to borrow money to pay for school india cancels talks...

ISABELLA KAIF, SISTER OF FAMOUS BOLLYWOOD STAR KATRINA KAIF, HONORING YUDHVIR JASWAL, GROUP EDITOR ANDCEO OF Y MEDIA. COURTESY: REENA DEON

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

CIBC POLL: HALF OF CANADIAN STUDENTS NEEDTO BORROW MONEY TO PAY FOR SCHOOL

I DETAILS ON PAGE 3

India cancels talks overinvite to separatists,

Pakistan terms it setbackNew Delhi, (IANS) Taking a tough stand at Pakistan's engage-ment with Kashmiri separatist leaders, India Monday called offthe Aug 25 foreign secretary-level talks, terming unacceptable"the continued effor ts to inter fere" in its internal affairs. Paki-stan described the decision as a "setback" to its effor ts to pro-mote good neighbourly relations.External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin conveyedthe Indian government's decision following Pakistan HighCommissioner Abdul Basit's meeting with separatist Kashmirileader Shabir Shah in the capital Monday for consultationsbefore the foreign secretary-level talks."Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh's visit to Islamabad for talkson Aug 25 stands cancelled," he said, adding that the talkshave been called off as "no useful purpose will be served"by her visit.In its reaction, the Pakistan Foreign Office said it has beeninformed of India's decision to call off the talks "taking ex-ception" to its high commissioner in New Delhi holding meet-ings with Kashmiri leaders but noted that it is a "long stand-ing practice" ahead of bilateral talks to hold meetings withKashmiri leaders in order to "facilitate meaningful discus-sions on the issue of Kashmir".Other Kashmiri separatist leaders asser ted they would goon to meet the Pakistani envoy Tuesday and criticised theIndian government for calling off the talks over the invitationto them.Announcing the decision in a strong statement, Akbaruddinsaid that the invitation to "so-called leaders of the Hurriyatdoes indeed raise questions about Pakistan's sincerity, andshows that its negative approaches and attempts to inter-fere in India's internal affairs continue unabated".Pakistan should resolve outstanding issues through peace-ful bilateral dialogue within the framework and principles ofthe Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, he added.Akbaruddin noted that that the Islambad's "negative apporach"had come at a time when serious initiatives were being under-taken by the Narendra Modi government to move bilateral tiesforward, including towards the resumption of a regular dialogueprocess.

I CONTD. FROM PAGE 5

ANNU GAIDHU CROWNEDMISS INDIA-CANADA 2014

I DETAILS ON PAGE 3

I MORE PICS ON PAGE 4AKHILESH MISHRA, CONSUL GENERAL OF INDIA DELIVERING SPEECH DURING THE INDEPENDENCE DAYCELEBRATIONS IN TORONTO.

Toronto - A new CIBC (TSX: CM) (NYSE: CM) poll conducted by Leger findsthat half of Canadian college and university students (51 per cent) mustborrow to pay for their education. Most students are optimistic that they willrepay their debt within five years, yet the majority of them said they expect tograduate with debt loads of more than $10,000. Further, four in 10 expect toowe over $25,000 by the time they graduate.Key findings of the poll include:" 51 per cent of Canadian post-secondary students have or will need toborrow money to pay for their education, including tuition, books and livingexpenses" By the time they complete their education, 73 per cent of students expect toowe more than $10,000" 40 per cent expect to have more than $25,000 in student debt" Two-thirds (66 per cent) expect to pay back their debt in five years or less"It's not surprising that many students need to borrow money to cover thecost of post-secondary education, particularly those living away from homeor studying a specialized program," says Christina Kramer, Executive VicePresident, Retail and Business Banking, CIBC. "It's important for them to takethe time to review their finances and build a manageable debt repaymentplan so that they won't feel so financially stressed in school and can better

manage debt once they've graduated."Have a realistic plan to reduce and repay debtMost students (66 per cent) believe they can pay back their debt in five yearsor less, with nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of them being far more optimistic-- expecting it will take only two years or less to pay off their student loans.Just 34 per cent said they believe it will take them more than six years to wipethe slate clean."While their intentions are admirable, they may not be realistic," says Ms.Kramer. "As students graduate and look to start their careers, they will likelybe moving out on their own, saving for a car or a down payment on a home,or even starting a family. That's why it's important for students to manage theamount of debt they take on, develop a budget that helps them carefullymanage their spending while in school, and have a plan to pay off debt oncethey graduate."A CIBC poll, released earlier this month, found that the majority of students(73 per cent) with summer jobs won't make enough money to pay for theircollege or university costs and will need to work during the school year tosupport their school expenses. Most of them (53 per cent) working thissummer expect to earn between $1,001 and $5,000, with about one quarter(26 per cent) expecting to earn between $5,001 and $10,000.

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PAGE 3 ANNU GAIDHUCROWNED MISSINDIA-CANADA 2014

ANNU GAIDHU CROWNED

MISS INDIA-CANADA 2014

DESK REPORT

Toronto - It was a night of enter tainment, prestige and glamour allrolled up into one; the 24thannual Miss India-Canada Event, whichwas presented by Chevrolet had it all this past Saturday! The sold outshow was truly a memorable experience that those present will re-member for years to come.Zee TV Canada was the associate sponsor this year; and Sears theGrand Sponsor. At the end of the evening, Annu Gaidhu of Mississauga,Ontario won the esteemed title of Miss India-Canada 2014. Othersponsors included Om Financial, Lakeshore Convention Centre, Au-rora Collectibles, Quality Street and Bigen Speedy Hair Colour, toname a few. This year's show will be telecasted next month on Zee TV

Canada, the exclusive broadcast par tner.With a red carpet entrance, dazzling cocktail hour, and stunning stageset provided by Hidden Treasures For All Occasions, patrons were'Wowed' right from the very beginning. The 16 delegates began theevening with a high-energy dance sequence accompanied by a solotrumpet player that captivated the audience and kept them in theirseats for the remainder of the evening.Notable attendees were Senator Dr Asha Seth; Patrick Brown, MP;well-known VJ from India and past Miss India-Canada title holder,Ruby Bhatia and various dignitaries from Ontario's judicial system.Soon after, the opening host, Aashish Rajhans, introduced the em-cees for the evening-Karen Johnson, on air television personality, andFrancis D'Souza, Senior Manager and Editorial & Ancohor/Repor ter

for City News. They commenced the evening by introducing the dis-tinguished Panel of Judges: Monisha Aurora - HBA/octm.Ed Candi-date (UWO); Suby Bhardwaj, Barrister & Solicitor Dr Alkarim Damji,Physician; Parveen Dhanoa, Associate Styling Manager - SearsCanada Inc.; Hossein Hassani, Director of Marketing - General Motors ofCanada; Rajesh Jain, Managing Partner, CWD; Huse Madhavji, Actor/Writer- Saving Hope; Sharon Mejia, Special Projects Manager - Ethnic ChannelsGroup; Shusmita Sharma, Candidate for Council, Ward 7-Markham.The judges were then put to the test as each delegate completed the first threesegments: Evening Gown, Talent, and Indian Dress. Next, the emcees an-nounced that Suruchi Srivastava of Toronto, ON won the Chevrolet SparkAward for Best Performance, Angel Bhathal of Winnipeg, MB won MissPhotogenic, Natasha Balakrishnan from Brampton, ON won Miss Congenial-ity Award, Annu Gaidhu won Sears Miss Pure NRG, and Shravya Gunda ofNorth York, ON won the People's Choice Award.Organizers, Sanjay Agnihotri and Gautam Sharma were then called upon tosay a few words and present Hollywood rising star, Isabelle Kaif with theSpecial Achievement Award for her contribution to independent cinema.The top 5 finalists were then announced in random order: JasreenCheema of Brampton, ON; Natasha Balakrishnan; Rohini Singh ofCalgary, AB; Annu Gaidhu; Suruchi Srivastava. The final segment ofQuestion & Answer involved asking each contestant a different ques-tion by the panel of judges. I CONTD. ON PAGE 6


TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014s p e c i a l r e p o r t


TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 breaking news

India Cancels talks over invite toseparatists, Pakistan terms it setbackCONTD. FROM PAGE 1"Indian Foreign Secretary conveyed to the Pakistan High Com-missioner today, in clear and unambiguous terms, that Pakistan'scontinued effor ts to interfere in India's internal affairs were un-acceptable. It was underlined that the High Commissioner'smeetings with these so called leaders of the Hurriyat under-mines the constructive diplomatic engagement initiated by PrimeMinister Modi in May on his very first day in office," he said.Akbaruddin later told CNN-IBN news channel that Sujatha Singhcalled Abdul Basit before his meeting with Shah and explained tohim that "this par t of interference in India's internal affairs wastotally unacceptable".a"Yet the Pakistan high commissioner proceeded and had meet-ing. Therefore, it led us with no choice but to decide not haveengagement when the atmosphere was vitiated," he said.The move to cancel the talks also came amid concern in thegovernment over ceasefire violations by Pakistan over the pastfew days. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, who was in Amritsar,justified the cancellation and termed the ceasefire violations as"deliberate"."With these kind of provocations like the ceasefire violationsand, more seriously, invitation to separatists to meet the highcommissioner, it's for Pakistan to decide what kind of relation-ship it wants with India," he said.The cancellation of talks marked another dramatic turn in thetumultuous relationship between the two countries which hadbegun to look up following Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifattending Modi's swearing in here in May.The Congress said the Modi government needs to explain why itdecided to have talks with Pakistan in the first place.Par ty leader Anand Sharma said that Pakistan had not respondedadequately to the issues raised by the United Progressive Alli-ance government and that was why the composite dialogue pro-cess between the two countries was not restored."Why India went to the negotiating table. They (the Modi govern-ment) have been sending confused signals," he said.

Smart Choice from USA won thecoveted $30,000 prize money

Niagara Cricket & Bollywood Festival was an overwhelming success

DESK REPORT

Niagara - The Niagara Cricket and Bollywood Festival concludedturned out to be a huge success with Smar t Choice team of USAwinning the most coveted $30,000 prize money. The event was at-tended by thousands of cricket enthusiasts who not only enjoyed afabulous game of cricket but the awesome Bollywood styled show.Whereas the Broken Dance group had people tapping their feet, JesReign, the event MC had audiences in splits. Teji Sandhu also enter-tained the crowd with his melodious voice. The event also featuredHappy Armaan, Rehamt and The Avengers with people savoring alarge variety of Southeast Asian and Mediterranean food.Teams from all over the world had converged upon Niagara to pro-mote cricket in Canada. The event was suppor ted by The Ministry of

Tourism Culture & Spor t that is Canada's only stop on Cricket CouncilUSA's (CCUSA) circuit of tournaments throughout Nor th America.Professional teams from the US and India in addition to Canada hadpar ticipated in this international T-20 tournament that kick star tedfrom August 14 and culminated on August 17. While the qualifyingtournament showcased some of Canada's best domestic talent, themain draw showcased internationally-seasoned players who playedin front of an overwhelming crowd who cheered some of their favoriteplayers seating it out for the cup.The tournament was co-hosted at two venues - the Niagara CricketCenter, Canada's largest private cricket facility, and John N. AllanPark in Niagara Falls. Grounds admission for all events throughoutthe weekend was free with VIP seating available for purchase.The event was the brainchild of Tan Qureshi, member of the Niagara

Cricket Club who informed that though Canada was once a cricketingnation and its roots can be traced back to 1890 while the British werestill residing in the country and it remained Canada's national gamebut fizzling out soonest. In 2008 after the Ridley College's cricketprogram in the country collapsed, the club continued playing its homegames for the two years in Hamilton and kept the dreams of many forthe game alive.The Niagara Cricket Club has several plans for the coming seasonsas the group sees a huge rise in the interest of people in the game asa large number of people are migrating from India, Pakistan, Sri Lankaand Bangladesh to Canada. Though the club does not have a kidsprogram but intends to kickstar t it by next year as it is becoming sucha rage among South Asian and African youngsters settling in the coun-try. Currently it runs Premier and First Division teams against squadsfrom the Niagara Cricket Academy in Niagara Falls, Hamilton, HamiltonCrescent, Oakville, Mississauga, Halton, Stoney Creek and Burlington.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014c o m m u n i t y

ICCC-BUSINESS RECEPTION FORVISITING FKCCI DELEGATION FROM INDIA

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) organized a businessreception for the visiting delegation from Federation of KarnatakaChamber of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI), India on 11th August,

2014 at the Cour tyard by Marriott Hotel in Brampton.S. Sampathraman, President, FKCCI led the Indian delegation com-prising 28 representatives from the different industrial sectors in-cluding agro processing, diesel generator manufacturer, industrialraw material and others.In his welcome remarks, Dharma P Jain, President, ICCC, empha-sized the significance of the bilateral visits of business delegationsand the role ICCC has played in promoting bilateral trade and invest-ment between Canada and India in diverse sectors. Mr. Jain, wel-come the Indian government’s decision of increasing the FDI capfrom 27% to 49% in defense and Insurance sector and hoped that theIndian government would also pave the way for FDI in retail sectorsas well in near future.In his remarks, Mr. Sampathraman said that Karnataka Governmentis planning to introduce concessions for the foreign direct investmentfor developing industry in the state next year. Canadian companiescan benefit from these concession by star ting joint venture with theirIndian counterpar ts or otherwise.Hon. Bal Gosal, Federal Minister of State for Spor ts, emphasised that

India is a priority market for Canada and hoped to complete the ongo-ing negotiations for developing high quality trade, economic growth,creating more jobs, free market access and to utilize the communitynetwork for fur ther enhancing the trade ties. Both countries are will-ing to work jointly in sectors such as energy, food security, aviation,infrastructure and defence.Mr. Naval Bajaj, Immediate past President ICCC lauded the ICCC initia-tive in star ting the India Missions a couple of years back. ICCC led IndiaMission 2013 had a wide range of meetings with the FKCCI and theCanadian delegates explored the business opportunities in Karnataka.Mr. K Ravi, Chairman International Businesses, FKCCI appreciated theCanadian government’s decision to set up a trade office in the city whichwill be fully operational next month. It will help to connect the businessesof the two countries.Mr. R K Raina, Commercial Consul, Consulate General of India in Toronto,in his remarks lauded the remarkable work of ICCC in promoting bilateraltrade between Canada and India.The event was attended by ICCC board members, representatives of Cityof Markham, City of Brampton, Brampton Board of Trades, business lead-ers and ICCC members.Mr. Tony Chawla, Vice President, Events, ICCC was the master of cer-emony and delivered vote of thanks.

ICCC BOARD WITH MINISTER.

CONTD. FROM PAGE 3As the anticipation of the winnergrew, the audience was treatedto an electrifying performance byCanadian born, international R&Bartist, Raghav.Patrons waited in complete si-lence as Francis and Karen an-nounced the results from the ac-counting firm of Kunjar Sharmaand Associates. The SecondRunner-up was SuruchiSrivastava, the First Runner-upwas Natasha Balakrishnanandthis year's MISS INDIA-CANADA2013 was Annu Gaidhu.Annu was born and raised in thebeautiful city of Mississauga, asthe youngest daughter of threesiblings. Dreaming big, believingin oneself and always having apositive attitude has been a phi-losophy of hers which has kepther to remain grounded, confi-dent and focused for this year.Currently, Annu is in her last yearcompleting her bachelor's degreeat Ryerson University majoringin Child and Youth Care. Her am-bition in becoming a child and

ANNU GAIDHU CROWNED MISS INDIA-CANADA 2014

youth care worker originates froma genuine desire she has to makea positive difference in people'slives.Annu considers one of her proud-est accomplishments is becomingToronto's youngest certified yogainstructor at the age of 23. She hasan infectious passion for teachingyoga and has trained adults andchildren for over five years now.As a first generation Indo-Canadian,family and heritage have always

been important to her. It has been adream come true to proudly repre-sent her Indian culture and to cel-ebrate diversity woven into theCanadian mosaic as the new MissIndia Canada 2014.After the show, Sanjay Agnihotriremarked: "This certainly was themost successful Miss India-Canada event to date. We werehonoured to have Chevrolet backon board and Zee TV Canada withus as our television partner. And of

course, the Chevrolet Spark asour Grand Prize; the various spe-cial guests and dignitaries thatattended, the incredible talentthat the delegates showcased onstage has made this year's show in-credibly special. Moreover, we areoverwhelmed with the support wereceived from the community thisyear. Since next year we are celebrat-ing 25 years, the team and I are al-ready planning for next year-it isgoing to be something special!"

More Canadians traveling to USCanadian residents took 2.9 million overnight trips abroad inJune, up 0.9% from May and the highest level since recordkeeping began in 1972.While overnight travel to overseas countries decreased 0.2% inJune, overnight travel by Canadian residents to the UnitedStates rose 1.4% compared with May. This was almost en-tirely due to a 2.7% increase in overnight car travel. Over-night plane trips from Canada to the United States decreased0.4% over the same period.Same-day car travel from Canada to the United States was up2.2% from May as Canadian residents took 2.6 million trips.Travel to Canada by US residents rose 0.5% compared withMay to 1.7 million trips. While overall overnight travel de-creased 0.5%, overnight car trips by US residents reached578,000 in June, up 1.6% from the previous month. Same-day car travel also increased 2.6% to 606,000 trips.Residents of overseas countries made 430,000 tr ips toCanada in June (+0.3%), the highest number since recordkeeping began in 1972.In June, 8 of the top 12 overseas markets recorded increasesin travel to Canada compared with May. The largest per-cen tage increase was in t rave l by res iden ts o f Ind ia(+5.5%), followed by a 3.2% increase in travel by residentsof the United Kingdom. Australian residents took 26,000 tripsto Canada (+2.4%), the highest monthly figure ever fromthat country.Source - statscan.gc.ca

Toronto - Community leaders organised South Asian CulturalFamily Picnic to celebrate Independence Days of India &Pakistan at Lake Avenue School Ground (Riverdale &Delawana Drive) in Hamilton. Families savored deliciousBBQ and other dishes specially prepared for the event thatculminated on cultural activities.

Melbourne best place tolive in the world; ThreeCanadian cities in top 10Three Canadian cities are ranked in the top 10 of The Economist'sannual ranking of the world's "most livable" cities.The magazine says its ranking "assesses which locationsaround the world provide the best or the worst living condi-tions" based on five categories: stability, health care, cultureand environment, education, and infrastructure.Melbourne, Australia, was deemed the most livable city, fol-lowed by Vienna. Vancouver and Toronto are a close third andfour th, respectively, while Calgary is tied for fifth with Adelaide.Seven of the top 10 cities on the list are in Australia or CanadaThe top 10 cities are as follows:" Melbourne, Australia" Vienna, Austria" Vancouver" Toronto" Calgary (tied)" Adelaide, Australia (tied)" Sydney, Australia" Helsinki, Finland" Per th, Australia" Auckland, New Zealand


TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 c o m m u n i t y

Gagan Soni of Brampton wins a Free 'AirTicket' Prize in UAE Exchange Promotion

'India-born top Mathsprize winner wasremarkable': TeacherBy Quaid Najmi / Kolhapur (IANS): Mathematics genius SubhasA. Khot who got the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize, a top Maths award inthe world, has an "extraordinary academic talent and re-markable concentration power", his school teachers recall."We are very proud of his achievement which has broughtglobal name and fame to his alma-mater. On his next visithome to Ichalkaranji in December, we have planned a pub-lic felicitation for him," a pleased Gopal G. Kulkarni, princi-pal Venkatrao High School, Ichalkaranji, told IANS.Khot was a student at the Marathi medium school in thesecondary section between 1987-1993 - and was the bright-est in all spheres of academics, Kulkarni said, adding thataround half a dozen of his erstwhile teachers stil l teachhere.Khot's maths and science teacher, Vaman G. Gogate, now79 and retired, clearly remembers how his favourite stu-dent excelled in academics throughout his academic ca-reer."He had a special love for maths and science, but was thebest in all other subjects. He had extraordinary academictalent and remarkable concentration power. I always knewthat he would some day achieve top glory and fame," Gogatetold IANS.The simple, but bright and helpful boy met all expectationsin 1993 when he topped the Kolhapur Division SSC Boardexams with a total score of 94.57 percent, and later toppedthe IIT-JEE in Mumbai and did his MSc in Maths before go-ing to Princeton University for his doctorate.Khot, 36, is now a professor in Computer Science Depar t-ment at New York University's Courant Institute of Math-ematical Sciences. He bagged the prestigious NevanlinnaPrize for his "prescient definition of the 'Unique Games' prob-lem, and leading the effor t to understand its complexity andit pivotal role in the study of efficient approximation of opti-mization problems".Besides Khot, another Indian-origin academician ManjulBhargava won the Fields Medal - both awarded by the Inter-national Mathematical Union at the International Congressof Mathematicians 2014, in Seoul, South Korea Wednesday."He called me up this morning to give the news and I feltvery happy that he remembered us in the midst all the inter-national attention he is getting," Gogate said.Gogate recalled how Khot would come to his home daily forstudies, along with another group of 20-25 students."He would come with the textbooks, read the day's chap-ters, think, debate and discuss with his classmates, ham-mer out solutions and answers and go back," said Gogate,who retired in 1994 from Venkatrao High School.According to Gogate, Khot never believed in exercising options -like solving any five out of 10 questions in the final exams for 100marks. "He would solve all the 10 questions or 200 marks worth,in the same allotted time, and with complete accuracy aided by hisexcellent handwriting in both Marathi and English," he said witha smile. In fact, at Gogate's suggestion, the young Khot evenstudied all religious works in Hinduism, Islam, Christianityalongside his regular academics!

Twitter premieres MichaelJackson's new videoNew York (IANS): If you are a die-hard fan of later singer MichaelJackson, do not miss a new video that was released onmicroblogging site Twitter on Thursday.His Twitter account released a shor t film titled "A Place WithNo Home" as one of the first music videos to premiere on thesocial platform.The video was available for Twitter users exclusively for 12hours, star ting 7.30am on Thursday."Music is the No 1 most-discussed subject on Twitter in theUS and 50 per cent of all of our users follow at least onemusician," Shavone Charles, a Twitter spokesperson wasquoted as saying."Music fans from around the globe flock...to discover anddiscuss new music in the moment," she added.The video was also broadcast in the middle of New YorkCity's Times Square."A Place With No Name" is the first music video to launch onTwitter. Michael Jackson's Twitter account has a staggering 1.5million followers.

UAE Exchange Canada launched a promotion whereinall participants entered a raffle to win an Air Ticket.The promotion announced its first winner for themonth of June 2014- Mr. Gagan Soni.

Mayor Susan Fennel was there to give away the Air Ticket prize. MrAjit Paul- President of UAE Exchange Canada was present on theoccasion and congratulated the Winner. " We believe in rewardingand surprising our consumers!"- smiled Mr. Gurpreet Singh Bedi,Country Head for UAE Exchange Canada.. Also present were Mr.Gurpreet Singh Bedi- Country Head, UAE Exchange Canada, Mr. RajeshP.V- VP Operations, Mr. Amarpreet Singh- VP Marketing and otherkey team players from UAE Exchange Canada.About the promotion:Customers of UAE Exchange living in Canada now stand a chance towin return air tickets to a country of their choice. Promotion is validfrom 1stJuneto 31stAugust, 2014. So for those who wish to take achance this promotion is still on.Three lucky customers of UAE Exchange stand a chance to travel to acountry of their choice, this season. In its effor ts to get closer to itscustomers, UAE Exchange, the leading remittance and foreign ex-change brand,launched the "Send money &win air tickets" promotion.Customers,who make a transaction between 1st June and 31st Au-gust, 2014, qualify for this promotion. A total of three draws will beheld during and after the contest period and three winners will be

chosen and given return air tickets to a country of their choice.During the ceremony, Mr. Ajit Paul, President - UAE ExchangeCanadasaid, "Our customers are the reason for our existence and successtoday, and every initiative of ours is taken to offer maximum valueaddition to them. Whether it is through our products and services orthrough our promotions, our aim has always been to connect ourcustomers with their loved ones."UAE Exchange is well-known for its excellent customer service andwidest network among remittance brands with over700 branches in32 countries across five continents serving over 6.5million custom-ers. Strong correspondent relationship with over 150 global banksfur ther adds to the might. With eightbranches in Canada, customerscan walk in to the nearest one to address their multiple financialrequirements viz. money transfers, currency exchange, bill payments,and more, under one roof.UAE Exchange Canada also offers online money transfer through -www.money2anywhere.comThe launch was conducted in the presence of Senior Officials of UAEExchange, special invitees and the Media.For more information, visit http://uaeexchange.com/canandhttp://blog.uaeexchange.comTo participate in our exciting contests, join us on Facebook by loggingon to www.facebook.com/uaeexchange.canada


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Modi's foreign policy: Good beginningin protecting core national interests

INDIAN PLAYERS SHOULD HAVE20-20 VISION OF TEST CRICKET

BY SHIV SHANKAR MUKHERJEE

Narendra Modi's visit to Nepal, the first by an Indian prime minis-ter in 17 years, has received kudos from all stakeholders and commenta-tors on both sides of the border and, most importantly for India, from thepublic in Nepal.What is far more important than the agreements signed or aid promised is thebroad vision that was unfolded by the prime minister, of the commitment ofhis government to take India-Nepal relations to a higher plane, with respectfor Nepal's sovereignty, and it's equality in partnership regardless of theasymmetry in size, to never interfere in Nepal's internal affairs, and to pro-mote meaningful cooperation guided by trust and friendship.While two-and-a-half months into governance is admittedly too short a time-frame to make informed judgments, enough has taken place in the realm ofIndia's international relations to try and assess what core principles guide theprime minister. At the very outset, then Prime Minister-designate Modi in-vited the SAARC heads of government to his swearing in ceremony. Amasterstroke this; in one fell swoop he highlighted the overriding importanceIndia gave to its neighbours, underlined his commitment to SAARC as avehicle for regional cooperation(deliberately overlooking its woefully inadequate record so far) and broughtthe Pakistan prime minister here, not as a visiting superstar as was thepolicy of Manmohan Singh's UPA, but firmly in a regional template.Almost unnoticed but very significant were the invitations issued to the primeminister in-exile of Tibet and to Mauritius. Certainly China would have notedthe first, as it was obviously meant to, and the second was a sound decisionto extend a fraternal hand to a small country that is of great strategic impor-tance to us in more ways than one.The prime minister's first foreign trip to Bhutan is equally useful in under-standing his priorities. He quite correctly ignored the vociferous chants of theself-appointed foreign policy wonks who wanted him to fall in with strongJapanese signals to make that country his first port of call. The message was

clear: we see Japan as a key partner, especially in being a part of an India-Japan-US grouping to serve our security interests in the face of the aggres-sive policies of China to seek a virtually veto-owning dominance in Asia. ButBhutan remains an all-weather friend that has demonstrated its readiness togo the extra mile to protect India's security at considerable risk to itself, andthe visit was India's tribute.Continuing with the aim of watching "what they do, not what they say" thesignals to China are revealing and encouraging. China is and will remain forthe foreseeable future India's most important and difficult foreign policy chal-lenge. Even the threat posed by a terrorist nation-state like Pakistan would bereduced by multiples were it not for the oxygen it gets from China, diplomati-cally, politically and militarily, down to creating and nurturing it's nuclearweapons programme.China's purposeful moves to increase its own and reduce India's space inneighbouring countries of crucial importance to India's interests is a clearindicator, along with its unswerving and lethal backing of Pakistan, that Chinais determined to keep India's options squeezed and limited. It's a difficulttight-rope walk for India and while we engage diplomatically and commer-cially, (China is now our largest trading partner in goods), we must find andkeep ready whatever leverages we can identify to deter a powerful neighbourfrom active hostility and military adventurism.The firmness displayed in insisting and getting the US to agree to a meaning-ful bilateral visit rather than the photo-op of a meeting on the sidelines of theUN General Assembly meet has had it's impact on its president - witnesspreparatory visits of its secretary of state, commerce secretary and thedefence secretary with the signalling of bipartisan support thrown in earlier

by the visit of Senator John McCain.Modi has shown that he is not interested in sulking over the silly Americandecision on denying his visa or letting irritants like the Khobragade episodeand the spying brouhaha stand in the way of bringing relations back to strate-gic partnership levels, to which the Americans seem to have responded ingood measure.In the WTO, India was right in insisting that subsidies are important for theIndian farmer and the poor, just as it is for the American or European farmerwho are by far the most heavily subsidised in the world. On criticism aboutIndia's stand on the Gaza crisis, the statement by Sushma Swaraj that NewDelhi does not wish to join the blame-game in this huge political and humani-tarian crisis as we have friendly relations with both sides was the simpletruth,and the vote in the UN Human Rights Commission offered the neededbalance,and was not the u-turn alleged by tunnel-visioned critics.Modi has done well in pursuing our national interests through ourforeign policy, which is the only criterion for basing judgment.He must now ensure that implementation of policies and prom-ises made take top priority, and make clear that laziness andprocrastination in government and public sector circles will notbe tolerated, so that we can undo the image we have createdamong our friends in Africa and Asia that "India promises, butChina delivers".(Shiv Shankar Mukherjee is a former Indian ambassador. Thev iews exp ressed a re pe rsona l . He can be con tac ted a [email protected])

Ipsos Reid news

By Veturi SrivatsaAsk any player anywhere in the world and he will say Test cricket is theultimate. But today - though he may not openly admit it - he knows in his heartthat his Twenty20 performance is far more important.It may sound nonsensical yet the aspiring cricketer has started believing thatthe easiest way to get into the limelight is through the shortest format of thegame.Mahendra Singh Dhoni and most of his teammates may not accept thatTwenty20 cricket has started hurting their Test status. People will still hailDhoni as the captain who won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup, the 2011World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy besides manipulating India to theNo.1 position in Test cricket.India's Test players look like the youngsters who got hooked on junk food, notknowing the real taste of the spread of a festival feast. They have mostly beenbrought up on Twenty20 stuff and they are struggling to come to grips with thedelicacies of Test cricket.Any diplomatic explanation for India's abysmal performance will not servethe purpose. We have to accept that this is their strength now and it is not goodenough to consistently perform at least overseas. See the disparity betweentough sides and the weak.England lost their first Test against India on their last tour here and bouncedback to take the series 2-1 whereas India took a 1-0 lead and then disinte-grated to allow England to come back with a vengeance to make it a no-contest winning 3-1.There is a message for India in the steamrolling, play your Test cricketmostly on your cart-tracks back home and be happy mauling the opposition.There was a time when Sri Lanka used to be their favourite whipping boys,arranging tours at short notice, and now they found the West Indies.The Caribbean team was here last October to celebrate Sachin Tendulkar'sretirement and they will be here again in two months, this time to sootheIndian feelings and to help them forget their England nightmare and tell theworld that they have recovered well enough to take on Australia.How the Indian players wish they could change their game as quickly assome of us, the media, could in hindsight with 20-20 vision. How easy it is toroll out adjectives, epithets and pour scorn at a team that shows little stom-ach for a fight. Victory is always historic and great and defeat is shameful.Even if one has to show some sympathy, how can the Indian think-tankexplain Sri Lanka beating England on the strength of their spin just before Indiagot there. India took two spinners whose batting credentials may have weighedin their favour and yet they didn't play their best spinner.

Also how could you drop Shikhar Dhawan at Old Trafford just when he wasfinding his feet though scoring 31 out of an opening stand of 40 and 37 atSouthampton unless for sentimental reasons to play a senior colleagueGautam Gambhir for having brought him on the tour? How can a team thatdepends on its bowlers to get runs and also bowl the opposition out twiceprosper?Every time India visit England, Australia and South Africa hopes are raisedand if the team doesn't measure up to expectations the players are pannedmercilessly, perhaps, in some cases justifiably. Don't forget cricket is a teamgame and can't be depending on one or two batsmen to score runs and acouple of bowlers to deliver.On this tour you didn't have a Rahul Dravid to give heart to the teammates likehe tried to do four years ago scoring three hundreds to give some respectabil-ity to the totals. All that we got to hear is the deficiencies in front-foot andback-foot play with temperament thrown in. Yes, you can't be experimentingwith your slip catchers in England. Again in Twenty20 you have no use forslip-catchers so how do you find specialists in Tests.One thing is for sure, Gambhir's intensity is best left for Kolkata Knight Ridersand Rohit Sharma continues to be exasperating. After spending almost anhour-and-half at the wicket and scoring 28 he can't be getting out the way hedid, that too to Moeen Ali, England's spinning find. The sad truth is he willscore so heavily on India pitches he will force his way back in. Someoneshould drill into him that he should go in with uncluttered mind and iron outtechnical glitches. That is if the selectors still have time for him.Likewise, someone should also find out what's wrong with MohammadShami who left the Indian shores as the leader of the Indian attack andreturning anything but that.India made one point clear -- that they are a side for the shorter versions.They did not bat 50 overs in four innings and they were in such a tearing hurryto catch up with Twenty20 Champions League that they played nine oversmore than 20 in their last Test innings.What is the way forward?Convert most of the players from the present Test side into India A and sendthem to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and pick players who havedone well on the recent India A tour of Down Under for the winter tour ofAustralia. Some players need to be protected for the World Cup, too.As for Dhoni, he protected himself as a batsman but not as a wicketkeeper.Once his keeping is questionable, his place as captain becomes untenable.(Veturi Srivatsa is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal. Hecan be reached at [email protected])



canada CANADA'S START-UPVISA - ATTRACTINGENTREPRENEURS TOCANADA IP10

416-907-4420

Today more men and women who were born inIndia serving in Canada's Parliament than at anyother time in our country's history: PM Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered the following remarks at India'sNational Day Gala in Brampton: "I want to thank everybody for that warm welcome and just tell you howdelighted I am to be here."Thanks of course to our masters of ceremonies, toParm Gill and Angie Seth for kicking us off tonight."Also special greetings to all guests from all levels of government who arehere with us tonight, both Canadian and international, to Consul GeneralMishra."Particularly to my colleagues from the Government of Canada, and I knowthey've already been introduced."There are way too many for me to name butlook we've got a great turn out. "I'd like them all to stand up one more time."Give all my colleagues from the Parliament of Canada your warm greeting."You will know ladies and gentleman that our Government has, in fact we'reproud to have, eight Canadians of Indian descent serving in our caucus."In fact, there are today more men and women who were born in Indiaserving in Canada's Parliament than at any other time in our country'shistory."Let me also just recognize a few people who worked so hard to makethis occasion such a tremendous success. "Obviously first, my introducer,for her leading role in helping to drive the organization of this great event - sheasked me 67 times to attend - let's give her one more round of applause, myintroducer, Dr. Senator Asha Seth."Now to be fair, the Senator was working with a great team, so let's also showour appreciation once again to the other members of the Canada India Friend-ship Group and to members of the Advisory Board."Thank all of them for theirgreat work in putting this tremendous event together."Now, ladies and gentlemen, I know tonight we're a couple of days early butI would like to personally wish each of you, I would like to in fact wish all Indo-Canadians a very happy India Independence Day. "In a matter of days, PrimeMinister Modi will do, for the first time, what each of his predecessors havedone: raise the deep saffron, white and green flag of India above the Red Fortin New Delhi."So, on behalf of the Government of Canada and indeed, I know, all of thepeople of Canada, let's extend our best to Prime Minister Modi and the Indianpeople as they mark 67 years of independence."Now ladies and gentlemen,Canada's relationship with India is special because despite the great differ-ences between our two countries, we have growing economic ties, we havevast people-to-people ties, and all of these things are cemented together bycommon values: democracy, justice, pluralism, peace, human rights, therule of law."And in what is a very uncertain and divided world, it is comforting to knowthat Canada has certain friends, like India, who share these values."Now ladies and gentlemen, in preparation for tonight's event, I could not helpbut reflect on how much has changed here in Canada and around the worldsince my first visit to India back in 2009."Five years ago, our Governmentwas navigating Canada through the midst of the worst global economic crisissince the Great Depression."Indeed, much has changed. "With regards to the global recession, whereasCanada was the last G-7 country to feel its impact, we have been the firstcountry to recover from it."And today, despite challenges and uncertaintiesaround the world - challenges and uncertainties that do continue to impact us- Canada's economy is strong, it is growing, creating good jobs and opportu-nities for hard-working Canadians.

"There are more Canadians working today than at any time in our country'shistory. "Today, Canada is also widely rated as the best country in the G-20 inwhich to do business. "We have the soundest financial sector in the world."And we have the most prosperous middle class, among significant devel-oped economies."We have lowered taxes and, next year, years ahead ofother countries, we are going to balance the budget here in Canada."Now thinking again back to my trip to India in 2009, Canada then had freetrade agreements with only five countries in the entire world."Since then, wehave expanded that by almost 10 times."Today, we have free trade agree-ments, agreements in principle, with 43 countries."Put another way, Canada has secured free trade agreements with nearly aquarter of the world's countries, and Canadian businesses are going to havetariff-free access to more than half of the total global economy, including, asyou know, with the European Union and the Republic of Korea."Now it's my hope - it's our Government's hope - that over the years to comeCanada and India will continue to develop our own economic and tradingrelationship."And that is, of course, another area where things have changed greatly since2009."We can rightly say that the chill that characterized relations betweenCanada and India for decades is a thing of the past."Before our Conservative Government came to office, Canada's relationshipwith India had been essentially frozen for most of the period since the1970s."Since taking office our Government has worked hard to revitalize andstrengthen Canada-India relations."We have concluded a Social Security Agreement, an historic Nuclear Coop-eration Agreement, and we have launched our own bilateral Canada-Indiafree trade negotiations."Know that our Government will continue to work to break-down barriers thathinder bilateral trade and investment, and that senior members of our Gov-ernment will continue to visit India."Just a couple of years ago I had the greatfortune, as the Senator mentioned, of returning to India."Because one trip wasobviously not near enough to even to scratch the surface of that large, ancientand fascinating civilisation."In fact, my second trip to India was the longest bilateral visit any CanadianPrime Minister has ever made to any country in the world."And we have beenfollowing up on that - we now have eight Canadian consular and trade promo-tion offices operating across the Republic of India, a number we are lookingto add to."These offices are helping to facilitate visa and immigration applications, andthey're helping to create more opportunities for Canadian businesses in placessuch as New Delhi and Bangalore, Chandigarh in Punjab, and Ahmedabad inGujarat."The state of Gujarat in particular - the state where Prime Minister Modiserved as chief minister for more than a decade - is home to some of thebrightest and best entrepreneurial minds in the world."Our Government sees tremendous potential for growth in collaboration withthis regional economic powerhouse and we have been working hard to makethis a priority for several years."Canada was pleased to serve as an official partner for Vibrant Gujarat2011."And two years later, at Vibrant Gujarat 2013, not only did Canada serveas an official partner, but Minister Jason Kenney travelled all the way toGujarat to represent Canada at the summit and to address all of its attendees.

PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER DELIVERS REMARKS AT INDIA'S NATIONAL DAY GALA.

"Ladies and gentlemen the bottom line is this: the bottom line is that thefriendship between Canada and India is stronger, it is stronger than it has everbeen and that is something that we all, in both of our countries, should be veryproud of."Now ladies and gentlemen you should also know that our Government'sefforts to strengthen Canada-India relations go beyond expanding bilateraltrade and investment, for example, through immigration reform."Canada's past has been shaped by the millions who came from elsewhereand Canada's future will depend on the millions yet to come."Yet, for far too long, previous governments, as you know, chose to ignoreproblems in Canada's immigration system as if they would just fix them-selves."Instead, the problems only intensified and the wait times got longer."Back then, if you had applied to become a permanent resident from India youcould expect to wait five or six years for your application to be processed."It was that bad."As the immigration backlog grew, so too did the irritation of those patientlywaiting their turn."Worse still, economic opportunities were denied not just to individuals fromIndia, to immigrants, but to Canada itself."When our Government took office, we immediately got to work and tackledthose problems head on."And I should tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that our Government's reformshave been working and they have been working well."Today, the permanent residency approval rate for applicants from India ismore than 85 per cent."I should add that these men and women don't have to wait another four or fiveor six years for their residency because our Government has reduced pro-cessing times for recent applicants down to just one year."In 2005, fewer than twenty-five hundred student visas were granted to Indianstudents."Last year, our Government granted more than fourteen thousand such visas."More Indian students than ever before are studying at Canadian universities,and because our Government has made it easier for these bright youngminds to qualify for permanent residency and to work, we hope these stu-dents, many of them, will stay and put their Canadian degrees to use righthere in Canada."Our Government has also made the CAN+ program in India a permanentfeature of our immigration system, meaning that persons who have travelledto Canada or the United States in the recent past can be fast-tracked for avisitor visa."Our CAN+ program has a 95 per cent approval rate, making more Indiansable to visit Canada as tourists or to do business."By the way, did I mention ladies and gentlemen that this newest change toour immigration program was just announced by Chris Alexander last monthin New Delhi, during his first trip to India as Canada's new Minister of Citizen-ship and Immigration - congratulations!"Look we all know that immigration enriches this country, and ourGovernment's ongoing reforms mean that more immigrants will be able tocontribute to their maximum of their capacity, and that is good for everyone."Today, India is Canada's top source country for immigrants."And of course, this explains why Canada's Indo-Canadian community ismore than 1.2 million strong and continuing to grow."The Indo-Canadian community has a proud and rich history in our country."This community - the Indo-Canadian community - is comprised of ordinarypeople doing extraordinary things in business and in finance, in academiaand medicine, in technology and agriculture, to list just a few areas."I want to give you just one example."Close to ten years ago, Naval Bajaj came to Canada from India with only$600 in his pocket."But he had big dreams, and he had energy and ambition."And ladies and gentlemen, in Canada, he also had opportunity."With hard work and determination, Naval eventually became a businessconsultant with 7-Eleven Canada and he is also a business owner himself."He has led two trade missions for Canada back to his home country."And he was the youngest ever elected president of the Indo-Canadian Cham-ber of Commerce."He also happens to be a member of the Canada India Friendship GroupAdvisory Board."Now ladies and gentlemen, I tell you that in my travels across Canada I meetmany people like Naval."Men and women relentlessly pursuing their goals to build a better, moreprosperous life for themselves and their families, and helping this countryimmensely in the process."In fact, I know that this room is full of people just like that."In my travels, I have also observed that wherever Indian immigrants settle,wherever they choose to put down roots, to start businesses, to raise fami-lies, be it Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto or right here in Brampton, notby coincidence, those places thrive."I believe this is because Indo-Canadians possess a strong ethic of work andeducation, and an unwavering commitment to faith and to family."And these are the things that underlie not only the Indo-Canadian community'ssuccess, but Canada's success as a country as well."So look, let me just conclude tonight - I know you're all anxious to get on with themeal - let me just conclude by taking this opportunity to thank each one of you."To thank all of you for choosing Canada."Thank you for contributing to Canada."Thank you for loving Canada."Because whether you've been here for one, 10 or 50 years, Canada is yourcountry."Again, congratulations everyone on this tremendous event, and thanks oncemore for the invitation."


TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014c a n a d a

PEOPLE AT THE 2014 YOGATHON IN VANCOUVER, CANADA. PARTICIPANTS FROM 46 CITIES AROUND THE WORLD GATHERED TORAISE FUNDS FOR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION. (IANS)

Canada's Start-up Visa - AttractingEntrepreneurs to Canada

Kitchener, ON - Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister, ChrisAlexander, met with Kitchener-Waterloo-based business incubatorCommunitech and other business leaders to discuss the Star t-upVisa and its potential for attracting entrepreneurs to Canada who havethe vision and ability to build innovative companies that can createjobs and long-term prosperity.The roundtable aimed to build on the momentum of Alexander's visitto GrowLab Ventures in Vancouver last month, where he welcomedthe first two successful applicants under Canada's Star t-up Visa Pro-gram. Alexander discussed the impor tance of the program with anumber of local business leaders and encouraged organizations tocontinue their effor ts in identifying exciting star t-up opportunities, aswell as the dynamic entrepreneurs behind them, with the help of theStar t-up Visa.Launched last year, the Star t-up Visa Program brings together Cana-dian venture capital funds, angel investor groups and business incu-bators with entrepreneurs from abroad.The Star t-up Visa Program is an impor tant par t of the government'splan to build a fast and flexible economic immigration system, with aprimary focus on meeting the new and emerging needs of the Cana-dian economy.Quick facts

Prime Minister StephenHarper spoke with BarackObama, President of theUnited StatesThe leaders exchanged views on the developments in Iraq and theimportance of providing support to the Iraqi people, including throughhumanitarian assistance. They agreed on the need to confront the bar-baric actions of the terrorist organization ISIS/ISIL and Prime MinisterHarper expressed his strong support for U.S. air strikes against theterrorists as well as ongoing humanitarian relief efforts. Prime MinisterHarper indicated Canada stands ready to offer additional help, and thatCanadian officials will work with their counterparts to identify ways inwhich Canada can continue to support the humanitarian effort. Bothleaders shared their hope that a new Iraqi government would be able tounite behind an inclusive government to counter the current crisis. Theyagreed to stay in close contact on this matter.

" The Star t-up Visa Program, the first of its kind in the world, linksexperienced Canadian private sector firms with innovative foreignentrepreneurs who want to launch their star t-up companies in Canada." In July, the first successful applicants were welcomed toCanada after gaining the suppor t of GrowLab Ventures of Vancouver." In January 2015, CIC will launch a new electronic applicationmanagement system called Express Entry, which will offer a fasterand more effective way to welcome economic immigrants to Canadathan ever before.Quotes"Our government is focused on long-term prosperity and economicgrowth for all Canadians. The Star t-up Visa Program is helping toattract innovative entrepreneurs to Canada who can help create jobsand meet the needs of Canada's labour market. We will continue towork with business leaders who can suppor t creative business ideasand help Canada compete on a global scale."Chris Alexander, Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister"We choose the best and we want them to star t, grow and succeedhere in Waterloo Region. The Star t-up Visa Program helps us attractand keep the best entrepreneurs from anywhere on the globe."Doug Cooper, Managing Director, Communitech HYPERDRIVE SeedAccelerator

Minister Alexander meets with local business leaders in Kitchener-Waterloo

Majority (53%) of CanadianParents Believe Cruises are anIdeal Family VacationToronto - With children out of school and vacation season in full swing,Canadian parents are always looking for fun family plans, while manysee hopping aboard a cruise ship as a perfect plan, according to a newsurvey conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of tripcentral.ca. Majority(53%) of Canadian parents believe a cruise would be the ideal vacationfor their families, bested only by all-inclusive sun vacations (76%) andtheme parks (64%) but ahead of nature vacations (52%), major citystays (49%), culture or history vacations (46%), organized tours (44%)or some other vacation (25%). Cruises get thumbs up from parentsdespite only a quarter (26%) of moms and one in three (31%) dads havingactually taken a cruise at some point in their life. Even their children believethey can be a great vacation experience as one in ten 13-15 year olds (13%)and 16-19 year olds (12%) rate cruises as their ideal vacation. Cruises maybe seen as ideal among parents because it gives all family members thefreedom to spend time together or venture off on their own given generalofferings on cruise ships. Four in ten (39%) moms and three in ten (30%)dads indicate that they would let their kids, aged 9-12, venture off on theirown on a cruise ship, while a majority (54%) believe they would be'comfortable' (12% very/42% somewhat) using a babysitting servicefor an evening, while a minority would be 'not comfortable' (18% not atall/28% not very) doing this. Source: Ipsos Reid

Two-Thirds (68%) of Pre-RetiredBoomers Have Not Discussed AllAspects of Retirement with TheirSpouse or PartnerToronto - A new study conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of RBC and theirannual Retirement Myths & Realities Poll, reveals that most Canadiansaged 50 and older who are not yet retired have yet to discuss all the facetsrelated to retirement with their significant others. Only one in three (32%) pre-retired boomers has discussed all of the following topics with their spouse orpartner:" Travel plans" Financing retirement" Activities" Living situation" Life management in result of significant other passing away



india MAMATA LEAVES FORSINGAPORE TO ROPE ININVESTMENT IP12india

The unemployed youth who hurled a shoe at Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during an Independence Day function in Issruvillage, 20 km away from Ludhiana talks to media at Khanna on Aug 15, 2014. The shoe missed Badal. (Photo: IANS)

Reliance Digital launches dualSIM 3G handsetNew Delhi (IANS): Reliance Digital Thursday launched Recon-nect Quad Core 4.7" dual SIM 3G smartphone, priced at Rs.12,999,a company statement said here.Reliance Digital is the consumer durables and information tech-nology concept from Reliance Retail, a unit of Reliance Indus-tries Ltd (RIL). RIL also owns Reliance Jio Infocomm.The device ensures better power-saving through efficient mediaprocessing and has flexibility to handle the media formats of thefuture, thereby enhancing user interfaces.It comes with a powerful 2000 mAh Li-Ion battery that deliversbetter multimedia experience with music playback time of eighthours, four hours of video playback, a talk time up to six-sevenhours and a standby time of 225 hours, the statement added.

Rajya Sabha passesconstitution amendment bill toend collegium systemNew Delhi (IANS): The Rajya Sabha Thursday unanimouslypassed the Constitution (99th Amendment) Bill to do away withcollegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges.The bill, and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, seekto put the proposed judicial appointment commission and its entire compo-sition in the statute. The bill got the support of 179 out of 180 MPs present inthe upper house, while Ram Jethmalani (Independent) abstained. "Peoplewant talented people to become judges," Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasadsaid while winding up the debate on the bill. Speaking on the bill, FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley said it restores the original spirit of the constitu-tion. "Through this bill, the government seeks to restore the spirit of theoriginal constitution. In simple English, this means that the presidentand the government will appoint judges to the Supreme Court," saidJaitley. "It goes back to the constitution and Article 124 which saysSupreme Court judges should be appointed by the president," he said.Passage of this bill was crucial for government's confidence as itdoes not have a majority in the upper house. It has only 59 MPsin the 245-member house.

Over 100 Bihar villagesflooded, rivers risingPatna (IANS): Flood water has entered over 100 villages in Bihar,forcing people to abandon their homes, and rising water level inmost rivers is posing a threat to many other villages, officialssaid Friday. All the inundated villages are in flood-prone districtsof Bagha, Gopalganj, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Supaul, Saharsa,Khagaria, Darbhanga and Madhepura.Principal secretary of state disaster management depar tmentVayasji one name) said major rivers in nor th Bihar, especiallythe Kosi, Gandak, Kamla Balan and Bagmati, are in spate follow-ing heavy rains in their catchment areas in Nepal. They areposing a threat of floods."Situation may worsen in the next 24 to 48 hours. Keeping this inview we have sounded high aler t in districts of north Bihar," hesaid. A water resource department official said: "Water enteredthese villages after levels rose in all the major rivers followingheavy rain in the state and the catchment areas in Nepal."An official said that standing crops worth crores of rupees havebeen damaged and road communication snapped at severalplaces. However, Bihar Water Resources Development Minis-ter Vijay Kumar Choudhary said all embankments are safe andthere is no need to panic.

NGO WRITES TO MAHARASHTRACM OVER AID FOR FARMERS

Nagpur (IANS): An NGO in Maharashtra Monday wrote a letter tothe state government to declare aid for the farmers before thepre-election model code of conduct comes into force in the nextfew days.In an urgent letter to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, the VidarbhaJan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) has urged him to immediately an-nounce aid for the farmers, including waiver of loans and seedsfor the third round of sowing in view of failed monsoon in Vidarbhaand Marathwada regions.The VJAS communication came three days after over 10,000 farm-ers, tribals, farm-widows and youths staged a protest march fortheir demands in Yavatmal."Now, farmers in each of the worst-affected 325-odd villages shall

sit on indefinite hunger strike from Sep 5, at the height of theensuing Ganeshotsav festival," VJAS chief Kishore Tiwari said.He claimed that at least 22 districts in the state, mostly in Vidarbhaand Marathwada regions, have had little or no rainfall during thepeak sowing season of June-August.Consequently, in most areas two rounds of seeding went wasteand in other areas even third seeding was lost as rains continuedto elude these regions, pushing the farmers into fur ther distress."After the Election Commission announces the dates for the stateassembly elections, maybe within the next few days, no aid willbe distributed in view of the model code of conduct that will beenforced. We have requested the chief minister to act in the farm-ers' interest before that," Tiwari said.

BJP reluctant to table women's reservation bill: AIWCNew Delhi (IANS): All India Women's Congress president Shobha OzaMonday said the BJP government was reluctant to table the women'sreservation bill in parliament and this was in stark contrast to its electionmanifesto that stressed on women's emancipation.She said the AIWC will hold a "Sankalp Diwas" August 20, the bir thanniversary of Congress leader and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi,and press for 33 percent women's reservation in the Lok Sabha and stateassemblies."The UPA government had got the women's reservation bill passed inRajya Sabha but the Bharatiya Janata Party did not allow the then govern-ment to table the bill in Lok Sabha. They disrupted the house," Oza told themedia here.She said if the BJP was serious about women's empowerment, as it hadpledged during the election campaign, it should table the bill in the next

session of parliament.Oza assured that the Congress would support such a move by the gov-ernment."BJP talked big on women's issues but you can see they did not doanything to that effect in parliament. We hope they table the bill in the nextsession of parliament. Our party will support them. The BJP cannot makeany excuses in this matter as they enjoy majority in the house," she said.She added that 8,000 workers of the AIWC will form a human chain onAugust 20 and press for the issue.She credited Rajiv Gandhi for having conceptualised the very policy ofgranting reservation to women in elected bodies."It was due to Gandhi's effor ts that 33 percent seats were reserved forwomen in local governance which was later enhanced to 50 percentduring the UPA regime," Oza noted.



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

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RANJEET KOHLI, DIRECTOR OPERATIONS COCA-COLA & GURDEEP SINGH KANDHARI, DIRECTOR WAVE BEVERAGES PVT. LTD. ON THE LAUNCHOF A NEW PRODUCT IN AMRITSAR. (IANS)

Shops in Delhi's walled citystop selling US-linked productsNew Delhi (IANS): Gaza is impacting the national capital in moreways than one. Revlon, Loreal, Garnier and other products withUS brand names, which till a month ago had quite good sales,are off the shelves of Mohammad Iqbal's store in Delhi's oldquar ters.Iqbal says he can't afford to incur losses, but his consciencedoes not allow him to make profits from the sale of productslinked to the US - a country he says is "abetting Israel" in wipingout Palestinians in the Gaza strip.In the Matia Mahal area of the walled city, many shopkeepersand residents have boycotted selling and buying US-linked prod-ucts to show solidarity with Gaza, where about 2,000 peoplehave been killed in the month-long conflict with Israel. "I havestopped ordering US-linked cosmetics since I cannot feed the(US) economy which helps Israelis in killing innocents in Gaza,"Iqbal, 51, told IANS. The trigger for the latest Israel-Hamas clashin Gaza was the alleged abduction and murder of three Israelisthat were blamed on Hamas, with thousands of its membersbeing rounded up. The US is a long time ally of Israel, the Jewishstate carved out of Palestine in 1948. It has maintained its sup-por t for Israel, which Hamas refuses to recognise.

Patna (IANS): Imagine getting a B.Ed. (Bachelor of Education)degree before turning 21 or even before being born? Strange asit may sound, that's exactly what has happened in Bihar in atleast 95 cases.The state government had appointed 34,540 trained teachers ona regular basis in 2011-12 after the Supreme Cour t ordered thisin 2010. But soon after they were appointed, the education de-par tment received a number of complaints that some of the teach-ers had used forged degrees to get jobs."In view of this, an inquiry was ordered and, much to our sur-prise, it was found that 95 teachers got their B.Ed. degrees eitherbefore their bir th or much before attaining the age of 21," anofficial said. Take, for instance, Shivnarayan Yadav, who joinedas a teacher in a school in Madhepura district. He received hisB.Ed. degree five years before he was born, the dates on hisbir th cer tificate and degree show. Another teacher, Priti Kumariin East Champaran, received her B.Ed. degree three years be-fore she was born. Similarly, Indu Kumari and L.B. Singh, schoolteachers in Saran and Saharsa districts, received their B.Ed.degree seven years before they were born! All those who hadused fake cer tificates to get jobs had been fired, R.S. Singh,joint director of Bihar's Primary Education Depar tment, told IANS."The depar tment was shocked to find that they used forged de-grees to get teacher's jobs," he added. Last month, Bihar Educa-tion Minister Brishen Patel said over 1,000 contractual teachersused fake degrees to get jobs in government schools. The stategovernment recruited 142,000 teachers on contract basis forClasses I to 12 between 2006 and 2011.

Bihar teachers get educationdegrees before birth!

ISL grassroots workshop to train million kidsKolkata (IANS): Aimed at scouting and nurturing a million budding footballers, theIndian Super League (ISL) Sunday kicked off its ambitious Grassroots Develop-ment Programme with a three-day workshop here.All India Football Federation's (AIFF) Technical Director of Academies and DirectorCoach Education Scott O'Donnell, who is supervising the programme, said the ISLwill play a catalytic role in raising the sport's profile in the country."There is no doubt the ISL and the involvement of international stars including thelikes of Michael Chopra and Freddie Ljungberg will play a big role in raising thegame's profile in India. Indian football is now getting into the newspapers and themedia, this is what you need," said O'Donnell."The aim at working at the grassroots is to make kids enjoy the game and itsfollowing increases. We want as many boys and girls to come forward. Theprogramme aims to train at least a million kids."Under the programme, each of the eight ISL franchises have pooled Rs.2 crore andappointed development managers and officers entrusted with the responsibility ofscouting and training budding talents.O'Donnell and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Grassroots Work-ing Group member Piet Hubers held a theory session Sunday with the develop-ment managers and officers as a part of the initiative."It's not only about the basic skills of football but also about the approaches thetrainers need to adopt while scouting and training the kids. The theory sessioninvolves lessons on the technical aspects of the game and scientific approaches

about motivation, fitness training etc," said an ISL official."Contribution of the franchises towards the programme was one of the basicqualifications during bidding because our aim is to take the game to every nook andcorner of the country." The next workshop is expected to be held in New Delhi orMumbai at the end of the month.

MAMATA LEAVES FOR SINGAPORETO ROPE IN INVESTMENT

Kolkata (IANS): Expressing hope that talks during her Singaporevisit can open new possibilities, West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee Sunday night urged everyone, especially themedia to be positive of her trip which is aimed at roping in in-vestment for the state. Interacting with mediapersons at the NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose International Airpor t here, the chief minis-ter said "talks and dialogues can open new possibilities".Asking the media to think positively, she asked them "don't youwant development of Bengal?" Banerjee said she was going ontour abroad after long years. "And that too in an Asian country. Letus be positive about the visit." In a bid to tap big ticket investmentfor the industry-starved eastern state, Banerjee flew off on a six-day trip to the sovereign city state around midnight Sunday.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 w o r l d

ISLAMABAD: SUPPORTERS OF PAKISTANI POLITICAL LEADER IMRAN KHAN WAVE FLAGS AS THEY TAKE PART IN A PROTEST AGAINST THECOUNTRY'S RULING PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE-NAWAZ IN ISLAMABAD, CAPITAL OF PAKISTAN. PIC: XINHUA

ANTARCTIC ICE MELT MAYACCELERATE SEA LEVEL RISELondon (IANS): The ice discharge from Antarctica could become thelargest contributor to sea level rise much sooner than previouslythought, says a study. "If greenhouse gases continue to rise, ice dis-charge from Antarctica could raise the global ocean by an additional 1-37 centimetres in this century already," said lead author AndersLevermann, a climatologist and professor at the institute for physicsand astrophysics of Potsdam University, Germany. "Now this is a bigrange - which is exactly why we call it a risk," he added. Antarcticacurrently contributes less than 10 percent to global sea level rise and isa minor contributor compared to the thermal expansion of the warmingoceans and melting mountain glaciers. It is Greenland and especiallythe Antarctic ice sheets with their huge volume of ice that are expectedto be the major contributors to future long term sea level rise, the studynoted. According to the study, the computed projections for this century'ssea level contribution are significantly higher than the latest projectionsby the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the upperend. "Even in a scenario of strict climate policies limiting global warming inline with the 2 degrees Celsius, the contribution of Antarctica to global sealevel rise covers a range of zero to 23 cm," researchers emphasised. Whilethe study signifies an important step towards a better understanding ofAntarctica in a changing climate and its influence on sea level change withinthe 21st century, major challenges still remain. "Datasets of Antarctic bed-rock topography, for instance, are still inadequate and some physical pro-cesses of interaction between ice and ocean cannot be sufficiently simu-lated yet," Levermann added. Rising sea level is widely regarded as acurrent and ongoing result of climate change that directly affects hundreds ofmillions of coastal dwellers around the world and indirectly affects billionsmore that share its financial costs. "Pulling together all the evidence itseems that Antarctica could become the dominant cause of sea levelrise much sooner," Levermann concluded in a paper that appeared inthe journal Earth System Dynamics.

Middle Eastern IT companieseye new Kerala hubKochi (IANS): The IT corridor of Kochi in Kerala is expanding toneighbouring regions with Infopark at Cherthala shaping up as a hubfor IT companies from Gulf Cooperation Council and other MiddleEast countries.The Infopark Cherthala, about 30 from here in Kerala, which is beingdeveloped as a spoke of Infopark Kochi, has attracted mid-segmentcompanies, mainly from Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE, by providingthe best-in-class infrastructure facilities and leveraging its proximityto Kochi. "The Infopark Cherthala, designed for low-cost operations,has emerged as a much sought after destination for IT companies fromthe Middle East. We are developing the park to accommodate morecompanies for which tenders will be floated to invite private participa-tion in developing IT campuses in the park," said Infopark CEO HrishikeshNair. Currently, 15 companies are operating at the sprawling park, whichoffers a slew of facilities and concessions to companies planning to setup their shops there."We will be soon scaling up our operations at the park by increasing ourstrength from 50 to 100," said Bobby Kuriakose, director of Kuwait-based Path Solutions, which provides financial software services likecore banking and mobile and internet banking for the Islamic bankingindustry. The park with its current 2.4 lakh sq.feet built-up area offersplug-and-play facilities and warm shell options for companies look-ing for bigger space.

Russia prepares 5th-generationfighter for IndiaMoscow (IANS/ITAR -TASS): Russia's United Aircraft Corporation(UAC) has completed the front-end engineering design of the FifthGeneration Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) for India's Air Force, UAC presi-dent Mikhail Pogosyan said Friday. The UAC is preparing the contracton the aircraft's full-scale development for signing, he told Arms-Tass. "We have completed the front end engineering design stage,"he said. "The work on the preparation of the contract on the FGFA full-scale development is now in progress," he added.The FGFA development and production is a major project of Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation.The two sides signed the corresponding agreement in Moscow inOctober 2007. In December 2010, Russia's Rosoboronexport armsexporter, Sukhoi company and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited signeda contract on the aircraft's front end engineering design develop-ment. Since January 2012, a group of India's specialists has beenworking in Russia, and Russia's specialists in India. The two sideshave established the required information exchange.FGFA is developed on the basis of the Russian PAK FA fifth-genera-tion fighter project. However, it will differ from the prototype to meetIndian Air Force's specific requirements.

Assange says he will leaveEcuadorian embassy

London (IANS/EFE): WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Monday saidhe will "soon" leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where hehas taken refuge over the past two years to avoid extradition to Swe-den. "I am leaving the embassy soon," said Assange in a joint newsconference with Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino here.The 43-year-old admitted the difficulties of living in a small room,without being able to go outside because he would face arrest, couldaffect his health.The Australian journalist dismissed that his depar ture was related tohis hear t and lung problems.Assange, who is wanted in Sweden for questioning over alleged sexualassaults on two women, was granted asylum at the Ecuadorian em-bassy in London in August 2012.Assange Monday regretted that there had been no advances in theSwedish investigation and repeated several times no charges hadbeen filed against him, in Sweden or Britain, while he denied havingassaulted the two women.However, his spokesman did not give much credit to the departure of

Assange from the embassy."The world is not coming to an end," Kristinn Hrafnsson, Assange'sspokesman, told repor ters, adding that "the plan, as always, is toleave as soon as the British government decides to honour its obliga-tions in relation to international agreements".For his par t, Patino said Ecuador would maintain Assange's status asa political refugee and would continue its dialogue with Britain andSweden to find a solution."The time has come to free Assange and for his rights to be respected,"he said. Britain Monday reiterated its willingness to find a diplomaticsolution to a "difficult and costly" situation, the foreign ministry spokes-man said.But despite the protection of Ecuador, Britain refuses to give the jour-nalist a safe-conduct that would allow him to travel to Ecuador.Assange feared that if he faced the Swedish justice, Stockholm wouldextradite him to the US, where he is wanted for the publication onWikileaks in 2010 of diplomatic correspondence denouncing USabuses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pakistan court will not intervene in present crisisIslamabad (IANS): Pakistan Supreme Cour t Monday said the ongoing political crisis in the country should be handled by the governmentand decided not to intervene in the matter, media repor ted.The cour t submitted that the ongoing political crisis and alleged violation of fundamental rights ensuing from the impasse between thegovernment and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) are a matter for the government to decide, the Dawn online repor ted."It is for the government to handle," a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk said about the ongoing sit-in.The petition was filed last week by Supreme Cour t Bar Association (SCBA) President Kamran Mur taza.During Monday's hearing, Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt had said that fundamental rights are being violated."We are the guardians of the constitution, we have taken oath under the constitution. We cannot permit any deviation... this is ourobligation," Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said.Nisar maintained that the petitioner has to submit a comprehensive statement.The petitioner argued that the current political impasse is adversely affecting all spheres of national life and such a situation mayembolden some elements to take undue advantage of the situation and to resor t to unconstitutional measures.

Sweden to increase humanitarian aid to IraqStockholm (IANS): The Swedish government will increasesuppor t for Iraq by 50 million Swedish Krona ($7.3 million),Defence Minister Karin Enstrom said Monday.Enstrom said it is increasing its humanitarian aid to Iraq in thewake of the growing crisis in the country, Xinhua repor ted.The defence minister, along with Minister for InternationalDevelopment Cooperation Hillevi Engstrom, said the latestpackage was in addition to the 95 million Swedish Krona, the

country has already spent on humanitarian aid for those underattack by the Islamic extremists.The ministers added that Sweden would send aid workers andequipment to Iraq to help those who are in refugee camps.Two staff members are also being added to the Swedishembassy in Baghdad to help monitor the situation.Engstrom said Sweden would coordinate its effor ts with the UNand the EU to reach out to those in need.


TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014w o r l d

Iranian missile programmenon-negotiable: RouhaniTehran (IANS): Iran's missile programme is non- negotiableand will not be discussed in the nuclear talks with the westernpowers, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said here Sunday.In a meeting with Yukiya Amano, the visiting director-general ofthe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rouhani saidIran's missile capability is by no means negotiable at any levelof talks, Xinhua repor ted."Iran is serious in its nuclear talks with the world powers andthe IAEA, and it does not want anything beyond its right to enrichuranium for peaceful purposes," he said.To be transparent over its nuclear programme, Iran has pro-vided the means for IAEA to observe its "peaceful" nuclear ac-tivities, he said, adding that "Iran will only agree with the legalobservations of the UN nuclear watchdog within the frameworkof the NPT directive".Amano arrived in Iran Saturday night to discuss with the Iranianofficials the continuation of cooperation between Iran and theUN nuclear watchdog within the "cooperation framework" signedearlier.The IAEA chief's visit came ahead of the IAEA's Aug 25 deadlinefor Iran to provide the agency with a new set of information onits nuclear programme.

UN MISSION CONDEMNSCLASHES IN TRIPOLITripoli (IANS): The UN mission in Libya condemned Sunday theescalation in confrontations between rival militias in the capitalcity of Tripoli, calling on all par ties to respond positively to itsceasefire effor ts."The United Nations Suppor t Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) con-demns the grave escalation in the military confrontations inTripoli and its suburbs," Xinhua quoted UNSMIL as saying in itsstatement."The Mission strongly denounces the shelling of residentialneighbourhoods, which has inflicted casualties among civil-ians, forced them out of their homes and caused damage toproper ty."The Mission also deeply regretted that there was no responseto the repeated international appeals and its own effor ts for animmediate ceasefire. However, it still appealed to all par ties tocooperate with its effor ts to end the bloodshed and stave offfur ther losses and to expedite tackling the current crisis, star t-ing with a cessation of fighting, the statement added.

24 LISTERIA CASESDETECTED IN DENMARKCopenhagen (IANS): At least 24 cases of listeria bacteria infec-tion have been detected in Denmark, health authorities saidMonday.According to the State Serum Institute (SSI), the number in-cludes four more Danish people, who were confirmed to havebeen infected with listeria, Xinhua repor ted.A Hedehusene-based sausage company has proved to be themain source of the infection, the institute said.Although the company is closed and all suspected productshave been recalled. SSI expects that more cases may continueto pop up in the coming weeks as it typically takes severalweeks for symptoms to surface.A total of 12 people have been believed to be died as a result ofthe listeria outbreak so far.Some 30 products, including variations of cold cut sausages,salami and hot dogs have been withdrawn from the market.Regulatory control over listeria is now tightened, ministry offood, agriculture and fisheries said.Listeria is a bacteria found in soil, water and in the intestines ofsome animals. The bacteria can also live in food processing plantsand unlike other germs, it can survive refrigeration. Symptoms oflisteria include weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and fever.

SIERRA LEONE MEDICAL WORKERS PARTICIPATE IN A TRAINING WITH CHINESE MEDICAL TEAM IN FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE. (IANS)

Israel, Palestinians renew truce but see risk of more Gaza violenceThe chief Palestinian delegate to truce talks with Israel warned onTuesday that Gaza violence could erupt anew unless progress is madetoward a lasting deal ahead of a midnight deadline in Egyptian-brokeredtalks. After a last-minute agreement was stuck to extend by 24 hoursa deadline to reach a truce, Azzam al-Ahmad, senior leader of Presi-dent Mahmoud Abbas's mainstream Fatah movement, said there hadbeen "no progress on any point" in talks aimed at resolving the Gazaconflict."We hope that every minute of the coming 24 hours will be used toreach an agreement, and if not (successful), the circle of violencewill continue," Ahmad said.He accused Israel of "manoeuvring and stalling" as gaps on key is-sues continued to dog effor ts to achieve a long-term deal betweenIsrael and militant groups in the Gaza Strip, dominated by HamasIslamists, which would allow reconstruction aid to flow in after fiveweeks of fighting.

An Israeli government official said Israeli delegates were still in Cairoporing over details of a possible deal, although the par ties had not yetagreed a draft."The Israeli delegation has been instructed to insist on security re-quirements. The moment there is an agreement, the cabinet will becalled for discussions," said the official, who asked not to be identi-fied. Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk accused Israel ofstalling and insisted in a post on his Twitter account that his group"will never cede any" demands for a comprehensive deal.A senior Palestinian official in Gaza said sticking points to an agree-ment were Hamas's demands to build a seapor t and an airpor t, whichIsrael wants to discuss only at a later stage.Israel, which launched its offensive on July 8 after a surge in Hamasrocket fire across the border, has shown scant interest in makingsweeping concessions, and has called for the disarming of militantgroups in the enclave of 1.8 million people.

US terms cancellation of India-Pakistan talks 'unfortunate'As India called off foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistanover its envoy's meeting with Kashmiri separatists, the UStermed the cancellation "unfortunate" and said it continued tosuppor t their effor ts to improve bilateral relations."It is unfor tunate that planned talks between India and Pakistanhave fallen through," State Depar tment spokesperson Marie Harftold repor ters Monday in response to a question. "We continueto suppor t effor ts by India and Pakistan to improve all aspectsof their bilateral relations, and that is a position we will continuemaking clear to both par ties here," she said.Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh was to travel to Islamabad onAugust 25 to hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhryafter a gap of two years, but cancelled the visit after Pakistan HighCommissioner Abdul Basit's meeting with the separatists. "I think irre-spective of why either side says the talks were cancelled, or why infact they were cancelled, what matters now is that both sides takesteps to improve their bilateral relations," Harf said.

Riyadh, (IANS) Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh Tuesdaytermed extremist militant groups as "the first enemy of Islam" and stressed that theideas of extremism and terrorism do not belong to Islam at all.Referring to the Islamic State Sunni extremist group and Al Qaeda-affiliated groupsin a statement titled "Foresight and Remembrance", the Grand Mufti said moredangerous ideas are those ideas that are being marketed in the name of religion,the official Saudi Press Agency reported. "These foreign groups do not belong toIslam and Muslims adhering to it, but they are an extension of the Kharijites whowere the first group that deviated from the religion because they accused Muslimsof disbelief due to their sins and allowed killing them and taking their money," Al al-Sheikh said. The Grand Mufti, who is also general president for Scientific Re-

WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY: UN RENEWS COMMITMENT TO RELIEF WORKUnited Nations (IANS/WAM): UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has renewed the world body's commitment to life-saving reliefeffor ts, and called for honouring the "heroic aid workers", who rush bravely to help people in need, and those who died doing so."On World Humanitarian Day, we remember their sacrifices, and we recognise the millions of people who count on humanitarian workers for their verysurvival," Ban said in his message on World Humanitarian Day (WHD) being celebrated Tuesday under the theme this year of 'The World Needs More'."Too many people have died or suffered from deliberate attacks. Humanitarian workers and their families are hit hardest by these crimes. But they arealso felt by millions of others," the UN chief said."Last year, more humanitarian workers were kidnapped, seriously injured or killed than ever before. This is an outrage"Noting that in recent weeks, dozens of humanitarian workers -- including members of the UN family -- have lost their lives in South Sudan and Gaza, theUN chief lambasted the attacks on such workers which, he said, hindered the ability of people in desperate need to receive lifesaving assistance."Children go unvaccinated. Sick and wounded patients go untreated. Those forced from their homes are left without food, water or shelter - exposed toviolence, disease or other threats," Ban stated.The World Humanitarian Day falls Aug 19, the day in 2003 when special representative of the secretary-general to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21aid workers were killed in the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

SAUDI ARABIA'S GRAND MUFTICONDEMNS TERRORISM

searches and Fatwa, noted that the tolerance of Islam is one of the characteristicsof Islamic Sharia and the largest one of its objectives."We call in this regard to unify and coordinate educational and developmentalefforts to enhance the thought of moderation stemming from our true IslamicSharia through formulating a complete plan with clear objectives and an executiveplan that achieves those goals as a concrete reality," the top cleric added.The highly influential Grand Mufti's comments come in the wake of Saudi Arabiancrackdown on supporters of foreign terrorist organisations such as Syria's AlNusra and Al Qaeda and its affiliated groups, in the country.Last week, Saudi Arabia donated $100 million to the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre(UNCTC) in its efforts to curb terrorism.



DHARMENDRA AND GIPPY GREWAL IN THEIR UPCOMING PUNJABI MOVIE “DOUBLE DI TROUBLE”.

Actors Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Jackie Shroff, filmmaker Farah Khan, actors Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah, ShahrukhKhan, singers Shekhar Ravjiani and Vishal Dadlani during the trailer launch of film Happy New Year in Mumbai

Even after Aditya Chopra allegedly spoke to officials, the board hasreiterated A rating in keeping with current guidelines

Did non-implementation of the new Censor Board guidelines come inthe way of Mardaani getting a U/A cer tificate? It appears to be so asthe Rani Mukerji-starrer has gone on to become the first film underthe Yash Raj Films banner to bag A cer tification. Says a source closeto the banner, `After the Central Board of Film Cer tification (CBFC)told makers the film will get an A cer tificate, Aditya Chopra had a chatwith some CBFC officials before the cer tificate was issued. He wantedto know why the film couldn't get a U/A cer tificate since the subject issuch that the film can be seen by children of the age of 12 years andabove. But Chopra was told that it wouldn't be possible as the themewas adult and that present guidelines did not have a category for 12years and above.''The makers apparently tried to convince they would promote the filmkeeping the content in mind. Rafiq Gangjee of YRF says, `We told theBoard that we would put 'Not Recommended for Children below 12' inall our publicity material and show it at the star t of the film so as toensure that parents are sufficiently informed. However, the CensorBoard explained to us that this was not legally possible, so we haveaccepted their decision.''He adds that their request for a U/A cer tificate was not for just onescene or dialogue, which can be deleted or modified as required.`This request was put for th in keeping with the stipulation of theboard. We want to help communicate the film's message to those

CENSOR BOARD REFUSES TO REVISE

MARDAANI'S A CERTIFICATE

young girls who, in our opinion, are at an age where they need to beaware and be informed about this serious issue of human trafficking.''What the proposed guidelines entailAs per the proposed guidelines, films can be cer tified as being suit-able for children of 12 years and above, and for people aged 15 yearsand above. This has been done keeping in mind the sensibilities of theviewers to different types of language, content and the extent of nudityand violence.

As expected, Ajay Devgn-starrer "Singham Returns" received aroaring response on its opening day, registering a collection ofRs.32.09 crore on day one.The Independence Day offering, directed by Rohit Shetty, hasgot a positive feedback from critics as well as audiences. Itreleased Friday.Trade analyst Taran Adarsh confirmed the figure, and tweetedSaturday: "#SinghamReturns packs a SOLID PUNCH.Collects 32.09 cr nett on Fri. BIGGEST OPENER OF 2014 (sofar). India biz."The movie is a sequel to "Singham", which turned out to be ablockbuster in 2011. It also stars Kareena Kapoor.Another trade pundit Komal Nahta tweeted upon the sequel'srelease: "#SinghamReturns a surefire hit. Will be Ajay's bigesthit so far. Business will be far more than 'Singham'."The film, co-produced by Ajay Devgn Films, Rohit ShettyProductions and Reliance Enter tainment, features Ajay asinspector Bajirao Singham whose mission is to weed outcorruption. It is catching the audiences' eye with its grippingstory, high-octane action and power-packed performancesbacked by catchy dialogues.

WHOA! 'SINGHAM' AJAYSLAMS 'DEVIL' SALMAN

Upcoming star in Canadianfield hockey from

Brampton- Parmeet GillUpcoming star in Canadian field hockey fromBrampton- Parmeet GillCanadian born Parmeet Gill has been cho-sen from Ontario in Canada Junior fieldhockey team par ticipating in YouthOlympic games which are being heldin Ninjang, China fromAug17th to Aug 27th -201410 teams includingCanada, Australia, Ger-many, Spain, South Af-rica, New Zealand, Zam-bia, Mexico, Bangladeshand Pakistan are par tici-pating in Field Hockeyat Youth OlympicgamesParmeet star tedto play hockeyat the age of 6.He hasplayed manynational andlocal hockeytournaments.He has won manyawards including the bestplayer award. In 2012,Parmeet played in OntarioHockey team in BC whichwon the national champion-ship of Canada. Ontario teamwon after 18 years in fieldhockey.

I CONTD. ON PAGE 21



ARJUN KAPOOR AND DEEPIKA PADUKONE DURING THE LAUNCH OF “FANNY RE” SONG.

HAIDER AND BANG BANG ARE BOTH VERYDIFFERENT FILMS: SHAHID KAPOOR

Actress Vidya Balan distributed 'Smartcanes' to the visuallychallenged at St. Xavier's College. (IANS)

Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor,whose upcoming film Haider is set toclash with superstar Hrithik Roshan's Bang Bang on October 2, feelsthat both the films can sustain together because they cater to differentaudiences. "I saw the promo of Bang Bang and I loved it and I willdefinitely go and see the film. I wished good luck to Hrithik. It is a five-day weekend, the five-day holiday period is coming after a long timeand I think any big holiday weekend is good enough for two films tosustain. Two big films can release (together), there is no problem,"Shahid said in an interview.While Vishal Bharadwaj's Haider is a desi adaptation of WilliamShakespeare's Hamlet, starring Shahid, Tabu, Irr fan Khan, Kay KayMenon and Shraddha Kapoor, Bang Bang, directed by Siddhar th RajAnand, is a remake of the hit Hollywood movie Knight and Day, with

Hrithik and Katrina Kaif in the lead."I think if 'Haider' is black then 'Bang Bang' is white. What Haider isoffering you that 'Bang Bang' can't offer and vice versa. We are confi-dent about our film. Our film is not very expensive so we have nothingto lose. So getting a five-day weekend is fantastic for a film like ours,"Shahid said.The actor feels that both the films are of different genres and will caterto audiences with different tastes. "I don't think there is going to beany confusion for people. If people want to see something edgy, dif-ferent and out-of-the-box then they will see Haider and if people wantto see something enter taining, fun and a potboiler then they will see'Bang Bang'. Had there been two similar kinds of films then it wouldbe a different scenario but that is not the case here," he added.

Will Ranbir-Kat, Ranveer-Deepika get married this year?In April this year, Rani Mukerji got married to producer Aditya Chopra ata private ceremony in Italy. And from the looks of it, the much-lovedcouple’s wedding was one of the many unions that will take place in2014. Perhaps the nuptials between Dia Mirza and her fiancé, Sahil Sangha,will mark the next Bollywood wedding. Reportedly, the ceremony will beheld in Delhi on October 18. Apparently, it will be a private affair that will beattended by the couple’s families and close friends. On July 31, Dia tweeted:“Thank you for all the good wishes. Both our families are overjoyed! A wed-ding that we’ve truly waited for (sic).”Also preparing to take the marital vows are long-time lovers, Soha AliKhan and Kunal Kemmu. Last month, Soha tweeted: “It gives me greathappiness to share with you all that Kunal proposed to me in Paris withthe most perfect ring in the world and I said yes (sic).” Soha admits thather mother, Sharmila Tagore, has already star ted planning for the wed-ding, and is scouting for the venue and menu. Talk is rife that BipashaBasu is also set to get married to her boyfriend, Harman Baweja, soon.Recently, Bipasha confirmed her relationship on Twitter. Apparently, herparents had their first formal meeting with Harman’s parents in Januarythis year. And a few days ago, Harman was reportedly part of her father’sbirthday celebration, and hobnobbed with her family. Also, Ranbir Kapoorand Katrina Kaif are rumoured to be readying for the nuptials.

b o l l y w o o d

'MARY KOM' STRUGGLES FORA RELEASE IN MANIPUR?

Five-time boxing champion MaryKom is hopeful that the film basedon her life will be screened inManipur, her home state. Shesays, `We are trying very hardfor this to happen, but the moviesassociat ion and undergroundgroups should allow it. It looksdifficult but we will speak to thegovernment about the same.''In September 2000, Revolution-ary Peoples Front, which hasbeen fighting for a separate inde-pendent socia l ist state ofManipur, issued a ban on the useof Hindi and the screening ofHindi films and TV shows. Theyeven conducted raids and confis-cated thousands of video cas-settes of Hindi films. Several cin-ema halls preferred to shut downrather than face attacks by themilitant group for screening Hindifilms.Utpal Borpujari, a filmmaker fromAssam, says, `In today'sglobalised world, such bans haveno meaning as everyone can ac-cess films through DTH networksand the internet. There's no pointin banning films from a par ticu-lar language or culture exceptperhaps scoring some politicalbrownie points for the militant

IRONICALLY, BOXER MARY KOM'S BIOPIC STARRING PRIYANKACHOPRA MIGHT NOT RELEASE IN HER OWN STATE

group involved.It will be in the spirit of things ifthe film, Mary Kom, gets releasedin Manipur so that Manipuris cansee how the story of one of themhas been told on a large canvas.

And why only Mary Kom, filmsfrom any language should bescreened wherever there is amarket for it. Even if one con-cedes, for argument's sake, thatBollywood films are a 'bad influ-

ence' on Manipuris, does it meanthat the rich Manipuri culture isso weak that it can get affectedby such films? It's best is to letpeople decide about thesethings.`

Shahid Kapoor in the Hindiremake of Magadheera?

He is gearing up for the release of Vishal Bhardwaj's Haiderand has given nod to Raj and Krishna DK's Farji, Vikas Bahl'sShandaar and Abhishek Chaubey's asyet-untitled next.And that's not all. Mirror has learnt that the actor will be step-ping into Ram Charan's shoes in the Hindi remake of SSRajamouli's 2009 Telugu hit Magadheera.Co-starring Kajal Aggarwal, the historical romance was thestory of bike stuntman who recalls his previous life as a war-rior in love with a princess.According to a source, Sajid Nadiadwala has bought the rightsof the film and Shahid has liked the concept."Sajid who is celebrating the super success of his directorialdebut, Kick, plans to mount the film on a lavish scale," addsthe source.While Sajid remained unavailable for comment, Shahid wasevasive on the subject, saying he doesn't like to discussprojects till he star ts shooting for them. However, he admittedto Mirror that he has seen the original. "Yes, I have seen seenMagadheera and really loved it," he stated.

Nysa Devgn turns film-makerMany star kids tendto follow in the foot-steps of their par-ents. And the latestone who seems tobe doing so is AjayDevgn and Kajol’sdaughter, Nysa. The11-year-old is a l-ready working onher maiden project— a shor t film."It is par t of a schoolassignment, and hasgot nothing to do withthe real wor ld offilms. She is quiteexcited about it as she will be working on it with her closefriends. Like all proud parents, Ajay and Kajol are also verythrilled about it," says an insider close to the family, adding that"Ajay has only shared this news with a few close friends andfamily members".Ajay couldn’t be reached for a comment, but earlier this monthhe did reveal to us that Nysa is interested in films. "My daughteris into movies, music and gymnastics," he had said.Although Ajay’s primary interest lies in acting, he made hisdirectorial debut with U, Me Aur Hum in 2008. He is preparing todirect his second film now.Incidentally, Nysa’s grandfather, Veeru Devgan, had also di-rected a film titled Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999).

Kangana Ranaut rejects Italian film with Massimiliano GalloThe actor, it has been repor ted, is being offered many films, and isextremely choosy when it comes to selecting projects. So, al-though she has signed an Indo-Frenchmovie, she has opted out of an Italianf i lm offered to her opposi te actorMassimiliano Gallo. -Kangana was offered the lead role whileshe was pursuing a film-making andscreenplay-writing course in the US."Director Edoardo De Angelis got in touchwith her, but she said that she’d take acall only after returning to Mumbai," re-veals a source close to the actor.Kangana, too, was initially delighted with the development. Theactor, in an earlier interview, told us, "I was offered the lead role

opposite Massimiliano. I am still contemplating it because I havealmost six projects lined up, and that has me booked till the begin-

ning of 2016." But now, we have come to knowthat she has rejected the film. "Kangana readthe script, liked the subject and communicatedit to the makers. However, she opted out ofthe project in the second week of August cit-ing date issues. The film is to go on the floorsin the next two months, and she didn’t want todisrupt her prior commitments," adds thesource.When contacted, the actor’s spokespersonconfirms the developments, saying, "Yes,

Kangana was offered the role opposite Massimiliano in an Italianfilm, but had to turn it down as her dates are completely blocked."


TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 b o l l y w o o d

2 Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Saturday Saturday

3 Hate Story 2 Aaj Phir

4 Kick Jumme Ki Raat

5 Enter tainment Johnny Johnny

6 Kick Hangover

7 Ek Villain Galliyan

8 Enter tainment Veerey Di Wedding

9 Ek Villain Banjaara

10 Kick Yaar Naa Miley

top

10

MOVIE COLLECTIONS

HIT OR FLOP MIDWEEKENTERTAINMENT SUPERHIT

AA GAY MUNDE UK DE SUPERHIT

SINGHAM RETURNS SUPERHIT

KICK BLOCKBUSTER

EK VILLAIN SUPERHIT

UpcomingBOLLYWOOD Movies

FILM

songs

BANG BANGRELEASE DATE: Oct 02, 2014

STAR CAST: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Danny

Denzongpa, Javed Jaffrey, Pawan

Malhotra

DIRECTOR(S): Siddharth Anand

PRODUCER(S): Fox Star Studios

SONG

SAMJHAWAN

Film: HumptySharma Ki Dulhania1

'SINGHAM RETURNS'MARDAANIRELEASE DATE: August 22, 2014

STAR CAST: Rani Mukherjee

DIRECTOR(S): Pradeep Sarkar

GENRE: Action / Drama

RAJA NATWARLALRELEASE DATE: August 22, 2014

STAR CAST: Emraan Hashmi, Humaima

Malick,Paresh Rawal,Kay Kay Menon

DIRECTOR(S): Kunal Deshmukh

GENRE: Action / Drama

An ordinary cop saga strictly for action junkies

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor

Khan, Amol Gupte, Dayanand

Shetty, Anupam Kher, Sameer

Dharmadhikari, Zakir Hussain

Direction: Rohit Shetty

Rating: **1/2 stars

With Independence Day falling on a Friday, probably there wouldn'thave been a better day of release for the second installment ofRohit Shetty's much celebrated super-cop franchise Singham. Evenfrom viewers' perspective what else could have been better thanseeing an action packed cine saga circumscribed by the lanyardof patriotism around it. And probably this was the reason whyRohit zeroed down 15th of August to unveil this action packedcine enterprise "Singham Returns". Starring Ajay Devgn, KareenaKapoor Khan, Amol Gupte, Dayanand Shetty, Anupam Kher, SameerDharmadhikari the movie opened amid a jam packed occupancyat the multiplexes.Well as far cop cape sagas are concerned then the genre hasalready turned into an over-exploited territory, but in-spite of thatthis ilk of movie making still accrues a top notch in the prioritylist of Bollywooders who alter it as per their need and demand ofthe era. And it's because of this fascination for this genus of moviemaking that some sail on the skiff of the remakes whereas otheropt to bogey on the yacht of sequels, Rohit Shetty's 'SinghamReturns" safely falls in the latter category. Although "SinghamReturns" was purpor ted to be the sequel of 2011 blockbusterSingham, but in reality it has nothing in common except our veryown hot headed larger-than-life super cop Baji Rao Singham.Anyhow let's have a look at the premise first. After abrogatingJaikant Shikre in Goa (obviously not depicted in the movie) nowBaji Rao Sigham (Ajay Devgn) has shifted to Mumbai, where anexus of black money, electoral skulduggery is operational underthe patronage of a political leader Prakash Rao (Zakir Hussain)and Swamiji (Amole Gupte). But Singham get a sniff of this im-moral yoke only when an officer of his squad is found dead in adrowned ambulance carrying a gargantuan amount of cash. So inorder to prove the rectitude of his colleague and get hold of thosebehind this entire conspiracy Singham begins his quest for thetruth. So does Singham succeeds in his mission, and what elsehe faces in the path? To know watch "Singham Returns".Well probably many of you (including those who are die hard fansof Rohit Shetty-ism) will agree that unveiling a sinewy story hadneither been the hallmark nor the for te of Rohit Shetty, who usu-

ally prefer to make is cine-vessel sail either at the power of largerthan life action sequences or at rib tickling potency of humor.Even with "Singham Returns", Shetty preferred to play safe bymaking his protagonists per form on a very basic and highly pre-dictable script. However this t ime for change this t ime with"Sigham Returns" he somehow managed to entrench a socialmessage while unfurling the nexus of black money, blind faith,electoral skulduggery etc in his cine plot. But in-spite of that thereis no denying the fact that despite blending together some so-cially relevant cine flavors Rohit has failed in coming up withsomething which could have been far more superior in quality.Be it amalgamation of redundant romance between our super-copSingham and his lady love Avni, or those bland humor chunkseverything just diminishes the overall appeal of the movie, whichcould have easily turned into an explosive action saga otherwise.In-fact if we thoroughly scrutinize the entire plot of the movie,then with a few new plots embedded in it, "Singham Returns"looks like a restructured guise of its prequel, with much lowerdose of enter tainment in the offering. And on the name of enter-tainment it only has those flying cars and scudding antagonists.In nutshell on premise front all that could be said about "SinghamReturns" is that with super high degree of predictability and someobt ruded c ine const i tuents i t ends up be ing a mossy c inechronicle.Undoubtedly so far we have seen that whenever Rohit dishes outsomething in the form of a movie it somehow manages to emergeas a crowd charmer, but this time the maestro of action and com-edy may end up disappointing many of his admirers. That's be-cause be it insipid drama, obtruded song sequences or thosestrangely feeble rhetoric chunks of Sajid Farhad everything di-minishes the the benchmark which was set by the first edition ofSingham. As far as flow of the narration is considered then in boththe halves it looks thoroughly oxymoron with a sheer oblivionabout the concept of "pace consistency". But it's that Rohit Shetty-istic kind of high octane action and Ajay's onscreen presencewhich keeps fans gazes glued to the big screen despite so manydiscrepancies prevailing in the plot.On cinematographic front Rohit along with DoP Narendra Rahurikarand cinematographer Dudley has raised the bar drastically bycapturing the Mumbai milieu and those death defying action se-quences with utmost excellence, but that in no manner deems"Singham Returns" to be addressed as an stupendous enter tainer.Infact it would have been great, had Rohit tried to look beyond hissafe zone and would have tried to have a tryst with something outof the box.Even in the editing depar tment movie's editor Steven Benard hasfailed in using his shears appropriately. And I am saying so be-cause there are numerous sequences in the movie l ike thoseextended catwalks of Ajay with "Singham, Singham" running inthe background and some of the overstretched action sequences

HAPPY NEW YEARRELEASE DATE: Oct 23, 2014

STAR CAST: Shahrukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika

Padukone, Sonu Sood, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah, Jackie Shroff,

Kareena Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Dadlani, Dino Morea

DIRECTOR(S): Farah Khan

PRODUCER(S): Gauri Khan, Shahrukh Khan

DOUBLE DI TROUBLERELEASE DATE: August 29, 2014

STAR CAST: DHARMENDRA AND GIPPY GREWAL

DIRECTOR(S): Smeep Kang

GENRE: Comedy

which unnecessarily add to the length of the movie.As stated above music of "Singham Returns" is nothing more than redun-dant condiment incorporated in the movie merely for heck of it. And theworst part is that, it is neither appealing nor plausible.Well as far as performances are concerned then just like its so called prequel,"Singham Returns" is also an out and out Ajay Devgn cine affair in every manner.In-fact I personally feel that when it comes to playing a cop then there is no onebetter than Ajay, who always seizes your attention when he steps out in a Khaaki.In "Singham Returns", Ajay once again performs his part with conviction andsucceeds in making viewers' go gaga over him and overlook the discrepanciesprevailing in the movie.Kareena remains overshadowed by her male counterpart in whole of the movie,but in-spite of that she manages to make her presence feel. As far as antagonists'league is concerned then Amole Gupte tries his level best to fit in the shoes ofposeur and immoral Swamiji, but goes overboard quite often. Zakir Hussain asGupte's is good. Anupam Kher, in small yet important role succeeds in leaving apleasing impact.Bes ides suppor t ing cast compr is ing of Mahesh Manj rekar,Dayanand Shetty, Ganesh Yadav, Sameer Dharmadhikari, AshwiniKalsekar, Sharat Saxena et al too succeeds in doing justice totheir respective characters.



Over 1,000 athletes eyeing Asian Games berth in PatialaPatiala (IANS): Fresh from theircampaign in the CommonwealthGames in Glasgow, Indian ath-letes are keen to grab AsianGames ber th at the FederationCup National Athletics Champi-onships star ting Saturday here atthe National Institute of Spor ts(NIS).The four-day championships as-sumes a lot of significance as itwill serve as the selection trialsfor the Indian athletics team forAsian Games 2014, to be held inSouth Korean city of Incheon, Sep19-Oct 4.Traditionally, the Asian Gameshave been the most rewarding in-

ternational competition for Indianathletics. Since 1951 when theAsian Games were launched, In-dian athletes have won 219 med-als out of a total of 534 medalswon by Indian contingents at themega event.There are high expectations fromthe Indian athletes to return withan impressive haul of medals thistime around, too. This year's Fed-eration Cup has attracted a recordnumber of entries. Around 1007athletes, including 733 men and274 women, will be competing inthe 2014 Championships.Two international walk race ref-erees, from Malaysia and Indo-

nesia, have been especially in-vited by the Athletics Federationof India (AFI) to officiate in the racewalk events, where India is con-sidered to be an emerging force."This year's Federation Cup as-sumes special impor tance be-cause the performance of the ath-letes here will be used as a guide-line for selection to the Indian ath-letics team for the Incheon AsianGames , " sa id AF I p res iden tAdille Sumariwala.As expected, the competition inthe throw events - especial lywomen's discus throw - prom-ises to create a buzz with anexcit ing l ine-up in the off ing.

CWG 2010 go ld meda l l i s tKrishna Punia, triple medallistin the CWG (2006, '10, '14)Seema Antil and teen sensationNavjeet Kaur Dhillon, who wonthe bronze in the 2014 IAAFWorld Junior Championships,will be in the fray for the title inthe women's discus."I'm looking forward to the 2014Asian Games and the Federation Cupshould provide some exciting com-petition to launch the preparation,"said Krishna, the first Indian womento win a gold in the CommonwealthGames.CWG 2014 bronze medallist inmen 's t r i p l e j ump, A rp inde r

Singh seemed conf ident andraring for more."I was aiming for the gold in theCommonwea l th Games , bu tthings didn't turn out the way I hadplanned. I hope to do better at theAsian Games. I've grown up as anathlete at NS Patiala and I hope tolive up to the expectations at theFederation Cup."Other star athletes who will bewatched closely here are 2010Asian Games bronze medal win-ner Tintu Luka, who has been re-cently nominated for the ArjunaAward, women jumper SahanaKumari and Mayookha Johny,among others.

Indian batsmen were like lambs to the slaughter: BoycottLondon (IANS): Former Englandcaptain Geoffrey Boycott hasslammed the Indian team for theirpathetic display with both bat andball in the humiliating 1-3 Test seriesloss to England and said the batsmenwere like "lambs to the slaughter"."India were pathetic when they had tobat and bowl on two seaming, swing-ing pitches at Old Trafford and TheOval. Their batsmen lacked appli-cation and the technique to handletwo of the best Test bowlers in theworld in James Anderson andStuar t Broad. On these sor t ofpitches they are a handful for anybatsmen and these talented kidshad no experience of such condi-tions," Boycott wrote in his columnin The Daily Telegraph."The Indian batsmen were like lambsto the slaughter. Last winter Englandsupporters did not enjoy our teamgetting annihilated and embarrassedby Australia with matches finishingearly," he said.Boycott also doesn't like the idea ofhaving a five-match series. "Back-to-back Tests gave them no countycricket to try to find form or confi-dence. Cricket administrators theworld over are only interestedin how many international days

they can cram into any summer sea-son so that they can sell the rights formore and more television money,"he said. Boycott feels one-sided seriesare not good advertisement for the gameand he wants to see more hard-foughtseries."It is not a good advert for Test cricketwhen series are so one-sided. Wewant to see a hard-fought contest,to enjoy the ebb and flow of amatch, swaying from one side tothe other, and hopefully Englandcoming out on top at the end. Notjust one-sided hammerings," hesaid.Boycott was happy with the per-formance of batsmen GaryBallance and Jos Buttler, but wasfar from being impressed withopener Sam Robson."The good things we have learntare that Gary Ballance is men-tally strong and up for the chal-lenge of batting at three. Joe Roothas found his per fect place atfive. Jos Buttler showed somereal batting composure at OldTrafford and the Oval...But SamRobson, the opener, I am sorry,his footwork and judgement out-side off stump is not good enough.We have to find someone better

for the sterner Tests to comeagainst Australia in England, Pa-kistan in the United Arab Emirates

and South Africa away," he said.The legend doesn't believe thatEngland would be preparing simi-

ENGLAND CELEBRATE THEIR 3-1 SERIES WIN AFTER A CRUSHING INNINGS WIN INSIDE THREE DAYS AT THE OVAL. I DETAILS ON PAGE 21

Gavaskar, Gangulyask selectors totake tough deci-sionsNew Delhi (IANS): Former cap-tains Sunil Gavaskar and SoravGanguly have blasted the Indianteam and said it was high timefor the selectors to take sometough decisions following theembarrassing 1-3 Test seriesloss to England.Ganguly said the team hadshown "no effort, no heart, nofight.""There have to be some harshdecisions. The selectors' outlookhas to change - when you pickyour players, when you identifytalent, these are the things youhave to look for: who gets runsfor you in difficult circumstances,who gets runs for you when thechips are down, who gets runsfor you when you are 50-5,"Ganguly told Headlines Today.Citing the example of Australia,Gavaskar said successful teamshave the ability to take tough de-cisions when they are down inthe dumps."One of the reasons why Austra-lia have clawed back to the topspot is that they take tough callsand that is the need of the hourfor India," he said.Gavaskar was upset that theyoung Indian team was refusingto learn from past mistakes."Even till two days, I was defend-ing the team. But you see themtoday, they have made the samemistakes over and over again. Itmeans the team is not learning.Do they care about it? I don'tknow," Gavaskar was quoted assaying by NDTV after India suf-fered a 1-3 Test series loss toEngland Sunday at The Oval inLondon.Gavaskar wondered how muchrope could be given to young play-ers before taking a tough deci-sion. "Most of these playershave played in South Africa, NewZealand and England. How muchof a rope do you give a youngplayer? I think somewhere downthe line some firm decisionshave to be taken. I don't know ifthey will be taken," he said.

DHONI HINTS AT QUITTING AFTER SERIES DEFEATLondon (IANS): India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hinted at stepping down as the captain followinghis team's 1-3 Test series loss to England.India lost The Oval Test by an innings and 244 runs here Sunday, triggering questions over Dhoni's future as the Indiacaptain. Asked if he has taken the team as far as he could, Dhoni said: "Maybe, yes.""You'll have to wait and watch. If I'm strong enough or not strong enough, you'll have to wait and get the news," Dhoni wasquoted as saying by BBC Test Match Special.Dhoni, 33, took over the Test team in 2008 after leading India to an emphatic win in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007.He has led the team in 58 Tests with a record 27 wins. Under Dhoni, India topped the world Test rankings from late 2009until the summer of 2011, a period in which he also led the team to victory in the World Cup.But India's slide started with surrendering their No.1 Test rankings with a 4-0 whitewash in England in 2011.In the current series, India took a 1-0 lead by winning the Lord's Test. But from then on things worsened for the visitors,who suffered three consecutive losses, including two innings defeats. They failed 200 in five consecutive attempts thatended with them being bowled out for 94 inside 30 overs at The Oval here Sunday."The last three Tests, we were not up to the mark," said Dhoni, who has scored 4,808 runs in 88 Tests. "We nevercompeted. Today's batting was a reflection of a loss of confidence. It's disappointing.""Right from the start, our batsmen haven't performed - it was the lower order. Later on in the series, when the lower orderdidn't perform, we saw there wasn't enough runs on the board," said Dhoni.Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar also blasted the team for the tame surrender."I don't know what to say. What can you say? You can get angry, say harsh things, but what good will it do? If you do notwant to be playing Test cricket for India, quit. Just play limited-overs cricket. You should not be embar-rassing your country like that," said Gavaskar.India's last five Test series:July-August 2014: England (away) - lost 3-1 (5 Tests)February 2014: New Zealand (away) - lost 1-0 (2 Tests)December 2013: South Africa (away) - lost 1-0 (2 Tests)November 2013: West Indies (home) - won 2-0 (2 Tests)February-March 2013: Australia (home) - won 4-0 (4 Tests)

lar pitches for the Ashes nextsummer and if they do, matcheswould last just two days.

Kardec scores latewinner for Sao PauloSao Paulo ( IANS): AlanKardec scored his fifth goalin seven matches as Sao Paulodefeated local rivals Palmeiras 2-1 in Brazil's Serie A football.The 25-year-old former Benficastriker netted an 89th-minute win-ner Sunday after Palmeiras for-ward Henrique had cancelled outAlexandre Pato's opener at thePacaembu stadium.The result lifted Sao Paulo to fifth inthe standings with seven wins andfive draws from 15 matches.Meanwhile, much maligned strikerFred missed a penalty inFluminense's 0-2 loss to Botafogoat the Maracana stadium. Danieland Pablo Zeballos were on targetfor the Botafogo.Fred, who retired from internationalfootball after scoring just once inBrazil's disappointing 2014 WorldCup campaign, sent his 88th-minute spot-kick wide after RafaelSobis was brought down by JulioCesar.In other matches Sunday, AtleticoParanaense held Sport 1-1,Figueirense drew 2-2 with AtleticoMineiro, leaders Cruzeiro beatSantos 3-0, Gremio overcameCriciuma 2-0 and Vitoria drew 0-0with Chapecoense.



Fun and football at a Live Your Goals festival in Canada. Photograph cour tesy of Canada Soccer/Tony Lewis.

INDIA BEFUDDLED AS ENGLANDCOMPLETE HUMILIATION

England 486 (Root 149, Cook 79, Ballance 64)beat India 148 (Dhoni 82, Woakes 3-30) and94 (Jordan 4-18) by an innings and 244 runs“

India might have been transpor ted to another world, a world so unfa-miliar that their senses were befuddled, their physical prowess lost,their lifetime's knowledge entirely inadequate. One by one their bats-men came and went as they underwent the third heaviest Test defeatin their history.This is an Indian side built on immense wealth and hubris, which hasbecome used to a feeling of power, which has come to view its earlyhistory as an aberration, yet they were pover ty stricken against anEngland side once again relishing perfect swing and seam bowlingconditions.India batted as if they had no sense of time and place, but for therecord on August 17, 2014, in south London, they foundered to 94 allout in only 29.2 overs. Against the same England side that was beatenby Sri Lanka in a two-Test series in May, India have insisted on fiveTests crammed into six weeks and once the series turned they had norespite.Less than four weeks ago, India secured an historic win at Lord's togo 1-0 up in the Investec series. They have since been trounced threetimes: by 266 runs at the Ageas Bowl, by an innings and 54 on arelatively quick pitch at Old Trafford, and now by an innings and 244runs.England's 3-1 series win was secured in a quite remarkable transfor-mation. When it was indicated that Alastair Cook was a captain underpressure, it was clear that the media meant MS Dhoni; when thecoaching influence of Peter Moores was questioned, obviously whatshould have been written was Duncan Fletcher. "We were laughingabout it," Cook said. "Everything we planned went perfectly."Not since 1977 have India been dismissed for less than 200 fivetimes in succession. Since they made 178 in the second innings inSouthampton, they have been dismantled for 152, 161, 148 and, fi-nally, for 94 by an England attack that, as well it has bowled, musthave viewed the disintegration as barely credible.There were so many images that India will not want to recall, but theirmisery was encapsulated in the last act of the morning session whenGautam Gambhir, his Test career perhaps at an end, jogged off theoutfield at The Oval in pouring rain seconds after pointlessly runninghimself out.Gambhir, sent back by Cheteshwar Pujara after envisaging a suicidalsingle to shor t midwicket, was beaten by Chris Woakes' direct hit, thelast act in a shor t pre-lunch session of 6.1 overs which also sawIndia lose M Vijay, their staunchest batsman in the series, lbw to alavish inswinger from James Anderson.The rain relented to allow a restar t at 2.30pm; by 4.30pm all that wasleft was the rigmarole of a presentation ceremony - a ceremony inwhich India had to watch Anderson, their bête noire, collect the Manof the Series award. India now have a week to regroup, or merely tomeasure out their life with coffee spoons as TS Eliot had it, before anODI series in which they will still regard themselves as favourites,

although such is their large turnover between Test and ODI squadsthat about half the squad are heading home.In good times, Pujara and Virat Kohli have the talent and patience tobat for days. At The Oval, they could have fallen to vir tually any ball.Pujara's hands were strikingly low for such conditions to combat therising ball; Kohli has looked fallible outside off stump throughout theseries, a series in which India's gilded young batsman has made 134runs at 13.4. He has the talent to conquer English conditions, but thisfailure will sit heavily on him. For six overs, Pujara and Kohli re-sisted, their stand of 21 the highest of the innings. Then Pujara pushedgravely forward at an outswinger, almost as if bowed in prayer, andedged to the keeper. Surprisingly, considering the mayhem that fol-lowed, it was Anderson's last wicket, leaving him three behind IanBotham's England record of 383 Test wickets and no Test to make upthe shor tfall until the Caribbean next April.Broad and Anderson bowled beautifully, Broad picking up AjinkyaRahane five overs later. Gary Ballance's brilliant diving catch at thirdslip, springing to his left to rescue a chance that might easily havefallen shor t, exemplified another gulf between the sides: India's closecatching had become increasingly atrocious.That India's candle was burning as if in pure oxygen was apparent when Dhonifollowed in the next over, a push off his hip against a back-of-a-length delivery fromChris Woakes that was snaffled by Sam Robson at short leg. Cook, who hasbecome more prone to attacking fields as England's superiority has become appar-ent, must now reflect that they are rather fun.

What next? MS Dhoni has a lot to think about

DESK REPORTToronto - When you win, it makes for a phenomenal story. When you winagain the story grows and it gets better. But staying undefeated for anentire year, get you noticed.The story of this year's Ontario Beach Volleyball Championships wasone of the two 14-year-old middle school stu-dents. While most kidstheir age are gearing upfor high school, SaadShaikh and Avy Bathare busy preparing forvolleyball tournaments.They spend each week-day, training in thesummer. On the week-ends they reap the re-wards. In fact, the chal-lenge this time aroundwas not even the partabout winning.Coach Jessy Sattisays: "It was interest-ing to see how guys would do after all of their success. A lot of the time,especially in the younger age groups, kid's let the success get in theirhead. Or even worse, they get down on themselves when things changeand don't go their way."Avy and Saad did just fineDue to point differential, the duo came into the tournament ranked sec-ond despite not dropping a single set the entire season. It seemed thiswas all set to change as Saad and Avy were down 12-18 in the first setof the provincial finals. Their opponents were coming off a close semi-final victory against Saad and Avy's Pakmen teammates and were full ofconfidence going into the match. Avy and Saad did not let this phasethem. They pulled off seven straight points en route to a 21-19 victory. Inthe second set they would cruise to a 21-16 victory and keep their 2014Beach undefeated streak alive."The boys really stayed focused, even when they were down," saysSatti. "They stuck to the basics, passing and serving, and didn't let theiremotions get to them."When asked about their come back in the first set, the team is quick todivert the praise. "Our indoor coach, Smith, really taught us to fightback," says Shaikh. "With the lessons that we learned from him through-out the year, giving up was never an option." This is the second year in arow that Avy and Saad have won the prestigious event. Last year, theywere the 13U provincial championships. In indoor, the duo is part of aPakmen team that is the defending indoor provincial champions.With the win, Saad and Avy become the fifth straight Pakmen team thathas won the 14U beach provincial championships. It is been quite a yearfor Saad Sheikh and Avy Bath. The 14 year old David Leeder MiddleSchool students are coming off a provincial championship, and arealready looking ahead to Canada's National Championships. Being mo-tivated as ever, the team is determined to be Canada's best team. WithNationals coming up in a few weeks, it is safe to say that their volleyballstory is far from over. The OVA ranks teams based on how many pointsthey have. By competing in an older division, teams can accumulatemore points. First place in 14U could be worth 100 points, while fifthplace in 15U would be worth 150 points.

Saad Shaikh and Avy Bathgearing up for Ontario BeachVolleyball Championships

UPCOMING STAR IN CANADIAN FIELD HOCKEYFROM BRAMPTON- PARMEET GILL

CONTD. FROM PAGE 17Parmeet with his hard work and dedication towards hockey got selected in the Canadian Juniorfield hockey team for Youth Olympics in China. The Canadian Junior Hockey team has thefollowing players" Parmeet Gill" Liam Manning" Floyd Mascarenhas" Braedon Muldoon" Balraj Panesar" Brandon Pereira" Vikramjeet Sandhu" Amrit Sidhu" Harbir SidhuParmeet Gill plays with our local Canadian field hockey and Cultural club. The community isproud of the youngsters who are doing so well in at National and International level.Midweek Newspaper would also like to compliment the parents for the suppor t to youngsportspersons and hope more players will join Hockey and other sports to make their parentsand community proud.

I need more races: BoltRio De Jaeiro (IANS): Usain Bolt admitted he lacked sharpnessafter taking gold in a 100-metre race in Rio de Janeiro Sunday.The six-time Olympic champion clocked 10.06 seconds to beatBritain's Mark Lewis Francis (10.42) and Jefferson Liberato ofBrazil (10.44) on the Copacabana beach track, Xinhua repor ted."I had a poor star t but I regained some of my poise later in therace," said Bolt, who was competing in his first individual 100-metre race of the year. "I felt a bit heavy. I need to compete inmore races. I will be in better shape after that."The 27-year-old thanked the suppor t of thousands of locals whowilled the Jamaican on to victory."The energy here is great. Thank you everybody, it was fantas-tic."Brazilian Rosangela Santos won the women's event in 11.33seconds ahead of Jamaica's Schillonie Calver t and CarmelitaJeter of the US.

Visa woes for Pakistani squash playersIslamabad (IANS): Pakistani players were forced to miss theProfessional Squash Association's CIMB Malaysian Open SquashChampionship since they were not issued visas by the Malay-sian High Commission.A Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) official said that the federa-tion had applied for visas well in time by Aug 11 but the Malay-sian High Commission, along with other foreign mission offices,were closed for the past week due the protests marches bypolitical par ties here in the capital, repor ts Xinhua.The PSF had planned to send its three top players Nasir Iqbal,Danish Atlas and Farhan Zaman for the competition in KualaLumpur that star ts Monday and will end Saturday.The official said the world rankings of the Pakistani players wouldnow take a hit by missing this tournament.Kiplagat warms up for Chicago Marathon in styleNairobi (IANS): Kenya's Commonwealth Games 10,000 metressilver medallist Florence Kiplagat warmed up in style for the2014 Chicago Marathon slated for Oct 12 with a stunning win atthe County Pensions Fund (CPF) Nairobi Diamond 10-km run.Kiplagat finished the 10-km course in a time of 31:42.0 to winprize money of $3,000 and a diamond with an undeclared valuehere Sunday, repor ts Xinhua.Irene Chebet was placed second in a time of 31:45.0 whereasthird place went to Alice Aprot who stopped the clock in 31.46:0."I missed competing at the African Championships in Marrakech,Morocco, because of visa problems and I was happy to have arace in Nairobi to do speed work," Kiplagat said during a post-race interview.



Actor Om Puri with wife Nandita Puri and son Ishaan during the screening of Hollywood film The Hundred-Foot Journey in Mumbai (IANS)

Comedians at the sets of India's Got Talent session 5 (IANS)

MAHESH BHATT UPSET WITHNEPHEW EMRAAN HASHMIMahesh Bhatt upset with nephew Emraan Hashmi for choosing a rivalstudio's film over the one by his "parent company".When Emraan Hashmi decided to allot 10 days to promote his upcom-ing film Raja Natwarlal, the move did not go down well with theBhatts-- Mahesh, Mukesh and Vikram. Reason: They wanted thesedates to wrap up their supernatural thriller, Mr. X, with the actor. Now,they will have to get fresh combination dates from the rest of the castfor the shoot. When contacted, Emraan's uncle, Mahesh Bhatt, didn'tmince words, saying, "He did inform me about this change in plans but hestill caught me off-guard. Without taking away from his efforts, I have to saythat I am the architect of Brand Emraan. We are his parent company anddeserve his loyalty more than anyone else."Interestingly, Raja Natwarlal's director Kunal Deshmukh is also a Bhatt pro-tege and this is his first film outside the camp. Emraan responded to Mahesh'soutburst saying, "Bhattsaab has been and always will be my mentor. But heforgets that he was the one who told me that in the end only success matters,be it through fair or foul means. I am going all out for Raja Natwarlal as it isa good film and I want it to succeed. Bhattsaab should be happybecause I am following his teachings."

RANDEEP HOODA: I’M NOTUSED TO BEING A PART OFTHE RS 100 CRORE CLUB

Its way past Cinderella hour in India, but across the globe in Canada,the day is just peaking and Randeep Hooda is busy filming DeepaMehta's Beeba Boys, earlier titled Inland. And he's thrilled to be work-ing with a foreign crew in a different country with an Oscar nominateddirector."Deepa's a rock star, she keeps me on my toes. If any laziness hascrept in over time, you gotta banish it," he laughs, longdistance fromToronto.Randeep is hoping this film will cut across borders and ap-peal to the Indian diaspora."It's about the journey of a man, a Jatt Sikhcalled Jeet Johar. It's a hero's role, larger than life, yet grounded, withhear t and soul," he says.Any other actor would have been cut up about missing the celebra-tions, as his latest release Kick makes box-office history back home,but Randeep reasons that the distance helps him view the film's suc-cess objectively."I knew that given bhai's (Salman Khan) phenomenal pull and Sajidbhai (producer-director Nadiadwala) making the film with no expensesspared, it would be a blockbuster. What surprised me was Sajid bhaicoming to me with such a cool role when he could have chosen anybig name and bhai accepting me as a co-actor and a friend," he ad-mits candidly. Earlier in the year, he'd watched Alia Bhatt hijack High-way. Kick comes as a bonus to balance out the disappointment."I'm not used to being a par t of the Rs 100 crore club and I'm over themoon. But there's no doubt that it is because of bhai that so manypeople are watching the film and along with him, liking me too," hesays, adding his biggest takeaway as an actor is that the audiencehas accepted him in roles as diverse as Bombay Talkies, Highwayand Kick. "Now I hope that some of these people come to see mysmaller films, Rang Rasiya and Main Aur Charles."

Fight over Meena KumariThe biopic of Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari has taken a sadturn.Shashilal Nair (director of the infamous Ek Choti Si Love Story)returns to the arclights with the film. But all is not well betweenNair and the producer of the film, Tajdar Amrohi, the son of thelate filmmaker Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari's stepson.Tajdar, who has re-booted his father's banner, Mahal Pictures,under a new name, Kamal Amrohi Pictures, clashed with thedirector over the por trayal of the actress' life.When contacted, Tajdar confirmed that Nair and he are not on thesame page as yet. "He wants to take cer tain cinematic liber tiesbut I am not playing to the gallery. I know we are not making adocumentary but we have to stick to the truth," he asser ted.To begin with, Tajdar and Nair have not agreed on the choice ofactress to play the film icon onscreen. Also, the two men are onthe opposite sides of the fence when it comes to zeroing in on thefilm's title." Nair also wants a few song situations which I am not comfor t-able with," says Tajdar, adding, "Actually, besides the heroineand the title, there are several other things that need to be shownin correct perspective. Creativity doesn't mean that you tell awarped story."Mirror has it that the last argument between the filmmaker andthe director happened while they were discussing a scene whereKamal Amrohi, while returning from an award ceremony withMeena Kumari, dismisses her award as a small achievement.

Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh are likeelder brothers who look out for meBefore he arrives, his team is there to check that everything is inorder. A hush settles over the room when he arrives after theappointed hour. Apologising for his late-coming because he hasbeen awake until 6 am, working on the post-production of hisIndependence Day release Singham Returns, he wastes no fur-ther time. As he settles down to answer queries about his latestlabour of love, you find yourself getting immersed in his enthusi-asm. Oblivious to the recorder that is taping him, the filmmakerholds for t on his brand of commercial cinema... something thathe truly believes in.In one of your earlier interviews to Bombay Times, before ChennaiExpress crossed the `200 crore mark, you said your newfoundhotshot status means nothing to your mother. Does she still callyou to change fused bulbs, like she did earlier?Yes, my mother still asks me to change fused bulbs. That willnever change because she will never change. To her, I'm her sonfirst and everything else is secondary. Frankly, I do not wantanyone around me (especially close family, friends or my team)to change their attitude towards me. It keeps me grounded.

b o l l y w o o d

ACTORS HUMAIMA MALIK AND EMRAAN HASHMI ON THE SETSOF JHALAK DIKHHLA JAA 7 DURING THE PROMOTION OF THEIRFILM RAJA NATWARLAL IN MUMBAI.



KAREENA KAPOOR GETS A COSTUMECHANGE FOR HER WAX STATUE

Kareena Kapoor comes faces to face with her wax figure from 2011 after donating a new red sari with a gold trim that she wore fromthe film Ra.One, at Madame Tussauds in London.

Back in 2011, Kareena Kapoor Khan joined an elite group of Bollywoodstars when her wax statue was installed at the famous MadameTussauds museum in London, UK.When the statue was first unveiled, it was dressed in the actor’scostume from the popular number, Mauja Hi Mauja, from Jab We Met(2007). But now, the figurine is getting a makeover.The statue will now be dressed in the sari that Kareena was seenwearing in the song Chammak Challo from RA.One (2011)."Kareena was glad when she was informed of the costume change.

She also felt that it had been a while since the statue was unveiled inher Jab We Met outfit. She was happy that the Chammak challo sariwas chosen for the statue’s new look," says an insider.Interestingly, Kareena had gone to London to celebrate her husbandSaif Ali Khan’s bir thday on August 16. She was present at the mu-seum when her statue’s new avatar is unveiled.When contacted, Kareena told us from London, "It’s always a plea-sure to see the statue. We wanted to dress it up a bit so the red sarifrom Chammak Challo felt perfect."

Sylvester Stallone wishes luckto Indian RamboNew Delhi (IANS): Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables 3" isset for Friday release in India and the Hollywood action starwishes "luck" to "Indian Rambo" Ajay Devgn and his new film"Singham Returns".The two films were supposed to hit the screens Aug 15, but theface off was avoided."I think we are releasing against the Indian Rambo in India. Bestof luck to 'Singham' and Ajay Devgn," the "Rambo" star said in astatement."The Expendables 3" will release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu,other than English, in India Aug 22."Singham Returns", on the other hand, has already mintedRs.53.14 crore in the first two days of its release.

Martin fell for Lawrence's laid-back personalityLos Angeles (IANS): Singer Chris Mar tin repor tedly got attractedto actress Jennifer Lawrence because of her laid-back person-ality.Friends believe she's good for him following his failed marriagewith Gwyneth Paltrow, whom he split from in March, repor tsfemalefirst.co.uk."Jennifer is loads of fun and they can't stop laughing when theyare together. Chris feels he is dating someone who has every-thing he's been missing out on in the past 11 years," a sourcewas quoted by The Sun newspaper as saying.Paltrow, 41, is known for her healthy diet and strict fitness rou-tine, while Lawrence, 24, smokes and enjoys pizza.And Mar tin repor tedly feels the "Hunger Games" star has givenhim a "new lease of life."Lawrence and Mar tin first sparked rumours they were datingafter they were spotted having deep conversation at the after-par ty for Coldplay's Royal Alber t Hall gig in London in July andthey have reportedly spent the last six weeks texting each other.

Kate Moss parties with MadonnaCannes (IANS): Model Kate Moss partied with singer Madonnaat her 1920s-themed bir thday par ty organised here over theweekend.The "Frozen" hitmaker turned 56 on Aug 16.Moss joined Madonna in celebrating her bir thday at a lavishpar ty at a private villa here, where the two were pictured cosyingup together, repor ts contactmusic.com.Madonna posted the photo of herself wearing a beaded blackdress next to the model, who was clad in a strappy black gown,on her Instagram account Sunday.She capt ioned the image: "Bow down Bi tches!#whatitfeelslikeforagirl.(sic)"Her children -- Lourdes, 17, Rocco, 14, David, 8, and Mercy, 8 -- also attended the bir thday bash.

Chris Brown, Karrueche Tran reuniteLos Angeles (IANS): Singer Chris Brown and Karrueche Tranhave fuelled speculation they are back together after being re-cently pictured getting affectionate.The on-and-off couple - who were believed to have ended theirthree-year relationship for good earlier this month - were spot-ted together at a charity football game here Aug 16 and seemedmore in love than ever, repor ts contactmusic.com.Ahead of the game, Brown shared on Instagram: "It's going down!Team Breezy vs. Quincy (Jones') team (sic)".Tran was seen cheering on the singer from the sidelines, beforethey embraced on the field and were openly affectionate as theyleft the game.Later in the evening, Brown posed for a selfie with the model asthe drove through the city.

At Courteney's wedding EdSheeran to be best man?Los Angeles (IANS): Singer Ed Sheeran is likely to be the bestman at the wedding of actress Cour teney Cox and musicianJohnny McDaid.Sheeran had introduced the two and he is expected to take on theimpor tant role when the couple exchange vows later this year,repor ts femalefirst.co.uk."Not only is Ed great mates with Johnny, he is a close friend ofCour teney's. Ed said yes immediately when asked. Johnny'sother best pal, singer Foy Vance, is also an usher," said a source."It's between him and Ed for best man - they'll probably share it,"added the source.McDaid proposed to Cox, who has 10-year-old daughter Cocowith ex-husband David Arquette, in June after just six months ofdating.

No violence or 'dirty comedy' inJackie Chan's filmLos Angeles (IANS): Actor Jackie Chan says he wants his mov-ies to have "plenty of action, but not violence" and wants to stayaway from dir ty comedy.The "Rush Hour" actor considers the films he directs to be likehis children, and he has a very strict set of guidelines, repor tscontactmusic.com."When I direct, the film is like my baby. I have to make sure thereis comedy but no dir ty comedy and a positive message," hesaid."I like people to believe the stunts are real - it's not like 'Spider-Man' or 'Iron Man'... I only use a tiny bit of special effects."I want it to be believable, so where I used to do a triple kick, Inow just do one. Eventually there will be no kicks. There has tobe plenty of action, but not violence," he added.

HOLLYWOODnews

Actress Megan Fox promoting her movie Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles in Mexico. (IANS)

A figure of Buddha within the Baiqoi Monastery in GyangzeCounty, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (IANS)

Actors Nicholas Tse (L) and Gao Yuanyuan at a press conferenceof the film But Always in Beijing, China (IANS)

U.S. actors Cameron Diaz (R) and Jason Segel (L) pose forphotographs during a red carpet event in Mexico City. (IANS)

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