of high food prices is an immediateconcern. It has stretched household budgets and constrained in-dustrial growth. It hur ts our people everyday. Beating inflation isour top priority. We must crack down on hoarding and profiteer-ing. We must ease infrastructure bottlenecks and rapidly mod-ernize the supply chain from field to plate.Now, a little about politics. Around the time Mahatma Gandhi wasmaking his address to FICCI in 1931, the dark shadows of fas-cism had begun to spread over Europe. A par ty built on a divisiveideology full of hatred, arrogance and misguided notions of supe-riority plunged the world into a war that brought Germany to itsknees. Millions of people were killed and communities impover-ished. Businesses were destroyed.What our people understood intuitively, but the Europeans of the1930s did not, was that wealth cannot be constructed on pover ty.Peace cannot be constructed on conflict. Societies cannot be builton injustice and hatred.India’s democracy has never been more vibrant. What will Indialook like when she celebrates her hundredth bir thday? Our visionfor India is of a country whose economy would be the largest inthe world, second to none. Our vision is also of an India whichwould have deepened its democracy to the grassroots; a democ-racy where every citizen would have voice in government.



canada SUPREME COURTSTRIKES DOWN ANTI-PROSTITUTION LAWSIP10

FORMER NSA EMPLOYEE, EDWARD SNOWDEN IS SEEKING ASYLUM IN BRAZIL COURTESY: TWITTER

"Snowden should turn himself in" - Baird NDP: Syrian refugeesurgently need Canada'sassistance this winterIn the wake of the United Nation's largest-ever appeal for inter-national aid, New Democrats are calling on the Canadian gov-ernment to respond quickly to the mounting humanitarian crisisthreatening millions of Syrian refugees."The scale and depth of this humanitarian crisis is shocking,"said Paul Dewar, NDP Foreign Affairs Critic (Ottawa-Centre)."With an exceptionally harsh winter coming on, starvation andexposure have become a real risk for refugees and the popula-tion remaining in Syria. Canada must show global leadershipand step up with funds to help fulfill this appeal as soon aspossible." The UN estimates that nearly three-quar ters of Syria's22.4 million people will require humanitarian aid in 2014, and arecent survey by the International Rescue Committee found thatthe greatest worry for four out of five Syrians is that food willrun out. The UN's June international appeal for aid has onlybeen 60% funded so far. "The collapse of the medical systeminside Syria, combined with deepening violence, food shor t-ages and extreme weather are creating a humanitarian catas-trophe of unprecedented propor tions. Children are par ticularlyvulnerable to illnesses, starvation and cold, and they make upabout half of the Syrian refugee population," said HélèneLaverdière, NDP International Development Critic (Laurier-Ste-Marie). "We cannot afford to wait - Canada must step up and doeverything possible to save lives, and encourage our allies todo the same."

CANADA PENSION PLANAND OLD AGE SECURITYBENEFIT RATES EFFECTIVEJANUARY 1, 2014Employment and Social Development Canada announcedrates for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old AgeSecurity (OAS) effective January 1, 2014. CPP benefitswill increase by 0.9 percent for those already receivingCPP benefits. CPP benefits are revised once a year, inJanuary, based on changes over a 12-month period(November 2012 to October 2013) in the Consumer PriceIndex (CPI), which is the cost-of-living measure used byStatistics Canada.The maximum CPP retirement benefit for new recipientswill increase from $1,012.50 to $1,038.33 per month. Thisincrease is calculated on the average yearly maximumpensionable earnings for the last five years.The new CPP rates will be in effect until December 31,2014. OAS benefits, which consist of the basic OASpension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) andthe Allowances, will increase by 0.1 percent. Thesepayments are also based on the CPI, but are reviewedquar terly (in January, April, July and October) and revisedas required to reflect increases in the cost of living asmeasured by the CPI. The maximum basic OAS pensionwill increase from $550.99 to $551.54 per month.The GIS and the Allowances provide additional income tolow-income pensioners, their spouses or common-lawpar tners, and eligible survivors. Budget 2011 enhancedthe GIS by providing a top-up that represents an invest-ment of more than $300 million per year, to improve thefinancial security and well-being of more than 680,000seniors across Canada. This represents the largestincrease for the lowest-income GIS recipients in aquar ter century.Although OAS and CPP benefits are not indexed at thesame time, they are both adjusted with the cost of livingover a given year.

REUNITING FAMILIES AND REDUCING BACK-LOGS IN CANADA'S IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

PARENT AND GRANDPARENT PROGRAM GEARING UP FOR RE-LAUNCH

Minister Alexander provides an update on family reunification and the Parent and Grandparent(PGP) program in Brampton, Ontario Cour tesy: cic.gc.ca

By cutting immigrationbacklogs and waittimes, the

Government is bringingfamilies together morequickly, announcedCanada's Citizenship andImmigration Minister ChrisAlexander.Over the first six months of2013, Citizenship andImmigration Canada (CIC)admitted 45,000 permanentresidents to Canada in theFamily Class (FC). Thisrepresents an increase of 40percent over the first sixmonths of 2012. This

increase can be attributedalmost entirely to adoubling of admissions inthe Parent and Grandparent(PGP) category over thattime period."Our governmentunderstands the importanceof spending time with familyand loved ones, especiallyduring the holiday season.Our government is makingimprovements to theimmigration system so thatfamilies can be reunitedmore quickly. Because ofour changes, Canada is ontrack to welcome more than

50,000 parents andgrandparents in 2012-2013-the highest number in nearlya decade," said ministerAlexander.Canada has one of the mostgenerous familyreunification programs inthe world, but growingbacklogs in the PGP programmeant families could expectto wait eight years or moreto bring their loved onesfrom overseas. A pause onnew applications, combinedwith high admission levels,has helped reduce thebacklog. The PGP program

re-opens to newapplications on January 2,2014. It will re-open withtighter admission criteriaand a cap on applications,which will continue toreduce the backlog andimprove wait times forfamilies. Application forms,guides and information onhow to apply to the newPGP program will be madeavailable online onDecember 31, 2013, justahead of the PGP programre-opening.

Former NSA worker Edward Snowden that came undercontroversy past couple of months for being a whistlebloweron the National Agency should turn himself in said Foreign

Affairs Minister John Baird, in an interview with the Canadian Press.Baird said Snowden should abandon his bid to seek asylum in

Brazil and turn himself to the United States."I think I probably agree with the Obama administration on this

one," Baird said. "I think he's done significant damage to nationalsecurity, of the free world."

Snowden was in Russia for a while, trying to find refuge whichcompromised relations between Moscow and Washington, reportedCBC News. "The United States has a free and fair justice system,"Baird said. "I think he should go back to the United States and facethe consequences of his actions." In an open letter, Snowden praisedBrazil's actions for standing up to the United States for spying. Heclaims he would help the country find deeper NSA activities providedBrazil grants him political asylum. "There is a huge difference betweenlegal programs, legitimate spying … and these programs of dragnet

mass surveillance that put entire populations under an all-seeingeye and save copies forever," he wrote. "These programs were neverabout terrorism: they're about economic spying, social control, anddiplomatic manipulation. They're about power."

"U.S. statements labelling Snowden a 'traitor' are prejudicial tohis right to seek asylum and to his right to a fair trial," Amnesty'sBrazil director AtilaRoque said in a statement reported CBC News.

"The information he released was in the public interest andshows the remarkably invasive extent of surveillance conducted bythe United States."

Documents revealed by Snowden have allegedly showedCanada monitoring Brazil's mining industry and the energydepartment which helped U.S. and the U.K. spy on participants atLondon G20 summit in 2009, confirmed reports from the CanadianPress.

The Brazilian government has no immediate signs of grantingan asylum meanwhile his temporary asylum in Russia will expire inAugust.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013c a n a d a

In a unanimous decisionby the Supreme Court onFriday, parliament has

one year to come up withnew prostitution laws afterit struck down anti-prostitution laws.Three provision laws thatwere struck down arekeeping a brothel, living onavails of prostitution andcommunicating in publicabout prostitution as thecourt concluded that theselaws put sex workers indanger.The parliament has one yearfrom now to come up withnew laws should it wish todo so and in the meantime,anti-prostitution laws willcontinue to prevail inCanada."Parliament has the powerto regulate againstnuisances, but not at thecost of the health, safetyand lives of prostitutes,"wrote Chief Justice BeverlyMcLachlin while also notingthat "it is not a crime inCanada to sell sex formoney."

those engaged in prostitution,and vulnerable persons," hesaid.He added, "There are number ofother Criminal Code provisionsremain in place to protect thoseengaged in prostitution andother vulnerable persons, andto address the negative effectsprostitution has oncommunities."While Minister of CanadianHeritage Shelly Glover saidHarper government will takeaction to review the decisionmade by the Supreme Court,reported CTV News."The government is sayingtoday we are going toreview the decision andwe're going to come up withsome options to ensure thatthe criminal law continuesto fight against harmagainst our communitiesbecause of prostitution.Harm against the womenand the children who areexploited, harm againstthose who witness theseatrocities. I hope that we canget it done as quickly aspossible," she said, reported

The 9-0 decision came as aruling in response to a courtchallenge by three womenwith sex trade experience,Terri-Jean Bedford, AmyLebovitch and Valerie Scott."These appeals and thecross-appeal are not aboutwhether prostitution shouldbe legal or not. They areabout whether the lawsParliament has enacted onhow prostitution may becarried out passconstitutional muster. Iconclude that they do not,"McLachlin wrote. "I wouldtherefore make a suspendeddeclaration of invalidity,returning the question ofhow to deal withprostitution to Parliament."Justice Minister PeterMacKay wrote has saidParliament has 12 months to"address this very complexmatter", in a statement."We are reviewing the decisionand are exploring all possibleoptions to ensure the criminallaw continues to address thesignificant harms that flow fromprostitution to communities,

CTV News."I've seen the plight of womenbeing victimized, abused andmistreated and I saw it whenI was undercover working tounravel abusive andexploitative prostitutionrings," said Glover who isalso a police officer,reported CTV News.Many have condemned orshown support for thedecision. Sex workers arediverse and such a decisioncould mean full access tolegal protections andservices "without fear" saidMaggie's Toronto SexWorkers Action Board Chairin a release."We will be working withour community and policymakers to make sure that all sexworkers including migrantswithout legal working status areable to access essentialservices (housing, health,education, social services,emergency services) withoutfear of being detained ordeported," said Bobby Law,Board Chair, Maggie's: TorontoSex Workers Action Project.

Beyond the Border ActionPlan Implementation Reportshows solid progress ontrade, travel and securityPrime Minister Stephen Harper and Barack Obama, President ofthe United States, welcomed the release of the second annualBeyond the Border Action Plan Implementation Repor t. Thisrepor t outlines the progress made by Canada and the UnitedStates to implement the Beyond the Border Action Plan - anagreement that was put in place to enhance our mutual security,prosperity and economic competitiveness."Canada and the United States are making meaningful progressin implementing the Beyond the Border Action Plan. We arealready seeing improvements in the flow of goods and peopleover a more secure Canada-U.S. border," said the Prime Minis-ter. "We remain committed to fully implementing this transfor-mative long-term initiative, which is critical to the future pros-perity and security of citizens in both countries."Over the past year, significant progress has been made acrossall areas of work under the Action Plan. Benefits are emergingfor citizens, travellers and businesses in both countries as wework together on this joint approach to perimeter security andeconomic competitiveness. The Beyond the Border Action Plan,announced by both leaders on December 7, 2011, sets out ambi-tious milestones designed to advance economic oppor tunity andenhance security between our two countries. Canada and theU.S. remain committed to the full implementation of the ActionPlan and will continue to focus effor ts on ensuring that progresscontinues on all elements of the plan.As well, both countries will continue to work towards ensuringtransparency and accountability around the initiative. Over thecoming year, stakeholder engagement will be deepened by es-tablishing a process for more regular and extensive consulta-tions, and our Government will keep Canadians informed ofprogress on the Action Plan throughout the year. The third Canada-U.S. implementation repor t is expected in December 2014.

Conservative inactionon climate changehurting provincesAB premier Alison Redford latest to call out federal inaction

on environment

Stephen Harper's Conservatives have another critic of theirinability to take action on climate change - Alber ta premierAlison Redford. "Even Western Conservative voices are nowagreeing with the NDP that Conservative failure to regulategreenhouse gas emissions is a major problem," said NDP En-vironment critic Megan Leslie (Halifax). "We need urgent ac-tion to curb emissions, not more Conservative stalling."The Conservatives have obstructed climate change negotia-tions, delayed emissions regulations and pulled out of the KyotoProtocol. Since taking power in 2006, Conservatives reducedCanada's national greenhouse gas emission targets by 90 percent. "This isn't only about taking action today, it's about work-ing with our provincial par tners to build the Canada we want toleave for our children," said Leslie. "Alber ta seems to get this,why don't Stephen Harper's Conservatives?"

SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN

ANTI-PROSTITUTION LAWS

One of the three women, Terri-Jean Bedford, who has been actively seeking changes to Canada's prostitution laws, rests outsideCourt early this year Cour tesy: Twitter

In a unanimous decisionby the Supreme Court onFriday, parliament has

one year to come up withnew prostitution laws afterit struck down anti-prostitution laws.Three provision laws thatwere struck down arekeeping a brothel, living onavails of prostitution andcommunicating in publicabout prostitution as thecourt concluded that theselaws put sex workers indanger.The parliament has one yearfrom now to come up withnew laws should it wish todo so and in the meantime,anti-prostitution laws willcontinue to prevail inCanada."Parliament has the powerto regulate againstnuisances, but not at thecost of the health, safetyand lives of prostitutes,"wrote Chief Justice BeverlyMcLachlin while also notingthat "it is not a crime inCanada to sell sex formoney."

those engaged in prostitution,and vulnerable persons," hesaid.He added, "There are number ofother Criminal Code provisionsremain in place to protect thoseengaged in prostitution andother vulnerable persons, andto address the negative effectsprostitution has oncommunities."While Minister of CanadianHeritage Shelly Glover saidHarper government will takeaction to review the decisionmade by the Supreme Court,reported CTV News."The government is sayingtoday we are going toreview the decision andwe're going to come up withsome options to ensure thatthe criminal law continuesto fight against harmagainst our communitiesbecause of prostitution.Harm against the womenand the children who areexploited, harm againstthose who witness theseatrocities. I hope that we canget it done as quickly aspossible," she said, reported

The 9-0 decision came as aruling in response to a courtchallenge by three womenwith sex trade experience,Terri-Jean Bedford, AmyLebovitch and Valerie Scott."These appeals and thecross-appeal are not aboutwhether prostitution shouldbe legal or not. They areabout whether the lawsParliament has enacted onhow prostitution may becarried out passconstitutional muster. Iconclude that they do not,"McLachlin wrote. "I wouldtherefore make a suspendeddeclaration of invalidity,returning the question ofhow to deal withprostitution to Parliament."Justice Minister PeterMacKay wrote has saidParliament has 12 months to"address this very complexmatter", in a statement."We are reviewing the decisionand are exploring all possibleoptions to ensure the criminallaw continues to address thesignificant harms that flow fromprostitution to communities,

CTV News."I've seen the plight of womenbeing victimized, abused andmistreated and I saw it whenI was undercover working tounravel abusive andexploitative prostitutionrings," said Glover who isalso a police officer,reported CTV News.Many have condemned orshown support for thedecision. Sex workers arediverse and such a decisioncould mean full access tolegal protections andservices "without fear" saidMaggie's Toronto SexWorkers Action Board Chairin a release."We will be working withour community and policymakers to make sure that all sexworkers including migrantswithout legal working status areable to access essentialservices (housing, health,education, social services,emergency services) withoutfear of being detained ordeported," said Bobby Law,Board Chair, Maggie's: TorontoSex Workers Action Project.

Beyond the Border ActionPlan Implementation Reportshows solid progress ontrade, travel and securityPrime Minister Stephen Harper and Barack Obama, President ofthe United States, welcomed the release of the second annualBeyond the Border Action Plan Implementation Repor t. Thisrepor t outlines the progress made by Canada and the UnitedStates to implement the Beyond the Border Action Plan - anagreement that was put in place to enhance our mutual security,prosperity and economic competitiveness."Canada and the United States are making meaningful progressin implementing the Beyond the Border Action Plan. We arealready seeing improvements in the flow of goods and peopleover a more secure Canada-U.S. border," said the Prime Minis-ter. "We remain committed to fully implementing this transfor-mative long-term initiative, which is critical to the future pros-perity and security of citizens in both countries."Over the past year, significant progress has been made acrossall areas of work under the Action Plan. Benefits are emergingfor citizens, travellers and businesses in both countries as wework together on this joint approach to perimeter security andeconomic competitiveness. The Beyond the Border Action Plan,announced by both leaders on December 7, 2011, sets out ambi-tious milestones designed to advance economic oppor tunity andenhance security between our two countries. Canada and theU.S. remain committed to the full implementation of the ActionPlan and will continue to focus effor ts on ensuring that progresscontinues on all elements of the plan.As well, both countries will continue to work towards ensuringtransparency and accountability around the initiative. Over thecoming year, stakeholder engagement will be deepened by es-tablishing a process for more regular and extensive consulta-tions, and our Government will keep Canadians informed ofprogress on the Action Plan throughout the year. The third Canada-U.S. implementation repor t is expected in December 2014.

Conservative inactionon climate changehurting provincesAB premier Alison Redford latest to call out federal inaction

on environment

Stephen Harper's Conservatives have another critic of theirinability to take action on climate change - Alber ta premierAlison Redford. "Even Western Conservative voices are nowagreeing with the NDP that Conservative failure to regulategreenhouse gas emissions is a major problem," said NDP En-vironment critic Megan Leslie (Halifax). "We need urgent ac-tion to curb emissions, not more Conservative stalling."The Conservatives have obstructed climate change negotia-tions, delayed emissions regulations and pulled out of the KyotoProtocol. Since taking power in 2006, Conservatives reducedCanada's national greenhouse gas emission targets by 90 percent. "This isn't only about taking action today, it's about work-ing with our provincial par tners to build the Canada we want toleave for our children," said Leslie. "Alber ta seems to get this,why don't Stephen Harper's Conservatives?"



CORRUPTIONBLEEDING OURPEOPLE DRY:RAHULindia

CUTTING THROUGH THE FOG

SIKH DEVOTEES OFFER PRAYERS AT THE GOLDEN TEMPLE ON A FOGGY MORNING IN AMRITSAR.

AAP EYES GUJARAT, TO CONTEST

DEVYANI INCIDENTSHOULD NOT HURT INDIA-U.S. TIES: KHURSHID

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Saturday thateven as India and the U.S. were trying to resolve the issue ofmaltreatment of an Indian diplomat in New York, people on bothsides would not want their close ties to be hur t by this “oneincident.” “We have an exceptionally valuable relationship withthe U.S. and I do believe it has [the U.S.] similar sentimentsabout us and it must understand the value of par tnership,” theMinister told journalists on the sidelines of the FICCI annualgeneral body meeting here on Saturday.Mr. Khurshid regretted that the incident had disrupted his chan-nels of communication with the U.S. but hoped the conversa-tions still being carried out would help break the stalemate.India wants charges of visa fraud against diplomat DevyaniKhobragade unconditionally dropped whereas the U.S. insiststhis cannot be done. “I speak to America through diplomaticchannels and my diplomatic channels have been interrupted.That is my concern. Let the conversation go to its logical con-clusion. My conversation is not completed,” he said.

Be careful, US tells citizens in IndiaThe US has issued an advisory to its citizens travelling to orresiding in India to “be mindful of their personal security in lightof recent events”, an apparent reference to India’s protestsagainst the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade.The US mission to India also reminded citizens of its “standingtravel guidance,” and reminded them that demonstrations in-tended to be peaceful can turn violent.India has reacted sharply to Khobragade’s arrest on charges ofunderpaying her maid and subsequent strip-search. Barricadeshave been removed outside the US embassy in New Delhi andall US consulate personnel and their families have been askedto turn in their identity cards immediately. The US, however,has refused to withdraw the criminal charges, resulting in adiplomatic stand-off between the two countries. “The US mis-sion to India reiterates that demonstrations take place in Indiain response to world events or local developments. Please avoidareas where demonstrations are occurring and exercise cau-tion if within the vicinity of large gatherings.

GANDHINAGAR: After theirsuccess in Delhi, the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) is setting its eye onNarendra Modi's Gujarat amongother states. The party says itplans to contest all 26 Lok Sabhaseats, though a final decision hasbeen left to the nationalexecutive in Delhi.

AAP will hold a Jhadu Yatraacross the state to highlightwhat they call the Modigovernment's corrupt practicesahead of the 2014 elections.

After a two-day stateexecutive committee meetingrecently, senior AAP leader inGujarat Dinesh Vaghela said, "OnJanuary 1 next year, we willorganize voter awareness drivesin all 26 constituencies. Theyatra will be launched on January

26. During the yatra, AAP leaderswill expose the Gujaratgovernment's corrupt practices.

"There is no differencebetween the Congress and BJP.To hide his corruption, Modi hasweakened the Lokayukta Act inGujarat and turned it in to'Potayukta' (self-serving). Wewill appeal to the people to fightagainst this menace," Vaghelasaid. AAP's state secretary inGujarat is 54-year-old SanjeevSrivastava, an IIT Roorkeegraduate. He left a high-payingjob as vice-president of Gujaratgovernment's blue chip companyGujarat State PetroleumCorporation. "I was barely ninemonths into the job when Irealized that AAP was moving inthe right direction," he says.

"There is no point in makingmoney when my country issuffering." Well-known activistSukhdev Patel, 56, too is part ofthe party. A human rights activistwith special focus on childrights, AAP is his first foray intomainstream politics. Agitatingaga ins t the government

ALL LOK SABHA SEATS

dur ing the Navnirmanmovement and the Emergencycame naturally to him. Patelestablished first of its kind childrights institute 'Ganatar' andresigned from it to join AAP. "Inever planned joining activepolitics, but AAP is the idealplatform me," he says.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013i n d i a

The Advantages of Bottom-up Diplomacy

THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PUNJAB, PARKASH SINGH BADAL, AND DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER, SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL, HANDING OVER THEKEYS OF MAIZE DEHUSKER-CUM-SHELLER TO PAKISTAN PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER MOHAMMAD SHAHBAZ SHARIF AS A TOKEN OF LOVEAND AFFECTION FROM PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, IN LUDHIANA, TO THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN PUNJAB.

Acknowledging thepoor show of his par tyin the recent Assem-bly elections in fourStates, it was an as-ser t ive Congressvice-president RahulGandhi who said thepar ty needed to havethe “foresight and hu-mil i ty to accept themessages being ex-pressed to us.” “Wedid not hit a six in theelections. We did notdo as well as we weresupposed to,” Mr. Gandhi candidly admitted. But quickly gain-ing ground, he put for th his action plan while going all out to wooIndia Inc. In his 30-minute speech, marked by candour, wit andkeen observations, the Congress vice-president highlighted theachievements of the UPA government. He invoked the Right toInformation, the recent Parliament nod to the Lokpal Bill and thedecision to keep convicted criminals out of Parliament to drive home hispoint. Mr. Gandhi said the UPA government was considering a NaturalResource Investment Special Purpose Vehicle. “The idea is to obtain allclearances before auctioning projects to private players. This is a powerfuland innovative idea,” he said, addressing the 86th annual general meetingof FICCI. Stressing the need to go further than the Lokpal Bill as part of astrong framework against corruption, Mr. Gandhi said he had appealed forthe passage of six critical anti-corruption bills in Parliament. Flagging twosuch proposals, he said while the amendment to the Preventionof Corruption Act would protect honest officers, the GrievanceRedressal Bill would ensure that every citizen had the right totimely delivery of goods and services by his government. Referring to the malaise of corruption, he said it was “bleedingour people dry. It is an unacceptable burden on the people.” Hisobservation on his own conduct evoked a round of applausefrom the business leaders. “I got to learn that it is not polite toask that ordinances be torn and thrown into dustbin!” His refer-ence was to a press conference here where he said the ordi-nance to allow convicted criminals into Parliament should betorn. It led to the UPA government withdrawing it.“Unfor tunately, good news about this government doesn’t seemto sell newspapers these days,” the Gandhi scion observed.Without naming any par ty, the Congress leader warned againstthe destructiveness of fascism and called for unity, compas-sion and harmony as the guiding force. Promising to abide bythe voice of the people, Mr. Gandhi asser ted that the Congresswould renew itself and rise from adversity once again to fightfor its age-old values of tolerance and compassion. He said thevision of his par ty was of a country united by compassion,harmony and peace and humility.

CORRUPTION BLEEDINGOUR PEOPLE DRY: RAHUL

INDIA CAN'T AFFORD TO HAVE NON-POLITICIAN AS PM: ARUN JAITLEY

NEW DELHI: Economic decisionmaking must become credible toenable reviving the country'sinvestment cycle, BJP leaderArun Jaitley said on Saturday ashe mounted a scathing attack onthe ruling coalition for thegrowth slowdown.

"The winds of politicalchange are already there. As faras India's economy is concerned,the biggest challenge is how torevive the investment cycle,"Jaitley, who is the leader of theOpposition in the Rajya Sabhatold the annual general meetingof FICCI.

He said the recent stateelections have sent out loud andclear messages that goodgovernance and clever politics

will ensure a victory while badgovernance will certainly lead toa loss. "It clearly demonstratesthat if the objective is to returnto a higher growth path, relyingmerely on populism won't work,"he said.

The BJP leader said that theimage of the country depends onhow it is governed.

"When the image of apolitical party is one wheredecision-making is seen ascorrupt, no amount of jingoismwill help. Citing examples, he said,the government had the optionof stopping the allocation ofspectrum. It chose not to and thespiral effect of this inaction wasthe cancellation of licences,confiscation of investment and

arrest of minister. The samestory was repeated in coalallocation," Jaitley said.

He said a consensus waseluding the government on thecrucial Goods & Services Tax(GST), as the states feel that theCentre is unfair to them. "If youare looking for politicalconfrontation, morning andevening, you cannot build aconsensus on economic issues,"Jaitley said.

He said a key lesson fromthe current slowdown was thatthe country cannot afford a non-politician as a prime minister.

"One has to honestlyanalyze what went wrong in theIndia story. The first lesson thatone learns from the last few years

is that India cannot afford a non-politician as a Prime Minister.Prime ministership is not anemployment. Prime Ministers arenot judged by the number ofyears they spend in office. Theyare always going to be judgedby the direction which they gaveas far as the economy isconcerned," he said

He also said that theexperiment of the political andexecutive authority residing inseparate power centers doesnot work. "A corporate canrun on this type of a modelwhere the board of directorssit somewhere, the authorityresides there and the hiredCEO runs the company andreports to the Board.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013 w o r l d

Indian peacekeepers prevented morecasualties in S Sudan: UN official

IN THIS HANDOUT IMAGE FROM THE UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN, TAKEN ON DECEMBER 17, 2013,CIVILIANS ARRIVE AT UNMISS COMPOUND ADJACENT TO JUBA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO TAKE REFUGE.

Pervez Musharrafchallenges treason trialin special civilian court

United Nations: The bravery of 43 Indian peacekeepersstationed at a UN base in South Sudan, which was attackedby about 2,000 rebels this week, prevented more casualties,

a top UN official said as she lauded the dedication shown by Indiantroops in peacekeeping missions.

Two Indian soldiers Warrant Officers Dharmesh Sangwan andKumar Pal Singh were killed in the December 19 attack on the UNbase in the Jonglei state town of Akobo in South Sudan.

A third soldier Indian Battalion Warrant Officer Mondal Shabulwas wounded in the chest during the attack and was flown to Malakalwhere he was?reported to be in stable condition.

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) held a memorialceremony in Juba yesterday for the two Indian Battalionpeacekeepers killed in the attack.

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) forSouth Sudan Hilde Johnson paid tribute to Sangwan and Singh as"brave and courageous soldiers"?and extended her condolences tothe families and loved ones of the fallen peacekeepers.

"As a mission, we are inspired by the dedication shown by theIndian troops," said Johnson, who laid wreaths on the coffins of theslain peacekeepers during the ceremony which was held at the

Mission's compound adjacent to Juba International Airport."Had it not been for their bravery, the death toll at the (UNMISS

base) could have been higher."Johnson cited the press statement of the Security Council which

condemned the attack in the strongest terms and called on theGovernment of South Sudan to swiftly investigate the incident.

She also emphasised the resolve of the peacekeeping missionto carry out its mandate to support South Sudan and help protect itspeople.

"This horrendous act...Will not stop us from carrying out ourwork," she said.

"To anyone who wants to threaten us, attack us or put obstaclesin our way, our message remains loud and clear: we will not beintimidated."

South Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs and InternationalCooperation Barnaba Marial Benjamin reaffirmed his government'scommitment to fully investigate the incident and bring theperpetrators to justice.

"The people of South Sudan deeply regret the irresponsibleand cowardly act that has led to the loss of life of these greatsoldiers," Benjamin said.

Former Pakistan presidentmilitary ruler General (retd)Pervez Musharraf has chal-lenged his trial for treason ina civilian cour t. Musharrafsaid he could only be pros-ecuted under the Army Act.According to Dawn News, the70-year-old is due to appearbefore a special cour t on De-cember 24 to face treasoncharges for conspir ingagainst the Constitution.He had declared emergency and over threw the superior judi-ciary in November 2007.Musharraf will be the first military dictator in Pakistan's his-tory to face a trial for treason.In an application filed in the Islamabad High Cour t (IHC) throughcounsel Advocate Khalid Ranjha, Musharraf said the emer-gency imposed on November 3 was not an arbitrary act. Theapplication added that Musharraf could not be tried in cour twithout including those who had taken par t in the act. Thepetition added that the Nov 3 emergency was imposed whilehe was serving as a military general and therefore investiga-tion against him could only be carried out under the Army Act,the repor t said. It fur thermore said that the federal govern-ment should be prevented from conducting investigationagainst Musharraf in a special cour t, it added.

Prosecutors refer Egypt'sousted Morsi to 3rd trial,over 2011 prison breaks,abducting police

Egypt's prosecutors have referred ousted Islamist PresidentMohammed Morsi to a third trial, on charges of organizingprison breaks during the 2011 uprising and abducting police-men in collaboration with foreign militants.These charges are separate from two other trials that Morsialready faces — over inciting the killings of his opponentsand for conspiring with foreign groups to destabilize Egypt.Egypt's Investigative Judge Hassan Samir on Saturday re-ferred Morsi and 129 others for the new trial. Other suspectsinclude members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group, mem-bers of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon'sHezbollah.Saturday's case refers to Morsi's jailbreak with other Broth-erhood leaders that took place in January 2011, during theuprising against his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.No date has been set for the trial.

Iraqi militants kill at least18 officers and soldiersRAMADI, Iraq — Militants killed at least 18 Iraqi officers andsoldiers in Sunni-dominated Anbar province Saturday, includ-ing a commander who oversaw a crackdown on Sunni pro-testers earlier this year, military sources said.Islamist militants’ posts on online forums called the slaincommander, Mohammed Ahmed al-Kurwi, a “criminal” andcelebrated the attack, which security sources described ascarefully planned and executed.Al-Qaeda-linked Sunni militants have intensified attacks onIraq’s security forces, civilians and anyone seen as suppor t-ing the Shiite-led government in recent months in the country’sdeadliest violence in five years.The circumstances of Saturday’s attack were in dispute.The Defense Ministry said Kurwi, commander of the army’s7th Division, and several other high-ranking officers werekilled by a roadside bomb while pursuing militants from anal-Qaeda training camp in Anbar’s deser t.But other military sources said the officers were killed whenthree suicide bombers wearing explosive belts detonatedthemselves among the officers in the western town of Rutba,225 miles west of Baghdad.“All that we know so far is three suicide bombers wearingexplosive vests came from nowhere and detonated themselvesamong the officers,” a military officer who was at the scenesaid by phone.Some security officials suggested informants may have luredthe commanders to the area under the pretext of raiding theal-Qaeda camp.No specific group immediately claimed responsibility for theattack, but suicide bombing is the trademark of al-Qaeda’sIraqi affiliate, which merged this year with counterpar ts inSyria to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Spain approvesnew restrictiveabortion law

MADRID: Spain's conservativegovernment on Friday approvedtight restrictions on abor tion, al-lowing the practice only in thecase of rape or when there is aserious health risk to the motheror fetus. The previous govern-ment made abor tion widely legalbefore the 14th week only threeyears ago. But the ruling PopularPar ty has long sided with theRoman Catholic Church on moraland socia l issues and madechanging the law one of its mainpromises in the 2011 vote thatbrought it to power. Justice min-ister Alber to Ruiz-Gallardon saidthe change was necessary to pro-vide greater protection for bothwomen and the unborn.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013w o r l d

WITH PUNISHMENTS OR PARDONS,PUTIN SHOWS HE IS IN CONTROL

Obama warns SouthSudan after US militarypersonnel wounded

MOSCOW: President Vladimir VPutin's freeing of Mikhail BKhodorkovsky, Russia's best-known prisoner, by swift,personal fiat capped a remarkablestring of single-handeddecisions of late.

On Tuesday, heoutmanoeuvred the West forsway over financially troubledUkraine with a unilateral decisionto provide $15 billion in loans.On Wednesday, at his direction,Parliament passed an amnesty billthat could free thousands of

prisoners. On Friday, hepardoned Khodorkovsky, theformer Yukos oil tycoon andonetime aspiring political rival.

That was just last week.Earlier this month, Putin

shocked Moscow's political andmedia circles with a surpriseannouncement that he wouldremake RIA-Novosti, the semi-independent state news agency,under the direction of a Kremlinloyalist.

The decisions demonstratePutin's singular ability not only

to wield executive power but alsoto bend the legislative andjudicial branches of governmentto his will, and to exert heavycontrol over the Russian newsmedia.

"What we are seeing is apresident who has no limits onhis power in a country that neverwas democratic, that never hadanything called a balance ofpower — where one of theestates could balance the powerof another," said Vladimir Posner,one of Russia's most prominenttelevision journalists, with hisown nightly show on ChannelOne, the premiere government-controlled station. "There is noFourth Estate," he said. "Andas a matter of fact there is noSecond or Third Estate. Thereis just the First , just thepresidency. That 's the waythings are today in Russia."

As he prepares to beginhis 15th year as Russia 'sparamount polit ical leader,Putin 's sweeping authoritygives him far more leverage

than his counterparts in theWest to influence the course ofevents and, at times, to set theagenda in world affairs.

In defiance of the UnitedStates, Russia grantedtemporary asylum to the formernational security contractorEdward J Snowden, with Putinportraying him as awhistleblower. Putin alsoaverted a US military strike onSyria with a plan to disarm itschemical weapons.

Yet all of his recent movescarry serious risks. ReleasingKhodorkovsky could well setloose a vengeful rival, with themoney and will to do everythingpossible to force Putin frompower. The bailout of Ukrainecould easily turn into a financialdebacle, exacerbating Russia'sown creeping economicproblems, should Ukrainecontinue stumbling towarddefault.

And scrapping RIA-Novosti, a respected news agency,in favour of a replacement alreadybeing derided as a Soviet-stylepropaganda arm, could underminethe credibility needed to cultivatethe public image that Putin hassought for Russia as a re-ascendant power, able tochallenge the West.

Supporters of Putin saythat his actions reflect sure-footed pursuit of a plan to builda greater Russia, evidenced bymega-vanity projects like theSochi Olympics that will burnishthe image of both the presidentand his country.

JUBA: US President Barack Obama warned the leaders of SouthSudan against a military coup Saturday after four US service-men were wounded in an attack on their aircraft in the increas-ingly unstable country."Any effor t to seize power through the use of military force willresult in the end of longstanding suppor t from the United Statesand the international community," the White House said in astatement.Obama stressed that the South Sudanese leaders "have a re-sponsibility to suppor t our effor ts to secure American person-nel and citizens in Juba and Bor," the capital and a rebel-heldflashpoint town in the African nation.The president's comments came after three CV-22 Osprey air-craft came under fire in South Sudan as they headed to Bor tohelp with effor ts to evacuate Americans from the country tee-tering on the brink of a return to civil war.The attack damaged the tiltrotor aircraft, forcing them to diver tto Uganda. The wounded were then flown to Nairobi for medicaltreatment and are now in "stable condition," the Pentagon saidin a statement.The attack underlined the increasingly dangerous situation inSouth Sudan, where at least one UN base has also come underattack in recent days, with the murder of two Indian peace-keepers and possibly dozens of civilians.The United States, Britain, Kenya and Uganda have been carry-ing out evacuation missions for their nationals.Oil companies have flown out their workers after the death of atleast five South Sudanese oil workers on Wednesday, withChinese state oil company China National Petroleum Corp con-



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



Not right to blameanyone: Sussanne

defends Arjun Rampal

ARMAAN KOHLI EVICTED FROM BIGG BOSS HOUSE

MTV BOLLYLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL PC

HARD KAUR, MIKA SINGH AND SHIBANI KASHYAP

After making seventhseason of TV realityshow Bigg Boss

nightmarish for nearly everyone associated with the show,finally the "Angry young man"of Bigg Boss house has beenshown the door. Reliablesources from the the tinseltown have reported that, in adramatic twist this ruinedaggressive brat of the housewas eliminated from the BiggBoss today, hence axing allhis hopes of making it to thefinal. Ever-since the onset ofthe seventh season of thereali ty show Bigg Boss,

DHOOM 3 EMERGES AS BIGGEST NON-HOLIDAY OPENER, EARNS APPROX 40 CRShattering all the

previously made recordsand proving the

prophesies right, 'Dhoom 3'began its cineplex jaunt with abang. If reports pertaining tothis much anticipated multi-starrer of the year, starringAamir, Katrina, Abhishek andUday, are to be believed, thenthis marvelous cine delight ofYRF opened with a magnificentoccupancy of 90 percent and hasraked in around 40 Cr rupees atits opening.Revealing the day one collectionof 'Dhoom 3' cine trend analystTaran Adarsh tweeted that:Dhoom3 emerges theBIGGEST non-holiday openerever. Collects Rs 30 cr+ [early est]on Friday. Hindi version only.Dhoom macha diya indeed!

Sussanne Roshan Wednesday spoke out against reportsthat actor Arjun Rampal was a reason behind her split withher husband of 13 years, Hrithik Roshan. She says nobody

is to be blamed.Sussanne couldn't avoid queries related to the recentannouncement of her split with Hrithik, at the launch of Bandra190, a luxury concept retail boutique co-owned by Sussanne,Seema Khan and Maheep Kapoor here Wednesday.Asked to react to reports on Arjun's involvement, she said: "Youcan't blame anyone for this. It is sad to blame anyone. We areclose-knit friends. It's not right to blame anyone."She said she cannot pinpoint a reason for parting ways withHrithik, whom she dated for four years before finally tying theknot Dec 20, 2000."There is no reason. Sometimes you have to do this because of asituation," said the mother of two sons - Hrehaan and Hridhaan.Hrithik announced Sussanne's decision to end their marriage viaan official statement Dec 13.

Actress Kareena Kapoor says her "sister-in-law" commentregarding Katrina Kaif on chat show "Koffee With Karan"was in fun, and that it shouldn't be taken seriously.

Kareena caused a flutter when she referred to Katrina as her sister-in-law, and even said that she would dance to Katrina's hit songs onher cousin Ranbir Kapoor's wedding. Ranbir and Katrina arerumoured to be dating, and Kareena's comment only fuelled thoserumours.Now Kareena has spoken out about it.At the Big Star Entertainment Awards red carpet here Wednesday,when Kareena was asked about calling Katrina her sister-in-law, shesaid: "It ('Koffee With Karan') is a fun show and it is meant to be likethat and that (Katrina as my sister-in-law) is not meant to be takentoo seriously. It is not such a big deal.""I am his (Ranbir Kapoor) elder sister and being that, I can saywhatever I want to," she added.Kareena's father Randhir and Ranbir's father Rishi are siblings.

Previously the top slot of beingthe highest non-holiday dayopener belonged to HrithikRoshan and Priyanka Chopra

starrer, "Krrish 3", which rakedin approximately Rs 25 crore atits release on November 1 thisyear. With so many records

making and breaking in just oneyear, surely 2013 has given our veryown 'Industriwalas' some very goodreasons to be happy about.

ALL IN FUN: Kareena oncalling Katrina sister-in-law

Armaan Kohli remained in buzzfor his hyper aggression, badmouthing the fellowcontestants and romancingKajol's younger sister Tanisha.Armaan even made it toheadlines when reports abouthis being caught on camerawhile gett ing cozy withTanisha made it to news arena.But the gossip cog of this smalltime actor started rolling at arapid pace, when recently hewas arrested from the house onthe complaint of Brit ish-Pakistani actor and former'Bigg Boss' contestant SofiaHayat. After her eviction from

the house, Sofia fi led acomplaint against Armaanaccusing him of physical abuseand molestation.

However, Armaan was granteda bail on the following day, postwhich he re-entered the houseto participate in the show.



RUNNING SUCCESSFULLY


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013 b o l l y w o o d

2 Ram Leela Lahu Munh Lag Gaya

3 R.Rajkumar Gandi Baat

4 Satya 2 Tu Nahi

5 Tose Naina Mickey Virus

6 Gori Tere Pyaar Mein Naina

7 Gori Tere Pyaar Mein Chingham Chabake

8 Mickey Virus Ankhon Hi Ankhon Ne

9 Ishk Actually Aye Dil Bata

10 R.Rajkumar Saree Ke Fall Se

top

10

MOVIE COLLECTIONS

HIT OR FLOP MIDWEEKSINGH SAAB THE GREAT AVERAGE

RAM LEELA AVERAGE

KRRISH 3 (HINDI) BLOCKBUSTER

BOSS FLOP

UpcomingBOLLYWOOD Movies

SONGFILM

NAGADASANG DHOL

Film: Ram Leela

Movie Review

'Dhoom 3' convenientlysurpasses your expectations

DEDH ISHQIYARELEASE DATE: January 10, 2014

DIRECTOR(S): Abhishek Chaubey

PRODUCER: Vishal Bhardwaj

GENRE : Drama, Romance, Crime

CAST: AAMIR KHAN, KATRINA KAIF,

ABHISHEK BACHCHAN, UDAY CHOPRA,

JACKIE SHROFF

DIRECTOR: VIJAY KRISHNA

ACHARAYA

RATING: ***1/2

songs 1

After creating loads ofhullabaloo, finallyone of the mostanticipated action

packed cine chronicle of the yearhas made it to cineplexes. Eversince this pleasurable cine-taleand its star-cast was announced,the curiosity of millions of'Dhoom' fans started tossing inthe hope of something grand inthe offering.Ever since its inception each andevery edition of 'Dhoom'franchise has succeeded in notonly raising the bar, but also inleaving an impact with what theyoffer on the celluloid. Be it highoctane action, those classyvrooming bikes, or gravitydefying stunts of those whoperform them on the celluloid,every-time brand Dhoom hasthoroughly succeeded inoffering something grand to itsfans.Marking the onset andcontinuing with a moviefranchise is no longer anoblivion practice in Bollywood.With numerous productionhouses continuing with thebrand name of some of their best

JAI HORELEASE DATE: January 24, 2014

DIRECTOR(S): Sohail Khan

GENRE : Action, Romance

HASEE TOH PHASEERELEASE DATE: February 07, 2014

PRODUCER(S): Karan Johar, Phantom Films

GENRE : Romance, Comedy

SHOLAY 3D (2013)RELEASE DATE: Jan 03, 2013

DIRECTOR(S): Ramesh Sippy

PRODUCER: G P Sippy

STARRING : Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema

Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Jaya Bachchan, A K

Hangal, Satyen Kappu, Mac Mohan, Sachin Pilgaonkar,

Jagdeep, Asrani, Leela Mishra, Iftekhar, Om Shiv Puri, Viju

Khote, Vikas Anand, Keshto Mukherjee, Mushtaq Me

selling products, have not onlyoffered an unadulteratedentertainment to cineenthusiasts, but have provedtheir entertaining potency too.Be it Krrish, Dabangg or therecently released Dhoom 3belonging to YRF's Dhoomfranchise, each of these bestselling cine products ofBollywood have not onlysucceeded in charming themasses, but at the same timehave secured for themselves arepute of being massive cinecharmers with loads ofentertainment stuffed in them.Anyhow coming to one of the

most anticipated movie of theyear "Dhoom 3", the moviestarring Aamir Khan, KatrinaKaif, Abhishek Bachchan andUday Chopra, as perexpectations opened with centpercent occupancy.Although so far we havewitnessed that cine cantatabelonging to "Dhoom" franchiseprimarily dealt with action themeand a sort of cop and thief chase.But this edition of "Dhoom issomewhat different, because ofan emotional tale flowingbeneath its conspicuous current.Premise of "Dhoom 3" is settledin Chicago and narrates the taleof Sahir (Aamir Khan) an acrobatwho see his father (Jackie Shroff)committing suicide due to hisinability in clearing a bank debtand saving his circus "The GreatIndian Circus" from auctioning.As the frames proceed ahead itshowcases how Sahir, whootherwise own a social personaof a circus acrobat, in order toavenge the death of his fatherstarts robbing all the branchesof "Western Bank of Chicago"one after the other, which hefeels is primarily responsible forthe death of his father.In order to prevent the situationfrom getting worst, ACP Jai Dixit(Abhishek Bachchan) ofMumbai Police along with Ali (Uday Chopra) is roped in byChicago police and from therebegins an action packed chasesaga. And keeping in view thecuriosity of the fans associatedwith "Dhoom 3" here I would liketo mention that, saying anythingfurther about the premise of

"Dhoom 3" may dent theexcitement of the cineenthusiasts. So guys to knowwhether Jai Dixit succeeds in hisintent, or is it Sahir who has thelast laugh watch "Dhoom 3".While penning down the premiseof 'Dhoom 3' Vijay KrishnaAcharya and Aditya Chopra hasquite adroitly managed to keepthe basic spirit of Dhoomfranchise i.e. high octane daredevilish stunts, alive. But at thesame time they have not forgotto give this action packed tale ahuman touch. As stated abovethat unlike its prequels, "Dhoom3" certainly has got an emotionalelement brewed in its premisewhich somewhere down the linegives it an edge to it over itsprequels. And besidesimpressive feature pertaining toDhoom 3's narration is whichemerges as an stand out featureof it is that it is a standalone cinedelight, independent of anyassociation with its prequels,which is usually the case withother franchises of Bollywood.In the first half, premise certainlytakes somewhat extended time spanto unfurl fully, but once it does, itkeeps all your neurotransmittersglued to the onscreen proceedings.After presenting a well structurednarrative in the first half, the story of"Dhoom 3" get a bit indolent in thepost interval part, but this meagerflaw pertaining to the movie isundoubtedly passable.As far as screenplay is concernedthen throughout its run time whichis almost of 3 hours "Dhoom 3"nowhere leaves any scope fordistraction and woolgathering. Fromthe very first frame, the flow ofnarration of "Dhoom 3" not onlyproceeds like a smoothly flowingstream, but also succeeds inkeeping the attention of theviewers focused on thecelluloid.Be it the action sequences designedby Conard Palmisano and ShamKaushal or the dauntlessscreenplay of Vijay KrishnaAcharaya, everything pertainingto "Dhoom 3" is so engrossingthat you don't feel like takingyour gazes off the silver screen.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2013b o l l y w o o d

SANJAY DUTT OUT ON PAROLESECOND TIME IN THREE MONTHS

Incarcerated Bollywoodactor Sanjay Dutt wasreleased on a month's

parole from Yeravada CentralJail here to look after his ailingwife Manyata, official sources

said Saturday. Dutt, 54, left forMumbai immediately.He had sought parole early thismonth from the Pune divisionalcommissioner which wasgranted. However, the issue

became controversial with mostopposition parties opposingthe "preferential" treatment toDutt. Denying the oppositioncharges, Home Minister R.R.Patil even said he would seek

details of Manyata's illness.The release came a day afterthe Maharashtra legislature'swinter session ended inNagpur Friday.Earlier, well known cardiologistAjay Chaughule, who hadexamined Manyata, revealedshe was suffering from heartand liver problems which were"causing concern".Manyata had complained ofchest pain and sudden weightloss a few weeks ago and testsdetected irregular heart beatsand a large tumour growth onher liver, according toChaughule, who is attachedwith Global Hospital, Mumbai,and specialises in heart andliver problems.This is the second time theactor has come out on parole inthe past three months.Dutt was granted parole Oct 1for a fortnight on medicalgrounds which was extendedby another fortnight and hereturned to jail Oct 30.He was convicted andsentenced to five years in jailfor his involvement in theMarch 1993 Mumbai serialblasts and has been in jail sincemid-May this year to serve outthe remaining 42 months of hissentence.

Star has reversed its decision to take on Comedy Nights WithKapil head-on.It was earlier decided that Sunil Grover wouldcreate a comedy show which would be modelled on the sameformat as Kapil's show and would be telecast at the sametime too.However the channel has now decided to steer clear of theKapil factor.Says a source, `Star has decided to not taken on ComedyNights With Kapil. Though Sunil Grover's show would beformated like Kapil's show it won't be telecast at the sametime.`Grover's show is expected to begin in March 2014.Apparently Sunil and Kapil have met and discussed the issueand called for a collective truce.Confront Sunil Grover over the confrontation with Kapil, andSunil says, `We are very much at peace with one another.Atthe moment I can't tell you much about my show except thatwe aren't looking at taking on Kapil, or anyone else. I amhappy in my own space.Also, I don't want to see the show asthe sum-total of my career. It will only be a stopover.`However Gutthi will re-appear in Sunil's own show. `There 'sno getting away from her. My fans enjoy watching Gutthi.Recently I hosted an awards function with Shreyas Talpadeand I was asked to appear on stage as Gutthi. I preferred toplay another woman character.`Sunil Grover feels 2013 has brought him tremendous recog-nition. `There was a time when I used to stand by the road-side and eat oily pakodas from off a piece of newspaper, Thatscrap of paper under my pakodas would always have theface of some enter tainer or the other. Now I hope to see myown face peeping at me from under the pakodas. I knowGutthi has got me a lot of attention. And I am not ready to giveher up. But at the same time there's a lot more to me`

THE GUTTHI, KAPILTRUCE: SUNIL GROVER'SSHOW WON'T TAKE ON

KAPIL SHARMA

KAREENA KAPOOR DOES NOT FEEL 'SAFE' IN MUMBAIBollywood diva Kareena Kapoor Khan says that she does notfeel safe in Mumbai and would take the initiative to promotethe cause of women safety.Kareena has come on board for the initiative of Star networkto highlight the issue of women's safety. She will championthe use of Channel V's 'VithU' app, which is a Star networkinitiative. Using the application, one can reach out to friendsand guardians at the click of a button."When I was told about this app, I wanted to come on board.As the crime rate is growing I believe on the issue of womensafety... They need to be protected. It's impor tant for actors tostand up for issues as they can reach out to lot of people,"Kareena told repor ters here today.Kareena reveals even her actor husband Saif Ali Khan waskeen to suppor t the cause."Both my mother and Saif are happy I am suppor ting this.

Saif even wished he could be par t of it," she added.Kareena expressed shock over the incident of a womanjournalist allegedly gang-raped by five men in August thisyear near Shakti Mills. "What happened to the journalist wasshocking. Recently, a foreigner who lives just behind myhouse was raped. I never thought this could happen where weare living. We have heard about such cases in Delhi, MP andnow it has happened in the city of Mumbai where people areeducated and working people. It is disappointing," Kareenasaid.Kareena said she used to feel safe in this city two years ago.But with the recent serious crimes against women in Mumbai,she feels uneasy and unsafe."There are times when I shoot till late night or early morning...My mother gets worried she stays awake. I call her wheneverI come home," she added.



FOR BEST DEALS AND INFORMATION SEE PAGE 29

Match Details Telecast Date Start Time EST* Venue

1st Test 20 Nov - 24 Nov, 2013 7.00 PM Brisbane

2nd Test 04 Dec - 08 Dec, 2013 7.00 PM Adelaide Oval

3rd Test 12 Dec - 16 Dec, 2013 9.30 PM Perth

4th Test 25 Dec - 29 Dec, 2013 6.30 PM Melbourne

5th Test 02 Jan - 06 Jan, 2014 6.30 PM Sydney

AB DE VILLIERS AND FAF DU PLESSIS PUT ON 205 FOR THE FIFTH WICKET

India hold own in greatest draw

‘ INDIA 280 (KOHLI 119, PHILANDER 4-61) AND421 (PUJARA 153, KOHLI 96) DREW WITHSOUTH AFRICA 244 (SMITH 68, PHILANDER59, ISHANT 4-79, ZAHEER 4-88) AND 450 FOR7 (DU PLESSIS 134, DE VILLIERS 103)

Du Plessis, de Villiers ensure thrilling draw First they pulled off 438, the highest successful chase in ODIs.

Today, faced with a target of 458 on a tricky Wanderers pitch, SouthAfrica came within eight runs of breaking the world record for achase in Test cricket.

At the start of the fifth day, South Africa needed 320 with eightwickets in hand, and a draw was their more realistic goal. But afterlosing two wickets early on, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers, theprotagonists of the Adelaide escape, began a partnership thatswelled to 205 and turned the game. They took South Africa towithin 56 runs of victory. By the time both were dismissed, SouthAfrica needed 16 runs, but with only Imran Tahir and the injuredMorne Morkel to come, Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn batted out19 deliveries to secure one of the game's greatest draws.

The two quicks were the last men standing after what will beremembered as one of the most exciting last hours of Test cricket. Itbegan with de Villiers and du Plessis at the crease, both havingscored a hundred and South Africa needing 66 off 15 overs to win.But then India surged back into contention by removing both andJP Duminy in the next 12 overs, before it all ended with Philanderand Steyn choosing safety first despite how close South Africawere.

Du Plessis and de Villiers batted together for a minute short offour hours and faced 375 balls to take South Africa from 197 for 4 -when they still needed 261 runs to win - to being in sight of victory.They showed immense patience and composure on a pitch withvariable bounce and sizeable cracks, wore down an Indian attackthat tried everything and rode the luck that came their way.

Zaheer becomes thefourth Indian to take

300 Test wickets

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1Zaheer Khan on Sunday became the four th Indian bowler andthe second only pacer to take 300 wickets in Test matchesduring the final day of the first Test at the Wanderers Stadiumin Johannesburg. The 35-year-old achieved the milestonewhen Jacques Kallis, batting at 34, was given LBW byumpire Rod Tucker despite his edging the ball onto his pads.The left armer joins the elite company of leg spinner AnilKumble (619 wickets), all-rounder Kapil Dev (434) and offieHarbhajan Singh (413) in his 89th match. He also becomesthe most successful left arm fast bowler after Pakistani greatWasim Akram (414) and Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas (355).Among the cricketing nations, Zaheer is placed 27th with SriLankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan topping the char twith 800 scalps.Zaheer had taken a four-wicket haul in the first innings andthis was his first wicket in South Africa's second innings.This is Zaheer's first international match in more than a yearas he was dropped from the team because of fitness issues.

With two places up for grabs at the 2015 ICC World Cup, 10 teamshead into next month's World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand know-ing that the tournament represents the final chance to qualify forthe flagship event that will be staged in Australia and New Zealandfrom Feb 14 to March 29.The finalists from January's event will join the 10 full members aswell as Ireland and Afghanistan in cricket's biggest event.The qualifier will be held from Jan 13 to Feb 1 and the teams havebeen divided in to two groups.Group A: United Arab Emirates, Scotland, Canada, Hong Kong, NepalGroup B: Netherlands, Kenya, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Uganda

The top three from each group will progress to the Super Sixes.In the North Island, matches will be played at Mt. Maunganui's BayOval and the Pukekura Park in New Plymouth. In South IslandChristchurch's Hagley Oval will debut as an international cricketvenue. Matches will also be played in Rangiora, Queenstownand Lincoln with the Ber t Sutcliffe Oval hosting the final Feb 1.This is the 10th edition of the qualifier which was known as theICC Trophy unti l 2005. Previous winners include Sri Lanka(1975), Zimbabwe (1982, 1986 and 1990), the UAE (1994),Bangladesh (1997), Netherlands (2001), Scotland (2005) and Ire-land (2009).

10 TEAMS VIE FOR LAST TWO 2015

ICC WORLD CUP SPOTS

sports

KANE WILLIAMSON CUTS STYLISHLY OFF THE BACK FOOT, NEW ZEALAND V WEST INDIES, 3RD TEST, HAMILTON.

New Zealand ease to series victory

GRAEME SWANNRETIRES MID-SERIES

‘NEW ZEALAND 349 (TAYLOR 131, WILLIAMSON 58,NARINE 6-91) AND 124 FOR 2 (WILLIAMSON 56) BEATWEST INDIES 367 (CHANDERPAUL 122*, RAMDIN 107,SOUTHEE 4-79) AND 103 (BOULT 4-23, SOUTHEE 3-12) BY EIGHT WICKETS

New Zealand suffered few alarms as they eased to an eight-wicket victory in Hamilton to claim the series 2-0. It wastheir first series victory over a top-eight nation since they

beat the same opposition in 2006. Kane Williamson provided themain contribution, with an elegant 56, while Hamish Rutherford wasunbeaten on 48, having been required to fight a little harder.

The winning runs came at 1.45pm when Rutherford droveNarsingh Deonarine through the covers, meaning Ross Taylor couldnot quite score enough in the second innings to become NewZealand's leading scorer in a calendar year after Williamson hadbeen bowled with six runs required. The only chance West Indieshad of conjuring something remarkable after yesterday's post-teademise, where they lost 10 wickets in a session, was to grab a coupleof quick breakthroughs to create some nerves in the home camp.However, Rutherford and Peter Fulton saw through the initial stages,and although Fulton chipped a return catch back to Darren Sammy- the West Indies captain's fourth sharp take of the match - thevisitors could not strike in quick succession. Narine probed awaythroughout the entire first session, making life tough for Rutherfordwho was stuck at the offspinner's end for the eighth to the 26th over.Rutherford was given out, caught behind, on 24, but the DRS showed

that he had hit the ground rather than the ball. Although rarelyconvincing, he did collect a couple of boundaries off Narine whenthe bowler dropped his line short. Williamson was more free-flowingafter taking 15 deliveries to open his account. He greeted VeerasammyPermaul's first over with two classy drives, exhibiting swift footworkand confidence against the more orthodox spin of the left-armer. Athird lofted boundary by Williamson brought the end to Permaul'sbrief spell, and Tino Best, who has been one of the majordisappointments of the series, was given a run with little impact.Afterlunch, Williamson skipped to his fifty from 74 balls, his second ofthe match, but could not quite see the chase to its conclusion whenhe aimed a pull at a ball from Permaul which skidded through. Thejob, though, was soon completed and New Zealand were able tocelebrate a convincing start to their international season. For WestIndies, their Test cricket does not hold much cause for satisfaction.

Graeme Swann, the England offspinner, has retired from allinternational cricket and first-class cricket with immediate ef-fect.Swann, 34, will not play in the final two Tests of the Ashes tourand will finish his career with 255 wickets at 29.96 from his 60Tests. However, on a disappointing tour of Australia in whichEngland have gone down 3-0 after the first three Tests, Swannhas been one of the senior players who has failed to have animpact and has managed only seven wickets at 80.He said that although he knew retirement was not far awayearlier this year, given the struggle for his body to get throughfive-day matches, the temptation of potentially winning a four thconsecutive Ashes series had encouraged him to take par t inthe tour of Australia. Swann said that with the series decidedand his mind made up, there was no point in playing on at theMCG or in Sydney.Graeme Swann on...Who should replace him..."I think Monty's going to come in and do a great job in thisgame coming up this week. Whoever ends up taking the rolefull time I think they'll do a great job as well. Personally I hopelittle Scottie Bor thwick gets a chance before long. He's alegspinner with a bit of x-factor and he can bat as well. Despitesuppor ting Man City and Sunderland, two of the worst teams inEngland, he's a good guy."What he'll miss the most..."This England team has been my family for the best par t of adecade now. You spend so much time with guys who you loveto pieces. It's going to be really hard not going to breakfast witha miserable Jimmy Anderson every morning, breaking him inslowly through the day and seeing a smile about tea-time.Things like that will be hard."The future of the England team..."We've got very exciting young players in England. Ben Stokesshowed last week what a great player he is. I think he could bea player you could almost build a team around, not puttingpressure on him - well, that is putting pressure on him I sup-pose - but if he can continue in the vein of form he star ted in,you could build teams around players like that."Telling Alastair Cook of his decision..."He is one of my best mates so it should have been a very easyconversation but it actually made it doubly hard, just to sitdown over a coffee and blur t it out. It was like one of his teamtalks, it didn't make any sense. But I got it out in the end.""When I came out on this trip I half expected it to be my last tourfor England," Swann said in Melbourne on Sunday. "I was des-perately hoping to win the Ashes out here again like we did in2010-11 but with the Ashes gone now in those three Testmatches, personally I think to stay on and selfishly play just toexperience another Boxing Day Test match and another SydneyTest match would be wrong.

Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, will return to internationalcricket following a nine-month injury layoff, after the selectorsincluded him in the squad for the remainder of the ODI seriesagainst Sri Lanka in the UAE. He will join the squad on Sunday,ahead of the third of five matches."The national selection committee in consultation with the tourselection committee has decided to send Umar Gul to UAE aspar t of national ODI squad," the PCB said. "He will join thePakistan team on December 22."The decision to pick Gul was made after Pakistan lost thesecond ODI in Dubai by six wickets despite posting 284, due tosloppy bowling in the death overs. Following the defeat, whichleft the series 1-1, Pakistan's captain Misbah-ul-Haq immedi-ately expressed concern about the lack of experience amonghis bowlers.Gul sustained a knee injury in March during the second ODIagainst South Africa in Centurion, and missed five series since,including the Champions Trophy. Following the injury, he trav-elled to Australia for surgery and after six weeks of rest, beganhis rehabilitation. He eased himself back into competitivecricket by featuring in List A matches in October and went on toplay the Depar tment Twenty20 Cup for Habib Bank, but hisform remained unimpressive.

Umar Gul joins ODI squad in UAE