-arvind kejriwal -kiran bedi -nupur sharma...

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

Obama visit: India-USties set to move to

transformative level

THE BATTLE FOR DELHI DARBAR

LOW OIL PRICES isn't allnegative for Canada'seconomy: CIBC World Markets

I CONTD. ON PAGE 10

I CONTD. ON PAGE 5

BY RANJANA NARAYAN/NEW DELHI (IANS)

India-US ties are set to move to the transformative level during Presi-dent Barack Obama's India visit later this week, building also on thepersonal rapport developed between him and Prime Minister NarendraModi with both sides keen to have promising outcomes from the talkson a range of issues, including defence, energy, education and eco-nomic cooperation.Obama, chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade, has describedModi as a "man of action".The two leaders have met thrice already in the recent past - in Wash-ington during the bilateral in September last year, in Myanmar duringthe East Asia Summit and in Brisbane during the G20 in November.But the Jan 25 bilateral would be an "important summit" meeting inthat it would seek to give a more concrete shape to many of theagreed points of the joint statement issued last year in Washington.The summit would see a "more broader partnership and more ener-gized" ties between the two sides.In the field of defence, both sides are set to ink a new 10-year defenceframework agreement that would take defence cooperation to a higherlevel.Talks on developing the next generation aircraft carrier are likely togain steam as well as on coproduction of defence equipment.The US is keen to replicate in par t the kind of defence cooperation thatIndia and Russia share, especially on the lines of the BrahMos mis-siles that is jointly developed by the two countries.The US is also to cooperate with a planned National Defence Univer-sity to be set up by India.The agreement for US involvement the Smart Cities project for Ajmer,Allahabad and Vishakhapatnam is also to get a push during the talks.Talks have been going on between relevant authorities to take for-ward the project over the past few months.

Falling oil prices give Canadians a big break at thepump as country wrestles with efficiency paradox

TORONTO/CNW/- While the rout in oil has sharpened the focuson the economic fallout, Canada tops the list as the largest con-sumer of energy per capita among the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development countries, meaning that trends inthe energy needs of consumers and industries alike paint afuller picture of the country's economic outlook, finds a newrepor t from CIBC World Markets."The dramatic collapse in crude has lines drawn betweenwinners and losers," says Benjamin Tal, CIBC Deputy ChiefEconomist, who co-authored the repor t with Nick Exarhos."And, though the nation's emergence as an energy power-house has the negatives coming into sharper focus, therewill be spoils to be shared in Canada."Canada is not only a major energy producer, but it also con-sumes more energy than any other major industrialized coun-try, using more than 7,000 kg of oil equivalent per capita."It's cold here," says Mr. Tal. "Distances between major ur-ban centres are relatively large, and the country's vast re-source sector requires substantial amounts of energy for itsoperation."The repor t points out that this level of energy consumptioncould have been much higher if not for the meaningful de-cl ine in the countr y 's overal l energy intensity. Canada'seconomy uses 25 per cent less energy per unit of GDP todaythan it did 20 years ago, but over the past decade, energyintensity stabilized, as energy consumption in the oil patchand manufacturing sectors vir tually cancelled each other out,reflecting the past decade's growth in one and downsizing inthe other.

LOHRI CELEBRATIONS IN COMMUNITY

DETAILS ON PAGE 3 & 4

“I WILL EXPOSE AAP”

-SHAZIA ILMI

“BJP KNOWS THAT IT IS GOING TOLOSE THIS ELECTION VERY BADLYAND THIS IS WHY THIS PARTY HAS

FINALLY ROPED IN KIRAN BEDI”

-ARVIND KEJRIWAL

“I AM DEFINITELY NOT ASCAPEGOAT. I'M SORRY BUTI'M A WOMAN, AN ADVOCATE,ACTUALLY VERY WELL READ”

-NUPUR SHARMA

“KEJRIWAL IS INEXPERIENCEDAND THAT'S WHY I AM

SUPPORTING THE BJP”

-KIRAN BEDI

KEJRIWAL CHALLENGES BEDI TO DEBATE, BJP SIDESTEPS, MAKEN READYBJP RELEASES FINAL LIST, AKALI DAL NAMES FOUR FOR DELHI POLLSKIRAN BEDI BJP'S CHIEF MINISTERIAL CANDIDATE IN DELHIBJP WILL BLAME BEDI FOR DEFEAT IN DELHI POLLS: KEJRIWAL'TOO DANGEROUS' TO VOTE AAP TO POWER: CONGRESS

New Delhi, (IANS) BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi Tues-day sidestepped AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal's challenge for a debateon issues facing Delhi but Congress general secretary Ajay Makenexpressed his willingness for a structured discussion among the threepoliticians who are leading the campaign of their par ties for the Feb 7assembly polls.Kejriwal threw the challenge for a debate a day after Bedi was namedthe Bharatiya Janata Par ty's chief ministerial candidate.The BJP retor ted by terming Kejriwal "I-run-man" and Bedi "Iron Lady".The battle for Delhi intensified Tuesday, following clarity about thecampaign leaders of the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Par ty and the Congress.Kejriwal and Bedi took potshots at each other.Kejriwal, a former Delhi chief minister, led a road show in centralDelhi but could not file his nomination papers as thousands joinedhim leading to a delay.He could not reach the district magistrate's office on time and isexpected to file nominations Wednesday.Later, Kejriwal addressed a gathering in Krishna Nagar, the seat Bediis contesting from and said the BJP would blame her for its defeat in

the elections next month.He claimed the BJP has already conceded defeat, and Bedi had joinedthe par ty to be "trapped".Kejriwal assured cheaper power and water to the people of Delhi andattacked the Narendra Modi government over its "unfulfilled" prom-ises.Bedi also addressed a par ty workers' meeting in Krishna Nagar andpromised a clean government.Earlier in the day, Kejriwal invited Bedi for a debate."Ajay Maken, Kiran Bedi and I, all three should have a debate so thatpeople can make an informed choice about selecting their chief min-ister," he told repor ters.He had earlier conveyed his challenge to Bedi for a debate through a tweet."Congrats 4 being nominated as BJP's CM candidate. I invite u 4 apublic debate moderated by neutral person and telecast by all,"Kejriwal posted.Kejriwal, who is leading the AAP campaign, also said Bedi has blockedhim on social networking site Twitter.

I CONTD. ON PAGE 11

PERRY MINHAS AND RUPI MINHAS CELEBRATED THEIR FIRST LOHRI AS A COUPLE.

2 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015

MidWeek 3MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


LOHRI CELEBRATIONS IN COMMUNITYs p e c i a l r e p o r t

ONTARIO - PAUL MINHAS AND RANI MINHAS ORGANIZED A STUNNING LOHRI CELEBRATION FOR THEIR SON RUPI MINHAS ANDDAUGHTER-IN-LAW PERRY MINHAS. SEVERAL DISTINGUISHED GUESTS ATTENDED THIS AUSPICIOUS EVENT.


TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015s p e c i a l r e p o r t



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 breaking news

OBAMA VISIT: INDIA-US TIES SET TOMOVE TO TRANSFORMATIVE LEVELCONTD. FROM PAGE 1It would see the US participating in the three cities as knowledge part-ner in the areas of traffic management, solid waste management, garbagedisposal, recycling waste water and in water storage, said sources.Economic ties are also set to get a major leg up.The fact that the US government and business houses view the Modi govern-ment as business-friendly is evident from the fact that an 80-member teamfrom the US with 12 CEOs attended the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar,led by US Secretary of State John Kerry.Kerry had met Modi during the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat for talks on theagenda for Obama's visit. The US Secretary of State later told reporters thatboth sides would strive to make progress on the four main issues of climatechange, defence, civil nuclear cooperation and economic partnership.The stalled civil nuclear deal is also expected to get a major push with thecontact group from both sides having held two rounds of talks so far. Issuesover India's liability laws are expected to be ironed over.The US is hoping to build on the Modi government's bold policy initiatives likeMake in India, Smart Cities, Skilling India and renewable energy.After Modi's assurance to foreign companies to ensure ease in doing busi-ness in India by cutting away red tape, more investments have been flowinginto India from the US.More concrete movement on the Modi government's Digital India initiative aswell as on India's proposal to establish the Global Initiative of AcademicNetworks (GIAN, or Knowledge) would be seen during the summit.As part of cooperation under GIAN, which is part of the joint statement, Indiais to invite and host up to 1,000 American academics each year to teach incentrally-recognized Indian Universities, at their convenience. While the Ameri-can teachers are to be reimbursed by their parent universities, India would belooking after their stay in the country and also pay a token amount.The process of identifying the universities on both sides is underway.

New Delhi, (IANS) The Congress Monday asked the Election Com-mission to take criminal action against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwalfor inducing voters to accept bribes. In its complaint to poll panelchief H.S. Brahma, the par ty said the statement made by Kejriwalwas in "clear violation of Model Code of Conduct". Aam AadmiPar ty leader Kejriwal Sunday had appealed to people to "acceptmoney doled out by both the Congress and the Bharatiya JanataPar ty (BJP) but cast votes for AAP" in the Delhi assembly elec-tions Feb 7. In the complaint, the Congress said" "The statementcannot simply be described as irresponsible but has to be viewedwith utmost seriousness and gravity to even take criminal ac-tions against him for the purity for electoral process.""It is totally derogatory and scandalizing. By making such state-ment, apar t from instigating people to indulge in bribe and cor-ruption, he (Kejriwal) has maligned the democratic institutionand the process," said the letter.

Congress complains to ECagainst Kejriwal's bribe remarkSunanda Pushkar case Tharoor questioned by police

New Delhi, (IANS) Delhi Police Monday questioned Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in the mysterious murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkarin January last year. Tharoor reached the Vasant Vihar police station in south Delhi Monday evening - a few hours after he was issueda notice. The questioning lasted over four hours.Police had constituted a special investigative team (SIT) to probe the murder after registering a FIR in the case Jan 1 this year. The FIRwas filed based on Pushkar's third autopsy repor t by the AIIMS medical board.A five member team of SIT -- including a deputy commissioner of police, an additional deputy commissioner, an assistant commissionerand two inspectors -- had questioned Tharoor.Police said that Tharoor's statement was recorded under section 161 (examination of witnesses by police) of the Criminal ProcedureCode. Tharoor was called for questioning fist time in connection with his wife's murder case.He had reached the national capital Monday from Bengaluru, where he had gone to attend a school function. Landing at the Indira GandhiInternational (IGI) airpor t around 2 p.m, he went to his house in Lodhi Estate area in central Delhi without answering questions from themedia standing outside the airpor t. The SIT has questioned at least 12 people, including Tharoor's security staff members and domestichelp, who were present in the hotel in south Delhi's Leela Palace hotel when Pushkar was found dead in a hotel room.Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi, asked to comment on repor ts about then information and broadcasting ministerManish Tewari being present in the flight from Kerala Jan 15 on which the couple had a fight, said: "The possibility cannot be ruled out."He said the process of sending the viscera of Pushkar to the US for special investigation was on.

Patrick Brown Leadership Campaign Hosts Peel GalaIndo Canadian community shows support for Brown's Leadership bidBRAMPTON: The Patrick Brown Leadership Campaign held a successful Peelregionfundraiser on January 16, 2015. The Gala, in support of Patrick's PC Party of OntarioLeadership campaign, had more than 350 people in attendance - a testament of thestrong support from the Indo Canadian community.Patrick was joined by many special guests, including:" HonourableTim Uppal, Minister of State for Multiculturalism" Honourable Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport)" MP Parm Gill" MP Kyle Seeback" MP Brad Butt" MP WladLizon" Senator Asha SethQuotes"I am honoured by the support I have received from the Indo Canadian community.As Co-Chair of the Canada-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, I have had theopportunity to build strong ties within the community and I look forward to a strongworking relationship as Leader of the PC Party of Ontario."- MP Patrick Brown, PC Party of Ontario Leadership candidate."Patrick Brown is one of the hardest working politicians I've ever known. He knowshow to win elections - by earning, and re-earning, the respect of voters andconstituents. I am confident that Patrick is the only candidate who can breathe newlife into the Party- who can build a fresh new political movement that people across Ontario - fromevery walk of life - will choose to lead our province in 2018."- Hon. Tim Uppal, Minister of State for Multiculturalism"Patrick will bring new energy and a fresh vision to the Ontario PC party. He is thekind of leader our party needs to reach out to the next generation of young Canadi-ans and I know he will work hard to ensure we are ready to win the next election."- Hon. Bal Gosal, MP Bramalea-Gore-Malton, Minister of State (Sport)"As the Member of Parliament for Barrie for 9 years, Patrick has demonstrated

leadership, vision and determination. This is exactly the type of person we need tolead the Ontario PC party if we want to win the next election."- Parm Gill, MP, Brampton-Springdale, Parliamentary Secretary to theMinister of Veterans Affairs"We need a dynamic new leader to remind Ontarians of why the PC Party is theright choice for our province. Patrick Brown is that leader."- Kyle Seeback, MP Brampton West"Patrick Brown is a friend of people from Asia and his affection for India makes hima special Canadian politician. Patrick's intelligence, honesty and friendly demeanourmakes everyone feel comfortable. These are reasons Patrick has so many friendsaround the World. Patrick has a vision to put Ontario on the path of prosperity andI am proud to call him a friend."- LajPrasher. National Convenor, Canada India Foundation

MP Patrick Brown, PC Party of Ontario Leadership candidate andspecial guests at his recent Peel Gala. Pictured left to right: MPBrad Butt, MP Kyle Seeback, Hon. Minister Tim Uppal, MP PatrickBrown, PC Party of Ontario Leadership candidate, MP Parm Gill,MPP Rick Nicholls, and MP WladyslawLizon.


TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015community

JANUARY CLEARANCE SALESALE ENDSSATURDAY

HOURS: OPEN MON TUES WED 10 TO 6 THURS FRI 10-8 SAT 9-6 SUN 11-5

Blue MountainResort announces

new activities

BLUE MOUNTAIN - Blue Mountain Resor t's list of cold weather activi-ties has increased with the addition of a Hike N' Tube Park that is opennow. Located adjacent to South Base Lodge at the base of the L-Hillski trail, the Hike N' Tube Park features four tubing tracks spread outover two courses and is suitable for guests aged 3 and older."Blue Mountain prides itself on having a winter activity that caters toevery age and level of ability," said Paul Pinchbeck, Vice PresidentMarketing, Blue Mountain Resor t. "Our Hike N' Tube Park is a greatcold-weather alternative for those guests that may not ski or snowboardbut still wish to enjoy a downhill experience."Resor t veterans may recall Blue Mountain's first tube park whichwas retired following the 2006/07 Winter Season. Reintroducing tub-ing to Blue Mountain's line up comes as a response to requests foradditional family friendly experiences outside the realm of alpinespor ts. The Hike N' Tube Park joins Blue's list of off-hill activitiesincluding The Mill Pond Skating Rink, Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster,Columbia Guided Snowshoe Hikes and Plunge! Aquatic Centre.Those who wish to experience Blue Mountain's latest offering canvisit the tube hut located at the base of L-Hill to pick up their tuberental at a cost of $10 for 60 minutes of tubing time. Discounted rateswill also be available for lodging guests and group visitors.

Brampton Receives Transit Upgrades

PROJECT POSSIBLE THANKS TO FEDERAL GAS TAX FUNDBrampton: Brampton residents are benefitting from improvedtransit services thanks to contributions from the federal Gas TaxFund. Over the past year, joint investments from the federal,provincial and municipal governments suppor ted the renewal andexpansion of the City’s fleet and transit road infrastructure.Overall, 15 new low-floor buses with increased accessibility andimproved Presto fare collection and SmartBus technologies hit thecity’s roads, replacing aging vehicles and increasing the fleet tomeet the expanding needs of the community. An additional tenbuses were refurbished, to help extend their lifespan by six yearsand maintain current and future service levels for public transitusers. Bus stop shelters and concrete flooring were replaced, toincrease passenger comfor t, safety and convenience.Quick Facts* The Government of Canada contributed $7,059,000 through thefederal Gas Tax Fund transfer towards these projects.* The City of Brampton was responsible for the remaining costs ofthese projects. The total project costs were $9,109,000.* To date, a total of $94,834,914 has been made available to theCity of Brampton through the federal Gas Tax Fund.

Quotes* Our Government is taking significant steps to reduce trafficgridlock and get people and goods moving across the GreaterToronto Area. This investment to upgrade Brampton’s transitservices is another example of the benefits being realized as aresult of our stable, predictable gas tax funding. Our Government iscommitted to building and revitalizing public infrastructure in orderto create jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians.¡¨The Honourable Joe Oliver,Minister of Finance and Minister Responsible for the GTA* Everybody - individuals, families, communities, and businesses -benefits from public transpor tation: it enhances personal oppor tuni-ties, saves fuel, reduces congestion, provides economic oppor tuni-ties and reduces the carbon footprint. Since 2006, our governmenthas extended, doubled, indexed and made permanent the federalGas Tax Fund, delivering significant predictable, long-term infra-structure funding for local priorities like these transit improve-ments, which will help improve the quality of life in Brampton foryears to come.¨Kyle Seeback, Member of Parliament for Brampton West



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 community

Ontario is making it easier for commuters to take public transitwith improvements to the Bramalea GO Station.Work is already underway and includes extending the platformto accommodate 12-passenger cars that will add about 300 ex-tra seats per trip. Repairs are also being made to the southparking lot, with the addition of a new Kiss 'N' Ride shelter and aplatform canopy complete with heated shelters. Work is ex-pected to be complete by fall 2017.Investing in transit is par t of the government's economic plan forOntario. The four par t plan is building Ontario up by investing inpeople's talents and skills, building new public infrastructurelike roads and transit, creating a dynamic, suppor tive environ-ment where business thrives, and building a secure savingsplan so everyone can afford to retire.QUOTES"These improvements wi l l provide commuters using theBramalea GO Station every day a better, more accessible sta-tion and make provisions for the increased services underway."- Harinder Malhi, MPP, Brampton-Springdale"Our unprecedented public transit investments are making tran-sit a better choice for commuters. This is fur ther proof of ourgovernment's commitment to making the daily commute andquality of life better for Ontario families."- Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transpor tation"We're improving Bramalea GO Station to make it easier for ourexisting and future customers to take public transit. It's par t ofour plan to build a fast, convenient and integrated transit net-work here in the GTHA."- Greg Percy, President, GO TransitQUICK FACTS" Since 2003, the Ontario government has extended GO'srail network by nearly 90 kilometres, opened 10 new GO sta-tions and rebuilt two existing stations, and added over 30,000parking spots across the system." GO Transit carries approximately 66 million passen-gers per year." Over the past year, GO Trains have arrived on schedule93 per cent of the time.

Mayor Bonnie Crombie Issues Statementon Mississauga's Light Rail Transit Plan

MISSISSAUGA - Following recent media repor ts, Mississauga MayorBonnie Crombie issued the following statement to highlight the statusof the City of Mississauga's work to secure funding to construct theHurontario-Main LRT:"Mississauga has always been upfront with Metrolinx about the fund-ing required for the LRT, and we have never been told otherwise thatwe would not receive funding for our LRT. Council has had ongoingdiscussions about the need for funding for a number of years - this isnothing new. The Eglinton Crosstown is an example of a fully fundedtransit plan. The Scarborough LRT was to be fully funded before theplan was scrapped."Our intention is simply that Mississauga deserves its fair share offunding too. Metrolinx identified the Mississauga LRT as a leadingrapid transit priority for investment and we have one of the strongestbusiness cases to get this done. Mississauga is committed to thisproject and we have already invested nearly $15 million with Brampton

and Metrolinx toward building the LRT. Our population is growing. Weare planning new intensified developments, and the LRT will help usachieve this. "The LRT will reduce traffic gridlock. It will create jobsand generate economic development. It will elevate the quality of lifefor residents, and perhaps most impor tantly, it will unleash the poten-tial of our Downtown core. But like most Ontario municipalities, weare limited by what we can fund through the proper ty tax base. Wemust secure funding elsewhere."I am carrying on Mayor McCallion's work to champion the LRT. I metwith Finance Minister Sousa in December. Later this month, I willagain make the case for the LRT with Minister Sousa at a pre-budgetconsultation. I am meeting with Premier Wynne soon and this will bea priority for our discussions. I have pressed our case with local MPsand MPPs on this matter. As Canada's sixth largest city, I believe thatwhen all governments par tner to advance Mississauga's priorities,all of Ontario and Canada are better positioned for success."

Inauguration of Toronto Tabla Ensemble Centrefor Indian Arts on Gerrard Street, Little India

The recently opened Toronto Tabla Ensemble Centre for Indian Ar tswill have its inauguration ceremony on January 24th, 2015 located at1386 Gerrard Street East. The day's events will begin with a celebra-tion of the Indian festival, Saraswati Puja, at 9 AM followed by theinauguration ceremony at 3 PM and per formances by the TorontoTabla Ensemble and other local ar tists at 6 PM. The Consul General ofIndia, Mr. Akhilesh Mishra, will be the guest of honour for the ribboncutting ceremony. This event will mark the opening of a uniquemultidisciplinary ar ts centre and school in the hear t of Little India.The new space will host daily tabla classes, afterschool youth pro-grams, per formances by guest ar tists, and a range of dance andmusic classes, workshops and rehearsals. The Gerrard India Bazaarprovides the perfect backdrop for the centre to develop into a perma-nent venue for Indian music and dance, something that has not yetbeen available to Toronto audiences and arts practitioners. The TorontoTabla Ensemble (TTE) has been actively defining Toronto's world musicscene for the last twenty five years. Their mandate has been to pro-mote the Indian percussion instrument, tabla, and spread knowledgeof the classical Nor th Indian rhythmic system through rigorous train-ing at all skill levels.The ar tistic director and lead teacher of the TTE is Ritesh Das, whohails from a rich ar tistic lineage. His parents, Nrityachaya ProhladDas and Smt Nilima Das, opened up the first music and dance acad-emy in Kolkata after India gained independence. Das' brother is the

living Kathak dance legend, Pandit Chitresh Das. Growing up sur-rounded by legendary ar tists and studying music from a young age,he now continues under the guidance of his guru Pandit SwapanChaudhuri, who the TTE presents in Toronto for concer ts and work-shops.Since 1985, Das has been teaching tabla in Toronto and has helped tobring the ar t form to the Canadian mainstream. As the director of theTTE School of Tabla, Das continues to design programs to train pro-fessional tabla players, many of whom go on to become full-timear tists in Canada and beyond. Currently, Das directs tabla classes inToronto, Mississauga and Scarborough, and has recently launchedthe first Toronto Tabla Youth Ensemble featuring ar tists between 8 and15 years of age.For more information about the Toronto Tabla Ensemble, its upcominglocat ion and seasonal programming, please v is i tht tp:/ /www.torontotabla.com

NEW CENTRE TO BECOME HUB FOR INDIAN MUSIC AND DANCE INDOWNTOWN TORONTO

Mississauga - A new professional TV Studio - TAG TV - was inaugu-rated by Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga. The Consul Generalof India, Akhilesh Mishra was the guest ofhonour. Introducing his new venture, CEO TAG TV Tahir Aslam Gorasaid: “TAG TV Studio is a professionally equipped studio. It aims atreaching bigger audience through new means of mass communica-tions especially Internet.” He also claimed that TAG TV Studio shallbe presenting quality production in English, French, Punjabi, Hindi,Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Bangla and other multicultural languages.

TAG TV STUDIO IS A WELCOME ADDITION OFMISSISSAUGA MEDIA LANDSCAPE: BONNIE CROMBIE

“I am pleased to attend inauguration of TAG TV Studio. TAG TV Studiois a welcome addition of Mississauga Media landscape”, said speak-ing to the ceremony, Bonnie Crombie, Mayor Mississauga.India’s Consul General, Akhilesh Mishra expressed his trust on TAGTV team to reflect in pluralistic and responsible way.The inagural ceremony was attended by members of South Asianmedia, Coptic Christian community leaders, Persian and Arab mediarepresentatives.TAG TV Studio is situated at 2244 Drew Rd, unit 6 Mississauga.

Improved GO Station forCommuters in Bramalea

ONTARIO INVESTING IN PUBLICTRANSIT, CREATING JOBS

New Delhi: The UN-accredited global NGO, The Loomba Foun-dation, has announced that its Founder and Chairman TrusteeLord Raj Loomba CBE has been conferred with the PravasiBhar tiya Samman Award 2015 for his exceptional contributionin the field of public service and community service to uplift,emancipate and empower poor widows and their children inIndia. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated annually tomark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the de-velopment of India.The award was given away by the Honorable Vice President ofIndia, Shri Hamid Ansari at the Pravasi Bhar tiya Divas in Indialast week, in the presence of Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Hon'bleMinister for External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Gov-ernment of India, General V K Singh, Hon'ble Minister of State forExternalAffairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of In-dia, Shri Om Prakash Kohli, Hon'ble Governor of Gujarat andSmt Anandiben Patel, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, amongstover 5000 NRI’s who had come to attend the PBD Conventionfrom all corners of the world. The award is most prestigious andhighest given by the Government of India to honor the Non-Resi-dent Indians settled abroad contributing immensely to India andtheir adopted countries.Elated at receiving the award, Lord Raj Loomba CBE, Founderand Chairman Trustee, The Loomba Foundation, said, “I am ex-tremely humbled with the honour bestowed upon me by the Gov-ernment of India. It assumes even greater impor tance that Ihave been chosen in the historic year that marks a centenary ofMahatma Gandhi returning to India. The cause of widowhood isvery close to my hear t as I saw first-hand the discriminationand prejudices faced by my mother when she became a widow.Less than three months ago, the United Nations Association ofNew York had also conferred the Lifetime Achievement Awardupon Lord Loomba on the UN Day 2014 New York. Lord Loombawas instrumental in getting the UN recognition for “InternationalWidows Day” on June 23, the date on which his own motherbecame a widow when he was just 10 years old. Lord Loombahas also received the Excellence of the British Empire awardfrom Her Majesty The Queen in the UK, an Honorary Fellowshipby The University of Nor thampton, the Asian of the Year Awardand the Forbes India NRI Philanthropy Award amongst manyother accolades. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for LordLoomba comes at a time when The Loomba Foundation is tryingto raise funds for the benefit of widows and their children inVaranasi, a holy City of widows located on the banks of Gangesthrough their goodwill ambassador and renowned UK-based law-yer, Chris Parsons, who is walking 30 marathons (42 KMs ev-eryday) a distance of 1,260 kms from Mumbai to Bengaluru over30 days. The ‘Walk for Widows’ star ted from the Gateway ofIndia in Mumbai on 10th January, 2015 and is expected to becompleted on 10th February, 2015.

INDIAN GOVERNMENTHONOURS FOUNDER ANDCHAIRMAN TRUSTEE OF

THE LOOMBA FOUNDATIONVice President Hamid Ansari confers

Pravasi Bhartiya Samman 2015 up onLord Raj Loomba CBE for his exceptionalcontribution to the cause of empowering

poor widows in India


TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015opinion

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

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ACTIVE VOICE

Modi magic may face its severest test in DelhiBY AMULYA GANGULI

The Delhi elections next month will show whether Narendra Modicontinues to find it difficult to score sweeping victories in states wherehe faces a modicum of political resistance.As was seen in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the Bharatiya JanataPar ty (BJP) was unable to secure a majority on its own in the statelegislatures because the local par ties - the Shiv Sena in Maharashtraand the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand - could not be brushedaside by the purpor ted Modi wave.This inability was seen in the general election as well when the AIADMKin Tamil Nadu, the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha and the Trinamool Con-gress in West Bengal could not be dislodged from their strongholds.The BJP's success in Haryana was due to the fact that its two majoropponents - the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) -had gone into serious decline with the topmost INLD leaders being injail. Jammu and Kashmir is in a different category because of itsdistinctive demographic composition.Since conventional wisdom suggests that even if the BJP gets a ma-jority in Delhi, the Aam Admi Par ty (AAP) will not be a pushover, thecontest will be yet another major test of the efficacy of the Modimagic. If the AAP runs the BJP close, the latter will have only itself toblame. Had it been a little more energetic in addressing the problemsof the national capital via Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, at a time whenmore than 50 percent of the development funds have remained un-spent, the BJP's prospects would have been brighter.But it is not so much the political and official lethargy in heeding thecity's infrastructural needs which may hur t the BJP as its failure torein in the saffron loudmouths, although Prime Minister Modi is un-happy about their antics, according to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.However, the result of this failure is the possible consolidation of asizable percentage of minority votes behind the AAP, now that theCongress is out of reckoning. Since Muslims constitute 11.7 percent

of Delhi's population, their suppor t for the AAP is a gift to the BJP'smain opponent by Yogi Adityanath, Sakshi Maharaj and others whoseblinkered views make them oblivious of the fact that fundamentalismhas few takers.The situation may be par tly redressed by the entry into the BJP by oneof the AAP's most visible faces at one time, Shazia Ilmi, who wasearlier with Anna Hazare. But her critics are likely to say that sincethe Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) claimed to have been as-sociated with Anna's anti-corruption movement, Shazia has only comefull circle.The entry into the BJP of another of Anna's former associates, KiranBedi, has created considerable stir because of the belief that theenergetic former police officer may be the par ty's chief ministerialcandidate. She is however likely to face in-house opposition fromother chief ministerial aspirants like Vijay Goel and Jagdish Mukhiwho have long been associated with the par ty and are not a fairweather friend like Bedi. Moreover, Bedi's earlier critical commentsabout Modi, especially about the 2002 Gujarat riots, may come tohaunt her.It is entirely possible that if the BJP had been more proactive in thefield of development at both the state and national levels, the AAPwould have been unable to make much headway. As it is, the par tyhas lost much of its earlier middle class suppor t, as its spokesmenadmit. A possible reason is that its chief minister of 49 days in the

winter of 2013-14, Arvind Kejriwal, still gives the impression that hispenchant for showmanship will come in the way of governance.He may no longer sit on a dharna or declare his anarchist prefer-ences, but it is unlikely that he will eschew his instinctive confronta-tional style in favour of a mature approach to administration and in thematter of dealing with other par ties.Even otherwise, the AAP remains a hodge-podge of ideologies withthe "left of left" tendencies, as mentioned by its ideologue YogendraYadav, alternating with Kejriwal's asser tion of his "bania" creden-tials. This medley stands in contrast to Modi's focus on economicgrowth, which is the mainstay of his appeal.It is this approach of the prime minister which has persuaded thethird party in the fray, the Congress, to decide to look beyond secular-ism and the welfare of the poor to reach out to the aspirational genera-tion. However, as for its chances in the Delhi election, the decline inits vote share from 25 percent in the assembly elections of 2013 to 14percent in the parliamentary polls of 2014 shows that not only thepeople have retained their dislike for the Congress, but their aversionmay have intensified.Although the AAP's vote share rose from 29.5 percent in 2013 to 33percent in 2014, the BJP's showing was more impressive since itwon all the seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi with 46.1percent of the votes, a substantial jump from 2013's 33.7 percent. Willthe BJP be able to live up to this achievement?

Red Tape Reduction Week

This week from January 19 to 23, 2015, marks the CanadianFederation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) fifth annual RedTape Reduction Week. Red Tape Reduction Week is the per fectoppor tunity to highlight our Government’s commitment topromoting job creation, and fostering an environment in whichbusinesses can grow and succeed in the global economy.Since the launch of the Red Tape Reduction plan in October2012, we have been working hard to implement various Eco-nomic Action Plan reforms that help reduce red tape for smallbusinesses here in Brampton. These reforms are creating amore transparent and predictable environment for our localbusinesses so they can focus on creating jobs, and drivingeconomic growth.One primary example is the One-for-One Rule which imposes anew level of discipline across the regulatory system by

controlling how much administrative burden is imposed onbusinesses through regulation. Another example was ourintroduction of the Small Businesses Job Credit, which willlower small businesses’ payroll taxes by 15 percent for the nexttwo years, saving these businesses an expected $550 millionover this two year period. These are just some of the ways thatour Conservative Government is being par t of the solution, byhelping to strengthen small businesses in Brampton and acrossCanada.The Government of Canada is helping businesses in ourcommunity succeed in the global economy. Included with thisfocus is our commitment to keep taxes low, and control federalregulation to free entrepreneurs from the burden of red tape.

PARM GILL, M.P. | BRAMPTON-SPRINGDALE



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


416-907-4420

canada TARGET, HAS DECIDEDTO CLOSE DOWN ALL133 LOCATIONSACROSS CANADA IP10

MINISTER ALEXANDERCONCLUDES TRIP TO INDIAFOR VIBRANT GUJARAT

Ottawa— Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration MinisterChris Alexander concluded a busy and successful trip to India,which saw a number of impor tant advances in our bilateralrelationship.Alexander led the largest-ever Canadian delegation to theVibrant Gujarat conference, where he helped promote theabundant investment oppor tunities in the transpor tation,natural resource and energy sectors, the strength of our post-secondary academic institutions, and the benefit of Canada’snew Express Entry system.In a series of meetings and speeches, Alexander highlightedinnovation and oppor tunity as the cornerstones for expandedties between Canada and India. In a meeting with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, the two agreed to explore new waysof working together to promote security and combat terrorism.In Bengaluru (Bangalore), Alexander officially opened a newCanadian visa office. There are now three such offices inIndia, served by 10 visa application centres throughout thecountry. This reaffirms Canada’s commitment to meeting thehigh demand of travel facilitation with India, and will build onimpressive growth in visa issuance in recent years.Minister Alexander completed his trip in Chennai where hefacilitated talks with students and faculty from one of India’smost prestigious academic institutions – the Indian Instituteof Technology. Earlier in the trip, he also delivered a presenta-tion to students and faculty at the Indian Institute of Manage-ment. Alexander used these oppor tunities and others topromote Express Entry and the benefit of the Star t-up VisaProgram.Quick factsIndia is one of the top source countries for immigrants toCanada. The Indo-Canadian community currently numbersapproximately one million.In 2013, Canada issued more than 130,000 visitor visas to

people coming from India to visit family, friends or as tourists.Between January and June 2014, 93 percent of visitor visasissued to Indian nationals were multiple-entry visas. This is aclear indication that Canada meets the needs of internationaltravelers looking for fast, flexible and convenient options tocome to our country.Quotes“Canada and India are great par tners, and the relationship isonly getting stronger – to the benefit of both countries’ eco-nomic growth and future prosperity. I was especially pleased tohighlight our new Express Entry system and Star t-Up Visaprogram as key par ts our government’s plan to build a fast, fairand flexible immigration system that attracts people with theskills to integrate fully and quickly in Canada’s economy andCanadian society.”-Chris Alexander, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minis-ter“This trip had immense value by promoting job creation andeconomic growth from coast to coast. This delegation did anexcellent job to highlight Canada’s economic strengths.”-Dr. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status ofWomen“The strong economic and cultural ties between Canada andIndia have a profoundly positive effect on both countries. As apar tner country, our entire Canadian delegation per formedadmirably during Vibrant Gujarat – we not only promoted thebenefits of investing in Canada, but also explored oppor tunitiesfor Canadian businesses from other delegations over the courseof the conference.”-Devinder Shory, Member of Parliament for Calgary Nor theast“The benefits of a strong Indo-Canadian relationship nevercease to amaze me. It’s an honour to help build upon such animpor tant friendship between countries.”-Patrick Brown, Member of Parliament for Barrie

CANADA, INDIA USE BIENNIAL SUMMIT TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN ECONOMIC TIES

SEARS CANADAHOSTED FITNESS ANDHEALTHY LIVING EVENT

DESK REPORT

Brampton - Sears Bramalea City Centre celebrated all thingsfitness with its New Year, New You campaign event where ithad invited a select group of media and customers to experi-ence a day of fitness and health. From learning about the bestpieces of equipment for your independent fitness needs to dem-onstrations on treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes - allthings physical fitness were on display.The Sears team showcased the latest exercise equipment thatthe retailer was housing at its outlet explaining the up-marketfeatures of those latest gadgets. Along with equipment, custom-ers were invited to speak with Fitness Exper t Kathleen Trotterabout fitness goals for 2015 as well as enjoy healthy home-made smoothies and snacks along with the take home recipesto continue healthy habits at home. Sears Canada hosted threeof these fitness events across the country in Brampton, ON;Edmonton, AB; and Trois Rivieres, QC. With the kickoff to a newyear it is a great time to make healthy lifestyle choices a par t ofyour future and this event was used to help jump star t thatprocess.Speaking on the occasion Kathleen said: "It is very impor tant tohave realistic goals, write them down and then see how theycan be achieved. Also, every now and then one must reflect onwhat we need to do in areas that need improvement. Only thenmake positive health choices but always you're your future chal-lenges in mind and find solutions for the problems in advance."

WALMART SQUARE ONESUPERCENTRE CELEBRATES

BABY REGISTRYDESK REPORT

Mississauga - The Mississauga Square One Walmar tSuperCentre recently hosted a shower to celebrate the launchthe company's Canada Baby Registry. The registry featured a broadassortment of baby products, from diapers and bottles to cribs andstrollers as well as more than 1,500 online exclusives at the centre'severyday low prices.An official from Walmart informed that the registry, that was launchedkeeping in view young moms who have no experience and are not surewhat to buy or from where to get those particular things. But once at theWalmart Baby Registry, started in October last year, new mothers canfind everything possible. In a statement earlier Meghan McConchie,Walmart Canada's director of category marketing for baby has said: "Itwas 100% grounded in consumer insight. Consumers were telling usthat they're in our stores shopping for products to prepare for the arrivalof their new child, but there was no way they could extend this to theirfriends and family."On top of that, "they were actually a little bit embarrassed or reluctant attimes [to register with our main competitor] because they felt that wasquite expensive. So we found that there was a niche in the market, inthat we have a wide breadth of assortment of products and are able toset up our moms in the right way. They can provide their friends andfamilies a low-cost solution at the best possible price." The online babyregistry features a Baby Resource Centre, which includes advice, tipsand articles on topics such as how to throw a great baby showerto buying a car seat to creating a safe sleeping environment forbabies. The site is mobile-friendly, so customers can set up, view andedit their registry from their mobile devices. Walmart is also offeringfree shipping with no minimum purchase. Present on the occasion wasalso Parenting Expert Alyson Schafer was available to answer ques-tion and provide advice to new and expecting parents. Customers alsohad the opportunity to enjoy refreshments, play games and enter for achance to win a diaper cake. According to Alyson young mothers haveclue how to embrace the change when the baby is born.


TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015c a n a d a

THE US-BASED RETAIL COMPANY, TARGET, HAS DECIDED TO CLOSE DOWN ALL 133 LOCATIONS ACROSS CANADA AFFECTING17,600 EMPLOYEES (IANS)

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1By far the biggest user of energy is the transportation sector, accountingfor almost 35 per cent of end-use energy consumption and 70 per cent ofoil consumption in the form of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, the reportsays. That holds true even with steady and substantial improvements infuel efficiency. But, these improvements in fuel efficiency have beentempered by more Canadians driving larger cars and light trucks. In thepast 15 years, the number of cars in Canada has risen by more than eightmillion, four times the pace seen in household formations, and lighttruck sales have risen four times faster than that of smaller cars. Thedistance travelled per car over the same period has hardly changed,however. "We call it the efficiency paradox. The more efficient it is, themore you use it," says Mr. Tal. "The entire improvement in energy effi-ciency was consumed by the disproportionate rise in the number oflarger cars." "In a world of rising oil prices, it's a bad thing, but when oilprices fall, it's good because Canadians get a big break at the pump," hesays, adding that cheaper fuel prices will likely keep the trend of autosales towards larger, though more fuel efficient, vehicles intact.Canadian manufacturers, meanwhile, generally use electricity and naturalgas rather than oil-based fuels so the drop in oil prices will have verylittle direct impact on the cost of production, the report says. That said,given that natural gas prices will likely remain low compared to electric-ity prices, certain manufacturing sectors that are natural gas-intensive,such as chemical fertilzer producers and the forestry industry, will beamong the biggest winners, it says.Mr. Tal also expects the impact of low oil prices on core inflation will bemodest and too small to prompt an outright cut in interest rates by theBank of Canada. The complete CIBC World Markets report is availableat: http://research.cibcwm.com/economic_public/download/eijan15.pdfCIBC's wholesale banking business provides a range of integrated creditand capital markets products, investment banking, and merchant bank-ing to clients in key financial markets in North America and around theworld. We provide innovative capital solutions and advisory expertiseacross a wide range of industries as well as top-ranked research for ourcorporate, government and institutional clients.SOURCE CIBC World Markets

LOW OIL PRICES isn't allnegative for Canada'seconomy: CIBC World Markets

GTA REALTORS® REPORT1,409 sales in first 14 daysof Jan: TrebTORONTO: “Toronto Real Estate Board President Paul Etherington an-nounced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 1,409 salesthrough the TorontoMLS system during the first 14 days of January 2015.This result was up by 9.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2014.Sales were up on a year-over-year basis for many of the low-rise hometypes and for condominium apartments as well."Despite the cold weather, home buyers remained quite active during thefirst two weeks of the New Year. Households continued to take advan-tage of the diversity of affordable housing options available throughoutthe Greater Toronto Area," said Etherington. The average selling price forJanuary mid-month transactions, at $510,532, was down slightly in com-parison to the same period last year."The slight dip in the average selling price reflects the fact that we saw adifferent mix of homes sold this year compared to last year during thefirst two weeks of January, as evidenced by a lower average listingprice. The month-end MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark price and theaverage selling price will provide a clearer view on prices," said JasonMercer, TREB's Director of Market Analysis.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


SHAH'S RALLY RAISESSTORM IN PUNJABPOLITICS IP12india

Bedi is BJP's trump card butsome leaders are sulkingNew Delhi, (IANS) The BJP's projection of India's first womanpolice officer Kiran Bedi as its face in Delhi has divided thepar ty, with one section overjoyed and the other left sulking.Some also feel that while the decision was right, it may have come alittle too late for the Bharatiya Janata Party to score its first victory inassembly elections after 1993.The move took even some leaders in the BJP in Delhi by surprise buthas boosted the morale of workers who were stunned by the aggres-sive campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), party sources said."The BJP has definitely found the right candidate (Bedi) and it will helpthe party's prospects as she has decades of administrative experienceand knows how to get things done," party spokesman Ashwini Upadhyaytold IANS."She has worked on international assignments with the UN as well ason the streets to help children through her NGO," he added. Anotherparty functionary, however, said that some leaders were sulking astheir ambitions had been stifled.Arivind Kejriwal's AAP finished a surprise close second in the Decem-ber 2013 election winning 28 seats against the BJP's 31. The Congressfinished a distant third with just eight seats in the house of 70.Before Bedi was brought in, opinion polls were predicting anotherhung house in Delhi although with the BJP doing marginally betterthan in 2013.Many in the BJP hope that Bedi, 65, will prove a tough match forKejriwal, who at age 46 too has strong anti-corruption creden-tials. Bedi has been an anti-corruption activist, a former tennisplayer and her innings in Delhi Police is still widely remem-bered in the city. Bedi initiated prison reforms in the Tihar Cen-tral Jail.She has won the Ramon Magsaysay award, an honour she shareswith Kejriwal. Both were part of the anti-corruption agitation ledby Gandhian Anna Hazare.Since her induction in the BJP, Bedi has talked about her priori-ties -- as a likely candidate to lead the par ty's campaign.BJP leaders say that while the par ty has considerable supportamong the middle class, it needs to work harder to woo the poorand the working class.They also said that the BJP could not have gone without a localface after the Congress named Ajay Maken as its campaign chief."AAP had Kejriwal and the Congress named Maken. We were theonly ones left without a prominent local face. It would have beenbetter if the decision (about Bedi) had been taken earlier," an-other leader said.The source added: "The BJP conducted an internal survey whichshowed that Kejriwal's anti-corruption credentials and the BJPnot having a prominent face were working against the par ty."The BJP continues to bank on Prime Minister Narendra Modi'sappeal but now Bedi is a new face in the par ty's propagandacampaign."It would be very tough for AAP to target Bedi. The BJP neededsuch a face in Delhi," another leader said.Delhi goes to the polls Feb 7. The BJP is keen on a victory afterlosing face in 2013 when the AAP went on to form a minoritygovernment and ruled the city for 49 days before Kejriwal re-signed. Delhi has been under President's rule for the past 11months. The BJP had named Harsh Vardhan as its chief ministe-rial candidate in 2013 but he is now in the Modi cabinet.Pradeep Kumar Dutta, who teaches at Delhi University, said Bediwas a strong and effective administrator and her joining the par ty"will beef up suppor t among the middle class and the governmentemployees who previously voted for Kejriwal". Senior journalist KuldipNayar said the BJP "has got a face" in Delhi with Bedi's induction andthis will help it to get swing votes.

BJP LEADER KIRAN BEDI, DELHI BJP CHIEF SATISH UPADHYAY, AND OTHERS DURING A PROGRAMME ORGANISED TO WELCOMENEW ENTRANTS INTO THE PARTY IN NEW DELHI (IANS).

Pahlaj Nihalani appointed newCensor Board chairpersonNew Delhi, (IANS) Four days after Leela Samson quit, film pro-ducer Pahlaj Nihalani, younger brother of filmmaker GovindNihalani, was Monday appointed the chairperson of the CentralBoard of Film Cer tification (CBFC), along with nine new mem-bers.Nihalani has produced films like "Shola Aur Shabnam" and"Andaz" in the past, and is a former president of the Associationof Motion Picture and Television Programme Producers."The Central Government is pleased to appoint Pahlaj Nihalanias Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Cer tification in anhonorary capacity from Jan 19, 2015 for a period of three yearsor until fur ther orders, whichever is earlier," read a statementfrom the ministry of information and broadcasting.The nine members appointed with immediate effect include MihirBhuta, Syed Abdul Bari, Ramesh Patange, George Baker, ChandraPrakash Dwivedi, Jeevitha, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, S. Ve Shekharand Ashoke Pandit.The decision comes just days after Samson resigned as CBFCchairperson, citing interference, coercion and corruption of panelmembers.CBFC is a statutory body under the ministry of information andbroadcasting. It regulates the public exhibition of films under theprovisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952.Samson, an acclaimed Bharatnatyam dancer, was appointed itschair in 2011, and she and her members were continuing oninterim extensions.Following her, 10 of the Censor Board's members -- Ira Bhaskar,Lora Prabhu, Pankaj Sharma, Rajeev Masand, SekharbabuKancherla, Shaji N. Karun, Shubhra Gupta, T.G. Thyagarajan,Mamang Dai and Arundhati Nag - also put in their papers via aletter to the ministry, citing the "cavalier and dismissive man-ner" in which the board is treated by the government. M.K. Rainaand Anjum Rajabali had resigned from the board earlier itself.

THE BATTLE FOR DELHI DARBAR

FORMER AAPLEADER SHAZIAILMI JOINS BJP INPRESENCE OFDELHI BJP CHIEFSATISH UPADHYAYAND OTHERS INNEW DELHI (IANS)

CONTD. FROM PAGE 1Bedi said she was willing to take part in a debate but in the Delhi assemblyas her focus was on "delivery" and not on just discussion."I accept the challenge but I will do it only in the Delhi assembly. Right now,I am focusing on delivery, while debate is all he (Kejriwal) has been doing,"Bedi told reporters.In an interview to Times Now news channel, Bedi accused Kejriwal of re-sorting to drama. "I stand for a new kind of politics (that is) not accusatory, notagitational."She said she was tracking "the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi hadchanged India".BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra called Kejriwal's move for a debate a pub-licity gimmick.

"The battle in Delhi is between Iron Lady and I-run-man -- a man who hasbeen on the run for (the post of) CM to PM," Patra said, referring to Kejriwal'sdefeat in Varanasi to Modi.He said Kejriwal stands for "drama, dharna and debate", while the BJP standsfor "development, democracy and delivery"."This debate is a gimmick to gain some cheap publicity. The AAP is all aboutpublicity, they want to use Kiran ji for their publicity," Patra said.Meanwhile, the BJP Tuesday released its final list of four candidates, whileits ally Shiromani Akali Dal also named four candidates for the Feb 7 Delhiassembly polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) selected Sanjay Singh forVikaspuri, Sarita Chaudhary for Mehrauli, Rakesh Gulia for Greater Kailashand Nandani Sharma for Malviya Nagar.

CONTD. ON PAGE 12


TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015i n d i a

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

CONTD. FROM PAGE 11The BJP had named 62 candidates Monday night and had also declared thatformer Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi, who joined the BJP less thana week ago, will be the party's chief ministerial candidate to take on herformer anti-corruption stir colleague Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP). The Akali Dal released a list Tuesday evening, chosing Manjinder SinghSirsa from Rajouri Garden, Harmeet Singh Kalka from Kalkaji and Jitender SinghShunty from Shahdara.The party left out Shyam Sharma from the Hari Nagar seat and instead chose AvtarSingh Hit.All the three candidates - Sirsa, Kalka and Shunty - had fought the 2013 polls fromthe same constituencies and won. Sharma, however, had lost from Hari Nagar. Ofthe four candidates, Sirsa will contest on the Akali Dal's weighing scale symbol,while the other three candidates will fight on the BJP's lotus symbol. Meanwhile,protests began almost immediately after the party's first list came out Mondaynight, as some vandals cut out the faces of Bedi and Delhi BJP president SatishUpadhyay from a hoarding put up outside the BJP office at 14, Pandit Pant Marg.The protests continued Tuesday as supporters of some BJP leaders, includingUpadhyay, protested at the party headquarters.A day after the BJP named Kiran Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate and fieldedher from Delhi's Krishna Nagar constituency, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal held apublic rally in the assembly segment and said the BJP would blame her for itsdefeat in the elections next month.

Kejriwal said the Bharatiya Janata Party has already conceded defeat, and Bedihad joined the party to be "trapped".The former Delhi chief minister said the BJP's sole purpose was to defeat himrather than improving the national capital.Addressing a boisterous crowd in the east Delhi constituency, he said the BJP andeveryone else have united to defeat him."When they will lose in the polls, they will say that it was because of KiranBedi," the Aam Aadmi Par ty chief said.Kejriwal also attacked the BJP-led central government on variousfronts, saying the Narendra Modi government had back-tracked onseveral promises it made before coming to power in 2014.His rally was preceded by Bedi's visit to Krishna Nagar - which theBJP has not lost since 1993.In the 2013 polls, BJP's Harsh Vardhan won from here for the fifth timein a row. Harsh Vardhan was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014, and isnow the union science and technology minister.Addressing BJP workers, Bedi promised to bring a clean governmentin the national capital by focusing on every depar tment."Every minister and government official will work together. I will bringa clean government in Delhi which would focus on every depar t-ment," Bedi said.It was Bedi's first visit to the constituency, where Harsh Vardhanwelcomed her along with par ty workers.

On the other hand the Congress, which propped up a minority Aam Aadmi Partygovernment in Delhi for 49 days over a year ago, Monday said it was "toodangerous" to vote that party back to power in the assembly elections nextmonth.Congress general secretary Ajay Maken, heading the grand old party's elec-toral fight-back in the capital, accused the AAP of making repeated somer-saults during its short-lived rule in Delhi.Maken released a booklet listing 16 Â"U-turnsÂ" the Congress said formerDelhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal made vis-a-vis his own stands on is-sues in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections in 2013.The compilation "49 din ki ulti chaal, Dilli hui behaal, U-turn Kejriwal" isa set of statements and promises that the AAP chief and other leadersmade but were found not complying with, Maken, now Delhi Con-gress poll panel chief, said while addressing media.Describing AAP leaders as Â"irresponsibleÂ", he cautioned the elec-torate against giving the reins of power in the hands of such people.Â"These (AAP leaders) are irresponsible leaders... We want to askthe voters of Delhi that would they vote for irresponsible leaders whoonly talk, do sit-ins, and protest?... It's too dangerous to give the reinsof power to somebody like that,Â" he said.Contrary to the AAP's original stand that saw the Congress as politi-cally untouchable until it formed the government last time, Makensaid the AAP supremo had sought people's opinion before striking apost-poll alliance with the Congress.Then why did Kejriwal not consult the people before resigning as Delhi chiefminister (in Feb 2014), he asked.Maken alleged that Kejriwal did not even live up to his pledge of keeping low-key security after becoming the chief minister.Â"He (Kejriwal) had pledged that he would not keep a car with a red beacon(indicating a person's VIP status). His own car was not with a red beacon...buthe was always flanked by a set of such cars," he said.The Battle For Delhi Darbar

SHIROMANI AKALI DAL (SAD) LEADER BIBI JAGIR KAUR DURING A MEETING WITH WOMEN WING OF THE PARTY IN CHANDIGARH (IANS),

Indian-made vaccine approvedto fight meningitis in AfricaAccra, (IANS) A vaccine against meningitis prepared by an In-dian company has been approved by the World Health Organisation(WHO), paving the way for its use to eradicate the disease in sub-Saharan Africa.The MenAfriVac vaccine was developed by the Indian company,Serum Institute of India Limited (SIIL), under a project of the glo-bal non-profit health organisation PATH and the WHO."Developing the MenAfriVac vaccine fits exactly (with) Serum'singrained philosophy of bringing down prices of vaccines so thatunder-privileged children of the world are protected," said thePune- based SIIL's chief executive, Cyrus Poonawalla.SIIL was contracted by the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) toproduce the vaccine, which has finally been approved by theWHO for routine immunisation of infants in sub-Saharan Africa,and has been described by MVP officials as "an innovative andaffordable vaccine that has all but rid the meningitis belt (in sub-Saharan Africa) of a major cause of deadly epidemics"."Initial mass vaccination campaigns with MenAfriVac have beenhighly effective in reducing the number of meningitis A cases,"said the director of MVP, Marie-Pierre Preziosi.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 i n d i a

DECEMBER TRADE DEFICIT FALLS TO$9.43 BN ON GLOBAL CRUDE DIP

New Delhi (IANS): India's trade deficit in December 2014 fell by over7 per cent at $9.43 billion, from $10.18 billion in the correspondingmonth of 2013, government data showed recently.The fall on a month-on-month basis was over 44 per cent, the Novem-ber deficit having been recorded at $16.86 billion, owing mainly to thesteep plunge in global crude oil prices."The trade deficit for April-December 2014-15 was estimated at $110.05billion which was higher than the deficit of $107.07 billion duringApril-December 2013-14," the commerce and industry ministry saidin a statement. According to data released by the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI), expor ts during the month under review decreased by 3.77per cent at $25.39 billion compared to the level of $26.39 billion dur-

ing December 2013.For the period of April-December 2014-15, expor ts grew by 4.02 percent at $241.15 billion from $231.82 billion in the same period of theprevious fiscal. Impor ts at $34.83 billion also fell by 4.78 per cent inthe month under review, from $36.58 billion impor ted in the corre-sponding month of 2013. Oil impor ts during December 2014 werevalued at $9.94 billion, which was a whopping 28.6 per cent lowerthan oil imports in the corresponding period of 2013 at $13.92 billion.This was primarily a result of softening of international crude pricesthat has fallen below $45 a barrel. Instead, the non-oil imports duringthe month under review were higher by 9.9 per cent at $24.89 billionfrom $22.65 billion in December 2013.

IRs5 lakh crore to be investedin road sector: GadkariNew Delhi (IANS): Union Road Transpor t, Highways and Ship-ping Minister Nitin Gadkari Thursday said an investment of Rs.5lakh crore would be made in the road sector in the coming fiveyears. Inaugurating the eighth Rubber Expo and Tyre Show (IRE)here, the minister said: "In five years, there will be investmentof Rs.5 lakh crore."The minister fur ther said that the government plans to build 30kms of roads per day in the next two years. Currently, only twokms of roads are built per day.

Badal urges NRIs to openschools in PunjabJalandhar (IANS): Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh BadalFriday exhor ted the Punjabi diaspora to establish NRI schoolsacross the state for connecting their future generations withtheir roots.Addressing the second NRI Sangat Darshan here, 150 km fromChandigarh, Badal said that the younger generations of thePunjabi diaspora were somewhat detached from the land oftheir forefathers. "The need of the hour was to reverse this trendby making all out effor ts in this direction. This goal could beachieved only if the NRIs take the initiative of opening NRIschools across the state," Badal told the NRIs.The chief minister said that these schools should be built exclu-sively for NRI students and should be run by the managementscomprising of NRIs. "The standard of these schools should beat par with the schools being run in foreign countries so that NRIkids could be impar ted hi-end school education. The NRI stu-dents must study in these schools for at least five years, so thatthey could be acquainted with the rich cultural heritage of theirparental land," Badal said. Punjab has a big NRI communitysettled in the US, Canada, Britain, European countries, Austra-lia, south-east Asia and other countries.

AIADMK announces candidatefor Srirangam by-pollChennai (IANS): Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK Friday namedS.Valarmathi as its candidate for the Srirangam assembly con-stituency, held earlier by former chief minister J.Jayalalithaa,for the Feb 13 by-poll. In a statement issued here, AIADMK saidValarmathi sought Jayalalithaa's blessings after being nomi-nated as the candidate for the by-poll. Valarmathi will be cross-ing swords with DMK's N.Anand who had lost to Jayalalithaa byaround 40,000 votes in the 2011 assembly election. The by-pollwas necessitated following the disqualification of Jayalalithaa,who was convicted in a corruption case last year. Meanwhile DMKpresident M.Karunanidhi in a statement issued recently appealed to allthe parties in the state to support Anand in the by-poll.

1.5 billion tonnes coal productionaimed by 2020: OfficialKolkata (IANS): After laying an ambitious target of 510 million tonnescoal production for state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) by 2015, the coaldepartment is aiming to mine 1.5 billion tonnes by 2020, a seniorgovernment official said."The estimates reveal by 2020, the country will need 1.5 billion tonnesof coal. What we have worked on is that a billion tonne will come fromCIL and 500 to 600 million tonnes (MT) from the private sector," unionCoal Secretary Anil Swarup said on the sidelines of a MCC Chamber ofCommerce event. According to the coal secretary, through the upcom-ing coal auction of 101 mines, the first 42 mines to be auctioned byMarch 23 will produce 90 MT of coal while the 32 mines to be auc-tioned in the first week of April will generate 140 MT and the next roundof 27 mines to be auctioned in third week of April will generate 120 MT."Though the (upcoming) auctions, we are looking at 350 million tonnes(MT) of additional coal beyond CIL which did 460 MT last year and thisyear they will cross 500 MT," he said. He said in the first batch of theauction, the 42 mines will be auctioned only to entities that has a readyset-up and are in need of coal while for the second batch (32 mineswith 140 MT capacity) companies who can ready the set-up in thecoming year and a half will be able to bid. "We will work in tandem withthe private sector to keep the mines going," he said. Swarup said thegovernment is taking necessary steps to boost coal production and iskeen to address the bottlenecks in CIL.

CANADIAN MP FOR CALGARY NORTHEAST, DEVINDER SHORY PAYS OBEISANCE AT THE GOLDEN TEMPLE IN AMRITSAR (IANS)

BJP FIELDS NUPUR SHARMAAGAINST KEJRIWALNew Delhi, (IANS) The BJP Monday fielded a young par ty mem-ber, Nupur Sharma, to take on Aam Aadmi Par ty leader ArvindKejriwal in New Delhi seat and declared former Congress leaderKrishna Tirath as its nominee from Patel Nagar in its first list of62 candidates for the Delhi assembly polls.The list was declared after a meeting of par ty's central electioncommittee and parliamentary board.

Sirisena will promote peace in Sri Lanka: ModiNew Delhi, (IANS) Sri Lanka's new President Maithripala Sirisena "will advance peace, reconciliation and development" in the islandnation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday.Describing Sri Lanka as "a truly close neighbour and friend", Modi also offered India's continued suppor t and par tnership to Colombo andSri Lankan people in "realizing their aspirations".The prime minister made the observations when Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera called on him, an officialstatement said.Samaraweera is on his first foreign trip after Sirisena took power Jan 9.Modi admired Sirisena's vision of a "truly Sri Lankan government", inclusive of all voices, and the initial steps taken by the newgovernment for political reconciliation and inclusiveness.Modi also congratulated Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wikramasinghe for their impressive victory in the presidential electionwhich, according to him, was "a vote for unity and change in Sri Lanka".Thanking Sirisena for accepting his invitation to visit India, Modi said he "looked forward to receiving him at an early date".Modi also accepted an invite to Sri Lanka at a convenient date.Samaraweera, who met his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj Sunday, discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation and reconcili-ation effor ts in Sri Lanka.Indian development partnership projects in Sri Lanka and issues related to the alleged trespassing of Indian fishermen into Sri Lankanwaters were also discussed Sunday.

NAVY CHIEF IN MAURITIUSON FOUR-DAY VISITNew Delhi, (IANS) Indian Navy chief Admiral R.K. DhowanMonday reached Mauritius to explore new avenues of defencecooperation and strengthen military ties.During his four-day visit, Admiral Dhowan will meet senior gov-ernment and defence officials. A defence ministry release saidthat Dhowan and his Mauritius counterpar t will inaugurate "dataflow of the information exchange" concerning merchant marine.The release said India and Mauritius share centuries old reli-gious and linguistic bonds. "These bonds have strengthenedover time through goodwill gestures and bilateral visits. Thepeople of Indian origin, who comprise around 68 percent of thepopulation, have preserved their heritage and have a strongemotional attachment with India," the release said. It said thatIndian Navy has been actively cooperating with Mauritius Mari-time agencies on their maritime security needs such as hy-drography surveys as also in training.



world PAKISTAN EXTENDSLAKHVI'S DETENTIONFOR 30 DAYSIP15

Ramallah, Jan 19 (IANS) A Palestinian official Monday said ties withIsrael reached a "point of no return" after Israel decided to halt thetransfer the tax revenues to the Palestinian National Authority."Israel is practicing a collective punishment against the Palestinianpeople," said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, in a statementfollowing his meeting with foreign diplomats in the West Bank, ac-cording to a Xinhua repor t."The Palestinian-Israeli ties would never return to what it used to bebefore signing up to join international agencies and treaties, mainlythe International Criminal Cour t," said Erekat. "Keeping this situationis impossible."

Erekat also referred to what he described as the Israeli government's"endless threats" against the Palestinian leadership, the Palestinianpeople and the international agencies.He urged Israel to declare its commitment to abiding by internationaltreaties.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made his decision to join in-ternational treaties after the UN Security Council (UNSC) failed to votein favour of a draft resolution that called for an end to the Israelioccupation within three years.In response to the Palestinian move to join international treaties, mainlythe Rome Statute of the International Criminal Cour t (ICC), Israel with-

held the tax revenue it collectsfrom Palestinian impor ts.According to Oslo accords,signed in 1993 between Israeland the Palestine, Israel collectstaxes on behalf of the Palestin-ians from Palestinian impor ts atIsraeli seapor ts, and pays themback to the Palestinians.

TIES WITH ISRAEL AT 'POINT OFNO RETURN': PALESTINE

EU to appealagainst removing

Hamas fromterror list

Brussels, (IANS) The EuropeanUnion (EU) has decided to appealagainst a ruling last Decemberthat Hamas be removed from thelist of terrorist groups, EU foreignpolicy chief Federica Mogherinisaid Monday.The ruling was clearly based on"procedural grounds" and did notimply any assessment by thecour t of the merits of designatingHamas as a terrorist organisation,said Mogherini, according to aXinhua repor t.The General Cour t of the EU Dec17 annulled measures taken bythe EU Council against Hamas,which designated Hamas as aterrorist organisation and frozethe group's funds.Mogherini said that as a result ofthe appeal, the effects of thejudgement were suspended untila final decision was made by theEU Cour t of Justice. The EU for-eign policy chief said that the fightagainst terrorism remained a prior-ity and that the EU was determined tostem the financing of terrorism.

Iran seeks OPEC cooperationto stop oil price slumpTehran, (IANS) Iran Monday sought cooperation among the mem-ber states of the Organisation of Petroleum Expor ting Countries(OPEC) to prevent the global oil prices from falling fur ther.Iran was consulting with other OPEC member states to preventoil prices from falling fur ther, although it had no plans for anOPEC emergency meeting, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan NamdarZangeneh said."Cooperation among OPEC members should be strengthened sothat the oil price (is) balanced and reasonable for investors andproducers," he said during a petrochemical conference here,Xinhua repor ted."Consultations with the OPEC member states have yet to bearfruit," the Iranian minister said."A political determination is keeping oil prices from edging up."Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs,Hossein Amir-Abdollahian Saturday said Iran wanted SaudiArabia to help in stopping the continuous slump in oil prices toprotect the economies of the region's oil producing countries."We have told Saudi Arabian officials through diplomatic chan-nels that they should prevent the enemies of the region fromharming the growing economies of regional countries," Amir-Abdollahian said, according to media repor ts.Oil prices have tumbled almost 50 percent to below $50 perbarrel.Iran's economy is heavily reliant on oil expor ts. Besides thelosses from declining oil prices, Iran's crude expor ts have fallen60 percent to 1 million barrels a day due to Western sanctionson its energy and financial sectors.

SOCIAL NEGLECT WILLTURN EX-JIHADIS INTOWALKING TIME BOMBSLondon, (IANS) Society, unfor tunately, may not have been ableto stop many a youth from treading a wrong path, but it is per-haps more unfor tunate that those seeking to return to the main-stream are given the cold shoulder.The mother of a British youth who fought with the Islamic State(IS) jihadis in Syria has precisely this tale to tell, sharing duringa televised interview to BBC her despair at being left withoutsuppor t since her son's return, which The Independent citedMonday.What is worse, the woman, Linda, who travelled to Turkey tofetch her son James after he became disenchanted with the IS,warned that without vital suppor t from the government, the hun-dreds of former jihadis, like her son, who have been scarred bytheir exper iences among terror ists, were "walk ing t imebombsa¿.Revealing herself on camera for the first time, Linda, a 45-year-old single mother from London who conver ted to Islam alongwith her son two years ago, said during BBC's "Inside OutLondona¿ programme, that James has been left traumatisedand was occasionally violent because of his experiences inSyria.However, despite repeated requests, she said that they receivedno help from the government.Such a treatment of the scarred youth by the British governmentendangered the security of the country and made it prone toParis-style terrorist attacks, according to Linda.As a teenager James abandoned his studies at Cambridge tobecome a jihadi in the Afghan civil war.He suffered bullet wounds while in Syria and Linda claimed thather son was still not able to fully talk about what he witnessed.James could be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder,Linda feared.She said: "It's been difficult for him to go through that experienceand then rejoin society. When he came back he had nightmaresand he would sometimes wake up sweating and sor t of relivingthe traumas and feeling like he was still there.a¿"He was in a war zone where people were being killed, peoplewere experiencing horrific things. He himself got wounded. Ican see that sometimes he is physically traumatisedaa¿ shesaid, adding, "I feel quite helplessaa¿"My son is mildly autistic and that made him extra vulnerable.He was quite gullible and went into the situation very quicklywithout really thinking about what he was doing."In a way, I feel guilty and I've gone over all the things that Icould have done to avoid it from happening. But as a parent, Ifeel like I've been a victim of this, rather someone to blame,a¿she said."There's no point in us as a society denying the presence of allthese people... I feel if these people are just left unattended athey could become a walking time bomb,a¿ Linda said.Referring to the Paris attacks, she said: "aIt is quite worryingthat there's all these young men returning from these situationsand I think that without the right care, we could be risking anincident like what happened in France.a¿Around 300 jihadis have returned to Britain and the British secu-rity agency, MI5 claimed that they posed the biggest threat tonational security. Crown Prosecution Service figures, however,showed that only six have been convicted of terrorism.The government has a number of deradicalisation programmesin place, but not all returning jihadis get oppor tunities to jointhem.Linda said that at times she has felt like a prisoner in her ownhome. She insisted that her son posed no danger to the societyand warned there could be serious consequences if returningjihadis were not helped.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 w o r l d

BANGLADESHI MUSLIMS PROTESTING AGAINST POSTS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MINIS-TER ABDUL LATIF SIDDIQUE ON PILGRIMAGE POLICY (IANS)

London (IANS): Almost one billion more people globally may faceextreme pover ty by 2030 if world leaders fail to make concrete deci-sion on inequality and climate change at two UN summits to be heldthis year. The "action/2015", an international coalition of more than1,000 organisations, warned that global poverty could rise for the firsttime in a generation if politicians make the wrong calls, The Indepen-dent repor ted Thursday.The "action/2015" campaign will target the UN summit in New York inSeptember, which will discuss a new agenda to replace the millen-nium development goals set in 2000, which expire this year. The newagenda is expected to include ending pover ty and hunger, improvinghealth and education, making cities more sustainable, combating cli-mate change, and protecting oceans and forests.The campaign will also demand tough action to tackle man-madeclimate change when UN-led negotiations on a new global agreementreach a climax in Paris in December. Research for the campaign bythe University of Denver shows that, if world leaders get it right, thenumber of people living in extreme pover ty - less than 82 pence orabout Rs.77 ($1.25) a day - could be reduced dramatically from morethan one billion to 360 million by 2030. By then, about 4 per cent of theglobal population would live in extreme pover ty, down from 17 per

cent today. This would make eradicating extreme pover ty achievablefor the first time in history. However, if the two summits get it wrong,the number of people living in extreme pover ty could increase to 1.2billion by 2030 --the first rise since 1993, and 886 million higher thanif strong action is taken. Under this scenario, one in three of the world'spopulation would live on under 1.32 pound or Rs.123 ($2.0) a day. Thegoals of "action/2015" include an end to pover ty in all its forms; en-suring fundamental rights, tackling inequality and discrimination andspeeding up the transition to "100 per cent renewable energy".Nobel laureate and campaigner for girls' education Malala Yousafzaisaid: "People globally want an end to injustice, pover ty and illiteracy.Our world is interconnected and youth are ready and mobilised morethan ever to see real change take place. Together, we are demandingour leaders take action in 2015 and we must all do our par t." Thecampaign "action/2015" is suppor ted by more than 120 countries.Queen Rania of Jordan, Bill and Melinda Gates, rock star Bono, actorsMatt Damon and Ben Affleck and the mobile communications entre-preneur Mo Ibrahim have also extended their suppor t to the cam-paign. British Prime Minister David Cameron, Leader of Opposition inBritain Ed Miliband, and British politician Nick Clegg also have pledgedtheir suppor t.

PAKISTAN COURTDECLARES TTP CHIEFPROCLAIMED OFFENDERIslamabad (IANS): A Pakistani Anti-Terrorism Cour t (ATC) inKarachi Thursday declared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)chief Mullah Fazlullah as a proclaimed offender in the Karachiairpor t attack case. ATC declared Fazlullah and TTP spokesper-son Shahidullah Shahid as proclaimed offenders in last year'sattack, The News International repor ted Three detainees --Sarmad Siddiqui, Nadeem alias Burger and Asif Zaheer -- whoare being tried in this case, were presented in cour t during theresumption of hearing. All three suspects have been accused ofbeing involved in the attack on Quaid-i-Azam International Air-por t in Karachi June 8, last year. The ATC adjourned the hearingof the case till Jan 29. As many as 28 people, including person-nel of the Airpor t Security Force (ASF) and 10 foreign militants,were killed in the attack, for which TTP and the Islamic Move-ment of Uzbekistan (UMI) had claimed responsibility.

ISSUE STAMP TOCOMMEMORATE DIWALI:US LAWMAKERWashington (IANS): A US lawmaker has introduced a resolutionin the Congress, urging the country's postal service to issue astamp honouring Diwali -- "an impor tant spiritual and culturalfestival for many Americans", a media repor t said. "Despite thesignificance of this holiday to many Americans, the United StatesPostal Service has not yet recognised Diwali with a commemo-rative stamp, as it has with other major religious and culturalholidays such as Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Eid," TheAmerican Bazaar website quoted Democratic Par ty Represen-tative Carolyn B. Maloney as saying in a press release."Our resolution would express the sense of the House that theCitizens Stamp Advisory Committee should issue a stamphonouring Diwali, an impor tant spiritual and cultural festival formany Americans," said the representative for New York's 12thcongressional district. Maloney has spearheaded numerous ef-for ts in the past to raise awareness about Diwali, the Indianfestival of lights. Two years ago, she proposed a similar resolu-tion but it failed to gain traction in Washington. However, thistime she is joined by lawmakers like Mike Honda, Ami Bera,Tulsi Gabbard, and Grace Meng. Indian-Americans now numberaround 3.5 million and comprise the third largest Asian communityin the US, according to a report by the Center for American Progress.

US, BRITISH LEADERSOPPOSE EXTRASANCTIONS ON IRANWashington (IANS): US President Barack Obama and BritishPrime Minister David Cameron warned that extra sanctions onIran would derail the ongoing effor ts to prevent Iran from gettingnuclear weapons. "We agree that the international communityneeds to remain united as we seek a comprehensive, diplo-matic solution to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,"Xinhua quoted Obama as saying at a joint press conference inWhite House with Cameron. Additional sanctions on Iran at thistime would undermine that international unity and set back ourchances for a diplomatic solution." Washington's reluctance toimpose new sanctions on Iran was echoed by Cameron, whowas on a two-day state visit to the US. Calling the prospect ofimposing extra sanctions on Iran "counterproductive", Cameronsaid the success of nuclear talks with Tehran required "spacefor negotiation. It could put at risk the valuable international unitythat has been so crucial to our approach," he said.

PAKISTAN EXTENDSLAKHVI'S DETENTIONFOR 30 DAYSIslamabad, (IANS) Pakistan government Monday extended de-tention of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi by 30 days under the Mainte-nance of Public Order (MPO), a media repor t said.Lakhvi has been behind bars since Feb 19, 2009, after an FIRwas registered with the Federal Investigation Agency againsthim for allegedly training terrorists and facilitating the 2008Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people were killed and hun-dreds injured.On Monday, the federal government, however, extended his de-tention in the Adiala Jail under the MPO ordinance, the Dawnrepor ted.During the hearing, Islamabad's Deputy Commissioner (DC)Mujahid Sher Dil informed the cour t that Lakhvi's detention hasbeen extended by the government under the MPO ordinance for30 more days. The high cour t bench, hearing a plea filed byLakhvi's counsel against the detention under the MPO, had soughtthe government's reply over it. The case will be heard again Jan26. Earlier in the day, a division bench of the anti-terrorism cour there, comprising Justice Noorul Haq and Justice Shaukat AzizSiddiqui, resumed the hearing on a plea filed by the governmentagainst grant of bail to Lakhvi.Federal Investigation Agency's prosecutor Mohammad AzharChaudhry told the court that two countries have demanded hand-ing over of Lakhvi to India.Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui replied that this was a diplomaticissue, which needs to be addressed by the government.An FIA petition had challenged the Dec 18 decision of an anti-terrorism cour t (ATC) in Islamabad which granted bail to Lakhvi.

'Wrong policies will make 1 bnmore people poor by 2030'

NADIR PATEL IS CANADA'SNEW ENVOY TO INDIA

New Delhi, (IANS) Nadir Patel, Canada's new high commissioner to India, presented his credentials to President Pranab MukherjeeFriday. He is the first Canadian of Indian origin appointed as envoy to New Delhi.Patel succeeds Stewar t Beck.Speaking about his new role, Patel said: "I look forward to working with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and his government to fur therexpand ties between Canada and India."There are several areas where collaboration is already strong, and there is scope for even greater cooperation to enhance our mutualprosperity, security, and people-to-people ties."Prior to his arrival in India, Patel served as Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer for Canada's Department of ForeignAffairs, Trade and Development.Before that he held a series of high-level government positions, including Chief of Staff to the National Security Advisor to the PrimeMinister, and Secretary to the Cabinet.From 2009 to 2011, Patel was Canada's Consul General in Shanghai, China.Patel currently serves on the Board of Governors of the International Development Research Centre, a Canadian Crown Corporation thatsupports research and innovation in developing countries to promote growth and development.Patel was selected in 2012 by Canada's "Embassy" newspaper as one of the 80 most influential Canadians shaping Canada's foreignpolicy, an honour he got again in 2014 from the "Power and Influence" magazine (top 100).In January 2011, he was profiled by Canada's "Globe and Mail" newspaper as one of "45 Canadians Changing the World".He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science and the HEC Paris School of Management.

THE HIGH COMMISSIONER-DESIGNATE OF CANADA, NADIR PATEL PRESENTING HIS CREDENTIAL TO THE PRESIDENT PRANABMUKHERJEE, AT RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN, IN NEW DELHI. (PIB)

SONAM KAPOOR DURING PROMOTION OF HER UPCOMING MOVIE ‘DOLLY KI DOLI’.

'Adventurous' Priyankaundergoes an

unexpected change

EVERYBODY IN BIGG BOSS WANTS TO FIGHTAND CREATE MESS, ALLEGES SANA

BO REPORT CARD: ALONEFETCHES A DULL RESPONSE

SHWETA SUBRAM’S BOLLYWOOD DEBUT WITHAYUSHMANN KHURRANA IN HAWAIZAADA

Actress Priyanka Chopra, who mostly spor ts long tresses, has gonefor a short hairdo.Before getting her locks chopped off, she tweeted Saturday: "Time todo something spontaneous!! Feeling a bit adventurous. Chopping thetresses!"She even shared a photograph of her new look on social networkingsite Facebook.Spor ting a black ensemble and red lips, she showed off her newshort hairdo with highlights in the photograph.Her fans have already given her thumbs up for the new look. Theyhave used words like "wow", "beautiful" and "cool" to describe hernew hairstyle.She had also cut her hair shor t to play Kiara in the 2010 film "AnjaanaAnjaani".

Actress Sana Khan, who got evicted from "Bigg Boss Halla Bol" Sun-day, says she couldn't behave like former contestant Ajaz Khan inorder to enter tain the viewers.Sana entered the "Bigg Boss" house as a challenger, but was not ableto do much and got voted out after spending two weeks there.She was nominated alongside Rahul Mahajan and Sambhavna Sethin the series which is an extended version of popular reality show"Bigg Boss 8"."The house needed some loud amplifiers and woofers, so a walk-man like me was not able to make any impression inside there," Sanatold IANS over phone from Mumbai."Everybody there wants to fight and create mess to seek attention. Inmy two weeks' journey, I did my best to bring some positivity insidethere but everything happened opposite to what I thought."I can't be like Ajaz Khan, who can enter tain people with his loudbehaviour to stay in the show for a long time. He has no competitionwith me. My personality and work style are totally different from his,"she added.Since its first day, the spinoff has witnessed a lot of negativity insidethe "Bigg Boss" house with challengers and champions fighting witheach other to take their respective stand.Last week, actor Upen Patel entered the house as a guest after Ajaz

was asked to exit the show. Asked who according to her is fake insidethe house, Sana said: "All of them are fake in 'Bigg Boss' house. Ididn't see any real emotions there. People were changing groupsdaily. All the contestants were changing opinions about each other ona day-to-day basis." Hosted by filmmaker Farah Khan, the show isnow lef t with nine housemates including Ali Quli Mirza, Dimpy,Gautam Gulati and Karishma Tanna.

Shweta Subram, the beautiful Canadian songstress, is now taking on Bollywoodwith the title track Dil-e-Nadaan, alongside heartthrob actor and singer AyushmannKhurrana for the upcoming film, Hawaizaada. In addition to Ayushmann, the filmstars Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Sharda. The soundtrack has been releasedby T-Series.Dil-e-Nadaan is a modern adaptation of the popular ghazal by iconic poet MirzaGhalib. Ayushmann and Shweta mellifluously render this song, as it seamlesslyincorporates itself in Hawaizaada’s storyline amongst breathtaking cinematog-raphy by Savita Singh. The film brings forth the inspiring story of Shivkar Talpade,a man who is believed to have flown the first unmanned aircraft eight yearsbefore the Wright Brothers. This is directed by Vibhu Puri and celebrates the spiritof 'Make in India'. Produced by Vishal Gurnani, Rajesh Banga and RelianceEntertainment, the film is scheduled to hit the theatres on January 30, 2015.Watch the official video for Dil-e-Nadaan (Hawaizaada) [Ayushmann Khurrana,Shweta Subram] at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ms9oXS8W5wBeyond proving to be a gifted actor, Ayushmann has vocally enchanted us withhits such as Pani Da Rang, Saadi Galli Aaja, and Mitti Di Khushboo. Meanwhile,Shweta has mesmerized us with Bollywood Evolution, an Indian adaptation ofSwedish House Mafia’s Don’t You Worry Child with The Piano Guys, and KhudaKe Liye alongside Salim-Sulaiman at the IIFA Awards in Toronto.

Bipasha Basu-starrer "Alone" managed to rake in Rs.9.02 crorein two days.The Bhushan Patel directorial, which hit the screens Jan 16,garnered an amount of Rs.4.57 crore on day one and Rs4.45crore on the second day, read a statement.Trade analyst Komal Nahta described "Alone" as "a fair enter-tainer with horror, sex and suspense".Bipasha, who ahead of the release of "Alone" said "scary is thenew sexy", got emotional and thanked the team of the film, whichalso stars Karan Singh Grover."My role in the beautiful journey of #Alone is ending... But manymore journeys are beginning... Will miss my entire team. Thanku all for being so wonderful," she tweeted Saturday along with ablack and white photograph of herself and Karan.


TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015b o l l y w o o d

UpcomingBOLLYWOOD Movies

Movie Review

'CRAZY CUKKAD FAMILY' - AMISGUIDED COMEDY

MUSIC DIRECTOR SHANTANU MOITRA AND ACTRESS DEEPTI NAVAL AT KISHORE THUKRAL'S PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION IN NEW DELHI (IANS)

JAI JAWAAN JAI KISAANRELEASE DATE: Jan 23,2015

STAR CAST: Jatin Khurana, Om Puri, Prem Chopra,

Rati Agnihotri, Rishi Bhutani

DIRECTOR(S): Milan Ajmera

PRODUCER(S): Madan Lal Khurana,

CAST: SWANAND KIRKIRE, SHILPA

SHUKLA, NINAD KAMAT, KUSHAL

PUNJABI AND SIDDHARTH SHARMA

DIRECTOR: RITESH MENON

RATING: **

BABYRELEASE DATE: Jan 23,2015

STAR CAST: Akshay Kumar, Tapsee Pannu,

Rana Daggubati, Anupam Kher

DIRECTOR(S): Neeraj Pandey

PRODUCER(S): Bhushan Kumar

KHAMOSHIYANRELEASE DATE: Jan 30,2015

STAR CAST: Gurmeet Choudhary, Ali Fazal,

Sapna Pabbi

DIRECTOR(S): Karan Darra

PRODUCER(S): Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt

DOLLY KI DOLIRELEASE DATE: Jan 23,2015

STAR CAST: Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao,

Pulkit Samrat, Malaika Arora Khan

DIRECTOR(S): Abhishek Dogra

PRODUCER(S): Arbaaz Khan

Where there is a will, there is a greedy family. Ha ha ha!This one-lined adage serves as the guiding light of debutant directorRitesh Menon's misguided comedy."Crazy Cukkad Family" is a comedy desperately in need of genuinelaughter. You can't even force yourself to giggle at the sheer asininityof the goings-on. The characters behave stupidly and seem very proudof it. This is how dysfunctional families behave, so who are we tochange the rules...they seem to suggest by their exhibitionistic an-tics.Some comedies are so frightfully misdirected that they appear to behorrors. "Crazy Cukkad Family" must have sounded hilarious andwacky on paper. In fact, I can close my eyes and see the entire castand crew falling off their collective seats as they read the script. Alas,there is many a slip between the cup and lip-sync. Characters scream-ing their lungs off to prove they are par t of a dysfunctional family, donot necessarily constitute an occasion for humour.It is truly sad to see talented actors straining to be funny when thematerial provided to them is pulling the other way. The plot about adysfunctional family of four unbecoming progenies who wait for theirrich father to kick the bucket required much more fleshing out. In theabsence of meat to chew on, the characters nibble on the edges oftheir edgy characterisations trying desperately to keep the comicspirit alive.There are brave concessions to new age values such as a cross-dresser and a son declaring himself to be gay. But you really don'tcare if these characters are gay or fey.Death as a laughing matter is hard to achieve in Indian cinema. KundanShah managed to make mortality wor th some mir th in "Jaane Bhi DoYaaro". The feat seems way beyond Ritesh Menon's abilities. He getssome sturdy suppor t from actors who know their jobs. Shilpa Shukla,Ninad Kamat, Kushal Punjabi and specially Swanand Kirkire are infine form.

Sadly, the humour is decidedly more dead in "Crazy Cukkad Family"than the patriarch who just refuses to die. The writing could havedone with less lungs and more brains.This is one crazy family we don't want to run into.

SINGH IS BLINGRELEASE DATE: Jul 31, 2015

STAR CAST: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif

DIRECTOR(S): Prabhu Dheva

PRODUCER(S): Ashvini Yardi

WRITER : Prabhudeva

BAJRANGI BHAIJAANRELEASE DATE: Jul 16, 2015

STAR CAST: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor,

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

DIRECTOR(S): Kabir Khan

PRODUCER(S): Kabir Khan, Salman Khan



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


where south asians meet daily

which lasted just 67 deliveries and in which runs were scored at17.12 to the over. Amla only faced 30 balls and contributed 33. Suchwas de Villiers' dominance.None of the the West Indian bowlers were spared as de Villiers put onhis full range of strokes. There was the pull, the scoop, the lofteddrive and the good old slog and Jason Holder, given the toughest ofexaminations as a young captain, was hardest hit. De Villiers plun-dered 45 runs off the nine balls he faced from him, including six of hissixes.By the time Holder could even consider launching a counter-attack ofhis own, West Indies' challenge was over. Although they may havehad hopes of pulling off something similar to what they did on thesame surface last week, when they successfully chased the highestT20 score of 232, West Indies lost Chris Gayle in the fifth over andeven though Dwayne Smith and Denesh Ramdin both scored half-centuries, the South African attack were much more difficult to getaway than the West Indian one.Jerome Taylor had the most expensive return for a West Indian bowlerin ODIs when his 10 overs cost 95 and Holder was not far behind. Hisnine overs went for 91. Dwayne Smith also took punishment andfinished with an economy of 17 after one of his overs went for 30.Contrastingly, Dale Steyn's 10 overs went for just 29 runs and MorneMorkel's for 43 as the pair demonstrated how to operate on a bats-men-friendly surface. They used the shor t well sparingly and bowledat good pace but ultimately West Indies did not have the same struc-ture to their innings as South Africa did.Rossouw and Amla were circumspect upfront with Rossouw feedingoff Amla's patience to script a knock he really needed. A yo-yo star t tohis international career saw Rossouw collect as many ducks as hedid star ts and he could count them both on one hand. Five noughtswould not have infused the man who may be tasked with opening atthe World Cup should Quinton de Kock be unfit at the star t with confi-dence but a century will change all that.After seeing off a testing early period, in which he was given out lbwto a ball he bottom-edged off Sulieman Benn and successfully re-viewed, Rossouw showed his ability off the backfoot with a selectionof strong pulls and a good understanding of timing and placement.Amla kept the scoreboard moving while Rossouw settled and SouthAfrica had 100 inside 20 overs before they began to accelerate.Samuels helped them in that cause. Twelve runs came off each of hisfirst and third overs as South Africa took 41 off the five overs between20 and 25 and took the Powerplay two overs later. Benn enforced asqueeze and South Africa managed just 29 with the fielding restric-tions on but the opening stand was unbroken and both batsmen wereclosing in on centuries. Rossouw's came first off 102 balls and Amla'sthree deliveries later, off 103.More worryingly for West Indies, it was only the 35th over.Rossouw chipped a catch to mid-off shor tly after that to bring deVilliers and carnage to the crease. At No.3, with a platform laid, deVilliers dictated terms and knocked West Indies off their lines, lengthsand plans. His 50 came up in 16 balls, the first world record, before heraced to 100 after facing just 15 more. The bigger he hit, the feweranswers West Indies had and they couldn't find them in the secondhalf either.Gayle tried to force the pace of the chase but ran out of luck early onwhen he miscued a pull. Farhaan Behardien had to move quickly butjudged the catch well to immediately dent West Indies' already slimchances. At least they did not fold and ended nine runs short of 300,which in different circumstances would be considered a decent total.But against the backdrop of the de Villiers show it paled in compari-son as South Africa took centre stage and best of all, they did it prettyin pink. It was the third match dedicated to breast cancer awarenessin the country and to date, South Africa have won all of them.

DE VILLIERS STUNSWITH 31-BALL TON

AB de Villiers ripped up the record books with the fastestcentury in ODIs, off just 31 balls to beat the previous quickest set by Corey Anderson off 36 balls little more than a yearago, as South Africa beat their own record at the Wanderers

and racked up 439, four shy of the world record total of 443.De Villiers' was the third hundred in a towering South African total -the first time three had been scored in an ODI innings - which also

saw Rilee Rossouw register his maiden century and Hashim Amlahis 18th, a career-best 153 not out, in the highest opening stand SouthAfrica have ever posted of 247.In less than an hour, de Villiers took an innings which was buildingwell and turned it into a skyscraper. He clobbered 16 sixes, the mostby a South African and the joint-highest number of sixes overall in anODI innings, and dominated a 192-run second-wicket stand with Amla

WORLD CUP KNOCK-OUT VENUES ALLOCATEDDubai, (IANS) The International Cricket Council (ICC) Mondayannounced the venue allocation criteria for the quar ter-finals ofthe World Cup which will be held from Feb 14 to March 29.If World Cup co-hosts Australia and New Zealand were to qualifyfrom Pool A, they will play their quar ter-finals in Adelaide andWellington March 20 and 21, respectively.Besides the hosts, the current rankings list Sri Lanka andEngland as the two next highest ranked teams in Pool A. If theseteams qualify for the quar ters, Sri Lanka will play in SydneyMarch 18 and England will play in Melbourne March 19, irrespec-tive of where in the top-4 these teams finish."It is customary for the ICC to afford the hosts the opportunity to playknock-outs at home where possible during the World Cup. It is alsousual for the ICC to assign venues to the higher ranked teams on theassumption they will progress through the pool stage," said ICC generalmanager (cricket) Geoff Allardice. "This is done to assist teams andspectators with their planning by giving them greater certainty. On thisbasis, the ICC has allocated quar ter-final venues to the next twohighest ranked teams from Pool A."However, if any one of the two hosts or the two next highest

ranked Pool A teams fail to reach the last eight, then the team thatqualifies will play at the venue that was allocated to the side thatdid not qualify.For example, if Sri Lanka fail to reach the quar ters, the Pool A teamthat qualifies instead of Sri Lanka will play in Sydney March 18.The venues for quar ter-finalists from Pool B will be determined bytheir Pool A opponents on the basis of their finishing positions inthe group stage.For example, if defending champions India top Pool B in position B1, theywill play against the Pool A team that finishes in position A4. Therefore, ifSri Lanka finish in position A4 then India will play Sri Lanka in SydneyMarch 18.As far as semi-finals are concerned, if Australia and New Zealand qualify,they will play at home unless they are scheduled to meet each other. Inthis case, the side that finished higher in Pool A will host the match.Once it is known whether Australia and New Zealand can meet in a semi-final (at the end of the pool stage), the semi-final venue allocations will beconfirmed.If both the hosts fail to reach the quarter-finals, the winner of the Wellingtonquarter-final will play its semi-final in Sydney.

Quarter-final matches:Quarter-final 1 - A1 v B4Quarter-final 2 - A2 v B3Quarter-final 3 - A3 v B2Quarter-final 4 - A4 v B1A1 means the side that tops Pool A while B4 means the side thatfinishes fourth in Pool BQuarter-final dates and venues:March 18 at Sydney Cricket GroundMarch 19 at Melbourne Cricket GroundMarch 20 at Adelaide OvalMarch 21 at Wellington StadiumSemi-final matches:Semi-final 1 - winner QF1 (A1 v B4) v winner QF3 (A3 v B2)Semi-final 2 - winner QF2 (A2 v B3) v winner QF4 (A4 v B1)Semi-final dates and venues:March 24 at Eden Park, AucklandMarch 26 at Sydney Cricket GroundFinal date and venue:March 29 at Melbourne Cricket Ground

MITCHELL STARC REINED INDIA IN WITH LATE WICKETS, AUSTRALIA V INDIA, CARLTON MID TRI-SERIES, MELBOURNE.

STARC, FINCH SET UPSECOND AUSTRALIA WIN

AUSTRALIA 6 FOR 269 (FINCH 96) BEAT

INDIA 8 FOR 267 (ROHIT 138, RAINA 51,

STARC 6-43) BY 4 WICKETS“On a day when Australia and India each had a dominant opener -

Rohit Sharma made 138 and Aaron Finch 96 - the difference between the sides was Mitchell Starc. For the second consecutivegame, Starc broke through in the first over of the match. For the

second straight time he was Man of the Match in an Australian win. In Sydneyhe took four wickets against England; here it was six against India.Starc's 6 for 43 was the second-best return ever in an ODI in Australia, andhis efforts cannot be underestimated. Both of Australia's wins to begin this tri-series have occurred in good conditions for batting. At the MCG, India choseto bat first and Rohit's 138 could have been the catalyst for a huge total, butStarc ensured that Suresh Raina's 51 was the only other contribution ofsignificance. India finished on 8 for 267, leaving Australia to chase exactly theamount they successfully pursued against South Africa at the same groundin November. That win came with exactly six balls to spare, and JamesFaulkner at the crease. Remarkably, this victory also came with exactly sixballs to spare and Faulkner at the crease. His finishing ability was again ondisplay as he and Brad Haddin took 16 off the 49th over.Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the bowler, and had just delivered a wicket-maiden.But in the 49th, Haddin struck one boundary and Faulkner two, including the

winning runs, a sweep past fine leg for four. Australia's four-wicket win wascomplete. India's problem had been a lack of incision from their bowlersearlier, allowing Finch to compile half-century stands with David Warner andShane Watson, and a 101-run partnership with Steven Smith.The wickets for India came sporadically. Warner skied a catch off UmeshYadav for 24, Watson entertained with 41 from 39 balls before he was bowledtrying to sweep Akshar Patel, and Smith struck a slower bouncer fromMohammed Shami to midwicket on 47. There was no sense of momentumfrom India in the field, and Australia easily milked runs through the middle ofthe chase. Finch was not required to play the ultra-aggressive game hesometimes does, striking his 96 from 127 deliveries with five fours and twosixes. He did not always get the ball out of the middle of the bat, but workedit around adequately enough to cause India problems. He edged behind offYadav with 49 still required off 59 balls, but it would have taken a collapse forAustralia to muff their lines.There nearly was one, as George Bailey was stumped off R Ashwin for 5 andGlenn Maxwell caught and bowled for 20 in Bhuvneshwar's wicket maiden.But Faulkner and Haddin were good enough to get Australia home from aposition of 20 runs needed from 17 balls.The day had started perfectly for Australia after MS Dhoni chose to bat. Starchad broken through twice in the first over of the match against England inSydney on Friday and here he again struck in the opening over, albeit onlyonce, when Shikhar Dhawan edged to slip. The total became 2 for 33 whendebutant Gurinder Sandhu's extra bounce had Ajinkya Rahane caught behind.Virat Kohli was unable to immediately transfer his Test form to the ODI series

and top-edged a catch off Faulkner, which left India at 3 for 59. But Rohit andRaina then steadied the innings with a 126-run partnership that carried Indiaout of danger and into a position from which they could have pressed on to ahefty total. Then came Starc's second wind.He had Raina caught at mid-on for 51 off 63 deliveries, Dhoni chopped on for19 and two balls later Patel was lbw for a duck. Starc completed his five-forby picking up Rohit, caught off a full toss searching for some quick runs in thedying overs, and it was the fourth time Starc had taken an ODI five-for. OnlyBrett Lee and Glenn McGrath have done that more times for Australia, eventhough Starc has played only 30 games.By bowling Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a golden duck next ball, Starc alsobecame the sixth Australian to take at least six wickets in an ODI, and the firstto do it in Australia. His red-ball work over the past year might have beenmixed, but with the white ball Starc is approaching unplayable levels. OnlyAjit Agarkar has ended an ODI in Australia with better figures than Starc, andthen by only one run. By comparison, Pat Cummins, Faulkner and Sandhustruggled to contain India in quite the same way. Sandhu, who becameAustralia's 206th ODI cricketer, bowled with tight lines early but later in theinnings was wayward. Rohit enjoyed batting against Sandhu, Faulkner andCummins, and continued his habit of taking the Australians apart in limited-overs cricket. His third ODI century against them, and his sixth in total, shouldconfirm his place as India's opener of choice for the World Cup, a position forwhich he was preferred in this game to Rahane, who batted at No.3. Rohitwas keen to score from the word go, and clubbed Cummins back over thebowler's head for six in the fourth over, one of four sixes he struck during hisinnings. He also picked up nine fours and brought up his century from his109th delivery; notably Warner at third man was clapping as Rohit celebratedby raising his bat to the crowd. Rohit and Warner had a heated exchangeearlier when it appeared the Australians were annoyed that India had takenan overthrow, believing the throw had deflected off Rohit.Replays could not verify whether the ball had struck Rohit, but could confirmthat he was on the end of some angry-looking words from Warner, and theumpire John Ward had to step in. It could not detract from a fine innings fromRohit, who had struggled during the recent Test series. He scored plenty ofruns behind the wicket on both sides and frustrated the Australians by pickingthe gaps, and every run was cheered by a huge contingent of Indian fans inthe crowd of 34,253. Those fans went home unhappy with the result, butpleased with what they saw from Rohit ahead of the World Cup.

BAILEY SUSPENDED FORSLOW OVER-RATEAustralia's stand-in captain George Bailey has been suspendedfor Friday's ODI against England in Hobar t as a result of Australia'spoor over-rate in their win against India at the MCG on Sunday.Steven Smith is likely to make his ODI captaincy debut in Hobar t,while the selectors will also be forced to show their hand on theirpreferred World Cup backup batsman with a replacement neededfor Bailey. Australia finished their 50 overs in the field at 6.16pm onSunday, which was 26 minutes later than the scheduled inningsfinish time of 5.50pm. Bailey had been fined for another over-rateoffence in an ODI against South Africa in November when he wasalso captain, and as such a suspension was inevitable when thematch referee Andy Pycroft ruled Australia were short against India.Bailey has been banned for one ODI and fined 20% of his match fee, while hisplayers have been fined 10% of their match fees. Pycroft ruled that Australiawas only one over short of its target "when time allowances were taken intoconsideration". Bailey pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted thesanction, so no formal hearing was held. Perversely, Bailey'ssuspension might be advantageous for Australia ahead of theWorld Cup, because the slate is effectively wiped clean on pastoffences and he does not have a future suspension hanging overhis head any longer. Australia's coach Darren Lehmann said hetold the players in no uncer tain terms after Sunday's win thatthey had to improve their over-rates.


TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015e n t e r t a i n m e n t

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CELEBS DURING THE LAUNCH OF YAMAHA FASCINO 2015 CALENDAR IN MUMBAI (IANS)

ZAYED KHAN,TINA DESAI AND RANNVIJAY SINGH DURING THE PREMIERE OF FILM SHARAFAT GAYI TEL LENE IN MUMBAI (IANS)

Oscar Awards Predictions

Los Angeles (IANS): Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's black comedy film"Birdman", starring Michael Keaton, and Wes Anderson's comedy "TheGrand Budapest Hotel", starring Ralph Fiennes, are leading the 87th annualAcademy Award nominations, with nine each, including best picture.None of India's probable contenders, including Oscar winner A.R. Rahman, havemade it to the final nomination list of the awards, announced at the Samuel GoldwynTheatre in Beverly Hills. The winners will be announced at a star-studded gala hereFeb 22. For the first time, nominees in all 24 categories were announced live bydirectors J.J. Abrams, Alfonso Cuaron, actor Chris Pine and Academy presidentCherly Boone Isaacs in a two-part live event."The Imitation Gamea landed eight nominations in total while Clint Eastwood's"American Sniper" and "Boyhood" had six each. The Best Motion Picture categorywill see tough competition between "American Sniper", "Birdman", "Boyhood","The Grand Budapest Hotel", "The Imitation Game", "Selma", "The Theory of Every-thing" and "Whiplash". For the Achievement in Directing list, there's a neck-to-neckcompetition between "Birdman" (Inarritu), "Boyhood" (Richard Linklater),"Foxcatcher" (Bennett Miller), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Anderson) and "TheImitation Game" (Morten Tyldum).The contenders for the Best Performance by an Actor in Leading Role are SteveCarell for "Foxcatcher", Bradley Cooper for "American Sniper", Benedict Cumberbatchfor "The Imitation Game", Keaton for "Birdman" and Eddie Redmayne for "TheTheory of Everything".Those competing for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role trophyare Marion Cotillard for "Two Days, One Night", Felicity Jones for "The Theory ofEverything", Julianne Moore for "Still Alice", Rosamund Pike for "Gone Girl" andReese Witherspoon for "Wild".The Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role nominees are RobertDuvall ("The Judge"), Ethan Hawke ("Boyhood"), Edward Norton ("Birdman"), MarkRuffalo ("Foxcatcher") and J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash"), while actresses in thesame category include Patricia Arquette for "Boyhood", Laura Dern for "Wild", KeiraKnightley for "The Imitation Game", Emma Stone for "Birdman" and Meryl Streepfor "Into the Woods".In the Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (original score), thenominees are "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Alexandre Desplat), "The ImitationGame" (Alexandre Desplat), "Interstellar" (Hans Zimmer), "Mr. Turner" (GaryYershon), "The Theory of Everything" (Johann Johannsson)."Everything is awesome" from "The Lego Movie" (Music and Lyric by ShawnPatterson), "Glory" from "Selma" (John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn), "Grateful" from"Beyond the Lights" (Diane Warren), "I'm not gonna miss you" from "Glen Campbell,I'll Be Me" (Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond) and "Lost stars" from "BeginAgain" (Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois) are competing for Achievementin Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original song) category.For Achievement in Visual Effects category, the contenders are "Captain America:The Winter Soldier", "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes", "Guardians of the Galaxy",

"Interstellar" and "X-Men: Days of Future Past".Contest for the Best Adapted Screenplay is among "American Sniper", "The Imita-tion Game", "Inherent Vice", "The Theory of Everything" and "Whiplash", while"Birdman", "Boyhood", "Foxcatcher", "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "Nightcrawler"are there in the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.Movies making it to the Best Animated Feature Film of the Year nominationsinclude "Big Hero 6a, "The Boxtrolls", "How to Train Your Dragon 2", "Song of theSea" and "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya", while the Best Animated Short Filmnominations are "The Bigger Picture", "The Dam Keeper", "Feast", "Me and MyMoulton" and "A Single Life".Achievement in Cinematography category nominees are "Birdman" (EmmanuelLubezki), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Robert Yeoman), "Ida" (Lukasz Zal andRyszard Lenczewski), "Mr. Turner" (Dick Pope) and "Unbroken" (Roger Deakins).Costumes are a vital part, and those who stand a chance to win the golden statuettefor Achievement in Costume Design are "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (MilenaCanonero), "Inherent Vice" (Mark Bridges), "Into the Woods" (Colleen Atwood),"Maleficent" (Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive) and "Mr. Turner" (JacquelineDurran)Nominations for Achievement in Production Design are "The Grand BudapestHotel", "The Imitation Game", "Interstellar", "Into the Woods" and "Mr. Turner".The jury's picks for the Best Documentary Feature include "CitizenFour", "FindingVivian Maier", "Last Days in Vietnam", "The Salt of the Earth" and "Virunga", whilecompetitors in the Best Documentary Short Subject are "Crisis Hotline: VeteransPress 1", "Joanna", "Our Curse", "The Reaper (La Parka)" and "White Earth".The race for Achievement in Film Editing pits "American Sniper" (Joel Cox and GaryD. Roach), "Boyhood" (Sandra Adair), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Barney Pilling),"The Imitation Game" (William Goldenberg) and "Whiplash" (Tom Cross) againsteach other.Five films - "Ida" (Poland), "Leviathan" (Russia), "Tangerines" (Estonia),"Timbuktua (Mauritania) and "Wild Tales" (Argentina) - are up for theForeign Language Film award.Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar sees Bill Corso and Den-nis Liddiard ("Foxcatcher"), Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier ("The GrandBudapest Hotel") and ElizabethVYianni-Georgiou and David White ("Guard-ians of the Galaxy") against each other.Best Live Action Short Film nominees are "Aya", "Boogaloo and Gra-ham", "Butter Lamp", "Parvaneh" and "The Phone Call".For Achievement in Sound Editing sees Alan Robert Murray and BubAsman ("American Sniper"), Mar tin Hernandez and Aaron Glascock("Birdman), Brent Burge and Jason Canovas ("The Hobbit: The Battle ofthe Five Armies"), Richard King ("Interstellar") and Becky Sullivan andAndrew DeCristofaro ("Unbroken"), while for sound mixing category, fig-ure technicians in films like "American Sniper", "Birdman", "Interstellar","Unbroken" and "Whiplash".

'BIRDMAN', 'THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL'LEAD OSCAR NOMINATIONS

Elevation Pictures' titlesreceive nine AcademyAward nominationsTORONTO - The Academy Award nominations were announcedtoday. The Imitat ion Game received eight nominat ions,Nightcrawler received one - that of Original Screenplay. The Imi-tation Game has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor,Suppor ting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Director, Film Editin,Original Score and Production Design. The Academy Awardswill take place on February 22, 2015

KRISTEN STEWART KEEPSCHECK ON HER ACTING SKILLSLos Angeles (IANS): Actress Kristen Stewar t uses a check sheetto mark her acting ability in her films. The "Twilight" staralways makes sure she looks back at her per formances tosee what she can improve on, but when she watched "StillAlice" she was blown away.She was so impressed by Julianne Moore's por trayal ofAlice, a professor suffering from early onset of Alzheimer's,t ha t she ba re l y no t i ced he r own cha rac te r, r epo r tsfemalefirst.co.uk. "I'm super technical, I will sit and watchone of my films with a little list of checks and balances andthis finally took that away. Usually the first time is never aproper experience, it 's always getting over hangups andweird memories, and this time it was just absolutely unde-niable."What she (Moore) does needed to be done. It's so impor-tant," she told Salon magazine. "I've seen it twice now. Thefirst time I saw it, I was so blown away. I was present for alot of what she did that was impressive in the movie, but forthe things that I was not there for she so destroyed me (sic).I thought nobody else in the movie existed," she added. The24-year-old star plays Alice's daughter Lydia in the film.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


SHANE WATSON WAS BOWLED BY AKSHAR PATEL, AUSTRALIA V INDIA, CARLTON MID TRI-SERIES, MELBOURNE.

ITF Juniors: Yubrani storms into pre-quarters, Sinha goes down fighting

Kolkata, (IANS) Local talent Yubrani Banerjee sped pastBelgium's Nina Van Oost 6-1,6-2 to storm into the pre-quar terfinals of the Girls Singles Under 18 category of the ITF JuniorsMonday.Banerjee maintained her blistering form on cour t, as sheimpressed with her skills onway to a sparkling victory at theDakshin Kalikata Sansad spor ts complex.She will now battle four th seeded South African R.Janse VanRensburg for a place in the quar ter final.In the Boys Singles Under 18 category, local favourite Nitin K.Sinha went down fighting against third seeded Cing YangMeng from Taipei 2-6 6-1 4-6,But bringing some cheers to the spectators, Ishaque Eqbaljumped to the next round with a close 6-3 2- and 6-2 win overTejas Shevde in a qualifier.Top seed in Boys Singles Under 18 Aryan Goveas survived ascare, as he overcame an opening half loss pip Turkey'sCagatay Sami Soke 6-7(4) 6-4,6-3.Today's Match Score (IND, if not specified);Boys Singles Under 18 (Round 1)Aryan Goveas (1) bt Cagatay Sami Soke (TUR) 6-7(4),6-4,6-3Yun Ruei Wen (TPE) bt Anirudh Chandrasekhar 6-4,7-5

Siddhant Banthia bt Adil Kalyanpur 6-1,6-0Roop Rana Bhullar (NOR)(6) bt Siddhar th Basnet 6-3,6-0B.R. Nikshep (4) bt Eric Jr Olivarez (PHI) 3-6,7-6(6),6-3Ishaque Eqbal bt Tejas Shevde 6-3,2-6,6-2Yugal Bansal bt Christian Cummings 6-1,6-0Dhruv Sunish bt Breno Souza Plentz (BRA) 7-5,6-2P.V. Gnana Bhasker bt Paras Dahiya 4-6,6-4,6-3Cing Yang Meng (TPE)(3) bt Nitin Kr Sinha 6-2,1-6,6-4Kaya Gore (TUR)(8) bt Par th Aggarwal 6-3,6-2Cheng Cheih Wang (TPE) bt Mridul Kharkwal 7-6(5),6-4Girls Singles Under 18 (Round 1)Karman Kaur Thandi (1) bt Huai Shu Chen (TPE) 6-2,6-1Mahak Jain bt Jaipet Anontaweesil (THA) 6-4,6-0R Janse Van Rensburg (RSA)(4) bt Snehal Mane 6-3,6-4Yubrani Banerjee bt Nina Van Oost (BEL) 6-1,6-2Yu Pei Lee (TPE) bt Kwan Yau NG (HKG) 1-6,6-3,6-4Ye Xin Ma (CHN) bt Jennifer Luikham (5) 3-6,6-0,6-4Fang Hsien Wu (TPE)(8) bt Adrija Biswas 6-2,6-1En Shuo Lian (TPE) bt Lalita Devarakonda 6-1,6-0Zeel Desai (3) bt Inci Ogut (TUR) 6-0,6-3Nidhi Suparapaneni bt Maia Bernadetta Balce (PHI) 3-6,6-3,6-4

SANIA-MATTEK-SANDS WINSYDNEY DOUBLES TITLESydney (IANS): Indo-American pair of Sania Mirza and BethanieMattek-Sands defeated top-seeded Americans Abigail Spearsand Raquel Kops-Jones 6-3, 6-3 to win the women's doublestitle of the Sydney International tennis tournament. It was Sania'sfirst doubles title of the season and 23rd of her career. The Indo-American duo needed 69 minutes to complete the victory. Thevictory, fifth for the pair together, should boost the confidence ofthe pair ahead of the Australian Open, star ting Jan 19. The duoearned 470 ranking points each and received $39,000 as prizemoney. Sania's compatriot, veteran men's doubles playerLeander Paes also was in fine form reaching the finals of theHeineken Open tournament in Auckland on Friday. The 41-year-old Indian, teaming up with South African Raven Klaasen de-feated the pair of Austrian Alexander Peya and Brazilian BrunoSoares 3-6, 6-3, 10-4.

MITCHELL MARSH TO PLAYSYDNEY GRADE CRICKETSydney (IANS): Injured Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marshis trying to find his way back by playing Sydney Grade Cricketfrom Jan 24. Though he won't bowl before the World Cup as heis still recovering from a right hamstring problem, Cricket Aus-tralia (CA) wants Marsh to get some batting practice beforejoining the team at the quadrennial event as a specialist bats-man, repor ts news.com.au. "At the moment he's going to comeback through his batting. The oppor tunity to have Mitch Marsh,one of the 15 best players in the country, for white ball cricket -I'm sure there will be a little bit of interest," said CA high perfor-mance manager Pat Howard. The 23-year-old, who plays forWestern Australia, does not have a grade team in Sydney soCricket New South Wales (NSW) will run a ballot to fix uponwho he should play for. Howard expects plenty of interest in hisservices. Marsh initially injured himself on the first day of theBrisbane Test against India and then suffered another setbackduring his rehabilitation.

Fleming tips Australia, New Zealand to reach World Cup finalDubai, (IANS) Former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming Fridaytipped joint hosts Australia and New Zealand to reach the final of thefor thcoming 2015 World Cup, also identifying South Africa and theWest Indies as the dark horses of the tournament.It will be the first time the mega event will be held in the two countriessince 1992 when Pakistan emerged champions. The tournament star tsFeb 14 and the final is slated for March 29. "New Zealand and Austra-lia to make the final. South Africa will be close and West Indies arethe dark-horse," he was quoted as saying by the International CricketCouncil's (ICC) official website. Fleming said New Zealand will be atough team to beat since they have several players who are potentialmatch-winners."All the usual suspects, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, BrendonMcCullum and then the bowling group with Tim Southee, Daniel Vettoriand possibly Trent Boult. The beauty of it is that I could name anotherthree or four players to watch out for - and that's why I'm optimisticabout the Cup," the former left-handed batsman said. He also tippedexperienced batsman Mar tin Guptill to be the perfect foil for destruc-

tive opener Brendon McCullum, also the captain of the World Cup. The41-year-old, widely regarded as the finest captain of New Zealand,expected McCullum to provide a quick star t to the Kiwis saying hisform would be crucial to the home team's chances in the quadrennialevent. "Mar tin Guptill would prove to be the perfect foil for BrendonMcCullum for the opening par tnership. McCullum would give the Ki-wis a quick star t," he opined. Fleming, who also became a success-ful coach after retirement guiding the Chennai Super Kings to twoIndian Premier League (IPL) titles, also identified his match-winningunbeaten knock of 134 against South Africa in the 2003 edition as hisfondest World Cup memory. The former left-handed batsman, who isthe New Zealand's most capped ODI captain, having led the side for arecord 218 times, said the Kiwi team for the 2003 edition was mostcapable of lifting the trophy and regretted having missed the oppor tu-nity. New Zealand crashed out of the Super Six stage of the tourna-ment, finishing fifth in the group. "In South Africa in 2003, we didn'tachieve what we should have achieved, but I felt that was one of ourmost talented sides," he rued.

Sydney (IANS): Indian cricket coach Duncan Fletcher hassaid his team's belief in defending the World Cup title stemsfrom the way it has per formed in overseas conditions overthe past couple of years. Fletcher, who will be coaching ateam in the World Cup for the third time, said the 2013Champions Trophy victory is a testament to the fact that theMahendra Singh Dhoni-led side is used to winning and has astrong chance to retain the title."We have a good chance to win after the way the team hasbeen building over the last three-four years. A big reason formy belief is our Champions Trophy (2013) victory in En-gland," the 66-year-old was quoted as saying by bcci.tv. "Weplayed in every foreign conditions that didn't suit the side andyet we played so well that we didn't lose a single match. Thatshows that the side is used to winning and that's reallyexciting."Asked to pick one quality that gives this team an edge overthe others, the Zimbabwean pointed out: "One-day cricket isall about handling extreme pressure when the side is down;understanding where the game is poised at that stage andfinding your way out of that situation to end up on the winningside. Our excellent record when chasing totals shows that.""Most other sides can't do it because under such pressure,you lose your cool. Because Dhoni is so adept at soaking in

the pressure, we have done well in those situations. It isimpor tant to be calm and take the game all the way and win with maybethree balls to spare. People might say, 'Oh, they barely got home', but gettinghome is the most important thing."

India have strong chance to defend World Cup: Fletcher

SANGAKKARA JOINS SURREYFOR 2015 SEASONLondon (IANS): English cricket county side Surrey has con-firmed the signing of Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara."He is a five-star player and person and that is important be-cause he will be working with our homegrown players," AlecStewar t, director of the county club was quoted as saying bybbc.com. Sangakkara previously played county cricket forWarwickshire and Durham. "He is the number one Test bats-man in the world but it's the special character that he haswhich is as impor tant to us," Stewar t added. Sangakkara iscurrently the top-ranked Test batsman and fifth all-time highestrun scorer in the longest form of the game. The left-handedbatsman is also the four th highest One-Day Internationals (ODI)run-scorer with 13,414. The 37-year-old is to retire from ODIsafter the impending World Cup.

CLARKE DETERMINED TOPLAY 2019 WORLD CUPSydney (IANS): Injury-plagued Australian skipper MichaelClarke believes he can continue playing cricket as far as the2019 World Cup. Clarke has been plagued with injuries over thepast year and has battled to overcome chronic back and ham-string troubles, but insists that he still has a long way to go ininternational cricket."It's funny, a lot of people have said or thought, 'Michael isgoing to retire at the end of this World Cup'. I'm sure I am goingto retire at the end of a World Cup, but I don't think it's this one,"Clarke was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. Clarke alsocompared himself to wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin, 37,who is still an integral par t of the Australian set up. "I'm 33years of age - look at someone like Brad Haddin, who is 37 andstill loving his cricket and contributing to the team. I do not seeany reason why I can't play in the next World Cup," added Clarke.He batted in the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) nets Thursday togive every indication that his recovery from hamstring surgeryis progressing wel l . He has played in 238 One-DayInternationals for Australia and scored 7762 runs.

WARNER FINED OVER ROHIT SPATDavid Warner has defended his use of the words "speak En-glish" during an on-field squabble with Rohit Sharma duringSunday's ODI at the MCG, but has been fined 50% of his match feeover the incident. Warner admitted during a radio interview onMonday morning that he was in the wrong by engaging with Rohit.The incident occurred at the end of the 23rd over of India's innings,when India took an overthrow and the Australians showed theirdispleasure, seemingly believing the ball had ricocheted off Rohit'slegs. Replays suggested that was not necessarily the case, butduring the crossover at the end of the over the umpire had to step into hose down a verbal stoush between Warner and Rohit."On the cricket etiquette side of things when you throw a ball tothe keeper and it hits a player you don't run," Warner said onSky Spor ts Radio on Monday. "A few of the boys said somethingto him and when I went over to say something he sor t of saidsomething in their language and I said 'speak English', becauseif you're going to say something for me to understand theoreti-cally, I cannot speak Hindi."So I did the polite thing and asked him to speak English, thereforehe did, and I can't repeat what he said. I thought I was okay byasking him to speak English and I'm going to say it a couple oftimes if he keeps saying it in Hindi. I got slapped on the wristyesterday by the ICC, I shouldn't have engaged him and shouldhave went to the other side to my fielding position, but I didn't."The guys behind the wicket said it hit him. I walked in becauseI presumed it hit him as well. I was in the wrong. What he wassaying to me I asked him to speak English. I got in trouble forengaging the player, which technically you're not allowed to dothat now … You're not supposed to walk at the player.

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