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October 9, 2011

Suvidha centres to be made operational from October 17


Samrala October 9
Punjab Anil Kaushik has said all the 506 suvidha centres set up at the district and block levels will be made operational from October 17 and these will be made online also.

He was here to inspect a suvidha centre at the Samrala Police Station.
He said all the arrangements had been made in this regard. He added that with suvidha centres, the people would save time and get their documents from a single window in a fixed time frame.
The DGP said to control crime more effectively in the state, a new scheme was under progress and would come into force shortly.
He said although the crime graph in the state was low as compared to some other states, the Punjab police wanted to bring the crime graph under control.
He said earlier the police was facing a staff shortage, but now fresh recruitments had been done.
Those who were present on the occasion included MF Faroqi, DIG, Ludhiana; Mandeep Singh Sidhu, SS, Khanna; Balwinder Singh, SPD, Khanna and Ranbir Singh Khatra, SSP, Fatehgarh Sahib. 

PPCB for complete ban on plastic bags


Patiala, October 9
Notwithstanding the fact that the Punjab Government had imposed a ban on the manufacture, disposal and usage of polythene bags in the state recently, renowned environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal, Executive Director of Kheti Virasat Mission Umendra Dutt and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) chairman KS Pannu have advocated a complete ban on the use of non-biodegradable plastic carry bags.

According to the environmentalists, non-biodegradable plastic carry bags pollute the environment and must be banned.
The state government had enforced the Punjab Plastic Carry Bags (Manufacture, Usage and Disposal) Control Act on May 1, prohibiting the use of the plastic of thickness not less than 30-micron. While the Punjab Government has imposed a ban on plastic of thickness not less than 30-micron, the neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh had already imposed a total ban on the manufacture, distribution, stocking, recycling, selling or using plastic carry bags.
Speaking to The Tribune, Seechewal said, “In the wake of the fact that non-biodegradable plastic is bound to pollute the environment, the state government must impose a complete ban on the use of plastic carry bags”.
He added that if proper steps were not taken on time, the coming generations would suffer on account of the polluted environment in the state.
Notably, the environmentalists had been repeatedly stating that the fertility of soil in the state was getting affected adversely due to the indiscriminate disposal of polythene in an unscientific manner.
Executive Director of Kheti Virasat Mission Umendra Dutt said the state government should chalk out a comprehensive plan for providing an alternate option to plastic carry bags and should subsequently implement a complete ban on the use of plastics and polythenes in a phased manner.
“Plastic plates, glasses and other such material used for packaging food should be immediately banned. Special drives should be undertaken to ensure that plastic is not being used at food joints, eating outlets and food vendors on the streets,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pannu said it was appreciable that the state government had imposed a ban on the use of the plastics of thickness not less than 30-micron.
“My personal opinion is that the government should impose a complete ban on the use of plastic carry bags in order to ensure that the environment is not polluted,” he said.
He added that the PPCB was conducting surprise checks in the state to ensure strict compliance of the ban on the use of plastic of thickness less than 30-micron.
The Punjab Plastic Carry Bags (Manufacture, Usage and Disposal) Control Act specified that no person would throw in any drain, ventilation shaft, pipe and fitting connected with private or public drainage, public place, any non-biodegradable garbage or plastic or biodegradable garbage in a non-biodegradable bag.
However, despite the enforcement of the Act, the state government has miserably failed to ensure its proper implementation, as the norms of the Act are being grossly violated in various parts of the state. 


Tributes paid to playwright Gursharan


Kussa (Moga), October 9
Arundhati Roy was among thousands of socialists, artists and farmers who gathered here to pay tributes to theatre personality Gursharan Singh who passed away on September 28.

Arundhati said: “Gursharan Singh kept alive political freedom of the people through theatre. He took theatre to the grassroots level, influencing the common masses on current issues from time to time”.
Dr Areet Kaur, her voice choked with emotion, said her father was always concerned about the fate of the common man in the modern times. She said her father did not believe in any religion but was a true devotee of Guru Nanak and served humanity. “My father inspired the people to fight for the rights of the common man through theatre at the village level. He was successful in his mission to a large extent.”
Dr Atamjit Singh, Kewal Dhaliwal, Ajmer Aulakh, Dr Sahib Singh, Prof Pali Bhupinder, Attar Jeet, Amolak Singh, Pushap Lata, Pawel Kussa, Jaspal Jassi, Dr Raghbir Kaur, BKU leader Sukhdev Singh Kokri and many others were present on the occasion. The gathering observed a one-minute in silence in memory of the departed soul. A photo exhibition was put up by Suchetak Kala Manch, Mohali, depicting the life of the grand old man of the Punjabi theatre. 

Arundhati speaks up for farmers

It should be left to the farmers to decide whether or not they want to sell their land... I have been with the tribal people in Jharkhand where they have resisted land acquisition for a multinational company for five years. You should learn a lesson from them — Arundhati Roy at Kussa village in Moga                                                                
Kussa (Moga), October 9
Eminent writer, journalist and social activist Arundhati Roy has called upon the people of the state to join hands against the government move to acquire land for a multi-national company in Mansa’s Gobindpura village.
The Booker Prize winner, addressing a huge gathering at Kussa village, slammed the Punjab government for “forcible” acquisition of land, saying it was against the basic right to livelihood granted to people by nature.
She said the land belonged to the people who should have the right to cultivate it. “The government does not have any right to forcibly evict tillers from their land which gives them their livelihood”, she said.
Roy said land-holdings in Punjab were dwindling and the state government should ensure that the land stayed with the farmers.
“It should be left to the farmers to decide whether or not they want to sell their land.”
She said if the state government persisted in its efforts to acquire the Gobindpura land, the common masses should rise against the authorities.
“I have been with the tribal people in Jharkhand where they have resisted land acquisition for a multinational company for five years. You should learn from them”, she said. She advocated equal rights for women.

$10 tablet possible, says maker of Aakash


New Delhi, October 9
“At first, even I didn’t think it was possible,” quipped Suneet Singh Tuli, maker of the world’s cheapest net access and computing device priced at just $45. But he is talking of the old times when the idea of a cheap computer was still laughable for a world brought up on the staple diet of hi-tech devices that serve more as symbols than anything else.
Today, everything is possible. “If India can usher in a mobile revolution, why not an Internet revolution? A rickshaw puller, who has a cell phone today, can have a computer tomorrow. Our client is not the man who can afford the iPhone. Our client is the man on the street who still reveres the computer.
“We want to end that reverence by making the device as simple as a toy - that common, that easy,” said the Ludhiana-born, 43-year-old Sikh entrepreneur, who, along with his brother Raja Tuli, gave body to India’s vision of producing cheap laptops as educational tools for the poorest of students.
The government was looking for $35 bid, but $49.98 was the closest it got, with Tuli bagging the contract. “I still remember that day. I was in the lounge of IIT Rajasthan at Jodhpur waiting for the results when the other lowest bidders started teasing me. They asked me if I had done the calculations right. I was so anxious that I called my brother back home in North Alberta to check. Luckily, all went well,” recounted Suneet, whose family migrated from Ludhiana to Iran in 1976.
Few would know that their first business venture was “Witefax”, the world’s biggest fax machine which the Guinness recorded as such in 1992. Ask Suneet of its history and he says, “Necessity is the mother of invention. In 1989, the fax machine had just appeared, but it could not do our engineering documents. So we invested in a project to develop our kind of machine which turned out to be the biggest world over.”
But even with a history of invention and 18 US patents on a technology that enhances the speed of downloading on Internet, the Tulis were not sure about “Aakash”. Providence, however, ensured that they bid for it.
Asked if Kapil Sibal’s dream of $10 tablet is possible, Suneet explained, “When I got my first Macintosh, it cost $5000. Today for $45, I can take home an “Aakash”. Tomorrow, it could cost me $10.”
Ask him if “Aakash” can be called an Indian product considering it has imported parts and he quips, “A product made by Indians, in India, and one that generates revenue and employment in India is essentially Indian.”

Vietnam takes on China, says India can explore its oil


Hanoi, October 9
Unfazed by Chinese threats, Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang today said India and other foreign nations were welcome to explore hydrocarbons in areas within his country's jurisdiction, as he sought to deepen strategic and defence ties with New Delhi.

Ahead of his maiden state visit to India from Tuesday, President Sang said the objectives of his trip are to continue to strengthen friendship between the two peoples, reinforce, deepen and add greater substance to bilateral strategic partnership.
"This visit takes place in the context that the time-honoured traditional friendship and strategic partnership between Vietnam and India are witnessing strong growth in all areas for the sake of peace, stability, cooperation and development," Sang said.
"We note with satisfaction the fine developments of the strategic partnership between the two countries in all areas, including security- defence," he said.
The high-level visit, which will be closely followed by Beijing, comes at a time when both countries are having their own difficulties with China. Commenting on the controversy over oil exploration by India in two Vietnamese oil blocks in the South China Sea with Chinese authorities raising objections claiming that it was their area, Sang defended Hanoi's deal with India.
"It is a fact that all cooperation projects between Vietnam and other partners, including ONGC, in the field of oil and gas are located on the continental shelf, within the exclusive economic zone and under the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of Vietnam, entirely in conformity with international laws, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," he said.
We welcome foreign companies to work with Vietnamese partners in oil and gas projects on the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone of Vietnam and in conformity with Vietnamese laws," Sang said The Chinese claim on the South China Sea has been rejected by both India and Vietnam, saying as per the UN the blocks belong to Vietnam. India has also made it clear that its state-owned firm would continue to explore in the resource-rich South China Sea.
The President said Vietnam was also committed to protecting the legitimate interests of foreign companies which have invested in the country.
"Vietnam commits and is responsible for protecting the rights and legitimate interests of foreign companies doing business in Vietnam," the 62-year-old leader, also a politburo standing member of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, said.
Asked if Beijing was overbearing in its attitude towards Hanoi, the Vietnamese President said that his country hoped that China's fast paced development would contribute positively to peace, stability and progress.
"China is a country with a growing role and influence in the region and the world. We hope that China's development will contribute positively to peace, stability and development in the region and the world," he said.

‘China an important neighbour’
China and Vietnam fought a brief war in 1979 and according to analysts, Hanoi has grown wary of the Middle Kingdom's growing economic and military might. But the Vietnamese President sought to downplay this. “China is an important and close neighbouring country of Vietnam,” he said, adding that Hanoi attached great importance to the development of good neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation with China, which constitutes a priority in its foreign policy. 

Hong Kong student's Apple tribute is Internet hit


Jonathan Mak, a student at the Polytechnic University, poses with his laptop showing his self-designed logo in tribute of Apple founder Steve Jobs in Hong Kong on October 7, 2011

A Hong Kong design student said Friday he was overwhelmed and "flattered" after his sombre logo in tribute to Apple founder Steve Jobs caused a worldwide Internet sensation.
The design, featuring Jobs's silhouette incorporated into the bite of a white Apple logo on a black background, has gone viral on the Internet since news of his death.
"I feel so unreal," Jonathan Mak, a second year graphic design student at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, told AFP, after he was inundated with hundreds of emails and messages on his Twitter account.
The 19-year-old said he had received queries from newspapers in the United States and Germany about buying the copyright to use his logo and had been offered jobs after it spread like wildfire on the Internet.
"I am flattered by the attention but I would like to focus on my study before taking on any full-time job," said the bespectacled student, adding that he was trying to cope with his new-found fame.
"I'm quite busy now actually as I'm trying to finish a school project," he said.
When asked about whether he would be targeting commercial opportunities, Mak said he was considering contacting Apple on copyright issues because his design is based on Apple's own logo.
Some merchandisers have reportedly used his logo for commemorative memorabilia for Jobs such as t-shirts and caps that are being sold on the Internet.
"I will consider using any proceeds I make from the copyright for cancer research, as suggested by some people to me on the Internet," he said. Jobs died at 56 of pancreatic cancer.
Mak said he first came up with the design after Jobs announced his resignation in late August, but the logo received little attention at the time.
The teenager said the Apple founder had inspired him in his design.
"He was a minimalist, which is the way I would like to emphasise in my design -- fewer elements but a powerful message."
"Steve Jobs strongly believed in his own ideas and continued with his beliefs no matter how people criticised him. He was courageous," said Mak.

Jobs authorized biography so his kids can know him

Andreas Raptopoulos, of Palo Alto, looks upon the flowers, candles and apples which adorn the sidewalk outside the home of Steve Jobs in Palo Alto, California, in the early morning October 6, 2011.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs stands beneath a photograph of him and Apple-co founder Steve Wozniak from the early days of Apple during the launch of Apple's new "iPad" tablet computing device in San Francisco, California, in this January 27, 2010 file photo.


Steve Jobs' touching last move for his kids

CUPERTINO, Calif./SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Steve Jobs, in pain and too weak to climb stairs a few weeks before his death, wanted his children to understand why he wasn't always there for them, according to the author of his highly anticipated biography.
"I wanted my kids to know me," Jobs was quoted as saying by Pulitzer Prize nominee Walter Isaacson, when he asked the Apple Inc co-founder why he authorized a tell-all biography after living a private, almost ascetic life.
"I wasn't always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did," Jobs told Isaacson in their final interview at Jobs' home in Palo Alto, California.
Isaacson said he visited Jobs for the last time a few weeks ago and found him curled up in some pain in a downstairs bedroom. Jobs had moved there because he was too weak to go up and down stairs, "but his mind was still sharp and his humor vibrant," Isaacson wrote in an essay on Time.com that will be published in the magazine's October 17 edition.

Jobs died on Wednesday at the age of 56 after a long battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.
Outpourings of sympathy swept across the globe as state leaders, business rivals and fans paid respect to the man who touched the daily lives of countless millions through the Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Jobs had struggled with health issues but said very little about his battle with cancer since an operation in 2004. When he stepped down in August, handing the CEO reins to long-time operations chief Tim Cook, Jobs said simply that he could no longer fulfill his duties as chief executive.
Apple has been similarly guarded about the circumstances of his death, saying only that their chairman was surrounded by his wife Laurene and immediate family. Jobs had four children from two relationships.
Funeral arrangements have not been disclosed and it is uncertain when the company will hold a planned "celebration" of Jobs' life. Officials in Sacramento said there will be no state or public funeral.
SOMBER MOOD
From Tokyo and Paris to San Francisco and New York, mourners created impromptu memorials outside Apple stores, from flowers and candles to a dozen green and red apples on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.
At corporate headquarters in the heart of Silicon Valley on Thursday, employees -- current and former -- gathered with their families under an overcast sky to pay their respects at a makeshift memorial on a driveway leading up to the entrance.

"He was a very private person, but he's everywhere in the products he created," said Glenn Harada, a 22-year-old former Apple employee. "He didn't work alone but none of this could have happened without him."
Employees said they went on with business, but with an undercurrent of sadness. Grief counselors on the payroll had reached out to Apple workers, a spokesman said.
"Deep down there's sadness," said Cory Moll, a part-time Apple employee who had tried to organize a union. "We have lost someone who touched us all."
With his passion for minimalist design and a genius for marketing, Jobs laid the groundwork for Apple to continue to flourish after his death, most analysts and investors say.
But Apple still faces challenges in the absence of the man who was its chief product designer, marketing guru and salesman nonpareil. Phones running Google's Android software are gaining share in the smartphone market, and there are questions about what Apple's next big product will be.
The launch of the iPhone 4S -- at the kind of gala event that became Jobs' trademark -- was a letdown to many fans earlier this week, underscoring how Jobs' showmanship and uncanny instincts will be missed.
But Wall Street analysts said Cook's new team-based approach and operational savvy will keep the company on track -- at least for now.
Apple shares ended down just 0.23 percent at $377.37, though that underperformed the broader U.S. market.
"It didn't come as a shock," said Terry Donoghue, an Apple technical writer, whose department boss called an hour-long meeting to reminisce about Jobs. "It's still hard for a lot of people."
JOBS' ESTATE: CONFIDENTIAL?
Jobs, in his trademark uniform of black mock-turtleneck and blue jeans, was deemed the heart and soul of a company that rivals Exxon Mobil as the most valuable in America.
With an estimated net worth of $7 billion -- including a 7 percent stake in Walt Disney Co -- it was not known how Jobs' estate would be handled.
The entrepreneur had sometimes been criticized for not wielding his enormous influence and wealth for philanthropy like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. His death revived speculation that some of his estate might be donated to cancer research groups or hospitals.
California law requires a will to be filed in probate court within 30 days of death.
Jobs and his wife placed at least three properties into trusts in 2009, which legal experts say is a sign he may have been preparing his assets to remain confidential upon his death.
Placing stock and real estate into trusts can both minimize estate taxes upon a person's death, and keep them from being publicly disclosed in probate court, said John O'Grady, a trusts and estates attorney in San Francisco.
Jobs was given up for adoption soon after his birth in San Francisco to an American mother, Joanne Carole Schieble, and a Syrian-born father, Abdulfattah "John" Jandali.
A college dropout, Jobs started Apple Computer with friend Steve Wozniak in his parents' garage in 1976.
"I do feel like I did when John Lennon was killed. Also JFK and Martin Luther King. Like Steve Jobs, they gave us hope," Wozniak said on his Facebook page.
Jobs changed the technology world in the late 1970s, when the Apple II became the first personal computer to gain a wide following. He did it again in 1984 with the Macintosh, which built on breakthrough technologies developed at Xerox Parc and elsewhere to create the personal computing experience as we know it today.
The rebel streak that was central to his persona got him tossed out of Apple in 1985, but he returned in 1997 and after a few years began the roll-out of a troika of products -- the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad -- that again upended the established order in major industries.

California passes Dream Act for immigrant students


Ana Maria Archila (R) and Carly Fox, of the New York State Dream Act Task Force, hold each other during a mock graduation ceremony at the West Front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, 2004. California governor Jerry Brown signed the California Dream Act into law Saturday, making illegal immigrants eligible for state money to attend American universities and colleges, his office said.
California governor Jerry Brown signed the California Dream Act into law Saturday, making illegal immigrants eligible for state money to attend American universities and colleges, his office said.
Under the act, illegal immigrants who have attended high school in the Golden State can receive Cal-Grant aid, which last year gave grants to more than 370,000 poor students of an average $4,500 each.
"Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking. The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us," Brown said.
California officials estimate that around 2,500 students will qualify for the grants under the new state legislation, called AB 131, costing $14.5 million, Brown's office said in a statement.
The overall Cal Grant program is funded at $1.4 billion, meaning that only 1 percent of all the program's money will be potentially impacted by AB 131 when the law goes into effect, it said.
Brown, a veteran Democrat, took office in January, succeeding Republican actor turned politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had vetoed the legislation.
The passage of the law in liberal California, which has a massive immigrant population, could be seen as a signal to lawmakers in Washington, over the controversial Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.
The federal DREAM Act would give a six-year resident's permit to high school graduates who came to America illegally, and let them pay the much cheaper residents' tuition rates or obtain a scholarship to attend a US university.
It would affect 55,000 immigrant children brought to the United States illegally by their parents who have been through the public school system only to find college off-limits because of their legal status and high tuition fees.
Backers of the DREAM Act say the United States should encourage youths to pursue higher education as a key to their own and the nation's economic success.
But opponents say it would send a message to migrants that it was acceptable to come to the United States illegally, and should not be passed without a thorough reform of American immigration rules.

California allows college aid to illegal immigrants


SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a bill giving illegal immigrant college students access to state-funded financial aid, the second half of two-part legislation known as the "Dream Act."
The controversial measure, which passed the Democrat-controlled legislature on a party-line vote in September, represents a victory for immigrant-rights activists ahead of the 2012 presidential election. California is the nation's most populous state.
Only two other states, Texas and New Mexico, allow illegal immigrants to qualify for state financial aid for college, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking," Brown said in a written statement issued by his office.
"The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us," he said.
Brown in July fulfilled a campaign promise by signing into law a companion bill to allow illegal immigrants to receive privately-funded college scholarships. Together the two bills have been dubbed the "California Dream Act."
A federal Dream Act that would have created a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the military failed in Senate last year.
Opponents of the California Dream Act have argued that public funds should not be used to help illegal immigrants, especially as California faces deep budget woes that have prompted cuts in education and higher tuitions at the state's public colleges and universities.
"Citizens are having a hard enough time getting the classes they need now," Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Hesperia Republican, wrote in a September 9 letter to Brown urging him to veto the legislation.
"(California already offers) students in the country illegally in-state tuition; legally documented students from the next state over can only dream of such a benefit," Donnelly said.
California is one of about a dozen states that allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, based on attendance and graduation from a state high school.
Under the new law, written by Senator Gil Cedillo, a Los Angeles Democrat, those same illegal immigrants would be eligible for aid from the University of California, California State university system and the state's 112 community colleges.
They could also apply for Cal Grants, which are cash awards based on academic performance.
For the 2007-2008 academic year, the University of California reports that less than three-tenths of one percent of the system's 220,000 students were immigrants who qualified for in-state tuition.
More than 68 percent of those 1,941 students were U.S. citizens or "documented" immigrants, according to the University of California.
At the state universities, the new law would affect 3,633 students, or less than one percent of the 440,000 students enrolled in the current school year.
Of the nearly 2.9 million community college enrollees, 34,057 would be affected

Alberta farmer who shot thief will go to jail


A central Alberta farmer who shot a man stealing his ATV more than two years ago will serve 90 days in jail.
Brian Knight learned his sentence in a Red Deer courtroom Friday after pleading guilty to criminal negligence in January.
Knight chased and used a shot gun to fire at a man who was stealing Knight's ATV from his farm near Tees, Alta.
In the early morning of March 26, 2009, Knight found three men in his farmyard.
He jumped out of bed and gave chase clad in boxer shorts and rubber boots to a man riding Knight's all-terrain vehicle.
Knight rammed the ATV with his car and, when the man abondoned the machine and began running, Knight pulled out a shotgun, firing two rounds at him, police said.
The man was eventually caught after Knight called friends and relatives to help in the search, police said.
The Crown recommended Knight be sent to jail for 90 days to be served intermittently.
The prosecutor told the judge the shooting was a vigilante act and the court must send a message that behavior of this sort is wrong.
However Knight's lawyer argued the shooting was not a vigilante act, but a spontaneous reaction.
Knight did not shoot to the man to kill or hurt him, but merely wanted to scare him, his lawyer said.

TORONTO - Lottery officials say Friday night's $50 million Lotto Max jackpot was won by a ticket purchased in the Greater Toronto Area. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. says it's the first $50 million Lotto Max win in the country since April. Two Maxmillions prizes were also offered, but neither was won. The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw, on Friday, October 14th, will be $12 million. The two unclaimed Maxmillions prizes of a million dollars each will also be up for grabs.


RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A woman pushing a baby in a stroller across railroad tracks was hit and killed by a train but managed to shove the stroller to safety just in time to save the infant, authorities said.
The woman was trying to walk through the crossing in Riverside, California on Saturday evening when the stroller became stuck in the tracks, police said. She managed to free the stroller, but she couldn't escape the oncoming commuter train.
"She didn't quite make it," Riverside police Sgt. Dan Warren said. "The baby's fine, but she got hit."
He did not have further details, including the woman's identity and her connection to the child.
Passenger Joseph Avila said he and the several dozen other passengers on the train going from Oceanside to San Bernardino in southern Californai did not feel the collision.
He told KCAL-TV that the train stopped and a conductor said there had been a fatality.
Both police and railroad officials were investigating the collision.

$50 million Lotto Max jackpot won by Toronto-area ticket


TORONTO - Lottery officials say Friday night's $50 million Lotto Max jackpot was won by a ticket purchased in the Greater Toronto Area.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. says it's the first $50 million Lotto Max win in the country since April.
Two Maxmillions prizes were also offered, but neither was won.
The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw, on Friday, October 14th, will be $12 million.
The two unclaimed Maxmillions prizes of a million dollars each will also be up for grabs.

US protesters clash with guards at Washington museum


Protesters clashed with security staff when they tried to enter a museum in Washington on Saturday, prompting one guard to use pepper spray and leading to at least one arrest, a spokeswoman said.
The incident occurred at The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum around 3:15 pm (1915 GMT), after hundreds of activists had marched from Freedom Plaza, near the White House, along the National Mall towards the US Capitol.
Some of those in the demonstration were affiliated with the Occupy DC protest group that sprung up earlier this week as a spin-off of the larger Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, angered at "corporate greed."
Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said a group of the protesters were confronted when they tried to push through the doors and enter the Air and Space Museum.
"When they were told they couldn't bring the banners they were carrying inside one security officer used pepper spray," she said.
"There were a couple of hundred protesters in the area at the time and Washington police were called. There was one arrest that I know of," she added, noting that the museum closed its doors two hours early because of the clash.
Occupy DC, a young group of several dozen protesters, is camping out at McPherson Square on Washington's K Street, where many political lobbyists have their offices.
On Friday its members greeted commuters with placards denouncing corporate greed. Later they mingled in small groups and swapped experiences with Occupy Wall Street participants who have come down to the nation's capital.
Protesters in New York, angered by government bailouts of banks based on Wall Street, began to gather on September 17, leading to continuous, increasingly high-profile demonstrations.
The protests have since spread to other US cities.

Christian protest over church burning turns deadly in Egypt


Christian protest over church burning turns deadly in Egypt

Nineteen people, mostly Coptic Christians, died in clashes on Sunday between Copts and Egyptian security forces, sparking fears of renewed sectarian strife, an AFP correspondent and state television said.
The killings in Cairo prompted an urgent appeal from Prime Minister Essam Sharaf for Egypt's Muslims and minority Christians "not to give in to sedition because it is a fire which burns up everybody."
Sixteen Copts were killed in the rampage which erupted during a demonstration in the Maspero district on the Nile, the correspondent said, after counting the bodies in a Coptic hospital.
Amid scenes of mayhem at the hospital filled with grieving relatives, a priest named Daud told AFP at least five of those killed were mowed down by a speeding army vehicle.
"Here is the brain" of one of them, he said, pointing to white matter in a plastic bag next to the body and disfigured face of a dead man. "Wael, wake up my dear Wael. Speak to me," sobbed his sister in despair.
Other bodies bore gunshot wounds.
State television reported that three soldiers were shot dead and dozens of their comrades wounded as angry Copts wielding batons protested over the burning of a church in southern Egypt last month.
"They fired at my colleague. He was standing next to me... Christians, sons of dogs," one wounded soldier said on the television.
The health ministry said 19 people were killed and 156 wounded.
Social networking sites such as Twitter spoke of provocation by thugs at the scene, while state television was accused of fanning anti-Coptic sentiment.
"What is taking place are not clashes between Muslims and Christians but attempts to provoke chaos and dissent," the prime minister said on his Facebook page.
"This is not befitting the children of the homeland who remain and will remain a single hand against the forces of vandalism... and extremism," Sharaf said.
The protesters clashed with anti-riot police and soldiers guarding the state television building, after thousands took part in a protest march from the Shobra district.
A standoff degenerated as the demonstrators started hurling stones and set fire to two cars, an AFP correspondent said. The television channel said an army vehicle was burnt.
Security forces fired into the air to disperse the crowd, sending dozens of people into flight.
"Down with the marshal," the demonstrators chanted on the march to Maspero, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who took power in February after president Hosni Mubarak's ouster in the face of mass street protests.
Hundreds of Copts also took part in a protest last Tuesday outside the state television building in protest at the September 30 burning of the church in the southern province of Aswan and demanding that its governor be sacked.
The church in Merinab village was attacked after Aswan governor Mustafa al-Seyyed was reported as saying Copts had built it without the required planning permission, according to state television.
Sectarian clashes are frequent in Egypt where the largest Coptic minority has often been the target of attack and repeatedly accuses the authorities of systematic discrimination.
Fifteen people died in clashes on May 7 after Muslim protesters attacked two churches because they believed the Christians were detaining a Muslim convert.
The attacks threatened to push Egypt's precarious religious tensions to the brink, prompting the caretaker cabinet to pledge it would reopen closed churches and ease building restrictions.
Copts make up roughly 10 percent of the country's 80 million people and they complain of state-sanctioned discrimination, including a law that requires presidential permission for church construction.
They have also been the targets of frequent attacks, the deadliest in January when a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people outside an Alexandria church.

Wildfire situation improving in Manitoba, evacuees hope to return home soon


SANDILANDS, Man. - Wildfires continue to burn in southeastern Manitoba, but the threat of flames engulfing two communities is lessening.
The province announced Sunday that evacuation orders had been lifted in several more communities, including an order for Woodridge. The community was threatened by a blaze that scorched nearly 200 square kilometres.
But David Schafer, acting fire commissioner for Manitoba, said that blaze was still burning too close to Sandilands and that it wasn't safe for residents of the village to return.
"It's been a while since I flew over it, but I would say the fire is within a kilometre of the community," Schafer said.
Duane Boutang, who is the reeve of the Rural Municipality of Piney, said the situation is "getting more and more under control."
The reeve said weather conditions in the area have improved and fire crews are working to dump more water on the flames. He said winds have now died and the humidity in the area has increased, which makes residents "hopeful."
Boutang said those forced to leave their homes because of the fires are staying with friends or in Winnipeg hotels and are anxiously waiting to go home.
He said they are "coping the best they can."
Evacuation orders in the neighbouring Rural Municipality of Stuartburn were also lifted Sunday, allowing residents of Caliento and Lonesand to go home.
The huge blaze in the province's southeast began on Thursday and was fuelled by bone-dry conditions and southerly winds that reached 90 km/h on Friday. By Saturday, firefighters caught a break as the wind dropped and a westerly breeze blew cooler air though the region.
But the area really needs rain. Following a wet spring which led to flooding, there hasn't been any significant precipitation since the start of June.
"It's critically dry. We haven't had any appreciable rainfall since this started. We had a very small sprinkle in that first evening but I don't think that even got to all parts of the fire," Schafer said.
"It's still a drought. It's still in a critical situation."
Schafer called the co-operation to contain the huge fires in the southeast "one of the largest, if not the largest, displays of mutual aid the province has seen in a long, long time," noting over two dozen communities and local fire departments worked together.
Fires have also been burning in a cottage area northeast of Winnipeg but the province says no buildings have been destroyed. Another blaze continues to burn in Riding Mountain National Park in western Manitoba, which originally began as a controlled burn.
Across the province, the smoke and flames have forced the closure of several highways.

Court sets riders on NRI divorces

NEW DELHI: A trial court has held that adivorce decree granted by a foreign court to anNRI is invalid in case the woman does not have the means to go to that country to plead her case and if she had not subjected herself to the jurisdiction of that court.

"The apex court has opined that where the foreign judgment is in defiance of the Indian Law, it could not be said to be conclusive... in the matter adjudicated and would be unenforceable," in this country," it said, adding the woman's objections raised by the woman fell within the purview of the exceptions of Section 13 Civil Procedure Code (when 'foreign judgment not conclusive'.

The court gave the ruling in a case where a UK-based NRI divorced his wife there though his wife had returned to India and not "submitted to the jurisdiction of a foreign court". The woman has sought divorce here on grounds of cruelty. The court said that the decree of divorce granted by the court could not be recognized.

"The fact that the petitioner has been residing in India since December 2009 and did not have the wherewithal to contest the proceedings on merit in the court in UK not only created an imbalance and an inequitable situation but clearly points out that she had not submitted to the jurisdiction of that court," Additional District judge Ina Malhotra said.

The woman (petitioner) had moved the trial court seeking divorce on the grounds of cruelty. Her husband, however, submitted that their marriage had already been dissolved by a court in UK and had attained finality. Hence, making a application infructuous. Also, since both the parties were a resident of UK, the decree was valid.

Her counsel Prashant Mendiratta argued that since the lady had never subjected herself to the jurisdiction of the UK Court adjudicating on the divorce, the decree passed by the UK Court would not bind the lady. Citing various judgments by Supreme court on the issue, Mendiratta said that in any case the proper law for dissolution of a marriage solemnized by Hindu rites and ceremonies between two Hindus would be the personal law of the parties, which is the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955-an act not applicable in UK.

After going through the contentions of both the parties, the court held that the objections raised by the woman fell within the purview of the exceptions of Section 13 Civil Procedure Code (when foreign judgment not conclusive), rendering the foreign decree a nullity. "I find that apex court has clearly opined that where the foreign judgment is in defiance of the Indian Law, it could not be said to be conclusive in the matter adjudicated and would be unenforceable in this country," it said.

The court also said even the fact that the petitioner (woman) was a resident of UK before and after marriage cannot vest the foreign court with the jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter as she had returned to India for good and not on a fleeting visit "prior to initiation of divorce proceedings" in UK.

13 PIOs among 111 charged in biggest identity theft in US

NEW YORK: In the biggest identity theft scam in the US history, 111 people, including at least 13 of Indian origin, have been charged by federal authorities for stealing credit card data of thousands of customers to buy high-end products worth over $13 million, including Apple gadgets and fancy bags from Gucci.

Among those indicted in 'Operation Swiper' are bank tellers, store employees and restaurant workers who allegedly skimmed customers' personal IDs. Many of the defendants are accused of going on nationwide shopping sprees, staying at five-star hotels, renting luxury automobiles and private jets with forged credit cards that contained the account information of unsuspecting American and European consumers.

The defendants are members of five organized forged credit card and identity theft rings based in Queens County and have ties to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Charged in 10 indictments, the defendants perpetrated fraud that cost financial institutions and retail businesses more than $13 million in losses over 16 months. The indictments charge that Imran Khan, Ali Khweiss, Anthony Martin, Sanjay Deowsarran and Amar Singh were "bosses" of criminal enterprises and received the necessary raw material - lists of credit card account numbers and various blank credit cards. Among the Indian-origin people charged are Vishnu Harilal, Ravindra Singh, Amar Singh, Neha Punjabi Singh, Ravi Ramroop and Kamal Sanasi. Eighty-six of the defendants are in custody and 25 are being sought.

In addition, nearly 24 defendants are variously charged in six indictments with burglaries and robberies throughout Queens County. "This is by far the largest and certainly among the most sophisticated identity theft/credit card fraud cases that law enforcement has come across," Queens district attorney Richard Brown said. Brown said credit card fraud and identity theft are two of the fastest growing crimes in the US, afflicting millions of victims and costing billions of dollars in losses to businesses.

According to the indictments, between May 2010 and September 2011 counterfeit cards were given to teams of "shoppers" who were sent out on shopping expeditions in New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Los Angeles. They bought Apple iPads, iPhones, computers, watches and fancy handbags from Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rolexe and Breitling. The groups would %then resell the merchandise oversees to locations in China, Europe and the Middle East. pti They are also alleged to have used forged credit cards to rent such luxurious automobiles as Lamborghinis and Porsches.

The investigation involved intelligence gathering and electronic eavesdropping on dozens of different telephones in which thousands of conversations in Russian, Mandarin and Arabic were intercepted.

Brown said as part of the investigation, search warrants were executed earlier this week at 15 locations throughout New York City and Long Island.

Among the items allegedly recovered were approximately USD 650,000 in cash, seven handguns, computers, card readers, embossers, blank credit cards and fake identifications. 

Protests force Punjab govt to withdraw 2 bills

CHANDIGARH: Following year-long protests and growing outcry, the Punjab government finally withdrew two highly controversial bills, on the final day of the last session of the present assembly, marking victory of public organizations and human rights groups.

One of the bills, titled the Punjab (Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property) Bill, 2010, had a controversial clause, which infringed upon the individual's fundamental right to peaceful protest. The other bill, titled The Punjab Special Security Group Bill, 2010, was labelled as "draconian" by constitutional experts, who objected to its clause related to the all-encompassing definition of 'anti-national force'. Both were passed on November 1, 2010.

The TOI had highlighted the objectionable clauses of both the bills on the day they were tabled in the assembly. The Congress had raised the issue and staged a walkout, demanding withdrawal of the clauses, but the ruling MLAs hailed the bills and passed them in the absence of the opposition members.

Apparently, the appropriate authorities - the Punjab governor in the case of bills related to state list, and the President in the case of concurrent list - refused to clear the bills during the last one year, which forced the government to withdraw them. On Saturday, the assembly agenda clearly stated that "assent was still awaited on the bills".

However, deputy CM and home minister Sukhbir Badal, who had introduced the bills last year and asked them to be withdrawn on Saturday, explained, "A false public propaganda was created that the bills were anti-public. We want to settle peoples' apprehensions and so the bills are being withdrawn. We will remove the objectionable portions and introduce them in the form of ordinance." 

Punjab Assembly passes 10 Bills, withdraws three


Chandigarh, October 8
Punjab Vidhan Sabha today passed 10 Bills amid sloganeering by the Opposition Congress legislators even as two controversial bills on the formation of a special security group and damage to property were withdrawn. The legislators also increased their own allowances as well as those of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.

All the 10 Bills were passed by majority vote amid much uproar, with the Opposition trying to stall the house proceedings after the Speaker ruled that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal could make a statement at the start of zero hour before allowing time to it (Opposition).
Notably, the Punjab Legislative Assembly (Salaries and Allowances of Members) Amendment Bill, 2011, allows hike in house loan limit to Rs 50 lakh for legislators. The loan for house repair has been hiked to Rs 3 lakh and Rs 15 lakh will now be allowed for purchasing a car. The MLAs will also be eligible for transport allowance at the rate of Rs 12 to Rs 15 per km.
The Punjab Legislative Assembly Speaker's and Deputy Speaker's Salaries (Second Amendment) Bill, 2011, allows the family and the dependents of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker to travel by train or aeroplane. Now onwards, they would also not have to furnish any bills for free travel facility of up to Rs 2 lakh, as allowed to them.
In another significant development, the ruling SAD bowed to the demand of its coalition partner, the BJP, by bringing in the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Amendment Bill, 2011. The Bill calls for punishment up to 10 years for cow slaughter, besides a penalty of Rs 10,000. Also passed was the Punjab Land Reforms Amendment Bill, 2011, which allows relaxation from land ceiling laws for those who are not tilling land.
Among the other Bills passed were the Guru Kashi University Bill regarding the setting up of another private university at Talwandi Sabo and the Punjab School Education Board Amendment and Extension Bill, 2011, which allows for extension in the term of its Chairman Dr DS Dhillon for one year. The other Bills were Punjab State Commission for NRIs Bill, 2011, which calls for the formation of a commission for NRIs, Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training (Amendment) Bill, 2011, the Punjab Land Revenue Second Amendment Bill, 2011, and the Punjab Health Systems Corporation Amendment Bill 2011.
In another significant development, the government withdrew three bills. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said both the Punjab Special Security Group Bill, 2010, and the Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public Property Bill, 2010, had been withdrawn following objections by various people groups. He said an apprehension had been created that these Bills would curtail the liberty of people, which was not the intention of the government.
Sukhbir said the Special Security Group Bill had been proposed after the Mumbai terror attacks and that the special group being formed under it would not be involved in police work, as was being felt by some people. He said similarly there were objections to the Bill on damage to public property that people would have to take permission from the sub-divisional magistrate for holding demonstrations. He said both Bills were being reworked and would be brought into effect through ordinances soon.
The Punjab Civil Services Amendment Bill has also been withdrawn with the government deciding not to go in for contractual employment in government service.
BILLS PASSED
 The Punjab Legislative Assembly (Salaries and Allowances of Members) Amendment Bill, 2011
l Allows hike in house loan limit of up to Rs 50 lakh for MLAs
l Loan for house repair hiked to Rs 3 lakh
l Rs 15 lakh allowed for buying a car
l MLAs to be eligible for transport allowance at the rate of Rs 12 to Rs 15 per km

 The Punjab Legislative Assembly Speaker's and Deputy Speaker's Salaries (Second Amendment) Bill, 2011
l Allows the family and the dependents of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker to travel by train or aeroplane
l They would not have to furnish any bills for free travel facility up to Rs 2 lakh

 The Punjab Legislative Assembly Speaker's and Deputy Speaker's Salaries (Second Amendment) Bill, 2011
l Allows the family and the dependents of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker to travel by train or aeroplane
l They would not have to furnish any bills for free travel facility up to Rs 2 lakh

 The Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Amendment Bill, 2011l Calls for punishment up to 10 years for cow slaughter, besides a penalty of Rs 10,000

 The Punjab Land Reforms Amendment Bill, 2011l Allows relaxation from land ceiling laws for those who are not tilling land

 The Guru Kashi University Billl Allows setting up of a private university at Talwandi Sabo

 The Punjab School Education Board Amendment and Extension Bill, 2011l Allows for extension in the term of its chairman Dr DS Dhillon for one year

 Punjab State Commission for NRIs Bill, 2011l Calls for the formation of a commission for NRIs

 The Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training (Amendment) Bill, 2011
The Punjab Land Revenue Second Amendment Bill, 2011
The Punjab Health Systems Corporation Amendment Bill 2011

 The Punjab Special Security Group Bill, 2010l Had been proposed after the Mumbai terror attacks

 
The Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public Property Bill, 2010
l People would have to take permission from the SDM for holding demonstrations
The Punjab Civil Services Amendment Bill n Has been withdrawn as govt has decided against contractual employment