Businessman killed after being hit by private plane

Meerut: A Delhi-based businessman was on Saturday killed when a two-seater micro-light private plane met with an accident at the Partapur airstrip, though the pilot and his colleague escaped unhurt.

The incident occurred around 10 AM when the businessman Yogesh Garg was clicking pictures of the private plane on the airstrip while it was taking off and was hit by one of its wings, police said.

Yogesh, who ran a consultancy company at New Delhi, died on the spot, they said.

Anil Thapa, spokesman of Pankh Aviation, which runs the flying club, said the wing and a wheel of the plane was damaged in the incident, but its pilot Anil Gupta and his colleague Purvi escape unhurt.

He claimed that the accident took place as Yogesh came on the airstrip to take pictures of the micro-light aircraft while it was taking off from the runway.

Police said that the matter was being investigated and they were trying to find out who allowed Yogesh to come on the runway and take pictures.

Additional District Magistrate Neeraj Shukla, who reached the spot, said that preliminary inquiry has revealed that Pankh Aviation was not allowed to use the airstrip.

However, the company claimed that it was giving flying training from the last three-four months. The ADM said that records of last three-four months were

being checked.

Transgendered Miss Universe Canada contestant prepares for pageant

Transgender beauty queen Jenna Talackova of Vancouver

TORONTO - The Canadian transgendered Miss Universe contestant who sparked global media attention when she was disqualified from the pageant was all smiles at a Toronto photo shoot on Saturday.
A bubbly Jenna Talackova appeared to be enjoying herself as she posed for the cameras in a variety of outfits, including a white bikini.
The photo shoot was in advance of the Miss Universe Canada pageant in Toronto, which will culminate with the winner being crowned Saturday.
The tall, slim blond from Vancouver created an international splash when organizers disqualified because she isn't a naturally-born female.
But pageant owner Donald Trump overruled the decision and said Talackova could take part.
Talackova underwent sex-change surgery at age 19 and has said she knew from an early age that she was born the wrong gender.
She says she has a boyfriend and hopes to have two kids some day, but she didn't initially tell him she was born male.

ਐਡਮਿੰਟਨ ਖਾਲਸਾ ਸਕੂਲ ਨੇ ਮਨਾਇਆ ਵਿਸਾਖੀ ਮੇਲਾ

ਸਕੂਲ ਦੀ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕੀ ਕਮੇਟੀ ਤੇ ਸਟਾਫ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਕਲਾਕਾਰ 
ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਨਾਲ।

ਐਡਮਿੰਟਨ, 12 ਮਈ (ਵਤਨਦੀਪ ਸਿੰਘ ਗਰੇਵਾਲ)-ਐਡਮਿੰਟਨ ਖਾਲਸਾ ਸਕੂਲ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਵਿਸਾਖੀ ਮੇਲਾ ਸਥਾਨਿਕ ਮਹਾਰਾਜਾ ਬੈਕੁੰਟ ਹਾਲ ਵਿਚ ਮਨਾਇਆ ਗਿਆ, ਜਿਸ ਦੀ ਸ਼ੁਰੂਆਤ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਦੇ ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰੀ ਗੀਤ 'ਓ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ' ਅਤੇ ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਨਾਲ ਹੋਈ। ਇਸ ਮੌਕੇ ਸਕੂਲ ਦੇ ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਗਿੱਧਾ, ਭੰਗੜਾ, ਡਾਂਸ ਤੋਂ ਇਲਾਵਾ ਹੋਰ ਵੀ ਰੰਗਾਰੰਗ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ ਪੇਸ਼ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ। ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਵੱਖ-ਵੱਖ ਕਲਾਸਾਂ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਅੱਵਲ ਰਹਿਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਨਮਾਨ ਵੀ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਗਏ। ਇਸ ਮੌਕੇ ਸਕੂਲ ਦੇ ਮੀਤ ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ ਜਗਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਗਿੱਲ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਸਕੂਲ ਵਿਚ ਪੜ੍ਹਾਈ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ-ਨਾਲ ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਮਾਂ ਬੋਲੀ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਤੇ ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਵਿੱਦਿਆ ਦੀ ਵੀ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਸਿਖਲਾਈ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਮੌਕੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਸਮੂਹ ਭਾਈਚਾਰੇ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ ਨੂੰ ਸਫਲਤਾਪੂਰਵਕ ਨੇਪਰੇ ਚਾੜ੍ਹਨ ਲਈ ਧੰਨਵਾਦ ਕੀਤਾ। ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਸਕੂਲ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ ਬੱਲ ਸੰਧੂ, ਸਕੱਤਰ ਗੁਰਚਰਨ ਸੰਘਾ, ਡਾਇਰੈਕਟਰ ਅਮਰਜੀਤ ਸਰਾਂ, ਦਰਸ਼ਨ ਗਿੱਲ, ਪ੍ਰਿੰਸੀਪਲ ਰਵੀਨਾ ਦਿਉਲ, ਹਰਬੀਰ ਸੰਧੂ ਤੋਂ ਇਲਾਵਾ ਹੋਰ ਵੀ ਭਾਈਚਾਰਾ ਭਾਰੀ ਗਿਣਤੀ 'ਚ ਮੌਜੂਦ ਸੀ।

Canadian father seeks return of abducted young children from Poland

TORONTO - An Ontario man, who found his missing children in Poland after a two-and-a-half year search, is heading back to Europe this week for a court hearing that will decide their fate.
Stephen Watkins told The Canadian Press on Sunday that he will be in a Warsaw court Wednesday, seeking the return to Canada of his two boys _ Alexander, 10, and Christopher, 8.
The 40-year-old Newmarket, Ont., man was granted custody of the children after he split up with his wife, Edyta Watkins.
She and the boys vanished in March 2009, only to emerge later in Poland, the woman's native country.
But on Dec. 15, a Polish court ruled against sending the boys back to Canada. Watkins is appealing that decision.
The court's ruling was based on its conclusion that it would be detrimental for the children to return to Canada as they had integrated fully into Polish society.
But Watkins has maintained his sons still speak more English than Polish and that he has secured the support of Canadian agencies that would help his sons re-settle into their home in Newmarket.
He argues that Poland has recognized Canadian court orders that show he has sole custody of the children and has acknowledged that international law had been broken.
Poland doesn't have an extradition treaty with Canada, but it's party to the Hague Convention, which is meant to expedite the process of returning abducted children.
"I am working hard not only to get my own abducted sons home but also trying to set (a) precedence in the country of Poland to see many internationally abducted children returned to their home countries," Watkins wrote in an email Sunday.
He has urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to raise the issue with his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, when the two leaders meet in Ottawa this week.
"The fact remains, an international crime has been committed against my sons, other Canadian children and children from many countries worldwide."
To bolster his case this week, Watkins has asked the National Recognized Missing Children Organization of Poland to speak at the hearing.
He is also seeking the presence of Reunite International, the British charity specializing in the movement of children across international borders, at Wednesday's hearing.

Canadians are teaching Brits how to be polite

Canadians are known for many things, but if there's one characteristic that tends to pop up more frequently than others it's our proclivity for being nice.
So while our city residents may disagree with that assessment (and the truth is far more nuanced than that simplistic view), most Canadians still consider politeness a serious business.
Perhaps that's why the Globe and Mail reports that members of the British service industry have been signing up in droves for a B.C. program that teaches everyone from hoteliers to restaurant managers how to treat customers like, well, Canadians.
And with London's Summer Games looming, thousands of Brits in search of some fine-tuning to their hospitality skills have signed up for the WorldHost Training Services program.
WorldHost was set up by the province in 1985 to offer customer service tips on tourism and hospitality for the EXPO '86.
In the 20-plus years since its inception, the program has been rebranded to embody an internationally recognized industry standard, instructing on fundamentals like attending to the needs of disabled clients, attentive listening and how to resolve customer ire in a constructive way.
Ricky Francis, who owns a Bed & Breakfast in Wales, told the Globe he's always been impressed by the service he receives when he visits the country.
"You do service so well in Canada," he said. "Americans are okay, but a tad insincere. People are arrogant in Britain — we think we do service well, but we really don't."
Francis' sentiments have been echoed by the mostly positive reception garnered by our own Olympic Games in 2010. Before Vancouver's hosting honours, 60,000 volunteers ran through the WorldHost program to what appeared to be good effect.
Global polls also buoy this notion. A 2010 international customer service survey ranked Canada first among 50 countries, while Maclean's ran a more comprehensive series about what the world thinks of us. And though our reputation has taken a recent hit thanks to the G20 and the Copenhagen climate change conference, we were still seen overall as great folks in a great country.
Though everyone will have a story about a horrible server in Montreal or some unspeakable rudeness they encountered on a Toronto street, it appears, at least by international reputation, that the good still far outweighs the bad.
So if you're lucky enough to be traveling around the U.K. this summer, be on the lookout for a little random homegrown hospitality in unexpected places.

Tennessee governor signs controversial "gateway sexual activity" bill

NASHVILLE, (Tenn)- Tennessee teachers can no longer condone so-called "gateway sexual activity" such as touching genitals under a new law that critics say is too vague and could hamper discussion about safe sexual behavior.

Governor Bill Haslam's office Friday confirmed that he had signed the bill, which stirred up controversy nationwide and even was lampooned by comedian Stephen Colbert.
"Kissing and hugging are the last stop before reaching Groin Central Station, so it's important to ban all the things that lead to the things that lead to sex," he said on the "Colbert Report" television show.
But proponents say the new law helps define the existing abstinence-only sex-education policy.
Under the law, Tennessee teachers could be disciplined and speakers from outside groups like Planned Parenthood could face fines of up to $500 for promoting or condoning "gateway sexual activities."
David Fowler, president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, which pushed the bill, said it does not ban kissing or holding hands from discussion in sex education classes. But he said it addresses the touching of certain "gateway body parts," including genitals, buttocks, breasts and the inner thigh.
It is unclear from the bill's wording whether Tennessee teachers could promote masturbation.
The bill sailed through the legislative session, passing the Senate 28-1 and the House 68-23.
Opponents, which include Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee and the state teachers' union, say that before they can begin fighting the new law, they have to be able to figure it out. They worry that discussion of sexual behavior could be interpreted as condoning it.
"The very ambiguous language in this bill certainly puts teachers in a very difficult situation" when it comes to knowing what to teach, said Jerry Winters, spokesman for the Tennessee Education Association.
Fowler said the new law was authored in part because of incidents in which teachers were instructing about alternate sexual practices as ways to have gratification without risking pregnancy, according to Fowler.
He said one such incident involved a Nashville high school teacher who was encouraging girls to give boys oral sex in order to get a condom on them.
Fowler also pointed to a Planned Parenthood-organized program at a school in Knoxville, where students were directed to a web site "that actually lists as possible methods of birth control things like oral sex and anal sex play that I think most Tennesseans would find inappropriate."
Lyndsey Godwin, manager of education and training for Planned Parenthood, said the idea that her group was encouraging such behavior was "utterly false." She said that while Planned Parenthood educators may answer a student's question by agreeing that anal and oral sex don't lead to pregnancy, they also emphasize the disease risks.
Godwin said Planned Parenthood supports the state's abstinence-centered policy, but the reality is not everyone can be abstinent. She said that being able to address issues of condom use, contraception and answer questions about sexual behaviors to educate students are essential to her group's role.
Winters of the Tennessee Education Association said that already existing sex education policy was "quite adequate."
"It does focus on abstinence, but in this modern world to say that ‘just say no' is the answer to teenage pregnancy is putting your head in the sand," Winters said.

British town of Sandwich celebrates 250 years of sandwiches

 

LONDON - The British town of Sandwich will Sunday stage a dramatic re-enactment of the moment when the town’s earl was said to have invented the sandwich, to mark the 250th anniversary of the bread-based meal.
Dressed in 18th-century costume, actors will recreate the night when the John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich — a rapacious card-player — "called for a slice of beef between two toasted pieces of bread so that he could carry on gaming uninterrupted", said a website for the event.
Legend states that others began asking for "the same as Sandwich!" and thus named what was to become a classic foodstuff.
The southeastern English port town is also holding a sandwich-making competition and concerts of the "bawdy and lively tunes" favoured by the earl, who also had a "penchant for dressing in Turkish robes", the website said.
The current earl will host a huge sandwich lunch in tribute to "the fourth earl of Sandwich who, 250 years ago, had his masterly inspiration in creating the universal fast food the world knows and loves," a poster said.
Historians are sceptical of the claim that the earl actually invented the sandwich, arguing it belongs to a long line of bread-based snacks stretching back much further than the 18th century, but this has not stopped the town from celebrating its local hero.

Freedom of Information Act

US spy agency can keep mum on Google ties: court

The top-secret US National Security Agency is not required to reveal any deal it may have with Google to help protect against cyber attacks, an appeals court ruled Friday.

The US Court of Appeals in Washington upheld a lower court decision that said the NSA need not confirm or deny any relationship with Google, because its governing statutes allow it keep such information secret.

The ruling came in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from a public interest group, which said the public has a right to know about any spying on citizens.

The appeals court agreed that the NSA can reject the request, and does not even have to confirm whether it has any arrangement with the Internet giant.
"Any information pertaining to the relationship between Google and NSA would reveal protected information about NSA's implementation of its information assurance mission," Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote in the appeals opinion.
The non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a formal request to make public documents related to the dealings, and said much of the information had already been in news media.
The request stemmed from a January 2010 cyber attack on Google that primarily targeted the Gmail email accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
According to the Google blog, the Internet group's chief legal officer David Drummond stated that the firm was notifying other companies that may have been targeted and was also working with the relevant US authorities.
The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post reported that Google had contacted the NSA immediately following the attack.
According to news reports, the NSA agreed to help Google analyze the attacks in a bid to better protect the California-based search company and its users from future intrusions.
The reported alliance would seek to allow the spy agency to evaluate Google's hardware and software vulnerabilities, as well as estimate the sophistication of its adversary in order to help the firm understand whether it has the right defenses in place.
Privacy advocates already critical of Google policies regarding saving user data and targeting ads to match online behavior patterns fear that an alliance with the spy network could put private information at risk.

No need for war to 'destroy' Israel: Ahmadinejad

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that war was not essential to achieve the destruction of Israel, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.

"The destruction of the Zionist regime does not necessitate making war," he said in a speech during a tour of northeast Iran.
"If countries of the region cut ties with the Zionists and give them dirty looks, it will spell the end of this puppet regime," said the hardline Iranian leader.
Ahmadinejad, who is known for making fiery speeches against Iran's archfoe Israel, has dubbed the Jewish state a "cancerous tumor" which is destined to be eliminated from the region.
The president on Saturday also mocked Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Arab states of the Gulf over their huge oil contracts with the West, especially Israel's US ally.
"If the leaders of these countries had some brains, they would not sell their petrol just to buy 60 billion dollars worth of arms," he said.

Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO

One of Facebook’s co-founders has defriended the United States.
Eduardo Saverin has decided to forgo his U.S. citizenship ahead of the company’s multibillion-dollar public offering next week, according to IRS records posted online.
Saverin will become a citizen of Singapore, where he has lived for the last three years.
Facebook’s IPO will send an estimated $3.8 billion into Saverin’s pockets, Bloomberg News reports.
Giving up U.S. citizenship will save Saverin a fortune in taxes, since Singapore doesn’t have a capital-gains tax.
Still, the 30-year-old billionaire won’t be off the hook entirely. Singapore taxes some foreign-sourced income, and Saverin will also be slapped with an “exit tax” by the U.S. on his shares, whether or not he sells them.
Saverin helped Mark Zuckerberg launch Facebook in 2004 at Harvard, and was named the company’s chief financial officer. The two friends had a fallingout as the startup became a worldwide success. Saverin was eventually frozen out and left with only about 4% of the company, according to various reports.
Saverin, born in Brazil, became a U.S. citizen in 1998. He has been living for the last three years in Singapore, where he drives a Bentley, owns a penthouse and rubs elbows with the rich and famous, The Wall Street Journal reports.
“Eduardo recently found it more practical to become a resident of Singapore since he plans to live there for an indefinite period of time,” a spokesman for Saverin told Bloomberg News.
The spokesman said he made the decision late last year.
Saverin’s name appeared on a quarterly IRS report published April 30 by the U.S. Office of the Federal Register listing all the Americans who have renounced citizenship.
The ousted CFO won the right to be acknowledged as a co-founder in a 2009 lawsuit filed against Zuckerberg, the terms of which were not disclosed.
The pairs friendship and fallout was immortalized in “ The Social Network,” which tells the story of Facebook’s rise to fame.
Facebook’s IPO on May 18 is valued at as high as $96 billion, the largest for any Internet company in history.

ਚਰਨਜੀਤ ਮਹੇੜੂ ਅਲਬਰਟਾ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਸਨਮਾਨਿਤ

ਕੈਲਗਰੀ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਅਫਸਰ ਚਰਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਮਹੇੜੂ ਨੂੰ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਜੌਨਾਥਨ ਡੈਨਿਸ ਅਲਬਰਟਾ 
ਸਰਕਾਰ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਪ੍ਰਸੰਸਾ ਪੱਤਰ ਦੇ ਕੇ ਸਨਮਾਨਿਤ ਕਰਦੇ ਹੋਏ।

ਕੈਲਗਰੀ, 12 ਮਈ - ਅਲਬਰਟਾ ਕਾਨੂੰਨ ਮੰਤਰਾਲੇ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਕੈਲਗਰੀ ਵਿਖੇ ਕਰਵਾਏ 21ਵੇਂ ਸਾਲਾਨਾ ਜੁਰਮ ਰੋਕੂ ਸਮਾਗਮ ਵਿਚ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮੂਲ ਦੇ ਕੈਲਗਰੀ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਅਫਸਰ ਸ: ਚਰਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਮਹੇੜੂ ਨੂੰ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀਆਂ ਜੁਰਮ ਰੋਕਣ ਲਈ ਕੀਤੀਆਂ ਕੋਸ਼ਿਸ਼ਾਂ ਕਰਕੇ ਅਲਬਰਟਾ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਕਾਨੂੰਨ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਜੌਨਾਥਨ ਡੈਨਿਸ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਪ੍ਰਸੰਸਾ ਪੱਤਰ ਦੇ ਕੇ ਸਨਮਾਨਿਤ ਕੀਤਾ। ਇਸ ਸਮੇਂ ਸਮਾਗਮ ਨੂੰ ਸੰਬੋਧਨ ਕਰਦਿਆਂ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਡੈਨਿਸ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਜਿਸ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਇਸ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਅਫਸਰ ਨੇ ਜੁਰਮ ਨੂੰ ਰੋਕਣ, ਘਰੇਲੂ ਝਗੜਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਰੋਕਣ, ਅੱਤਿਆਚਾਰ, ਬਜ਼ੁਰਗਾਂ ਵਿਰੁੱਧ ਹੋਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਜੁਰਮ ਅਤੇ ਬੇਈਮਾਨੀ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਲੇ ਅਨਸਰਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਸੁਚੇਤ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਸਤੇ ਕੀਤੇ ਉਪਰਾਲਿਆਂ ਲਈ ਇਹ ਸਨਮਾਨ ਅਲਬਰਟਾ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਨੇ ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਹੈ। ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਹੋਰ ਵੀ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਅਫਸਰ ਇਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਚੰਗੀਆਂ ਸੇਵਾਵਾਂ ਨਿਭਾਉਣ। ਇਥੇ ਇਹ ਦੱਸਣਯੋਗ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਅਫਸਰ ਚਰਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਮਹੇੜੂ ਦਾ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਅੰਦਰ ਪਿੰਡ ਮਿਰਜ਼ਾਪੁਰ ( ਨੇੜੇ ਬੁੱਲੋਵਾਲ) ਜ਼ਿਲ੍ਹਾ ਹੁਸ਼ਿਆਰਪੁਰ ਹੈ।

Midair collision kills 5 in Saskatchewan

Debris remains a plane, collided in mid-air with another, on May 12 near St. Brieux, Saskatchewan

Saskatoon - Two private planes carrying five people collided northeast of Saskatoon on Saturday, killing everyone on board, RCMP have confirmed.

Officers from the RCMP's Wakaw detachment said they were called at 8:50 a.m. CST to investigate a report of a plane crash.
In Regina, Cpl. Rob King told reporters later that officers were responding to the first 911 call about a plane crash in the area when they came across debris from another plane and confirmed with air traffic officials that two planes had dropped from radar.
"Our underwater recovery team is on the scene … trying to recover the bodies from the planes," King said, adding Transport Canada officials were expected to arrive on scene Sunday.
One of the aircraft was a Piper PA-28, which had been flying to St. Brieux from Calgary; the other plane was a Lake Buccaneer amphibious plane, according to Capt. Robert Landriault at the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont.
RCMP said the Piper had three people aboard, two men and a young male.
The amphibious plane was flying to La Ronge, in Saskatchewan's north, from Regina. That plane had two people on board, an adult male and an adult female.
RCMP said they have contacted family members, but said they did not yet have permission to release any names of the deceased.