donald trump’s india sojourn set to reinvigorate...

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DONALD TRUMP’S INDIA SOJOURN SET TOREINVIGORATE THE INDO-US BILATERAL TIES

DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER OF DELHI MANISH SISODIA, AND AAP MP BHAGWANT MANN PARTICIPATED IN A PRESS CONFERENCE ORGANISED BYVOLUNTEERS OF THE AAM AADMI PARTY IN BRAMPTON. Y MEDIA CEO AND GROUP EDITOR YUDHVIR JASWAL, ALONG WITH SPECIALCORRESPONDENTS, SANDIP SANGHA, AND REBECCA TANDON ATTENDED THE CONFERENCE AND SPOKE WITH BOTH LEADERS ABOUT BURNINGISSUES INCLUDING PARTY EXPANSION IN PUNJAB. ALSO PRESENT AT THE EVENT WERE AAP VOLUNTEERS INCLUDING ANURAG SHRIVASTAVA,KAMALJEET SIDHU, DR GURDEEP GREWAL, PAL RANDHAWA, AND SOHAN SINGH DHINDSA.

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'DON'T WORRY, ONE DEMOCRACY WILL SETTLEIT,' JAISHANKAR TO US SENATOR ON KASHMIR

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I CONTD. ON PAGE 8

PM MODI STRIVES TO RE-BUILD THE ‘BURNT BRIDGES’, HAVE BETTER TRADE TIES

MUNICH: In a firm repar tee, external affairs minister S Jaishankartold a senior US senator that India will "settle"the Kashmir issue on its own when the Ameri-can lawmaker brought up the issue duringan interaction at the Munich Security Con-ference. Referring to the Kashmir issue dur-ing a panel discussion, Senator Lindsey Gra-ham said the best way to sell democracy willbe to settle the Kashmir issue in a demo-cratic way.

I CONTD. ON PAGE 12

PUNJABI COUPLE FROM BRAMPTONARRESTED BY RCMP : CRA PHONE SCAM

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) GTA ar rested and chargeda Punjabi couple on Friday, in connection to multiple transnationalscams, including the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) telephone scam,the Bank Investigator scam, and the Tech suppor t scam.

PM MODI SPEAKS OUT IN SUPPORT OFKASHMIRI PANDITS ; COMMUNITY IN THE US

HAILS STATEMENT

I CONTD. ON PAGE 12

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently made statements in the Par-liament stating Kashmir's identity was buried when the exodus ofKashmiri Pandits began in 1990. The community in the US hailed theremarks saying the recognition is a step to-wards their rehabilitation. In response to a debate on Motion of Thanksto the President's Address in the Lok Sabhaon February 6, Modi called Jammu & Kashmirthe crown jewel of India, and said that on the darknight of January 19, 1990, Kashmir'sidentity had been buried.

INDIA BECOMES 5TH LARGEST ECONOMY,OVERTAKES UK, FRANCE: REPORT

I CONTD. ON PAGE 14

NEW DELHI: India emerged as the world's fifth largest economy by over-taking the UK and France in 2019, says a report. A US-based think tankWorld Population Review in its repor t said that India is developing into anopen-market economy from its previous autarkic policies. "India'seconomy is the fifth largest in the world with a GDP of $2.94 trillion,over taking the UK and France in 2019 to take the fifth spot," it said. Thesize of the UK economy is $2.83 trillion and that of France is $2.71 trillion.

I DETAILS ON PAGE 5

US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND FIRST LADY MELANIA ARE SET TO VISIT INDIA FROM FEBRUARY 24 TO 25.

THE PARTY KEEPS ITS CARDS CLOSE TO ITSCHEST ABOUT ITS PUNJAB PLANS

I DETAILS ON PAGE 11

TRUMP’S ACQUITTAL SHOWS HIS POWERFULCLOUT AMONG REPUBLICANS

IRAN SHIFTS ENTIRE BLAME ON TRUMP’SADVISORS, US TURNS MELLOW ON IRAN

PAKISTAN DIRECTS FB, TWITTER, GOOGLE TOOPEN THEIR OFFICES IN PAKISTAN

UK LABOUR MP DEBBIE ABRAHAMSDENIED INDIAN VISA

In a controversial move, India denied entry to a UK Labour MP whohas been critical of the Narendra Modi-led government's decision torevoke Ar ticle 370, which gave special status to the region of Kash-mir. Debbie Abrahams, chair of a parliamentary group on Kashmirsaid she was denied a standard e-visa at Delhi's Indira Gandhi Air-por t. She claims that immigration officers did not explain the reasonbehind the decision. I CONTD. ON PAGE 11

The US President Donald Trump’s for thcoming two-day Indiavisit is laden with full prospects to re-invigorate the Washington-NewDelhi bilateral ties. Tr ump and his Indian counterpar t P rime Minister Narendra Modican use the historic occasion for re-affirming long-standing commonbilateral commitments towards diversity, de-mocracy, rule of law and human rights. All the eyes are now set on PresidentTrump’s February 24-25 India visit on the invi-tation of P rime Minister Narendra Modi. Trumpwill be accompanied by the First Lady Mela-nia Trump who too is ‘over-excited’ and hassaid a big ‘Thank You’ to Modi for extendinginvitation to the world’s most power ful coupleas she has said their visit would be aimed at celebrating the closeties between the USA and India. Narendra Modi has responded to Melania’s elation by assuringher that India will accord a memorable welcome to ‘Our esteemedguests’ and has described the visit a ‘Very special one’ which will goa long way in fur ther ‘Cementing’ the Indo-US friendship. India is leaving no stone unturned to roll out a red carpet for theTrumps for their New Delhi and Ahmedabad sojourn. Gujarat alone is

expected to incur a huge expenditure of over Rs. 100 crores (Around $13,975,270.00) with which Ahmedabad is being decked up like a bridefor Trumps’ visit. The prospects of inking of any ‘full-scale’ bilateral business pactbetween the US and India seems to be bit ‘bleak’ due to some con-

straints and stumbling blocks put up from boththe sides in the past. So, in the given situation there could bemore emphasis on putting some strategic de-fence deals in place owing to unsavoury on-going trade restrictions and tariff wars betweenthe two major world powers. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is striv-ing hard to remove all the road-blocks ahead of Trumps’

February 24-25 visit and he is seemingly yearning to rebuild the ‘burnt bridges’between the world’s two largest democracies. The bitterness on the trade front had got kicked-off in 2019 whenTrump had suspended India's special trade designation dating back to1970s after Modi-led India Inc. had put price caps on medical devicesapart from introducing some fresh data localisation requirements ande-commerce restrictions on the US.

2 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 S P E C I A L R E P O R T

Celebrities walk the walk at Lakme Fashion Week 2020


TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020S P E C I A L R E P O R T

ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SPEEDING IN BRAMPTONAUTOMATED SPEED ENFORCEMENT SIGN UNVEILED IN WARD 1

“Wards 1 & 5 Regional Councillors Rowena Santos and Paul Vicente, Brampton Fire Chief Boyes, andPeel Regional Police Superintendent Sean Mckenna gathered with local residents for the unveilingof the notice sign to introduce Ward 1’s first-ever Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) in Commu-nity Safety Zone on Vodden St. East between Ken Whillans Drive and Kennedy Road.ASE is an automated system that uses a camera and a speed measurement device to help reducespeed in identified areas (school zones and community safety zones across Ontario). ASE capturesand records images of vehicles travelling in excess of the posted limit. The implementation of ASEacross the province focuses on increasing safety and comfor t for local communities, par ticularlyfor more vulnerable road users, like seniors and children.The ASE Program suppor ts Brampton’s Healthy and Safe City: Streets for People Term of CouncilPriority , which incorporates elements of Vision Zero, a regional plan that aims to increase road safety throughchanges to road design, maintenance and operation, and increased public awareness.We have zero tolerance for speeding in Brampton. Automated Speed Enforcement is one of manyways we are working towards reduced vehicle incidents and increased safety in our communities,especially in school zones. I look forward to continuing our work in implementing traffic calmingmeasures,” said Mayor Patrick Brown.Regional Councillor Rowena Santos, Wards 1 & 5, said, ““Addressing speeding and traffic calmingmeasures especially in community safety zones are a priority. We believe that implementing ideasproven by data, evidence and research such as automated speed enforcement cameras will providethe permanent solutions that will have an impact on speeding in our community.Regional Councillor Paul Vicente, Wards 1 & 5, said, “Residents have asked us for REAL solutions toreduce speeding on our roads. Leveraging camera technology is an effective way to enforce speeds whileallowing Police to focus on other community safety priorities.”



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


FORMER CHANCELLOR SAJID JAVID'S SURPRISE RESIGNATION NOT ONLY SURPRISED MANY, BUT ALSO PAVED A WAY FOR 39 YEAROLD RISHI SUNAK WHO HAS BEEN HANDPICKED TO FILL THE VACANT POST. WITH JUST FOUR WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE BIG BUDGET,THE CHANGES ARE SIGNIFICANT.

NIA STUMBLES UPON 'EVIDENCE' OFTERROR FUNDING THROUGH CROSS-LOC

TRADE DURING DSP CASE PROBE

b r e a k i n g n e w s

SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has stumbled upon "evi-dence" of funding of terror groups through cross-border trade during its probe intothe case of Deputy Superintendent of Police DavinderSingh who was caught escorting terrorists out ofKashmir Valley, officials said on Sunday. The offi-cials said NIA investigators grilled self-styled com-mander of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror groupSyed Naveed Mushtaq Ahmed alias Naveed Babu,who was caught with Singh, about the funding ofthe organisation and the way they had beenin touch with their masters in Pakistan.

WE REMAIN FIRM ON DECISIONS ON ARTICLE370, CAA DESPITE PRESSURE: PM MODI

VARANASI: Ruling out a rethink on decisions on CAA and Ar ticle 370,Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asser ted that his governmentremains and will remain firm on the steps, whichhave been taken in national interest, despite pressurefrom all sides. "Be it the scrapping of Article 370 fromJammu and Kashmir or the Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA), the country waited for decisions onthese for years," he told a public meeting hereduring a day-long visit to his Lok Sabhaconstituency. "These decisions werenecessary in the interest of the nation. I CONTD. ON PAGE 12

NARAYANA MURTHY'S SON-IN-LAW RISHI SUNAK IS UK'S NEW CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

I CONTD. ON PAGE 14

A repor t reveals the number of Indian students who were granteda study permit by the Canadian government, exceeded one lakh in2019. This is the second consecutive year that the number ofpermits were surpassed. It is known that Canada approved over 4Lakh study permits in 2019, out of which, 34.5 per cent visas went

to Indian students.They are closely followed by the Chinese who were granted 21 percent permits. The repor t closely studied the pattern of student immi-gration to Canada, and found that while the flow of Chinese students isdeclining, that of students from India is on a steady rise.

OVER 1.39 LAKH INDIAN STUDENTSGIVEN CANADIAN STUDY VISAS IN 2019

Y MEDIA EXCLUSIVE : AAP LEADER AND DELHI DEPUTY CM MANISHSISODIA SAYS PARTY MODEL TO BE REPLICATED ACROSS COUNTRY

Volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Par ty organised a press conference with Deputy CM ManishSisodia on Sunday, at Brampton. The leader addressed the media and answered questionson the par ty's plans for Delhi and Punjab, for the next five years. In conversation with YMedia, when asked who will be the face of AAP's Punjab chief ministerial candidate, hesaid it will be revealed during the elections.He added that the AAP model will be replicated across India, indicating a strongmorale within the par ty following its recent victory in the Delhi elections. Whenquestioned Prashant Kishor's involvement with AAP's expansion plans in Punjab,Sisodia said, “Nothing wrong in getting extra help from Prashant Kishor.”Y Media also spoke with AAP MP Bhagwant Mann, who announced a visit toCanada in the near future. In a warning directed towards other par ties, Mann said, “Those who worked against AAP will not get easy accessnow.” The conference says several AAP volunteers from the GTA, in attendance, including Anurag Shrivastava, Kamaljeet Sidhu, Dr Gurdeep Grewal, PalRandhawa, and Sohan Singh Dhindsa.

SURREY MAN RAVINDER SINGH SANDHUSHOT DEAD IN LANGLEY

A 42 year old Surrey man, Ravinder Singh Sandhu died at a hospitalaf ter he was shot inside his car after a family par ty at a Chuck E.Cheese in Langley. A spokesperson for the Integrated Homicide In-vestigation Team (IHIT) Sgt F rank Jang said the victim was rushed tothe hospital in critical condition, where he died.Sandhu was inside his vehicle with his two children, both under the age of 10.While neither of them were injured, they did witness the cold-blooded murder oftheir father. Jang said there was no other adult around, however, other family andfriends of Sandhu were at the par ty at Chuck E. Cheese.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


MidWeek

C O M M U N I T Y

CONTD. FROM PAGE 3Gurinderpreet Dhaliwal, 37, and Inderpreet Dhaliwal, 36, areboth charged with one count of fraud over $5000, one count oflaundering of the proceeds of Crime, and one count of prop-er ty obtained by crime. A press statement by the RCMP re-vealed the two have been released on their own recognizanceand are scheduled to appear at Brampton Cour t on March 2,2020. It also said a Canada-wide warrant has been issued for26 year old Shantanu Manik, a foreign national believed to bein India.The arrests were made in connection with the RCMP GTA'sProject OCTAVIA, which aimed to combat the CRA Scamthrough public awareness, disruption, and enforcement. Op-erating out of India, the scam has been targeting Canadianssince 2014, and continues to create havoc despite multiplepolice raids on illegal call centres in India. The CRA scamhas caused victim losses totalling over $16.8 million cumu-latively between 2014 and 2019. An all over total of victimlosses including the Bank Investigator and Tech Suppor tScams amount over $30 million.RCMP investigators uncovered the “money mules” operatingfrom Canada, who assist with laundering of funds obtainedthrough the scams. Officers said fur ther ar rests and chargesare to be expected.Inspector Jim Ogden, Officer in Charge of the GTA Financial Crime Sec-tion in Milton, gave a press statement on Friday. He said, “This investiga-tion demonstrates how the RCMP works to ensure that Canadians canmaintain confidence in their economy and their government agencies.The RCMP and our many partners will continue to work together todismantle these organisations.”He added, “Project Octavia demonstrates how the effor ts oflaw enforcement agencies, other government depar tments,and private sector partnerships at a local, national, and inter-national level, can work effectively to combat crime.”

PUNJABI COUPLE FROMBRAMPTON ARRESTED BY RCMP:

CRA PHONE SCAM

TRILLIUM HEALTH PARTNERS FOUNDATION LAUNCHES50/50 RAFFLE WITH HELP FROM HAZEL MCCALLIONRaffle to celebrate McCallion’s 99th birthday while supporting THP’s most critical needs

Trillium Health Par tners Foundation launched its first-ever province-wide raffle on February 14. Called the Trillium Health Par tners Foun-dation 50/50 Raffle, proceeds will support the highest priority needsof Trillium Health Par tners, Canada’s largest community academichospital. February 14 is not just Valentine’s Day, but also formerMississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion’s 99th bir thday. As THP’sHonourary Guardian, McCallion has been a long-time and passionatesupporter of Trillium Health Par tners. The Foundation is pleased tohonour Hazel with our “best-deal” ticket package, offering 99 num-bers for just $40.“Excellent health care is the bedrock of a healthy community, and I’vebeen an advocate for Trillium Health Partners for many years. On the occasionof my 99th birthday, I’m pleased to support this timely and innovative way to raisefunds. It’s a guaranteed win-win,” says Ms. McCallion.The new 50/50 Raffle provides the community with a way to suppor ttheir hospital, while offering a chance to win a minimum $25,000

grand prize. In addition, an early bird draw on March 6 features afamily pack of tickets to see the 2019 NBA champions Toronto Rap-tors at Scotiabank Area.Tickets are five numbers for $10, 30 for $20, or 99 for $40 – in honourof Hazel’s 99th. People from all across Ontario can play for theirchance to win by buying tickets online at trillium5050.ca or at allthree hospital locations from today through March 26, with the grandprize awarded on March 27.“Hazel McCallion has been the Honourary Guardian of Trillium HealthPar tners for many years, and we are most grateful she is suppor tingus as we celebrate her milestone birthday,” said Shannon Van Rassel,Senior Vice President, Trillium Health Par tners Foundation. “We con-tinue to add new ways to support excellence and top quality care atthe hospital, so I encourage the community to buy tickets, especiallyour best-deal package in honour of Hazel’s 99th bir thday.” TrilliumHealth Par tners Foundation 50/50 Raffle tickets are now on sale.

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BRAMPTON MULTICULTURAL CENTRE (BMC) IN PARTNERSHIP WITH RBC FUTURE LAUNCH AND BRAMPTONBMC in collaboration with RBC Future Launch and Brampton Library is organizing a one of its kind, first ever symposium entitled, “FUTURE READY” for youth between the ages of 15-29 at Brampton Civic Centreon Saturday, February 22nd, 2020 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. “We’re excited to be par tnering with Brampton Multicultural Centre and Brampton Library at the Future Ready youth-focused event to help bring theRBC Future Launch promise to life. We have a responsibility to prepare young people for the oppor tunities and ambiguities of the future.” said Zanita DiSalle, Regional Vice President, RBC. “That’s what RBCFuture Launch is all about, and through our par tnership with Future Ready, we hope to enable young people to build their skills, and we are so proud to be able to par tner in such a meaningful way to make thishappen.”“We take pride in offering unique and innovative programs for youth in our community. Future Ready will provide an oppor tunity for youth to engage with employers, researchers, career counsellors, serviceproviders, and municipal governments” said Salima Tejani, Director of P rogram and Services, BMC. “Our aim for the day is to connect with young people to learn about their challenges, and together char t apath for a brighter future!” The free youth symposium entitled, FUTURE READY will feature many programs and activitiesduring the course of the day which will include: panel discussion moderated by Mark Beckles, Senior Director Youth Strategy and Innovation, RBC; networking oppor tunities with industry leaders, workshopsfocused on personal branding, meet and greet with FL champions and Nextgen, oppor tunities to explore different career options in Canada, and learning about youth serving organizations in Peel. Raffle drawand youth social gathering will be held at the end of the event and light refreshments will be served.WHO: Brampton Multicultural Centre (BMC) www.bmccentre.org, RBC & Brampton LibraryWHAT: Youth Symposium, FUTURE READY to empower youth of today for the jobs of tomorrowWHERE: BRAMPTON CIVIC CENTRE (150 Central Park Drive, ON)WHEN: Saturday February 22nd, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.


TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020OPINIONINDIA READY FOR A $ 3.5 BILLION NEW US DEFENCE PURCHASE PACKAGE

US LIKELY TO ANNOUNCE A DUTY-FREE WAIVER FOR SOME OF THE 2,000 PRODUCTS‘SKEPTICISM’ LOOMS LARGE OVER POSSIBILITIES OF A ‘FULL SCALE’ TRADE DEAL

US IS INDIA’S SECOND LARGEST TRADE PARTNER AFTER CHINAWALKING AWAY WITH A TRADE DEAL WOULD BE IMPORTANT FOR TRUMP, MODI

INDIA IS SET TO INK A $ 2.6 BILLION DEAL FOR PURCHASE OF MILITARY CHOPPERS

Our take here is that the Trump visit will revolve around defence or other deals and more or less itwould turn out to be a win-win situation for Trump and Modi.

Trump’s stakes are too high as he is going to polls in 2020 and he would need the support of lakhsof Indo-Americans.

On the other hand, the Modi-led could use this occasion to tell Indians that the world’s mostpowerful country ‘cared too much’ for India where President of the USA has always remained to be a

centre of attraction for one and all. The BJP leadership could project Trump’s visit as its ‘victory’ at a time when the BJP had suffered aworst poll debacle in Delhi after Jharkhand and when it is still facing certain domestic problems likecriticism over ocassionial suspension of internet services in the J&K, detention of certain Kashmiri

leaders and the ongoing anti-CAA protests. Even if no big trade deal was signed, Trump visit will bring along a whiff of fresh air for the Modi

government as atleast it will ensure a high degree of public ‘distraction’ from certain contentiousissues on the home front like economic slowdown and inflation.

So in either way Modi and the ruling NDA government will certainly get a major boost from hostingthe US President at a time when Modi commands a huge fan-following amongst a large section of

Indians for his ‘Foreign policies’ and what they call as his ‘Stern actions’. On his part,Trump is expected to stay away from contentious domestic Indian issues like the CAA or

scrapping of Article 370 from J&K which had led to wide-spread apprehensions and protests in thecountry and the hill state as well.

By preferring India over Pakistan, Trump has already indicated that he had a tilt toward India andthat he and his administration was taking a long view of India’s domestic issues.

Trump’s visit to India is also very important for just as many as six US presidents have visited Indiaso far. The visits of last three US presidents had largely hailed India’s potential on economic front

and its potential and its track-record on the fronts of democracy, diversity and human rights. One thing is crystal clear. It is whether any ‘full-scale’ trade deal is inked or not the people-to-

people relations between US and India are bound to improve. The Indo-US strategic partnership willgrow in the days to come particularly when the USA is mulling to come up with an elaborate

Afghanistan peace deal for which the ‘Big Brother’ will need India on its side in the days to come.

But, now India has moved on by offering to open up its poultry anddairy markets by lif ting some embargoes on import of US chickenand dairy products with cer tain riders with a sole objective to clincha trade deal Trump's first official India visit. India—the world’s third largest milk-producing nation has tradition-ally restricted poultry and dairy impor ts to protect livelihood of over80 million rural households involved in the industry. Moving ahead and expecting restoration of bilateral trade ties, Indiahas not only offered to allow US turkey and chicken legs impor ts nowbut also that of blue berries and cherries with tariff cuts on chickenlegs from 100 percent to a meager 25 percent. The US negotiatorshowever, still wanted low tariffs and expected these to not to go upbeyond the cap of 10 percent. If dairy market is to taken to table during Tr ump-Modi table talk, theIndian government is ready to allow some access to the US govern-

ment with lower taxes and tariffs in the range of five percent. In such cases, the US expor ters would need to provide India withcer tificates that the dairy products are not derived from animals thathave consumed feeds that included internal organs, blood meal oranimal tissues. Since high tax on US made Harley-Davidson motorcycles has beenirritating Trump in person for quite a long time, India has also repor t-edly relented a bit in case of these bikes by offering to lower tariffs byupto 50 percent. For India, it would be more of a symbolic and good-will gesture for Tr ump as these high-priced bikes have hardly a goodmarket share in India. In fact, Tr ump was so fascinated with Harley that he had started‘labelling and teasing’ India as a ‘Tariff King’ in his signature style. What however, needs to be seen is whether India’s gestures andfresh trade offers are enough to satisfy the U.S. Trade Representa-tives including Rober t Lighthizer—a key US figure as far as US tradepolicy decisions and deal makings are concerned. Lighthizer had recently showcased his ‘annoyance’ by cancellinghis proposed India trip and had instead preferred to talk to the IndianCommerce Minister Piyush Goyal over phone. From its side, the USdairy industry was still keeping its fingers crossed as it was ‘Skepti-cal’ for a viable trade deal between the two major ‘World powers’. In fact, the US is India’s second largest trade par tner af ter China asthe bilateral goods and services’ trade had surpassed a record $142.6billion in 2018 while the US has had witnessed a whopping $23.2billion goods trade deficit with India in 2019. Tr ump's trip to India has raised hopes that he would restore some ofthe country's U.S. trade preferences, in exchange for tariff reductionsand other concessions. The US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Indian Foreign MinisterS. Jaishankar had reviewed the bilateral ties and exchanged cer tainnotes on the sidelines of the recently-concluded Munich SecurityConference (MSC). The effor ts of the top administrators of both the countries notwith-standing, the trade negotiations have hardly witnessed any major footforward so far though walking away with some sor t of trade dealwould be impor tant for Trump who is facing US 2020 PresidentialPolls back home. There are several stumbling blocks on this front. The USA yearns India should have equal oppor tunities in the fieldsand digital services like credit cards whereas, India has delayednegotiations owning to the broad US ‘unwillingness’ to allow testingof the dry distilled grain soluble (DDGS) poultry feed for ‘live’ GMcomponents. There is barely a week left for the Tr ump’s visit but an elaboratetrade negotiation blue-print is yet to be finalised. The Indian side has star ted feeling the heat over what was beingdescribed as the ‘bloating’ of the list by way of making new additionsby the US in the eleventh hour. For example, the USA was stressing and wanting India to open itsmarkets for whey protein and pizza cheese alongwith a few moregoods. These new additions are hardly being ‘digested’ by the Indian teamof bureaucrats. That the trade teams of both sides were hardly getting along wasclear from the calling off his India visit by the US trade representativeRobert Lighthizer and also from the fact that their 18-19 month longparleys have hardly yielded any results. On the other hand, the trade deal with India carries a lot of impor-tance for Donald Tr ump before the 2020 US Presidential polls. He would be tad anxious to show-case it to people of the USA as tohow his tough stance with his rivals and allies alike has worked wellas far as trade terms of his country were concerned. Though, India seems to be not as important for the USA when com-pared to China, still a good trade pact with India would definitely addanother feather to the cap of Trump. Since, Indian leadership too was keen to strike a good trade dealwith the USA despite the prevailing ‘differences’ between trade repre-sentatives, much would depend upon how the two leaders—DonaldTrump and Narendra Modi— handle the situation during two crucialdays. Besides trade what would be on the agenda would be agricul-ture, defence, medical equipment and energy. Tensions between the United States and India had flared up in theaftermath of the U.S. administration stripping India of its special tradestatus in May 2019 which accorded the allied country access to $5.6billion of expor ts-- duty free. In response, India had unveiled retaliatory tariffs on as may as 28U.S. items, including apples and almonds. What could come out another major irritant is the high-level reviewof the data privacy law and the proposed imposition of stringent con-trol over cross-border data flow. The fresh Indian draft could arm the government with wide powersto seek user data from foreign companies with their servers based

MH-60R Seahawk choppers for its navy from the US. As a ‘reward’ for purchase of 24 Sea Hawk helicopters exper tsexpect that the US may roll back tariffs on select American expor ts. The Tr ump-led US administration could also announce a duty-freewaivers for some of the 2,000 such products on which it had leviedtariffs last year and this waiver could be for a period of one year oreven more. These two imminent defence deals were said to have played apivotal role and worked behind Trump’s India visit While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured India would ac-cord a memorable welcome to its esteemed guests, Donald Trumphas too seems to very excited about his visit. He said he was expect-ing five to seen million people lined up (for him) from the airpor t to thenewly constructed world’s largest Motera stadium in Ahmedabad.More than 1.35 lakh people were expected to be present at the newstadium. The Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has said it was good tosee the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at MSC- 2020 which“Allowed us to take stock of the relationship as we look forward toPresident Donald Tr ump's visit.” S. Jaishankar had also met the US speaker of the House of RepresentativesNancy Pelosi as well as a US Congressional delegation led by Jim Inhofe, head ofthe powerful armed services committee. After having a round of talks with them Jaishshankar said Indiavalued growing strategic cooperation and valued the US interestin building ties. There are very high expectations from Tr ump's February 24-25India visit even as, trade ties have remained strained of late. Thesuccess of Tr ump’s visit would largely depend upon one factor—whether a ‘full scale’ Indo-US trade pact is signed or not. A large par t of credit of Trump’s India visit goes to India’s newAmbassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu who has good working relationswith the Tr ump administration. The Trump’s India visit confirmation had come a few days af terSandhu’s presentation of his credentials to the US President TaranjitSingh Sandhu.

Note: The writer is the Associate Editor of the Y-Media Group, the biggestSouth-Asian Media Group based in Canada. He can be reached at email:[email protected].

abroad. Any such possibilities have apparently raised apprehensionsamong global US based tech and business giants like Facebook,Google and Amazon. The proposed draf t however, is not a par t of par t of the imminentbilateral trade parleys for the issues are ‘too complicated’ to be re-solved on such a shor t notice of one or two weeks. Anyways, the bilateral Indo-US relations have recorded significantimprovement after Modi’s US visit in September. Trump and Modi hadhugged each other at a much-publicised “Howdy-Modi” event in Hous-ton where more than 50,000 Indian Americans cheered Modi andTrump on the NRG stadium stage. As the Indo-US trade representatives are focusing both on defenceand trade, India has already announced a $ 3.5 billion wor th of newdefence purchase package from the US—to be signed during Trumps’India sojourn. In this situation hope seems to be overcoming despair for one andall are expecting returning of Indo-US trade ties inching towardsnormalacy. A full-scale bilateral trade-centric deal seems to havebeen on the cards in September 2019 when PM Modi had visited andhailed in New York but somehow the differences could not be ironedout that time. As a matter of fact, the White House would not have agreed toTrumps’ India visit if they had anticipated that the two countries wouldnot be able to clinch a fresh trade deal this time around. In the given situation it would be better for Trump and Modi to usethis historic ocasssion for having an exhaustive brain-storming ses-sion for not only sor ting out trade impediments but, also in respect toPakistan. The reason is that the age-old strategic understanding between thecountries has largely been based on defence than trade—though of late bilat-eral trade has taken a centre-stage in the new world order. We can expect a better understanding in the defence sector as India is set to giveit nod for a staggering $ 2.6 billion deal for purchase of military choppers fromleading US defence firm Lockheed Mar tin. In fact, India’s defence procurements from world’s most power fulcountry have crossed the mark of $ 17.5 billion since 2006-07 asIndia has gradually drifted away from its erstwhile strategic defencesupplier Russia in its bid to bridge the gap with China on militarymodernisation front. Not only this, India was also expected to get as many as 24 mighty



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 C A N A D A

General Accounting & Bookkeeping

CANADA'S MOST ROMANTICLIVE IN NUNAVUT, ONTARIO,AND MANITOBA : SURVEY

A recent survey reveals the country's most romantic live inNunavut, Ontario, and Manitoba. A team from Picodi.comchecked the statistics of “romantic” queries on the internetin all provinces and created the ranking of the most roman-tic places in the country. The queries list consisted of termslike 'Valentine's Day', 'Love Confession', 'Flowers', 'Love',and others associated to Valentine's Day.The results of their survey weigh on the frequency of thesearches on these queries. They found that while in someplaces the interest in making a pleasant surprise to thesignificant other was more, it was notably less in others.Data revealed that the most romantic Canadians live inNunavut, Ontario, and Manitoba as these provinces had thehighest increase in popularity of queries connected toValentine's Day. Picodi.com said, “Among all provinces, thelowest interest in Valentine's Day and all connected to itwas noted among residents of Quebec (13th).Saskatchewan and British Columbia turned out to be quiteunromantic as well (12th and 11th place respectively).”

ONTARIO-TORONTO TAKE THE NEXTSTEP TOWARDS BUILDING THELARGEST SUBWAY EXPANSION INCANADIAN HISTORYFollowing the signing of the "Ontario-Toronto TransitPar tnership Preliminary Agreement" with the City of Toronto,Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transpor tation issued thefollowing statement:"Today, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto signeda Preliminary Agreement to deliver on our unified plan tosignificantly expand and modernize the subway networkacross the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This agreement formsthe foundation for our continued par tnership and representsanother important step forward to build a transit system forthe 21st century faster for the people of the GTA.Premier Ford and the Ci ty of Toronto both share acommitment and responsibility to build transit infrastructurequickly and efficiently to keep people moving, to drivebusiness investment and job creation, and to improve theenvironment. Through this par tnership, we are makinghistoric investments in Ontario's transportation network withthe new Ontario Line and three subway extensions - thelargest subway expansion in Canadian history.Working together on these four priority transit projects, weare building a world-class transpor tation network and de-veloping transit-oriented communities with a greater vari-ety of housing options.This is part of our plan to build newtransit faster so people can get where they want to go, whenthey want to get there."

Ontario Adopting Process to Better Connect Job Seekers in Peel With Good JobsImproved Employment Services to Put Stronger Focus on the Needs of Local Jobseekers, Workers and EmployersThe Ontario government is adopting a new locally-focused model that will better connect people with jobs and reward high-per formanceorganizations in Peel Region, Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, announced today.As par t of this work, the government is making changes to shape a more seamless and effective employment service system thatachieves better results for jobseekers, social assistance clients and employers. Prototype projects in Peel, Hamilton-Niagara andMuskoka-Kawarthas will bring together employment services which were previously delivered separately through Ontario Works, theOntario Disability Suppor t Program and Employment Ontario Employment Service.In the three regions, new service system managers have been selected to lead the implementation of local service improvements, andwill be paid based on their results. Peel is one of the regions in the province where a new service system manager will begin operatingthis year. Af ter an open, competitive process that was overseen by Supply Chain Ontario, Ontario selected WCG, par t of the APM group,as the new service system manager for Peel."This is a big change to the process that ordinary job seekers and employers may not notice," said Minister McNaughton. "At the groundlevel, things will work better, move faster. But from a system perspective, the shift is a big one. Government is getting out of the way,and allowing local communities to tailor the program to their specific needs.""We are rethinking ways our government assists people, including those on social assistance and people with disabilities who arelooking for employment opportunities," said Todd Smith, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. "We must help connectmore people to meaningful, lasting employment and ensure that job seekers have the suppor t and training they need to contribute to ourprovince's growing labour market."

BRAMPTON MAYOR PATRICK BROWN, REGIONAL COUNCILLOR GURPREET DHILLON, CITY COUNCILLOR FOR BRAMPTON’SWARDS 9 & 10 HARKIRAT SINGH, ALONG WITH THE PEEL POLICE, UNVEILED WARD 9'S FIRST AUTOMATED SPEEDENFORCEMENT (ASE) SIGN ON FERNFOREST DR.

ONTARIO ENGLISH CATHOLIC TEACHERS HEAD TOTHE BARGAINING TABLE, PLAN STRIKES TOO

Ontario English Catholic teachers have reached the bargaining table, how-ever, have planned more strikes in case they don't reach a deal. Negotiationsbetween the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) and thegovernment halted in January, failing to hold since then. Now, a mediator hascalled on both sides back to the table, however, OECTA president Liz Stuar tsaid if no deal is reached, they will stage rotating strikes next week.A report quoted Stuar t as saying, “We are ready to get back to the table, butthe government needs to recognize that these discussions must be aboutprotecting our world-renowned publicly funded education system. Catholicteachers have done our par t to move these negotiations forward, but wecannot accept the government's agenda to take resources out of the class-room.” All teachers unions have planned a joint, province-wide strike onFebruary 21, Friday. All public schools across the province will be closed thatday, including elementary, secondary, Catholic, and French schools. OntarioPremier Doug Ford addressed the issue on Tuesday and said the governmenthas par tly backed off on both issues, offering an increase in average high

school class sizes from 22 to 25, instead of 28, and requiring two onlinelearning courses instead of the four in his original plan. He said, “We've beenreasonable, We've made significant moves at the table, and our priority No.1 again is to make sure that kids get back into the classroom.”Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he is pleased the mediator has calledthe government and Catholic teachers back to the bargaining table, and theprovince is ready to negotiate a deal. In a statement, he said, “Studentsbelong in class. My objective has always been to reach deals with oureducation labour partners, deals that are fair to students, hard-working par-ents, and our valued teachers and education workers.”Lecce added, “I am pleased the mediator has called all parties back to thenegotiating table, as we have always said, we stand ready to negotiate toreach a deal that keeps students in class. The government has demonstratedour commitment to reaching a deal by affirming our commitment to main-taining all-day kindergar ten, investing in special education needs, and keep-ing classroom sizes low.”



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 I N D I A

Best wishes to Kejriwal fora fruitful tenure: PM ModiNEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sundaycongratulated Arvind Kejriwal on taking oath as Delhichief minister and extended him best wishes for a fruit-ful tenure. Kejriwal, along with his cabinet colleaguesManish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai, ImranHussain, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Kailash Gahlot wereadministered the oath of office and secrecy by Lieu-tenant Governor Ani l Bai jal at the historic Ramli laMaidan. "I congratulate Shri @ArvindKejriwal on tak-ing oath as Delhi's CM earlier today. Best wishes tohim for a fruitful tenure," the prime minister, who wason a day-long visit to his parliamentary constituencyVaranasi, tweeted.Thanking Modi, Kejriwal said he wished for his pres-ence but understood why he couldn't attend as he wasbusy.The Prime Minister was in his constituency Varanasi,where he inaugurated several projects today. "We mustnow work together towards making Delhi a city of pridefor all Indians," he tweeted.

After a shor t spell of silence, Iran has come out against the UnitedStates—but with a slight difference. The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohmammed Javad Zarif has largelyattributed the deadly U.S. strike on Iran’s top military leader Gen.Qassem to the US President Donald Trump’s advisors. Of course, he has also put to use Iran’s rehetoric that the killing ofthe top Iranian military leader was an ‘Act of Ter ror’. With its shifting of the blame and focus from the entire US admin-istration and soft-peddling on Trump, is Iran and its top leadership ismaking an effor t of late to belt out a signal to the rest of the world aswell as the USA that it might be no longer be as interested in flaring upof tensions between the two countries? It seems to be so par ticularly, when Tehran had retaliated bypounding a few US military bases in Iraq—that too without any majorcasualities—in the aftermath of January 2 U.S. drone attack in theGen. Qasem Soleimani was killed alongwith his aides as their caval-cade was attacked in Iraq. “The moment is perilous for the US has been misled. I am of theopinion that President, unfor tunately, seems to be having no goodadvisers. Unfor tunately, someone might have assured the President(Tr ump) that killing of Soleimani would make Iranian people to dancein streets of Tehran and Baghdad and bring Iran to its knees in the runup to his (Trump’s) re-election campaign. Nothing of that sor t hashappened,” Zarif murmured on the sidelines of the recently concludedMunich Security Conference (MSC). Iran has apparently toned down its postures and so has the USA.Immediately, af ter the attack on Suleimani, Iran had said it wouldteach a ‘befitting’ lesson to the US and will ‘conver t days there intonight’. Similarly, the US later too stepped down seemingly from its toughstance as it star ted hurling indications that it was open for negotia-tions with Tehran with its top leaders saying, “We all must worktogether making a deal with Iran for making the world a safer andpeaceful place. It was a different matter that Tehran has made it clearthat it will not enter with any negotiations with the US until fiscalrestrictions are left from it and until penalitiesare in place. Anyways, changing of the tack by the twooil-rich opponents is a good signal for the worldpeace order and it is only indicating that ‘goodsense’ has star ted prevailing upon both thewarring sides and that there would be nosquirmishes in the Middle-East and elsewhere.TRUMP’S ACQUITTAL SHOWS HIS POWERFULCLOUT AMONG REPUBLICANS Handing down what is described as his ‘Biggest Victory’ by theUS Senate in the shape of his acquittal on the expected lines more orless show-cases his ‘Political might’, his power ful clout, admirationand fear amongst Republican office-holders and even Senators. The US Senate had aquitted Trump and absolved him of charges ofabuse of power and obstruction of the Congress during past week. While it was a ‘Big Win’ and a ‘Day of Celebration’ for Trump, thelatter and the White House had termed it as his ‘Exoneration’. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham had said de-scribed the impeachment move and its failure as "The shame im-peachment attempt concocted by the Democrats ended in the fullvindication and exoneration of President Donald J Trump." Anyways Tr ump’s powerful clout amongst the Republican flockwas evident from the fact that just one Republican, Senator Mitt Rom-ney, ‘sailed against the winds’ to favour the Democrats’ impeach-ment move. The move ended in a fiasco as the vote fell well shor t of two-thirdsmajority required for removal of a President from the White Houseaf ter Trump had taken full charge of his own defence. So, now all what Trump could expect in the days to come? Broadly,he will have freedom to do anything he want even he gets re-electedto office (for which he stands a good chance). That Tr ump has been and is calling the shots at the White Houseand the Senate is clear from that the fact that the White House hadrefused point blank to allow Trump’s close aides to testify in the probeand even went on to withhold documents and e-mails demanded byinvestigators. On the other hand, Democrats even failed to win over at least fourRepublicans that were a pre-requisite for seeking witnesses and docu-ments. The House investigators had interviewed as many as, 17 wit-nesses and held a 35 hour long public hearing to build a case andrecord against Trump. But Trump managed to retain brandish hisstrength and his smile as well. The only and big question remains is whether the impeachmentmove and Tr ump’s acquittal will be able to make any dent in hispopularity among the Americans and the whole long exercise wouldcast any impact on the ballot? Was the whole exercise aimed at influencing the 2020 polls? Onlytime will tell. The popularity of Tr ump largely seems to be intact andhe seems to not having any major obstacles in his re-election as ofnow. It also remains to be a fact that no US President has ever beenremoved from the White House by way of impeachment in the historyof the US.U.S. AIR FORCE UPDATES ITS DRESS CODE POLICY FOR SIKHS,MUSLIMS Sikhs and Muslims will be able to expect to seek a religiousaccommodation to wear Hizabs, keep unshorn hair, beards and wearturbans as long as their appearance is ensured to be Neat and con-servative’ as per the newly up- dated US AirForce’ dress code policy in respect to wearingof ar ticles of faith by serving airmen. Earlier, serving Musl ims andSikh a i r - men had to

c o m eo u t

with individual requests for seeking religious accommodations andpermissions were granted on a case-to-case basis and the processwas tad lengthy. The final review of the new dress code policy will take placewithin 30 days in the US and in 60 days in respect to other cases. The best par t of the new policy is that now with the new guide-lines in place the airmen could expect wearing their ar ticles of faiththroughout their career. The Sikh and Muslim advocacy groups havehailed the move as a ‘significant step towards inclusion’.AAP-led Delhi govt preparing for its first budget af ter its massive winThe par ty keeps its cards close to its chest about its Punjab Plans After its massive victory in the Delhi assembly polls, the ArvindKejriwal-led Aam Adami Par ty (AAP) has shif ted its entire focus to-wards two major goals--- coming out with a budget and to prepare thepar ty for testing the waters for entering the national politics via civicpolls. Punjab still seems to be not as much a priority for the AAP topbrass even as, a large section of NRIs of Punjabi origin and a numberof people of Punjab are expecting the par ty to lead the charge in 2022in Punjab polls by forming a third front. The AAP top leadership has however, not come out with any solidpromises for them in respect so far. Despite the crescendo and hulla-baloo in the run-up to the 2020 Punjab Assembly polls, the AAP couldbarely muster 20 seats in the 117 member Punjab Assembly. Kejriwal and six ministers had taken oath of office and secrecyat Delhi’s Ramlila Maidaan on February 16. The Delhi Deputy ChiefMinister-cum-Education Minister Manish Sisodia said the massivebudgetary exercise of Delhi government has kicked off and effortswere being made to present the budget immediately after Holi onMarch 10. He is busy directing the officials concerned to inculcate provi-sions which would enable the government to incur expenditure as perthe promises made by the AAP to people of Delhi in the run up to theassembly polls. Sisodia has assured that the Delhi government was busy prepar-

ing a blue-print of a proposal to ensure admis-sion of those students in colleges who secured60 marks in their grade 12 exams. The total Delhibudget outlay was that of Rs. 60000 crore thistime as compared to Rs. 31000 crores of lastyear when the AAP government had earmarkedRs. 15000 crores for education only. Kejriwal has already made it clear in hisoath ceremony speech that he is a Chief Minis-ter of ‘everyone’—be it a Congressmen or a BJP

‘wallah’—and that he was keen to experiment with national politicsonce agin. But what he really needs to clarify is whether his par ty will beable to bring all of its 20 MLAs in Punjab (7 of whom remain sus-pended for anti-par ty activities) to one platform or not? Or whetherwill it be making serious effor ts for forming a ‘viable’ third front inPunjab to take on the Congress and the SAD-BJP combine or not? It ishigh time for the AAP to clear the picture for waiting people of Punjaband ‘over-excited’ NRIs.PAKISTAN MAKES IT MANDATORY FOR FB, TWITTER, OTHERS TOOPEN THEIR OFFICES IN PAKISTAN As social media is getting stronger by the day governments arecoming out with different measures to ensure its accountability. After India’s data policy draft (to be finalised as yet), Pakistangovernment has come out with a new set of rules for the social mediaunder apprehensions that it could be used to ‘spread misinformation’ The new regulations were learnt to have been approved by thePakistan’s cabinet but, have not been made public so far. Under theseregulations, social media companies like Facebook, Twitter and Googlewould be obliged to give access their datea and tools to removeonline content deemed as unlawful by the authorities. Companies found indulging in non-compliance will be running therisk of being blocked, elaborated the new guidelines approved by thecabinet led by PM Imran Khan. The opposition has condemned thegovernment move saying it amounted to ‘Media censorship’. TheMinistry of Information Technology however, said the new regulationswould help in ‘identifying and weeding out un-wanted and slanderouscontent’ and the social media outlets would be obliged to respond tothe authorities within 24 hours. Besides, they have been given a three month’s time frame to getthemselves registered in Pakistan and have been asked to ensuretheir ‘Physical presence’ by way of opening their offices in that coun-try.PUNJAB’S CONGRESS FACES ‘REVOLT’ AS MLA PARGAT SINGHSHOOTS LETTER TO CAPT. AMARINDER, SONIA GANDHI Af ter Rajya Sabha members and former PPCC chiefs Par tap SinghBajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo, the Jalandhar-based Congress MLAPargat Singh has shot off a letter to the Punjab CM Capt. AmarinderSingh and the AICC Chief Sonia Gandhi for the second time in fourmonths. Pargat Singh has raised questions over the functioning of theCapt-led Punjab government. “I am shocked to see no action has been taken against those whowere found guilty prima-facie in the multi-crore irrigation scam, trans-por t mafia, liquor mafia and sand mafia? If this was not enough, ourpar ty had come to power by promising that stern action would betaken against those responsible for Bargadi sacrilege case and BehbalKalan firing in which two youths had been killed? Where is that prom-ised action though the government is there for over three years,” said PargatSingh. Talking to the Y Media Group, Pargat Singh said the previous SAD-BJP gov-ernment had effected ‘faulty’ Power Purchase Agreements with managementsof three private thermal power plants of Punjab. “The PPAs are costing people of Punjab dearly as public moneyto the tune of Rs. 25000 crore will be doled out for costly power whichPunjab does not need for nine and a half months in a year and whichno other state wants to buy. Why 100 percent electricity buy back wasassured to the these companies? And what prevents Punjab govern-ment from getting an internal audit done?” questioned Pargat Singh, aCongress MLA known for his proximity to estranged Congress leaderand former Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The writer is the Associate Editor of the Y-Media Group, the biggestSouth-Asian Media Group based in Canada. He can be reached at

email: [email protected].

IRAN SHIFTS ENTIRE BLAME ON TRUMP’SADVISORS, US TURNS MELLOW ON IRAN

UK LABOUR MP DEBBIEABRAHAMS DENIED INDIAN VISACONTD. FROM PAGE 1Abrahams, who was on a personal visit to India, landed inthe Capital on Monday, af ter which she was told her visahad been rejected. She released a statement saying,“I'm prepared to let the fact that I've been treated likea criminal go, and I hope they will let me visit myfamily and friends.”Describing her ordeal, she said, “An official took mypasspor t and disappeared for about 10 minutes. Whenhe came back, he was very rude and shouted at me tocome with him. After lots of different immigration offi-cials came to me, I tried to establish why the visa hadbeen revoked and if I could get a 'visa on arrival' butno one seemed to know.” The MP was repor tedly takento a cordoned off area marked as a depor tee cell.Abrahams had expresses concerns last year on therevocation of Ar ticle 370, that gave par tial autonomyfor a chunk of Kashmir that comes under India. Shehad written to the UK foreign secretary saying the par-liamentary group was “gravely concerned” about the de-cision, adding that it “betrayed the trust of the people ofJammu and Kashmir.”Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi backed the de-por tation, calling it necessary as she was a “proxy ofPakistan”. He tweeted, "The depor tat ion of DebbieAbrahams by India was indeed necessary, as she is notjust an MP, but a Pakistan proxy known for her clasp withPakistan government and ISI. Every attempt that tries toattack India’s sovereignty must be thwar ted.”

Ajay Maken hits out at MilindDeora for lauding Kejriwal govtMumbai: A war of wordsbroke out between seniorCongress leaders MilindDeora and Ajay Maken onMonday after the formerpraised the ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi govern-ment for doubling its rev-enue and maintaining a surplus over the last five years. FormerDelhi Congress chief Maken was quick to criticise Deora forhis “half -baked facts”, saying he might leave the par ty if hewished so. Deora, the former Mumbai Congress chief, in aTwitter post on Monday, said, “Sharing a lesser known & wel-come fact the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubledits revenues to Rs 60,000 crore & maintained a revenue sur-plus over the last 5 years.” “Food for thought: Delhi is now one ofIndia’s most fiscally prudent governments,” the former Lok Sabha mem-ber added. However, this did not go down well with Maken, who re-sponded with a tweet, saying: “Brother, you want to leave @INCIndia-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts! “However, let me share evenlesser known facts-1997-98- BE(Revenue) 4,073cr, 2013-14-BE (Rev-enue) 37,459cr. During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR, 2015-16 BE41,129 and 2019 -20 BE 60,000 AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR,” he said.

LACK OF IDEOLOGICAL CLARITY HASCONGRESS AT CROSSROADS

NEW DELHI: A brief verbal duel between former Union Minis-ter P Chidambaram and an aspiring leader SharmisthaMukherjee reflects both lack of ideological clarity in the Con-gress and inability of the leadership to carve a way out of themorass the Grand Old Par ty finds itself in. Some recent andnot so recent decisions by the Congress reflect that thepar ty is unable to take a relook at its ideological revisionin 2003 where the primary impor tance of stitching coali-tions with like-minded par ties was the prefer red politicalroute to power between 2004 and 2014. Two such movesone in West Bengal where the Congress preferred to rubshoulders with the CPM and in Maharashtra recently de-cided to sit in a power-sharing arrangement with the ShivSena, considered as an unabashed champion of theHindutva brand of politics. Then there were not so subtletalk of a possible tie-up with the Aam Aadmi Party in therun-up to the Lok Sabha polls for Delhi, which in the wakeof the rout the Congress faced in the February 2020 As-sembly elections now looks as a distinctly unworkable propo-sition. Yet, the issue flagged by Mukherjee, daughter of former Presidentand Congress stalwart Pranab Mukherjee, remains vital for the par ty andits leadership that by all accounts is yet to put its finger on the pulse of thepan-India electorate.



AAP INVITES 'BABY MUFFLERMAN' TOKEJRIWAL'S OATH-TAKING CEREMONY

I N D I A

The Aam Aadmi Par ty has invited a very special, and by far the mostadorable guest to party chief Arvind Kejriwal's swearing-in ceremonywhich is set to take place on Sunday. Photos of a one year old wearingspectacles, and Kejriwal's signature muffler and 'topi' went viral onTuesday as AAP swept the assembly elections, winning 62 of 70assembly seats.Son of an AAP worker, Aavyan Tomar was seen with par ty suppor terscelebrating at the main office. He was also pictured at Kejriwal'shome later. AAP tweeted a picture of the young one who spor ted a

black muffler, maroon sweater, AAP cap, and spectacles. A drawnmoustache finished the look. The par ty tweeted on Thursday thatAavyan has been invited to the Sunday's oath ceremony. Sharing apicture, they wrote, “Baby Mufflerman is invited to the swearing-inceremony of Arvind Kejriwal on February 16. Suit up Junior!”The muffler has long been synonymous to Kejriwal, and has madenews in the past. His par ty made a landslide win following an intensecampaigning session opposite the BJP. He will take oath at RamlilaMaidan on Sunday.

'DON'T WORRY, ONE DEMOCRACYWILL SETTLE IT,' JAISHANKAR TO

US SENATOR ON KASHMIRCONTD. FROM PAGE 3"In India, you are moving forward, you got your problemslike we do at home, but you've chosen the democraticpath. When it comes to Kashmir, I don't know how it ends,but let's make sure that two democracies will end it differ-ently. If you can prove that concept here, then I think that'sprobably the best way to sell democracy," the Republicanleader said.To this, Jaishankar promptly responded, "Do not worry,Senator. One democracy will settle it and you know whichone." During the discussion, Jaishankar also said that theUnited Nations is far less credible than it has been inhistory and "something" should be done about it. "TheUnited Nations is far less credible than it has been inhistory, which is not entirely surprising because whenyou think about it, there are not too many things which are75 years old and still as good as they were. Clearly thereis something that needs to be done there." He also alsospoke about "westlessness" and multilateralism at thepanel discussion. "Clearly multilateralism has becomeweaker, and clearly westlessness is in evidence and Iwould suggest that there is a correlation between the two/It is not to say that multilateralism is solely dependent onthe West, or that the West has been faithfully multilateral,"he said.He highlighted that the global political rebalancing is un-der way and made a case for greater western flexibility."Multilateralism can today be strengthened by more cre-ative diplomacy and plurilateral understanding," he said.The Munich Security Conference, being held here fromFebruary 14-16, is the world's leading forum for debate oninternational security policy.

CONTD. FROM PAGE 3He added no one can suppor t the statements made bythree detained chief ministers of the disputed regions, whohad said that abrogation of provisions of Ar ticle 370 willseparate Kashmir from India. “Who made Kashmir onlyabout land grabbing? Who made Kashmir's identity onlyabout bombs and guns? Can anyone forget that dark nightof January? In reality, Kashmiri identity is closely linkedwith harmony,” Modi said.The Global Kashmiri Pandits Diaspora hailed his “historicstatement” and said January 19 is marked as the 'ExodusDay' by Kashmiri Pandits worldwide. On that night, theentire population of the community was forced to leavetheir homeland overnight following a rampage of murders,rapes, and ethnic extermination.The group released a statement saying “Recognition of theexodus day in the Indian Parliament is seen by the com-munity as a step towards restoration of justice and reha-bilitation that has been the community's demand for overthree decades now.” It added there is “over riding evidencethat over the last 30 years, the property rights of lakhs ofKashmiri Pandits have been systematically eroded, lead-ing to a genocide and loss to the tune of 35 billion dollars.Land, houses, temples, and shrines belonging to the mi-nority Kashmiri Pandit (Hindu) community have been ille-gally taken over.”

WE REMAIN FIRM ON DECISIONS ONARTICLE 370, CAA DESPITE

PRESSURE: PM MODICONTD. FROM PAGE 5Duniya bhar ke saarey dabaon ke bawjood, inn faislon parhum qayam hain, qayam rahengey (Despite pressure from allsides, we remain firm on the decisions and will continue toremain firm," Modi said. Provisions of Article 370 of the Con-stitution, which accorded special powers to the erstwhile stateof Jammu and Kashmir, were abrogated by the government inAugust last year.The prime minister's tough talk assumed significance in viewof protests against the CAA in various parts of the country.Citing certain key decisions of his government, Modi referredto the trust set up for the construction of the Ram temple inAyodhya and asserted that it would work "rapidly". "A trust has beenformed for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. Thistrust will work rapidly," he said.He said that after setting up of the trust, the work on the construction of'Ram dham' will start with fast speed. The government had recentlyset up the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teer th Kshetra on the SupremeCourt's directive to the Union government to form a trust that can lookinto the construction and management of the temple. The prime min-ister earlier launched or laid foundation of 50 projects worth Rs 1,254crore in his Lok Sabha constituency. He also flagged off IRCTC's'Maha Kaal Express' through video link during his day-long visit to thecity. It will be the first overnight private train in the country to connectthree Jyotirling pilgrimage centres of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, andUjjain and Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh. The prime ministerdedicated to the nation the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya MemorialCentre and unveiled a 63-foot statue of the RSS ideologue -- the talleststatue of the leader in the country. "The soul of Pandit Deen DayalUpadhyay give us encouragement. We are working for uplift of Dalits,deprived and others sections. And this is what Upadhyay's 'Antyoday'says - to give all facilities to last beneficiary in the queue," Modi said.He said that in past few years, Rs 25,000 crore worth developmentalprojects have either completed or were going on in fast speed inVaranasi. Roadway, highway, waterway and railway have been giventop priority by the government and the Purvanchal Expressway workwas going on at fast speed in Uttar Pradesh. The prime minister alsolaid emphasis on better connectivity of heritage and religious sites,saying that tourism will be the main source of making the country 5trillion dollar economy.

PM MODI SPEAKS OUT IN SUPPORT OFKASHMIRI PANDITS ; COMMUNITY IN

THE US HAILS STATEMENT

AAP to launch month-long nationwide campaignto connect with one crore people

After a spectacular win the DelhiAssembly Elections, the AamAadmi Par ty (AAP) is all set toextend across the country with atarget to connect with one crorepeople. Star ting February 23, thepar ty wil l launch a mon-longmassive campaign in all statesas par t of the extension plan, se-nior par ty leader Gopal Rai said

on Sunday. He gave the informa-tion after chairing a meeting withAam Aadmi Par ty (AAP) state of -fice bearers at the Chief Minister'sresidence. Rai also took oath onSunday along with five other cabi-net members. "In the meeting, itwas decided that work would bedone on three things. Firstly, thestate units will star t the 'Rashtra

Nirman' campaign from February23 to March 23, they will run it inall states and under it, volunteerswill hold meetings. Their targetis to connect one crore peoplewith the par ty,". "Secondly, post-ers inviting people to join the 'na-tion-building' campaign by givinga missed call on '9871010101'shall be published in all legisla-

tive assembly constituencies inIndia," the AAP leader said.Thirdly, the party's state leader-ship will hold press conferencesin capitals and later in other ma-jor cities of the states to "dissemi-nate the message of nation-build-ing by joining the AAP", Rai said."Since elections to local bodiesin many states are to be sched-uled in the coming months, wewant to take this campaign ag-gressively to the grassroots, sothat we can contest local bodyelections and get good results,"he said.In the first stage of thecampaign, around 12 lakh peoplefrom across the country hadjoined the AAP's 'Rashtra Nirman'campaign since February 11 bygiv ing a missed cal l on9871010101. In the next stage ofthe campaign, Rai said the par tywill decide where all it will con-test assembly polls.The par tyhas already decided to fight localpolls to strengthen its hold on theground, he said. The AAP regis-tered a landslide victory in theDelhi assembly polls, leaving itsmain rival BJP way behind anddecimating the Congress in a bit-terly-fought contest. Since then theparty has again started building uponits national ambition. The AAP is atpresent recognised by the Election Com-mission as a state party. It emerged asthe principal opposition in Punjab in2017. However, its national ambitionssuffered a setback when its campaignsin Goa and in the last two Lok Sabhaelections were unsuccessful. It won fourLok Sabha seats in Punjab in 2014 andjust one in 2019, while Delhi voters re-jected it in both the general elections.Kejriwal also burnt his fingers in 2014when he contested against NarendraModi, who was the BJP's prime minis-terial candidate, in the Varanasi LokSabha seat, losing by over three lakhvotes. Many saw a shift in the AAP'sstrategy af ter the par ty's drubbingin the 2017 civic polls in Delhi atthe hands of the BJP, as it again fo-cused on its development pitch inthe national capital.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 I N D I A

OPPOSITION STRENGTH IN RAJYASABHA TO WEAKEN FURTHER THISYEAR, CONGRESS TO LOSE SEATS

CONTD. FROM PAGE 5The opposition strength will fall after elections are held to fill up 68 vacan-cies in April, June and November, that may lead to the ruling NDA slowlyinching towards the majority mark in the upper house, sources say.While 51 seats in Rajya Sabha are falling vacant in April, five more inJune, one in July and 11 in November this year. Top Congress leadersMotilal Vora, Madhusudan Mistry, Kumari Selja, Digvijaya Singh, B KHariprasad and MV Rajeev Gowda are among the top Congress leaderswhose tenures are ending in April and June. Of them, Vora, Selja andDigvijaya Singh are likely to be renominated by the par ty. Besides, itsleaders Raj Babbar and PL Punia are unlikely to get renominated fromUttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, where the ruling BJP is set to make majorgains. One RS seat in Uttarakhand and 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh arefalling vacant in November this year. A large number of Congress leadersare vying to get a Rajya Sabha seat from the par ty after most of them lostout in the last Lok Sabha elections and there is speculation that the partymay bring Priyanka Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Randeep Surjewalaand RPN Singh, among others, to the upper house. There are six vacan-cies coming up in Maharashtra, including that of NCP supremo SharadPawar, and the same number in Tamil Nadu, while there are five eachfalling vacant in West Bengal and Bihar, four each in Gujarat, Karnatakaand Andhra Pradesh. The Congress is likely to bag two of the three seatsin Rajasthan, two of three in Madhya Pradesh, two in Chhattisgarh, one inMaharashtra and one in Karnataka. The par ty will lose seats in Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Meghalaya and Assam.

5 PRIORITIES OF AAP GOVERNMENT ASIT BEGINS THIRD INNINGS IN DELHI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal andthe six other ministers in the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gov-ernment took charge of their offices onMonday. To start with, Kejriwal, in histhird stint as chief minister, is aiming toroll out the free bus ride for students anddoorstep delivery of ration schemeswithin the first three-four months.Hindustan Times takes a look at the topfive projects which the Delhi govern-ment is kicking-off its term with:Deshbhakti curriculum: The first prior-ity of the AAP government in educationsector will be to introduce the patrio-tism curriculum in all governmentschools. Announcing the move on theeve of Independence Day in 2019,Kejriwal said that the curriculum wouldhelp build “a class of patriotic citizens”.It was also included in the AAP’s mani-festo for the assembly elections. Speak-ing to HT, Manish Sisodia, who is goingto be the deputy chief minister of Delhiand is likely to retain the education port-folio, said that the government is aim-ing to introduce this curriculum in itsschools from the session which startsfrom April 1.Ration delivery: Kejriwal’s flagshipproject, the doorstep delivery of ration,which aims to offer free home deliveryof essential supplies to ration-card hold-ers, is going to be the other projectwhich the government is planningto roll out in its first few months.Off ic ia ls associated with theproject said that the file, whichonce was the cause of a majorflashpoint between the LieutenantGovernor, the bureaucracy andthe Delhi government, has nowreceived “all the necessary clear-ances”. Source appor tionment of airpollution: The Delhi government in col-laboration with Washington Universitywill star t giving out real-time data iden-tifying area-wise sources of air pollu-tion in the city from April. “We have

base level data for almost a year now.The comparison with the previousyear’s pollution source data will beginfrom April. The machines have beenset up at our air quality monitoring cen-tre near India Gate. Once it starts, de-tails of air pollution and its sources willbe provided in an interval of every fourhours which will help agencies to takearea-specific pollution control initia-tives,” said an official on condition ofanonymity. Free bus rides for students:The AAP’s promise to extend its freebus ride scheme to students, mentionedin Kejriwal’s 10-point guarantee cardahead of the assembly elections, islikely to be executed within threemonths of the government assumingoffice. The AAP government offers freerides to women in all state-run busessince October. The scheme will have tobe tabled in the Cabinet and then willhave to be approved in the Board of theDelhi Transpor t Corporation (DTC). Of-ficials said this procedure should nottake more than three months.Decongesting Delhi: As Kejriwal in hisswearing-in ceremony on Sundaytalked about greater cooperation withthe Central government, the AAP gov-ernment is looking to collaboratewith the Delhi police smoothen-ing major traffic bottlenecks inthe city. The government is likelyto revise speed limits of all roadsacross Delhi and it will also kick-star t a project to re-design roadswith location-specific solutionswith the held of exper ts. While inmost projects and schemes, theKejriwal government will requirelittle intervention from the Lieu-tenant Governor or the centralgovernment, a few others such asdeveloping a river front along theYamuna and increasing the number ofmohalla clinics and reducing vehiculartraffic in the city will need the coopera-tion of the Centre.

PM Modi congratulates Arvind Kejriwalon taking oath as Delhi Chief Minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated ArvindKejriwal on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi. Taking toTwitter, Modi posted from his official handle on the social me-dia site, "I congratulate Shri @ArvindKejriwal on taking oathas Delhi’s CM earlier today. Best wishes to him for a fruitfultenure." Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday (February 16) took oath asthe Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time at the RamlilaMaidan. Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal administered the oath.The ceremony witnessed a massive crowd of around 20,000people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also invited to theswearing-in ceremony of Kejriwal, besides BJP MPs and MLAsfrom Delhi. Modi, however, could not attend.The event was "open to public" and no chief minister or politi-cal leader from other states was invited as it was a "Delhi-specific" ceremony. The par ty had also invited 50 people fromdifferent walks of life to attend the ceremony at the event whichdidn't see the usual gathering of political heavyweights. Alongwith Kejriwal, six other ministers -- Manish Sisodia, SatyendarJain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain and RajendraGautam -- also took oath as the CM retained its 2015 cabinet.In the morning today, Kejriwal had taken to Twitter to inviteDelhiites to 'bless their son' at the event. "Today I will take oathof CM of Delhi for the third time. Please come to the RamleelaMaidan to bless your son," he said. At least 2,000 Delhi Policepersonnel, as well as 25 companies of paramilitary forces,were deployed for the ceremony to maintain law and order.Traffic regulations were also put up in place in the area from 8AM to 2 PM. Big banners bearing messages like 'DhanyawadDilli' along with Arvind Kejriwal's image were put up in andaround the historic Ramlila Maidan for the swearing-in of theAAP supremo.

NEW DELHI: WOMEN WAVE TRICOLOURS DURING THEIR ONGOING PROTEST AGAINST CAA AND NRC AT SHAHEEN BAGH INNEW DELHI. SC COURT SAID THAT PROTESTERS HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTEST BUT THEY CANNOT BLOCK ROADS.



HAFIZ SAEED CONVICTED BY PAK COURT IN 2TERROR-FINANCING CASES, GETS 11 YEARS IN JAIL

W O R L D

NARAYANA MURTHY'S SON-IN-LAWRISHI SUNAK IS UK'S NEW

CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERCONTD. FROM PAGE 3WHO IS SUNAK ?Conser vative MP for Richmond in Yorkshire since 2015,Sunak's parents are of Indian-origin, and moved to the UKfrom East Africa. Sunak has an MBA from Stanford, prior towhich, he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Ox-ford. Before his fray into politics, he worked for investmentbank Goldman Sachs, a hedge fund, and then co-founded aninvestment firm. He is mar ried to Akshata Mur thy, daughterof Indian billionaire and co-founder of Infosys, NarayanaMur thy. Sunak had campaigned massively for Leave in theEU referendum and his constituency vo ted 55 per cent Leave.An early suppor ter of P rime Minister Boris Johnson, he hasmade a number of media appearances in his suppor t. Lastyear, he was picked to be chief secretary to the Treasury byBoJo himself.JOHNSON'S CABINET RESHUFFLEBoJo carried out a reshuffle of ministers in cabinet posi-tions two months after winning the general election. Hehas reinstated Prit i Patel as the Home Secretary, andDominic Raab as the Foreign Secretary. The new Cabinetreveal four members of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic(BAME) group, all holding key positions. They include Sunak,Patel, Business Secretary Alok Sharma, and Attorney GeneralSuella Braverman.

A Pakistani cour t on Wednesday con-victed 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeedin two separate terror-financing casesand awarded him five and half yearsimprisonment in each case. Both prisonterms will run concurrently. The caseshave no relation with the Mumbai at-tack of 2008. Saeed is a UN-designatedterrorist with a US $10 million bountyon his head placed by the United States.The Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief wascharged in December last year by ananti-terrorism court in Lahore in a terrorfunding case. The terror mastermindwas indicted in the financing throughfive shell organisations. Earlier in July2019, as many as 27 FIRs were regis-tered against Hafiz Saeed and othersby the Counter-Terrorism Depar tment(CTD) of Pakistan's police over chargesof terror funding following which theJamaat-ud-Dawa chief was arrested.Saeed was arrested on July 17 in theterror financing cases and has beenlodged at the Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jailin high security. A court official con-firmed that Saeed was sentenced in twoterror financing cases registered

against him in Lahore and Gujranwalacities on the application of the CTD ofPunjab police. The court sentencedSaeed to five and a half years and im-posed a fine of Rs 15,000 in each case.Saeed-led JuD is the front organisationfor the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) which isresponsible for carrying out the 2008Mumbai attack that killed 166 people,including six Americans. The US De-partment of the Treasury has designatedSaeed as a Specially Designated Glo-bal Terrorist, and the US, since 2012,has offered a USD 10 million reward forinformation that brings Saeed to jus-

tice. He was listed under the UN Secu-rity Council Resolution 1267 in De-cember 2008.What are the cases?The anti-terrorism cour t or ATC hadindicted Saeed and his close aideson December 11 in the terror financ-ing cases. Last Saturday, LahoreATC judge Arshad Hussain Bhuttadeferred the verdict against Saeedin two terror financing cases tillFebruary 11. In the two cases, theprosecution produced some 20 or sowitnesses in the ATC who testifiedagainst Saeed and his close aides for

their involvement in terror financing.Saeed pleaded "not guilty" in both cases.The CTD had registered 23 FIRs againstSaeed and his accomplices on thecharges of terror financing in differentcities of Punjab province. The caseswere registered against Saeed andothers in Lahore, Gujranwala andMultan for collection of funds forterrorism financing through assets/proper ties made and held in thenames of Tr usts/Non ProfitOrganisations including Al-Anfaal Trust,Dawatul Irshad Trust, Muaz Bin JabalTrust, etc.

PAKISTAN'S PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN ADDRESSING AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE MARKING 40 YEARS OF HOSTING AFGHANREFUGEES IN THE COUNTRY, ORGANIZED BY PAKISTAN AND THE UN REFUGEE AGENCY IN ISLAMABAD. (REUTERS)

INDIA BECOMES 5TH LARGEST ECONOMY, OVERTAKES UK, FRANCE: REPORTCOND. FROM PAGE 1The report fur ther said that in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, India's GDP (PPP) is $10.51 trillion,exceeding that of Japan and Germany. Due to India's high population, India's GDP per capita is $2,170 (forcomparison, the US is $62,794). India's real GDP growth, however, it said is expected to weaken for the thirdstraight year from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent. The repor t observed that India's economic liberalisation beganin the early 1990s and included industrial deregulation, reduced control on foreign trade and investment,and privatisation of state-owned enterprises. "These measures have helped India accelerate economicgrowth," it said. India's service sector is the fast-growing sector in the world accounting for 60 per cent ofthe economy and 28 per of employment, the report said, adding that manufacturing and agriculture are twoother significant sectors of the economy. The US-based World Population Review is an independentorganisation without any political affiliations.

Pakistan Hindu daughters continue to beforced into Muslim marriages

Cases of Muslim men abducting and forcibly conver ting Hinduwomen are plenty in Pakistan. Local human rights group SouthAsia Par tnership-Pakistan reveals around 1000 Hindu, and Christianwomen face the ordeal every year. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Hindu Coun-cil states approximately 5000 Pakistani Hindus leave for India in a bid toescape religious persecution every year.Last year, 17 year old Anila Dhawan was abducted from her home inHyderabad, Sindh province. She was forced to conver t to Islam andmarry her kidnapper. With the police refusing to intervene, and the kidnap-per saying she ran away from home and converted voluntarily, it took acour t to help free her. Dhawan's attorney spoke to a media source andsaid, “She wanted to go back to her parents and the statement (she madeto the cour t) helped sway the decision in her favour.”Anila's story today, resonates with many Pakistani Hindu girls who arekidnapped regularly. A legislation was unanimously passed in Sindh lastyear, banning such conversions for those under age 18, and called for upto five years in jail for those who forced a conversion. However, it neverwas placed in effect. Several hardline Islamic groups objected to themove, including Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the2008 Mumbai attacks. Following pressure from groups, the legislationwas vetoed by former Sindh governor Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui. Activ-ists state the legislative defeat was a major setback for Hindu rights inPakistan. Yet another glaring case is that of a 14 year old, who wasabducted from her home in southern Pakistan, last year. Her father, aHindu farm worker Ameri Kashi Kohli was shocked to find shewas kidnapped by their landlord, conver ted to Islam, and madehis second wife. Repor ts said the landlord falsely claimed theteen as compensation for a $1000 debt owed by the family.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


NEHA SHARMA LOOKSGLAMMED UP IN A SILK SUIT

ANANYA PANDAY IS ON A WINNING STREAK ANDTO PROVE IT ALL, THERE'S ANOTHER WIN IN THELONG LIST OF ACHIEVEMENTS AS THE ACTRESSBAGGED THE BEST DEBUT AWARD AT THE 65TH

AMAZON FILMFARE AWARDS 2020 FOR HERPERFORMANCE IN 'STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2'.

TO WATCH ALL THE LATEST GOSSIP IN ENTERTAINMENT,WATCH CHANNEL Y ROGERS 857, BELLFIBE 828, TELUS 2418

P19 P19 P18

NEHA SHARMA IS A MESMERICACTRESS, HER PERFORMANCE IN

TANHAJI WAS WIDELY APPRECIATED BYTHE AUDIENCE AND HER FANS.

SHRADDHA KAPOOR OWNS THERUNWAY AS THE SHOWSTOPPER ATTHE GRAND FINALE FOR LEADING

DESIGNERS AT LAKME FASHION WEEK

TO ADVERTISE CALL 416-475-5000OR EMAIL [email protected]

ANANYA PANDAY BAGS FILMFAREFOR ‘BEST DEBUT’, LOOKING

ABSOLUTELY RAVISHING!

Believe it or not but Disha Patani is a 'Lucky Charm' for all her co-stars

MALANG JUMPS HIGH DURING ITS SECONDWEEKEND AND IS ON ROLL AT THE BOX OFFICE!

FIELD HOCKEY CAPTAIN MANPREET SINGH FIRSTINDIAN TO WIN FIH PLAYER OF THE YEAR

After surprising the audience with her stellar performance in Malang, Disha Patani is surely continuing her winning streak. Disha'slatest release has not only received great reviews from critics but the film is charting great numbers on the box office too.Talking about the box office numbers, it's an unrevealed fact that Disha Patani has given the biggest box office hits to her co-stars.Her debut film MS Dhoni: The Untold Story co-starring Sushant Singh Rajput is the biggest solo hit for the actor who has played thecharacter of former captain MS Dhoni. Her second film Baaghi 2 had turned out the blockbuster hit for her co-star Tiger Shroff as thefilm is the biggest solo hit for the Baaghi 2 actor. The lucky charm magic didn't stop in Bollywood but it reached overseas as theactress stared alongside the world's biggest action star Jackie Chan in Kung Fu Yoga and it turned out to be the biggest hit for JackieChan in China. And last but not the least Malang, we all have seen the magic as it has given Aditya Roy Kapur his biggest solo hit, afterAashiqui 2, Disha Patani starrer Malang brought the A-game back.

SORNNARIN TIPPOCH, STAFANIE TAYLOR, HARMANPREET KAUR, SOPHIE DEVINE, MEG LANNING, HEATHER KNIGHT, SALMA KHATUN,CHAMARI ATAPATTU, BISMAH MAROOF AND DANE VAN NIEKERK POSE WITH THE WOMEN'S T20 WORLD CUP TROPHY.

'GULLY BOY CREATES HISTORY,CHALKS UP 13 AWARDS AT APRESTIGIOUS AWARDS NIGHT

SHRADDHA KAPOOR TRULY STANDS AS THEDIVA WHO ACED THE RAMP WALK LIKE

NOONE ELSE DOES.

In an extraordinary sweep at the 65th Amazon Filmfare awards 2020,"Gully Boy" created history and dominated the awards night. With 13awards in their kitty, "Gully Boy" became the only movie to take homemaximum awards in varied categories.The epic journey of struggling rappers from the world of unknownhoisted the fantasy genre to Filmfare glory as the movie won record-tying awards, sweeping every category in which it was nominated.The directing went to Zoya Akhtar, arguably the finest and most de-tailed director in the cinematic world. Her keen direction, the en-semble cast, and exemplary screenplay made Gully Boy loved by alland went on to win the Best Film award.Other categories that added on to the movie's list of awards includedBest Background Score, Best Production Design, Best Cinematogra-phy, Best Lyrics, Best Music and Best screenplay. Siddhant Chaturvedi,the find of the year who etched his place in the hear ts of all cinephileswith his hard-hitting performance carried the black lady home in the Best Support-ing Actor category. Joining him was Amruta Subhash who won as the Best Sup-porting Actress for her strong role in the movie. Our most loved Alia Bhatt asSafeena and Ranveer Singh as Murad claimed the Best Actress andthe Best actor titles and we sure couldn't agree more.

Malang hit the screens on 7th February 2020 and the audiences lovehow the movie is the per fect package of action, love, drama, thrill,and revenge. The sizzling chemistry between Aditya Roy Kapur andDisha Patani is the highlight and is surely taking the audiences byawe. Malang rooted itself strongly at the box office from the verybeginning and had a jump on the second Sunday collections with 3.25CR of the box office collection brining the total collection is 47.67crores. The movie is strongly marching towards 50 crores and willachieve the same in no time.

Last week, Indian men's hockey teamcaptain Manpreet Singh became the firstIndian to win the International HockeyFederation's (FIH) Player of the Yearaward. This is the first time, since theawards were introduced in 1999, that anIndian won the accolade. The 27 yearold midfielder dedicated the honour tohis late father, and said it comes with ahuge responsibility.He said, "I would like to thank my fam-ily and friends for always suppor ting me. They have been motivatingme throughout my career. And of course, I cannot forget my father, ifhe was still here, he would've been really proud of me. This award isfor all the suppor t and strength that he always gave me.” Along withhim, young midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad won the FIH Male RisingStar of the Year award, and striker Lalremsiami bagged the 2019 FIHWomen's Rising Star of Year recognition.Manpreet said, “It is also a very positive thing for both our teams with Vivekand Lalremsiami also having won their respective FIH Rising Star of the YearAwards. It reflects well on how our teams are improving, and gives us theconfidence in doing well in future events and tournaments.”


TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020B O L LY W O O D

SHRADDHA KAPOOR OWNS THE RUNWAYAS THE SHOWSTOPPER AT THE GRANDFINALE FOR LEADING DESIGNERS AT

LAKME FASHION WEEKRecently, the actress walked as the showstopper for the grandfinale for designers Pankaj and Nidhi for their collection RElanand, looked every bit edgy and gorgeous in the silhouette.Looking every bit stunning, shraddha wore an edgy outfit forthe designer's young brand which is highly vibrant.The dresses for Shraddha were made of denim fabric, madeout of greengold fabric that is made out of used PET bottles.Hence, it was sustainable and has a incredible story to it aswell. It was an eco Friendly fabric brand as truly as the ac-tress takes every cause, close to her heart setting new ex-amples as thw champion of environment.Shraddha has never shied away from challenges, be it play-ing a cop in Saaho or playing a double role in Chhichhore.Both her movies were superhits of 2019 and the actress star ted2020 with a bang as Inayat in Street Dancer 3D where shewowed the audience with her bodacious dance moves.The first song from Baaghi 3 titled Dus Bahane 2.0 was re-leased earlier and showed Shraddha in her hottest avatarever, making fans go gaga over her. And, this walk truly rep-resents the champion that she is with the silhouettes that shedonned!On the work front, Shraddha will next be seen in Baaghi 3with Tiger Shroff. The movie is directed by Ahmed Khan andproduced by Sajid Nadiadwala, Baaghi 3 will hit the screenson 6th March 2020.

M O V I E R E V I E W

IMTIAZ ALI'S LOVE SAGAIS PARTLY ENTERTAINING

CAST: KARTIK AARYAN, SARA ALI KHAN,

RANDEEP HOODA, ARUSHI SHARMA

DIRECTION: IMTIAZ ALI

RATING - 2.5/5

The maestro of romantic - drama genre in Bollywood Imtiaz Ali is backwith his latest offering this Valentine's Day. Love Aaj Kal 2020 is theindirect sequel or say reboot of his 2009 astounding success Love AajKal. This time Imtiaz draws a contrast of how the way of love and life haschanged from the 90's era compared to the contemporary romance of2020.The film showcases two different stories of two different eras, one set inthe year 1990 focusing on Raghu (Kartik Aaryan) and Leena (ArushiSharma) and the other in today i.e 2020. on Zoe (Sara Ali Khan) and Veer(Kartik Aaryan). Zoe is an unapologetically confident and modern girlwho has everything figured out in her life. She wants to launch her ownevent management company one day and the word commitment doesnot exist in her dictionary. But, she falls in love with Veer a casanova of aboy against her plan, and everything goes fine until, comes in confusionof what these guys actually want in their lives and what are their priori-ties giving bir th to drama, separation, pain and die-hard romance.Love Aaj Kal 2020 is a new wine packed in a bottle. The first half of thefilm rides high on romance, drama & energy but the second half falls flat.Ali tries to weave a romantic two-era tale in an attempt to recreate themagic of Love Aaj Kal (2009). There was a time when Imtiaz could evenmake a lamp post fall in love and we might have watched that too. Thescreenplay moving back and for th also proves to be a villain for the story

and the film many times as it becomes an interruption just when you gethooked to the narrative. Still, Love Aaj Kal is par tly entertaining.Sara Ali Khan is the right choice for the fire-brand girl Zoe as she fits inshoes convincingly. Her strong screen presence compensates for herlack of expressions and overall the girl in on fire here.Kartik Aaryan looks believably good as the casanova Veer who is attimes confused about what is right and what is not when it comes to hergirlfriend Zoe and his charming and boyish small-town lad Raghu is alsoimpressive. His character development is fine and his acting skills seemto have improved here a lot, the credit for which goes to Imtiaz of course.Randeep Hooda leaves his mark whenever he comes on screen. Theactor looks dashing and dapper in every frame and his backstory is alsoengaging and relatable. The debutante Arushi Sharma deserves to beapplauded for her dedication to her character and delivers a notewor thyperformance. Imtiaz Ali's mettle in the romantic-drama genre can't beunderestimated and his film is enjoyable when it comes to romance as itis the only thing keeping your eyes hooked to the screen most of the time.The music of the film is a melodious treat for your ears and complimentsImtiaz Ali's style of storytelling. The runtime is not too long which is alsogood news.Overall, Love Aaj Kal is about the complexities of human relationshipsand especially love. The film celebrates the romantic flaws of relation-ships and still tells you to fall in love because, in the end, it is all wor th it.

Anushka Sharma, who accompanied husband Virat Kohli toNew Zealand for the India Tour, bid an emotional goodbye tothe cricketer as she headed home for work. Anushka shareda lovely monochrome picture with Virat on Instagram alongwith an emotional note.Sharing the candid picture on Instagram, she wrote in cap-tion, “You’d think good byes get easier with time. But theynever do ... .” While Virat is made a goofy face while clickingthe selfie, Anushka is seen sitting a few inches away with asmile on her face. The picture got more than 2,11,000 ‘likes’within a few minutes.Two days ago, Virat had shared a similar picture but in colouron his Instagram page. The picture shows Virat in a plainblack tee and looking at the camera with Anushka hugginghim while being dressed in white. She had been sharing sev-eral pictures and videos of her time in New Zealand. Sheshared a glimpse of turmeric coffee along with the flora andfauna of the picturesque location.Anushka is expected to walk the red carpet at the FeminaBeauty Awards in Mumbai on Tuesday and had to cut shor ther stay in New Zealand to fly down to India. Virat will beleading Team India which will face New Zealand on the latter’shome ground in the upcoming two-match Test series. Thefirst Test will be played from February 21 to 25.Anushka and Virat tied the knot in December, 2017. The actorshared an unseen wedding picture on their anniversary lastyear and wrote, “To love another person is to see the face ofGod” -Victor Hugo. The thing about love is that it’s not just afeeling , it’s much more than that . It’s a guide , a propeller, apath to the absolute truth . And I am blessed , truly , whollyblessed, to have found it.”The actor has not been seen on the silver screen after her2018 film, Zero. Also starring Shah Rukh Khan and KatrinaKaif, the film had failed to impress the critics or the audience.She was recently seen in Team India jersey on the field alongwith former Indian cricketer Jhulan Goswami, leading tospeculations of her featuring in the latter’s biopic.

ANUSHKA SHARMA BIDS EMOTIONALGOODBYE TO VIRAT KOHLI, SAYS

GOODBYES NEVER GET EASIER WITH TIME

Mithali Raj believes Taapsee Pannu ‘will be able to ape’ her skill at some level in Shabaash MithuMithali Raj, captain of the Indian women’s national cricket team in Tests and ODIs, hopes her biopic Shabaash Mithu inspires young girlsto join the spor t. The biographical drama will be directed by Rahul Dholakia, best known for making movies such as Raees, Lamhaa andParzania.“I’m happy that there is a biopic on my story because a lot will be shown about the struggles of a woman cricketer. When we star ted wayback in the ‘90s, the journey of a woman cricketer in our country was difficult,” Mithali told PTI on the sidelines of the Lakme FashionWeek Summer/Resor t 2020.The spor tstar said there are a lot of girls who wish to play cricket but feel there is no scope for them to grow and the Taapsee Pannu-fronted film will bust that myth. “It will also inspire a lot of young girls who dream about becoming a cricketer. Many young girls have theurge to play the spor t but never get to see it on television so they feel there is no scope. This will open a lot of oppor tunities for them todream,” she added.The film, produced by Viacom18 Studios, stars Taapsee in the lead, and the cricketer said she is looking forward to see the actor slip intoher shoes. “I feel quite nice about having Taapsee on board to tell my story. I have seen a sports drama where she played a hockey player.She kind of has this way of playing a spor tsperson. And I think what little I’ve seen of her, she will be able to even ape my skill at somelevel,” Mithali, 37, said. The first look of the film was unveiled last month and has been well-received by the audience. Shabaash Mithuwill hit the theatres on February 5 next year.

Soon after the success of the Oscar-winning Slumdog Mil-lionaire, actor Ir r fan Khan once happened to be sitting in thesame restaurant as Mark Ruffalo in New York, hoping to in-teract with the Hollywood star but to no avail. As the Aveng-ers: Endgame star was about to leave, a disappointed Ir rfanwas met with surprise when Ruffalo himself recognised theIndian actor, reached out to him and complimented him onhis work. The incident that took place perhaps around 2010 isone of the many anecdotes mentioned in Aseem Chhabra's IrrfanKhan: The Man, The Dreamer, The Star, a biographical work on the 53-year-old actor. According to the book, Irrfan and Indian director-screen-writer Aditya Bhattacharya were once having a brunch at a well-knownrestaurant in New York City with producer Leslie Holleran (The CiderHouse Rules, 1999 and Chocolat, 2000). This was the year after the hugesuccess of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire.

WHEN MARK RUFFALO TOLD IRRFAN KHANTHAT HE LOVED HIS WORK



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


M O V I E R E V I E W

SIMPLICITY IS ITS STRENGTH

CAST: AMMY VIRK, TANIA,

JAGJEET SANDHU

DIRECTION: JAGDEEP SIDHU

RATING - 3.5/5

B O L LY W O O D

ANANYA PANDAY BAGS FILMFARE FOR ‘BESTDEBUT’, LOOKING ABSOLUTELY RAVISHING!

Hailed for her promising debut, the diva shone bright at therecent awards and won yet another award for her remark-able debut.Looking absolutely stunnung as she donned two separatesin the combination of black and yellow, Ananya took homethe black lady for her impactful debut. Wearing a black offshoulder cropped tol with a flared up lemon yellow nettedskir t, the 'youth influencer' graced the red carpet and gaveus another win to gush on as her fans who absolutely lovedher per formance. With a winning 2019, her this year alsolooks absolutely promising as she owns a stellar line up ofprojects- from movies to iconic brands under her sleeve.Ever since her Bollywood debut, Ananya has been raking inimmense love and appreciation from across quar ters.Sweeping the awards the entire season, this one truly addsup to her list of wins for her best debut.The actress has a packed 2020 while constantly jugglingwith her schedule and ensures to bring the best to her audi-ence with projects, brands, and her outlook.On the work front, Ananya Panday will also be seen along-side Ishaan Khatter in Khaali Peeli which is all set to releasethis year. We will also be seeing Ananya share the screenwith Siddhant Chaturvedi and Deepika Padukone. Truly, thebest student has yet again won with full marks and we can-not be happier to see her take her best debut trophy home!

NEHA SHARMA LOOKS GLAMMED UP IN A SILK SUITShe is a very stylish actress and a fashion designer aswell. The diva even owns her fashion outlet, her followers look up toher fashion trends. She recently posted a couple of pictures of herselfshot by celebrity photographer Shivam Gupta.The actress wore a gorgeous rose gold, silk pantsuit en-semble with a textured bralette. The outfit is per fect for datenight designed by Leepakshi Ellawadi. The diva is wearingnude makeup and naturelle open hair with canter par tinghairdo styled by Teji Singh.The fans are waiting to see her in the upcoming revengedrama movie Taish, directed and co-produced by BejoyNambiar and Nishant Pitti, the movie will also be starringPulk i t Samrat , Kr i t i Kharbanda, J im Sarabh andHarshvardhan Rane in lead.

When the story is simple, the script becomes a challenge. When thatstory happens to be a love story, the chemistry has to be real, charac-ters well-etched and as for the dialogues, they need to be ones thatmake you cry, think and smile. Boy! Does Sufna tick off all the boxesand well within the small squares that are usually reserved for asimple love story? Of Teg and Jagjeet, played by Tania and Ammy,respectively!What unfolds are the sacrosanct steps involved in any love story, ameet-cute, woo and chase sequence, hurdles faced by true love…onlythe fairytale does not unfold in Disney’s castle but Punjab’s country-side too. Refreshingly not in the mustard fields but in the cotton belt ofMalwa. The girl comes to the boy’s village annually for a couple ofmonths to pluck the cotton crop, where much of the story unfolds.‘You got beautiful teeth’ he compliments her, ‘I even bite with themand really well,” she retor ts.Born to a Muslim mother and Sikh father but orphaned, she knows toowell the value of true selfless love, the one she reciprocates by mak-ing sure the boy goes out to study, work and get a job and not be anaimless lover, which he is till the time of the interval.During the promotional tour, Ammy Virk almost stuck his neck out tosay, “Ninety per cent of the film belongs to Tania.” Which it does, but

for the audience the real hero is the writer and director Jagdeep Sidhu,who doesn’t give into the formulaic temptations of any kind. A ‘thankyou’ is in order for not subjecting the audience to a sudden dancetrack in a pub or an item number or any of such similar horror. Speak-ing of which, music by B Praak consists of five numbers that lend tothe story the warm fuzzy feeling of love and not take away from it.Innocent love is often subjected to ridicule, at least in the day and ageof Tinder and OTT platforms, but the songs, like the script, tug at yourhear tstrings.Now for Ammy Virk, he is in form, like he usually is, but not the onewhere he hogs all the limelight, but lets Jagjeet Sandhu, as his friend,draw the applause as well. The guy, who plays the hero’s best friend,has nonetheless shades of grey as he tries to woo the leading ladywith whatever it takes, Frooties, bangles, promise of being a friendwith benefits or a husband with deep pockets, threats of defamation ifshe doesn’t give in. But, of course, true love wins. Here is anotherthing that Ammy Virk almost assured the producer during the promo-tional tour of the film, “Paise poore kara ke bhejange.” At least to theaudience he has kept that promise of wor th the time and money.

Actor Kangana Ranaut, who has been shooting for her upcomingfilm?Thalaivi for the past few months, has announced her nextproject. Titled Tejas, the film will star the actor as an Indian AirForce pilot. The makers and Kangana’s team shared the firstlook of the film as well.Sharing a picture, the Instagram handle of Kangana’s team wrote:“For all the brave hear ted and strong headed women in Uniformwho make sacrifices for our nation day in and day out .... Kanganato play an air force pilot in her next , titled - TEJAS.” The film willbe produced by Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP Movies. The pictureshows Kangana in IAF fatigues; her hair is neatly tied in a bunand she is wearing a pair of aviators. Kangana also has a helmetin her hand. Parked on the runway behind is a majestic fighteraircraf t. Twitter loved her look and many mentioned how it was“on point” and suited the “subject of the movie”.Kangana’s last film, Panga, could not create magic at the boxoffice, despite a spirited per formance by?the actor and the restof the team including Richa Chadha (who played her mentor),Neena Gupta and Punjabi singer-turned-actor Jassie Gill.

TEJAS FIRST LOOK: KANGANA RANAUTTRANSFORMS INTO IAF PILOT

Tara Sutaria on her next: ‘I’m doing something not many people expect me to do’Actor Tara Sutaria says she is happy to have star ted her Bollywood career at a time when great par ts are being written for women. Tara,who star ted her career as a child ar tiste with Disney India show Big Bada Boom (2010), made her Bollywood debut last year withStudent of the Year 2.The 24-year-old actor said she aims to surprise the audiences with every film. “These are really exciting times for women in the movies.There are great oppor tunities for us. The kind of roles I want to do, the list is endless and the next film I’m doing something not manypeople expect me to do. I want to reinvent myself with every film,” Tara told PTI on the sidelines of the Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resor t 2020 here. Her last big screen outing was Marjaavaan and the actor will next be seen in Tadap, the Hindi remake of Telugu hit RX100, which marks the Bollywood debut of actor Suniel Shetty’s son Ahan. “We have shot most of the film. We shot in Mussoorie whereI also shot for my first film Student of the Year 2. I’m looking forward to the film.” Tara said she does not want to limit herself to actingand wishes to expand her reper toire in other aspects of filmmaking.“I always wanted to be a singer and I’m delighted I got a chance to act too. I’m really looking forward to the next few years and hopefullyI will get a chance to sing in my films as well. I hope to sing in my next film and carry that forward. I would also like to direct someday,”she said. At the LFW, Tara walked for designer Punit Balana’s collection The Royal Bagh, inspired by Sisodia Rani Palace Garden ofJaipur. “Punit is someone I’m fond of personally. We have worked together for a couple of times now. I have worn his clothes for my filmpromotions and it’s really nice to walk for him. His clothes are easy, fun, feminine and elegant,” she said.The actor added she has always been passionate about fashion. “Fashion is something I have always loved. Anything to do withdesigning -- be it decor, fashion or styling -- I have always paid attention to it. Also in my line of work, it is a big par t. I’m passionate aboutar t and music, so I would love to do a crossover between fashion and music.”


TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020B O L LY W O O D

Vicky Kaushal breaks his silence on dating rumourswith Katrina Kaif and it's not what you expected

Since last year, there have been several rumours about Katrina Kaifand Vicky Kaushal dating each other. Both have kept mum about it butthey were spotted together publicly in several instances. Before that,Vicky was in a relationship with Harleen Sethi but they broke up afterbeing together for some time. Then Vicky has been linked up with afew actors namely Bhumi Pednekar and Malavika Mohanan.Now during an interaction with Bollywood Hungama, when Vicky wasasked if he is dating Katrina, the actor refused to open up about hispersonal life. He told the enter tainment por tal, "I hope you respectthis… I really want to guard my personal life to some extent becauseif you open up, it leads to discussions and interpretations and misin-terpretations. That is something I am not inviting."

Vicky also said, "I guess it is better that way, that I guard my personallife to some extent and I don’t want to open up about anything."Earlier Katrina and Vicky were clicked while heading to a Diwalipar ty together and also at a friend's place for dinner.Kaushal had earlier spoken about his parents' reaction to his link-upsby saying, "I woke up in the morning and there was one link-up storyin the newspaper. My mom and dad were sitting at the dining table.They were waiting for me to pick up the newspaper and read it. Themoment I opened the newspaper and turned to them, they star tedlaughing and said, ‘Jis pace pe jaa raha hai, humein toh bataa de(Keep us in the loop, at least, about the pace at which you are going).’I was like, ‘I too don’t know what is happening."

Ayushmann Khurrana-Jitendra Kumar's 'ShubhMangal Zyada Saavdhan' gets UA certificate

Ayushmann Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar starrer Shubh Mangal ZyadaSaavdhan is all set to hit the screens on February 21, 2020. The filmalso has Gajraj Rao, Neena Gupta, Manurishi Chaddha, Sunita Rajwar,Maanvi Gagroo, Pankhuri Awasthy and Neeraj Singh in pivotal roles.The film is directed by Hitesh Kewalya and produced by Aanand L.Rai, Bhushan Kumar, Himanshu Sharma and Krishan Kumar undertheir banners Colour Yellow Productions and T-Series.Now, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has cer tified ShubhMangal Zyada Saavdhan with U/A. Colour Yellow Productions an-nounced it with the cast of the film holding the cer tificate. They captioned it as"CBFC ne jeetaya pyaar! Dekhiye #ShubhMangalZyadaSaavdhan seh-parivaar,releasing this Friday! @smzsofficial @ayushmannk @gajra j rao@neena_gupta @Jitendrak1 @manurishichadha @sunita_rajwar@maanvigagroo @pankhuri313 @neerajsingh5852 Written and di-rected by @HiteshKewalya @aanandlra i @[email protected] @tseriesfilms"Whi le t rade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted,

"#ShubhMangalZyadaSaavdhan censored with UA cer tificate by#CBFC... Duration: 119 minutes, 37 seconds [1 hour, 59 minutes, 37seconds]. #India"Meanwhile, talking about the film, Ayushmann had told BollywoodHungama, "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is an out and out enter-tainer that also gives the right message. It will be incorrect to call thisfilm a serious, message-oriented film. It is not. It is a hilarious filmthat’s also slapstick in par ts to drive home the message of the film. Ithas its hear t at the right place and it is not a serious film that delvesany deeper."The multitalented actor also said, "For me, I was sold with Aanand L.Rai sir and Hitesh’s (Kewalya) vision for this film because they wantedto make it a quintessential Bollywood movie and not approach this asa cause film. They were clear that they want to enter tain the whole ofIndia so you should expect that the film will have all the commercialelements and it’s not an in-depth look into the issue of same-sexrelationships in our country from a social and cultural point of view."

AR Rahman’s daughter Khatija Rahman has shared happy fam-ily pictures with her father and sister Rahima, a day after herchoice of wearing a burqa was described as ‘suffocating’ bywriter Taslima Nasreen.Sharing pictures from their Baku vacation, Khatija wrote in cap-tion, “Peaceful time with family away from “suffocation” tbt#baku #azerbaijan #livingmylife #beingawayfromhome#beingawayfromnegativepeople #bosslife #bosslady#burqawalisareempowered #respectingmysisterschoices#nobodymesseswithme #singapengal.” While Khatija is in aburqa, her sister Rahima is in black distressed denims andjacket. Her reaction was in response to Taslima sharing herphoto and writing, “I absolutely love A R Rahman’s music. Butwhenever i see his dear daughter, i feel suffocated. It is reallydepressing to learn that even educated women in a cultural fam-ily can get brainwashed very easily!”Khatija also wrote a new note ahead of posting the family pic-tures along with a picture of a woman in a burqa. She wrote,“Why the double standards and sudden concerns only when itcomes to women belonging to a cer tain faith? Haven’t we seenmen wearing turbans? Women wearing habits ? Why only whenit comes to a par ticular faith are women targeted for the choicesthey make wholehear tedly and with pride. Why ? Why ? Andwhy ? I simply do not understand.”Khatija had shared multiple posts in reply to Taslima and talkedabout her choice of wearing a burqa. She wrote to her, “DearTaslima Nasreen, I’m sor ry you feel suffocated by my attire.Please get some fresh air, cause I don’t feel suffocated ratherI’m proud and empowered for what I stand for. I suggest yougoogle up what true feminism means because it isn’t bashingother women down nor bringing their fathers into the issue. Ialso don’t recall sending my photos to you for your perusal.”In an earlier post, she had said, “Been only a year and this topicis in the rounds again..there’s so much happening in the countryand all people are concerned about is the piece of attire a womanwants to wear. Wow, I’m quite star tled. Every time this topiccomes the fire in me rages and makes me want to say a lot ofthings..Over the last one year, I’ve found a different version ofmyself which I haven’t seen in so many years. I will not be weakor regret the choices I’ve made in life. I am happy and proud ofwhat I do and thanks to those who have accepted me the way Iam. My work will speak, God willing.. I don’t wish to say anyfur ther. To those of you who feel why I’m even bringing this upand explaining myself, sadly it so happens and one has to speakfor oneself, that’s why I’m doing it.Dear Taslima Nasreen, I’m sorry you feel suffocated by my at-tire. Please get some fresh air, cause I don’t feel suffocatedrather I’m proud and empowered for what I stand for. I suggestyou google up what true feminism means because it isn’t bash-ing other women down nor bringing their fathers into the issue Ialso don’t recall sending my photos to you for your perusal.”

AR RAHMAN’S DAUGHTER KHATIJA’S DIGAT TASLIMA NASREEN, SHARES ‘AWAY

FROM SUFFOCATION’ PHOTO WITH FAMILY

Throughout Bigg Boss 13, fans were rooting for contestantsSidhar th Shukla and Shehnaaz Gill to end up together, and evenlovingly gave the couple the moniker of ‘SidNaaz’. However,even as fans are hoping that their romance continues outsideBigg Boss 13, Shehnaaz will be a par t of a new reality showtitled Mujhse Shaadi Karoge in which she will find a groom forherself. The show is set to go on air on Monday (February 17) night.In an interview with Peeping Moon, Sidharth opened up about Shehnaaz’snew show and said, “I am very happy that she is going to get married andI hope she has a great life from here on.” Meanwhile, a video hasemerged in which Sidhar th is heard seemingly referring to Shehnaaz’sfather as ‘daddy’, and it is taking social media by storm.In the clip, shared by a fan account of ‘SidNaaz’ on Twitter,Sidhar th is seen walking down from the Bigg Boss 13 stage tohis vanity van. Shehnaaz’s father Santokh Singh Sukh greetshim, and he seems to respond, “Haan, daddy,” before immedi-ately correcting himself and saying “uncle”.

SIDHARTH SHUKLA: ‘I AM VERY HAPPY THATSHEHNAAZ GILL IS GOING TO GET MARRIED’

KARTIK AARYAN IS ASKED WHAT THE BEST THING ABOUTBEING SINGLE IS. HE SAYS, ‘I WOULDN’T KNOW’

Actor Kar tik Aaryan has set tongues wagging by admitting that he “wouldn’t know” the advantages of not being in a relationship. On thechat show By Invite Only, when he was asked what the best thing about being single was, he said, “I wouldn’t know that.”Kar tik came on the show with his Love Aaj Kal co-star Sara Ali Khan, who he has been linked with for months now. Interestingly, whenshe was asked the same question, she said, “You get to focus on yourself.”Sara and Kar tik, dubbed SarTik by fans, were rumoured to be dating during the making of Love Aaj Kal but are repor ted to have par tedways now. While they were rather vocal about having a crush on each other, they never admitted to being in a relationship.Love Aaj Kal, directed by Imtiaz Ali, marks Sara and Kar tik’s first onscreen collaboration. Though the film opened big at the box officebecause of the hype surrounding them, the collection took a major dip over the weekend. After collecting Rs 12.40 crore on Friday(Valentine’s Day), it earned Rs 8.01 crore on Saturday and Rs 8.10 crore on Sunday, respectively.Love Aaj Kal dethroned Kar tik’s last release Pati Patni Aur Woh to become his highest opening film. However, poor reviews took a tollon the business of the film, and its opening weekend numbers (Rs 28.51 crore) were lower than his previous two films, Pati Patni AurWoh (Rs 35.94 crore) and Luka Chuppi (Rs 32.13 crore). Kar tik will feature in two standalone sequels this year – Bhool Bhulaiyya 2,directed by Anees Bazmee, and Dostana 2, directed by Collin D’Cunha. Apar t from this, he has an as yet untitled action film in his kitty,which will be helmed by Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior director Om Raut.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 B O L LY W O O D

Karan Johar, Dinesh Vijan announce new release datesof 'Angrezi Medium', 'Gunjan Saxena', 'Roohi Afzana'

Soon after the trailer for Angrezi Medium was unveiled, it was an-nounced that Irr fan Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Radhika Madanstar rer will release on March 20, 2020. Now, it's revealed that the filmwill hit the screens on March 13, 2020. Producer Maddock Films'Twitter page made the announcement with a short video and a captionstating, "This year, father ’s day comes early... #AngreziMedium nowin cinemas from 13th March 2020! @Irr fank #KareenKapoorKhan@radhikamadan01 #Deepakdobriyal #DineshVijan #HomiAdajania#DimpleKapadia @RanvirShorey @TripathiiPankaj @kikusharda@maddockfilms @jiostudios @JioCinema"Meanwhile, Karan Johar took to his Twitter page and shared a photoposing with Dinesh Vijan and wrote about the exchange of releasedates of their films - Angrezi Medium, Janhvi Kapoor's Gunjan Saxena:

The Kargil Girl and Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi starrer Roohi Afzana.KJo tweeted, "Friendships in the fraternity are rare but when theyexist ...they are empowering! Dinoo and I have have made an ex-change of dates! ANGREZI MEDIUM will come a week earlier on theGUNJAN SAXENA date 13th of March.2020 and GUNJAN SAXENA takesthe ROOHI AFZA date 24th April 2020"Talking about these films, Angrezi Medium is the sequel to HindiMedium and is directed by Homi Adajania. While Gunjan Saxena:The Kargil Girl co-produced by Karan is helmed by Sharan Sharma.Whereas Roohi Afzana is a hor ror-comedy and also stars VarunSharma as one of the leading actors. The film is directed by HardikMehta and produced by Dinesh, the new release date is yet to beannounced.

AMITABH BACHCHAN HAS RIDDLE FORTWITTERATI, ABHISHEK BACHCHAN TELLS HIM TOASK HIS GRANDDAUGHTER; CAN YOU ANSWER?

Amitabh Bachchan is one of the celebrities who talk about anythingand everything on his Twitter page. The actor shares about his mov-ies, he talks to his fans and also shares interesting facts about him-self and also something which he finds on the Internet. Moreover, heis often seen tweeting to other celebrities and shares their work onhis microblogging page. Recently, Big B posted a riddle on his Twitterpage and asked his followers to solve it.It read as "I am the beginning of everything, the end of everywhere. I'm thebeginning of eternity, the end of time and space. What am I?" The legendary actortweeted the riddle stating, "T 3442 - GUESS .. ???"Bachchan's son and actor Abhishek Bachchan immediately replied tohis father's tweet by writing, "Ask your granddaughter."

We wonder if Aaradhya Bachchan has figured out the riddle.Meanwhile, on the work front, Amitabh Bachchan has several films tobe released in 2020. His upcoming film is Gulabo Sitabo directed byShoojit Sircar in which he wil l be sharing screen space withAyushmann Khurrana. Big B also has Nagraj Manjule's Jhund andRumi Jafry's Chehre with Emraan Hashmi.Bachchan is also one of the leading actors in Ayan Mukerji's upcom-ing fantasy drama Brahmastra which has Ranbir Kapoor and AliaBhatt as lead actors.While Abhishek has three films lined up for release this year namelyAnurag Basu's anthology Ludo, Kookie Gulati's The Big Bull and SujoyGhosh's Bob Biswas in which he plays the titular role.

The first poster of Netflix’s new Indian original film Guilty, producedby Karan Johar under Dharmatic – the digital arm of his bannerDharma Productions, has just dropped online. It features KiaraAdvani in a grunge chic look, with platinum blonde streaks in herhair and a septum piercing.Karan shared the poster of Guilty on Twitter and announced that thetrailer will be out on Tuesday (February 18). “@advani_kiara...araw poetic playlist and a mystery - aap convince ho gaye ya aurbataun? #Guilty trailer out tomor row,” he wrote.Guilty, directed by Ruchi Narain, explores the different versions oftruth that emerge when a small-town girl accuses the collegehear tthrob of rape. Seen through the eyes of his musician girlfriend,this story makes us question who is truly guilty in such circum-stances, repor ts PTI.In Guilty, Kiara will be seen as the musician girlfriend with a mind ofher own, a character she has earlier described as the “antithesis” ofher character Preeti in Kabir Singh.The actor was last seen on the big screen in Raj Mehta’s comedyGood Newwz, alongside Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan andDiljit Dosanjh. The film was well-received by the critics as well asthe audience, and crossed the Rs 200-crore mark at the box office inIndia. Kiara’s next release is Raghava Lawrence’s Laxmmi Bomb,a remake of his 2011 Tamil hit Muni 2: Kanchana. She stars withAkshay Kumar in the horror comedy and told IANS, “We are puttingour best foot forward and we hope to make it a crackling entertainer,because I am sure the expectations will be high.”Apar t from Laxmmi Bomb, Kiara has a number of interesting projectsin her kitty, including the biopic of Kargil hero Captain Vikram Batratitled Shershaah, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Indoo Ki Jawani.

GUILTY POSTER: KIARA ADVANI NAILSGRUNGE CHIC LOOK IN NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Actor Sonam KapoorAhuja has spoken up against a commentmade by?Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chiefMohan?Bhagwat where he repor tedly said that ‘affluence andeducation’ brings along arrogance that leads to divorce.Tweeting a news repor t when Mohan Bhagwat made the saidcomment, she wrote: “Which sane man speaks like this?Regressive foolish statements.” Bhagwat had said as pera PTI repor t, "Nowadays the number of divorce cases haveincreased a lot. People fight over trifl e issues. The cases ofdivorce are more in educated and affluent families, becausewith education and affluence comes arrogance, as a result ofwhich families fall apar t. The society also falls apar t becausesociety is also a family.”The RSS chief was speaking to workers in Ahmedabad wherehe made the comment. He also said that confining women tohomes has resulted in the condition of the society that we seetoday. “The condition of the society is because of the customsthat have been practised here for the last 2,000 years. Womenwere confined to homes. This was not the case 2,000 years ago.That was the golden age of our society,” Bhagwat had added.Sonam, meanwhile, hasn’t had a release since September lastyear — her last film was The Zoya Factor, which also starredMalayalam hear tthrob Dulquer Salmaan. The film, based on abook of the same name by Anuja Chauhan, sank without a trace.It tells the story of one Zoya Solanki who is considered the luckycharm of the Indian cricket team during a world cup tournament.Prior to that, she was seen in a same-sex romance, EkLadki?Ko?Dekha To Aisa Laga, which also star red RajkummarRao and south Indian actor Regina Cassandra. This film toodidn’t work at the box office but has been appreciated and re-ceived well on OTT platforms.While Sonam has not announced any new project but on socialmedia, she remains active as ever.

SONAM KAPOOR SLAMS MOHANBHAGWAT’S DIVORCE COMMENT:

‘REGRESSIVE FOOLISH STATEMENTS’

Sara Ali Khan says she’s seen as ‘a bit shady’ at US airports. This is whySara Ali Khan lost oodles of weight before entering Bollywood, and while hertransformation has left many people in awe, it has made the US airpor t authori-ties a little sceptical. During a chat with comedy group East India Comedy, sherevealed that the authorities look a little suspiciously at her because she lookstotally different from her identity card photos.“You know what happens is, because I was 96 kgs when I did my ID cardpicture, there’s a bit of a problem. Because they are like, ‘What?’ and then theyput it together. Especially in America,” she said.The 24-year-old actor, who studied at the Columbia University in New York, lost26 kilos before signing her debut film, Kedarnath. “My regular visa, my studentvisa and me currently are all different. So, they are like, ‘What is going on? Thisis a bit shady.’ My surname is Sultan and it is America, so you can just imagine,” she said.Sara then joked that she would not like to say anything more on the subject, because she does not want to be banned from visiting theUS. “I don’t want to say more, I want to go back to New York,” she laughed.On the work front, Sara has just seen the release of Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal, in which she is cast opposite Kar tik Aaryan. The film,which opened to mixed reviews from critics, has witnessed a major dip af ter taking off to a fantastic star t at the box office. Af tercollecting Rs 12.40 crore on Friday (Valentine’s Day), Love Aaj Kal posted a collection of Rs 8.01 crore on Saturday and Rs 8.10 croreon Sunday, respectively.Sara also has two other projects in the pipeline – David Dhawan’s Coolie No 1 remake opposite Varun Dhawan and Aanand L Rai’sAtrangi Re alongside Akshay Kumar and Dhanush.

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India's U-19 batsman ShubmanGill insists no ongoing competitionwith Prithvi Shaw for opener slot

Rising star Shubman Gill's double hundred and a century in the firstunofficial Test against New Zealand A made everyone do a doubletake, but so did fellow young gun Prithvi Shaw's performance. Whenasked if the two are competing with each other for the opener's slot inthe first Test against New Zealand, Gill said there is “no fight”. Headded that if he does get the oppor tunity, he will not “let it go waste”.With the absence of an injured Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul notincluded in the fray for the upcoming two-match Test series againstNew Zealand starting February 21, there is a spot open at the topalong side Mayank Agarwal. Gill spoke to reporters ahead of a prac-tice match, and said, “Obviously, our careers star ted at the sametime but there is no fight as such. Both of us have done well in ourpositions. It's up to the team management, who they will play. It's notas if there is a fight. Whoever gets the chance will try to make the mostof the opportunity and not let it go waste.”

Lalremsiami dedicates FIH RisingStar award to late father

NEW DELHI: India's woman hockey player Lalremsiami has dedi-cated her FIH Rising Star of the Year award to her late father. "I had amixed year in 2019. It was a huge personal loss for me when I lost myfather. He always motivated me to do well, and I am sure he would begiving his blessings from above. I would like to dedicate this award tohim," Lalremsiami said in a statement. The 19-year-old on Mondaybagged the award ahead of Argentina's Julieta Jankunas and FrederiqueMatla of the Netherlands, who finished second and third respectively.Lalremsiami received the news of the demise of her father ahead ofthe semi-final clash against Chile in June last year. Her father,Lalthansanga Zote passed away due to a heart attack. Lalremsiamithanked coaches and teammates for supporting her throughout hercareer and felt honoured after receiving winning the award. "It is ahuge honour for me because there were so many great playersnominated in the same category. I am really thankful to my family forgiving me the freedom to choose my career in hockey, and to mycoaches and teammates who have always supported me through-out," she said Lalremsiami stated that this award will act as a motiva-tion for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics">2020 Tokyo Olympics. "Theaward obviously serves as a great motivation for the upcoming Olym-pics, and gives me more confidence and belief to go on and do mybest for the team for years to come," she added.

ICC T20I Rankings: KL Rahul closes in onBabar Azam at the top, Virat Kohli drops to 10

India’s KL Rahul maintained his second spot whereas skipper Virat Kohli moved down to the 10th spot in the latest ICC T20I rankings forbatsmen released on Monday. Rahul was in great from in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand which India won 5-0.Rahul had scored 224 runs at an average of 56 and played an instrumental role in India’s triumph over the Black Caps. Kohli, on the otherhand, could manage only 105 runs in the four T20I innings against the Kiwis.The Indian skipper has been replaced by England captain Eoin Morgan who scored 136 runs from three innings against South Africa andhelped them win the series 2-1.He went past Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma to claim the ninth position. Quinton de Kock, Morgan’s opposite number, has climbedas many as 10 spots to occupy the 16th position, after having registered scores of 31, 65 and 35.Babar Azam remains at the top of the rankings, followed by Rahul and Australia captain Aaron Finch, while the bowling and the all-rounders char ts are led by Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi respectively.England have retained their third position in the team rankings and their series win against South Africa has taken them within two pointsof second-placed Australia. India come four th in the list topped by Pakistan.

Faf du Plessis steps down as South Africa captain in all formatsFaf du Plessis stepped down as captain of South Africa’s Test and T20I teams, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Monday. CSA tookto social media to make the announcement and their post read: “Faf du Plessis has announced that he is stepping down from his role ascaptain of the Proteas’ Test and T20 teams effective immediatelyThey fur ther wrote: “The 35-year-old has cited a need to take a step back from captaincy in order to help facilitate the emergence of the nextgeneration of leaders within the team under the new stewardship of Quinton de Kock.”Du Plessis wasn’t par t of the South Africa squad that drew 1-1 against England in the three-match ODI series (one match was washed out).Nor was he par t of the T20I series which the hosts lost 1-2. Quinton de Kock was given the mantle to lead the side and du Plessis insistedthat he will contribute to the team as a batsman and as a senior player.“When I took over the leadership, I did so with the commitment to lead, per form & most impor tantly, to serve. As the team heads into a newdirection with new leaders and a young crop of players, I feel it will be in the best interests of SA cricket to relinquish the captaincy,” Faf duPlessis told CSA.“This was one of the toughest decisions to make, but I remain fully committed to suppor ting Quinton (de Kock), Mark (Boucher) and myteammates as we continue to rebuild and re-align as a group.“The last season of my captaincy has been the most challenging to date as I had a lot of off-field issues that I devoted my energy towards,” he added.

T20 World Cup: It’s going to be very big if we win - Harmanpreet KaurIndia captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes her team is growing “day byday” and are in a positive state of mind ahead of the T20 World Cupwhich gets underway this week. India will begin their tournamentcampaign against defending champions Australia at the SydneyShowground Stadium on Friday and will aim to build on the per for-mances which saw them reach the World Cup final in 2017 -- wherethey eventually lost to England at the iconic Lord’s.India have never managed to reach the final of the T20 World Cup andhave been knocked out in the semi-finals thrice. In the last editionwhich was held in 2018 in the West Indies, they lost to 2009 champi-ons England by eight wickets.“Our team is growing day by day, everyone is looking so positive,”Harmanpreet was quoted as saying by ICC on Monday morning. “It’sgoing to be very big if we win, I was very surprised at all the reactionsfrom 2017.“My parents didn’t tell me, they didn’t want us to feel the pressure. Ifwe win, it’s going to be very big for us. We will try to give our best,”she added.Top-order batswoman Jemimah Rodrigues had earlier said that thetournament opener against Australia will be “one of the most impor-

tant” games of her career. “I think it will be one of the most impor tantgames in my career,” Rodrigues said.“Playing a World Cup ... the first match in Australia and for me firsttime playing (a World Cup) in Australia. Nothing is more exciting thenIndia in Australia, so it will be a match we all will be keen to play andjust excited, can’t wait to get to the first match,” she added.Australia captain Meg Lanning, on her par t, said that her team is looking toget star ted in a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to play in a home World Cup.

‘We’ll make sure your fingers are notthere’: R Ashwin recalls incident

when he was stopped from playingIndia spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recalled a harrowing ex-perience which he went through while taking part in a tennisball tournament during his younger days. Ashwin claimed hewas held up by players of the opposite team, who went to theextent of threatening to chop off his fingers if he dared tofeature in the tournament finale.“We were supposed to play a final,” Ashwin told Cricbuzz. “AsI was about to leave, there were four or five guys who came in RoyalEnfields, properly muscular and big. They picked me up and saidcome we’ve got to go. I asked ‘who?’ and they said ‘you’re playing thematch here, right? We’ve come to pick you up.” “I was like wowthey’ve arranged for a pick-up, and it feels great.



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