NEW DELHI: In a dedicated effort to curb the drug menace, Delhi Police as per directions of the Juvenile Justice Committee, Delhi High Court, on Friday organised a ‘Symposium’ on the growing menace and easy availability of drugs to juveniles, and the means and measures needed to curb the supply.The aim was to bring together all stakeholder agencies to make coordination and cooperation better to result in closing the gaps in the effort of drug supply reduction in the city. Also Read – Cylinder blast kills mother and daughter in Karawal NagarArul Varma, Pr. Magistrate, JJB–I made a presentation before the officers of Directorate of Prosecution, Narcotics Control Bureau, Drug Controllers of Govt. of NCT of Delhi and senior formation of Delhi Police. This was followed by an ‘Open House’ discussion with all the stakeholders regarding the practical implementation of the laws and the issues and roadblocks. The symposium saw the passionate exchange of views where participants discussed the means, methods and policies required to control this menace, especially amongst juveniles. Also Read – Two persons arrested for killing manager of Muthoot FinanceThe agencies discussed threadbare lacunae faced by all and how inter-agency collaboration would bring about better results in curbing drugs on the streets. There were various concerns raised by the authorities regarding the practical aspects of the NDPS Act, and the Juvenile Justice Act, and how a synergetic relationship between all parties was required to combat the war on drugs, with particular reference to Juveniles. Delhi Police Joint CP Devesh Srivastava was also present on the occassion.
Delhi Police holds symposium to curb the drug menaceDelhi Police holds symposium to curb the drug menace
October 20, 2019October 20, 2019
Imphal: Facebook has honoured a Manipuri man for discovering a WhatsApp bug that violated the privacy of a user. Zonel Sougaijam, a 22-year-old civil engineer, said that the social media giant awarded USD 5000 to him and also included him in the ‘Facebook Hall of Fame 2019’, for detecting the WhatsApp bug. Sougaijam’s name is currently at the 16th position in a list of 94 people, in the ‘Facebook Hall of Fame’ for this year. “During a voice call through WhatsApp, the bug used to allow the caller to upgrade it to a video call without the authorisation and knowledge of the receiver. The caller was then able to see what the other person was doing, violating the privacy of the receiver,” Sougaijam told PTI. Also Read – Dussehra with a ‘green’ twist After discovering the bug, Sougaijam said, he had reported the matter to the Bug Bounty Program of the Facebook, which deals with violation of privacy matters, in March. He said his report was acknowledged by the Facebook Security team the very next day and its technical department fixed the bug within 15-20 days. “After reviewing this issue, we have decided to award you a bounty of $5000,” Facebook said in an e-mail sent to Sougaijam. The man said he found his name in the Facebook ‘ Hall of Fame’ page this month. Facebook, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, purchased the messaging service WhatsApp for a staggerring 19 billion USD in February 2014.
Nottingham: The Indian team’s alternative strategy in the absence of an injured Shikhar Dhawan will be put through a stern test by a feisty New Zealand attack ready to ask a few probing questions if weather does not play spoilsport in their World Cup encounter here Thursday. The contest, which could be a curtailed one due to inclement weather, will have a quality Black Caps seam attack ready to make life difficult for a new opening pair that is likely to feature KL Rahul at the top alongside Rohit Sharma. Also Read – We don’t ask for kind of tracks we get: Bowling coach Arun Dhawan has been ruled out of at least the next three games owing to a hairline fracture in his left thumb. New Zealand have had a good record against India at global events. Kane Williamson’s men would be more than determined to win four-on-trot and maintain their pole position. Dhawan has unintentionally forced Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri to go for a tactical rejig despite convincing performances in the first two games against South Africa and Australia. Also Read – Bastian Schweinsteiger announces retirement, could join Germany set-up If being forced to tinker with a successful opening combination that has cumulatively scored 4681 runs is a bit unsettling, there is also a positive side to the Dhawan injury saga. It has provided India with an opportunity to test how good their Plan B is. Rahul’s probable elevation at the top will certainly bring Vijay Shankar and Dinesh Karthik into the picture as far as the No.4 slot is concerned. Shankar’s all-round abilities are pitted against Karthik’s experience. The thick cloud cover and damp conditions could also bring in Mohammed Shami into the equation at the expense of one of the wrist spinners. In case both Shankar and Karthik find a place in the playing XI, then Kedar Jadhav will be the one to miss out. The situation demands technical nous from skipper Kohli and more so from coach Ravi Shastri, known to be a shrewd tactical operator. It couldn’t have been a more ideal time to go for such a rejig given that the tournament is still in its second week and one of the bounciest yet good batting tracks is on offer on Thursday. This might not be the best of circumstances to open the batting but the talented Rahul will be determined to make this opportunity count. Dealing with adversity separates men from boys and if Rahul is able to successfully play out a testing opening spell from Trent Boult, it could work wonders for his confidence going into the next set of games. He would have a great reference point in the dynamic Rohit Sharma, who will be at the other end of the 22 yards. The manner in which Rohit has transformed his game according to conditions has been more than commendable. For a compulsive stroke-player like Rohit, to eschew his ego and let the Powerplays go with minimum risk, is something that Rahul can learn. It has paid dividends for the Indian vice captain and he has a hundred and a fifty to show for his efforts in the first two games. The duo will be up against Boult, who is expected to bring the ball back into the right handers. He troubled the Indian batting in the warm-up game at the Oval but that game happened when the team had just landed on English soil. Nearly two and half weeks have gone by and Boult hasn’t got too much swing in the tournament proper even though his style of bowling is not dependent on conditions. But Boult would not complain if he gets some assistance from the overcast conditions. New Zealand’s “150kmph man” Lockie Ferguson is also happy that the Trent Bridge track promises to provide bounce that West Indies exploited against both Pakistan and Australia. “West Indies have shown that there’s some extra bounce available at Trent Bridge and that can cause trouble. I am looking forward to the challenge as I like Trent Bridge as a ground,” said Ferguson, making it clear what he has on mind. Teams (From): India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan. New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Tom Blundell (wk). Match starts at 3pm (IST).
Kolkata: One more person has been arrested in connection with firing at Sahapur Colony in New Alipore. Five persons have been arrested till Thursday.They have been produced before the Alipore Court and were remanded to police custody till July 4. According to police, by Wednesday evening, cops had nabbed four persons who had abducted the New Alipore businessman Arindam Dhar and demanded Rs 200 crore as ransom. After interrogating the four arrested persons, police came up with the name of a person identified as Tapan Saha. At night, Saha was arrested and later cops came to know that he is a friend of the victim. Also Read – City bids adieu to Goddess DurgaSaha stated that Dhar used to brag about his savings and wealth. He said he had invested Rs 800 crores in various businesses in Nepal. When he saw Dhar was spending lot of money in Kolkata, he thought that his friend truly has a lot wealth. He decided to kidnap Dhar and demand a ransom of Rs 200 crore. He hired some goons and told them that Dhar had taken a loan of Rs 200 crore from him which he was not paying back. He told the goons that if the money could be recovered he would pay a commission of 40 per cent. It was planned that miscreants will pose as police personnel from Anti Terrorist Cell and will force Dhar to pay the money. Also Read – Centuries-old Durga Pujas continue to be hit among revellersWhen Dhar was abducted on the Batanagar-Jhinjhirabazar Bridge, he told the goons that he could pay them Rs 20 lakh if he is taken to his office. Dhar said the vault containing money opens by his fingerprint. He also told them that there will be only one staff at his office in New Alipore. As the miscreants believed him, they went to his office. After reaching Dhar’s office miscreants saw there were about eight staff. When they were countered by the staff and Dhar, goons fire a round to escape from the scene.
New Delhi: Lack of proper lighting and walking through crisscrossing e-rickshaws on a narrow under-construction road connecting Noida’s Sector-51 and Delhi’s Sector-52 metro stations has become a harrowing experience for women, who say it is a “nightmare” using the route after dusk.Not only women, other passengers including senior citizens, have raised concern over poor connectivity between the two metro lines. At present, commuters have to exit at Sector 51 station of Noida Metro’s Aqua Line and walk nearly 300 metre-long on yet-to-be-completed about 15-feet wide cemented road to board Sector 52 station of the Delhi Metro’s Blue Line. Also Read – Bangla Sahib Gurudwara bans use of all types of plastic itemsAround 4,000 passengers take Aqua Line at Sector 51 daily. A significant number of people board the Delhi Metro at its Sector 52 station on an average daily.Commuters using these two metros blame lack of seamless connectivity due to poor planning of Aqua metro line. “It is very risky to walk on this under-construction road to reach Sector 52 metro station after getting down from Sector 51. This narrow road is also used by e-rickshaws who follow no traffic rules while moving. It is like a nightmare to walk on this poorly-lit road in night,” Shivangi Mishra, an IT engineer who commutes in the Aqua Line, said. Also Read – After eight years, businessman arrested for kidnap & murderShe questioned as to why Noida Metro authorities did not construct a safe passage for public to walk on before opening the metro for the commuters.”Why to trouble commuters now? There is huge dust and one has to be very careful walking on this narrow lane. You can be hit by moving e-rickshaws anytime if you are not attentive,” Mishra said.Senior citizens travelling on the line have raised similar concerns.”I do not understand why Noida Metro authority has not ensured seamless connectivity of its Aqua Line with Delhi Metro’s Blue Line. We urge authorities to look into this issue urgently and help us,” Rekha Dixit, a social worker, said. “As soon as you get down from Sector 52 metro station of Delhi Metro Blue Line and proceed towards Sector 51 station, your path is obstructed by auto rickshaws parked haphazardly by their drivers in a bid to grab as many passengers as possible,” Asma Khan, a software professional, said.It is for this and other avoidable reasons that Noida Metro cards sale has dipped considerably in the little over four months of its operation. Some of Aqua Line stations have insignificant commuters to board or de-board, according to official data.
New Delhi: Electricity theft has spread like cancer and reached frightening proportions, a Delhi court has said while awarding one year jail to two men for stealing power to charge e-rickshaws.Additional Sessions Judge Devendra Kumar Sharma said at present about 12 percent loss due to electricity theft was reported and if converted into revenues, it would amount to crores of rupees. The court convicted Rakesh (46), a social worker, and Hafiz (38), an auto driver, for illegally using electricity through tapping with the help of illegal wires to the tune of 9.6 KW. Also Read – Bangla Sahib Gurudwara bans use of all types of plastic itemsIt also imposed a fine of Rs 20.08 lakh each on both the convicts and suspended their jail terms till August 5 to enable them to appeal against their sentence and furnish a bail bond of Rs 10,000 and a surety of like amount. “Initially the persons in authority were found involved in electricity theft. But over a period of time, the privilege of these elite class got extended to their kith and kin. Now it has spread like cancer and the mass theft of power has reached frightening proportions to say the least. As of today about 12 percent distribution loss/loss due to electricity theft is reported and if it is converted into the revenue it is in crores,” it said in a recent order. Also Read – After eight years, businessman arrested for kidnap & murderThe court also directed the two convicts to pay over Rs 13 lakh as civil liability. “It is clearly proved beyond any doubt by the complainant from the cogent evidence that…there was direct theft of electricity as no meter was found installed at the inspected premises and there was direct theft of electricity using supply illegally through illegal wire connected from BSES feeder pillar which was open through red colour aluminum wires in the extensions and further 13 boards with three pin plug were found fixed. “Further the said direct supply was being used for non domestic purposes, that is, e- rickshaw charging,” it said. According to the complaint, an inspection was carried out by officials of the BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) at DSIDC Park at Trilokpuri in east Delhi on October 23, 2017, wherein Hafiz and Rakesh were found directly stealing electricity through tapping. Twelve e-rickshaws were found being charged by the supply.
Mumbai: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled 463 points while the NSE Nifty closed below the key 11,000-mark on Thursday amid heavy selling in metal, banking and tech stocks. Lacklustre economic data, unabated foreign fund outflows and disappointing quarterly earnings also dented market sentiment, traders said. After a weak opening, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged more than 750 points in late-afternoon trade, before finally ending at 37,018.32, down by 462.80 points or 1.23 per cent. Also Read – India gets first tranche of Swiss bank a/c details Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 138 points or 1.24 per cent to end at 10,980.00. In the Sensex pack, Vedanta took the biggest hit (5.55 per cent), followed by Tata Motors, SBI, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel and Infosys, which lost up to 4.50 per cent. On the other hand, Maruti, Power Grid, Reliance, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, HUL and NTPC ended in the green, spurting up to 1.86 per cent. Overall investor sentiment was weak after official data released after market hours on Wednesday showed that growth of eight core industries dropped to 0.2 per cent in June, mainly due to contraction in oil-related sectors as well as cement production. Also Read – Tourists to be allowed in J&K from Thursday Additionally, the government’s fiscal deficit touched Rs 4.32 lakh crore for the June quarter, which is 61.4 per cent of the budget estimate for 2019-20 fiscal. On the global front, the US Federal Reserve reduced the benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 2.0-2.25 per cent on Wednesday for the first time in more than a decade. However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the move was not the beginning of a long series of rate cuts, sending global markets lower. Major automobile manufacturers on Thursday reported disappointing July sales data. In addition, subdued corporate earnings also continued to weigh on the markets, traders said. Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 1,497.07 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges. Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, and Kospi ended in the red, while Nikkei edged higher. Equities in Europe were trading mixed in their early sessions. Meanwhile, the rupee was trading 26 paise lower at 69.06 against the US dollar (intra-day). The global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.05 per cent to USD 64.37 per barrel.
Colombo: A Sri Lankan court on Friday sentenced Hambantota Mayor Eraj Ravindra Fernando to five years in jail for threatening to physically harm a group of parliamentarians in 2014. Along with Fernando, the first accused in the case Premasiri Paranamana was also sentenced five years in jail, according to news portal Hiru News. Both have been ordered to a pay a fine of Rs 60,000. In 2014, Fernando, holding a pistol, threatened to physically harm a group of Opposition MPs who had gone to Hambantota to inspect Chinese investment projects. He had chased the MPs out of the project site. Also Read – Saudi Crown Prince ‘snubbed’ Pak PM, recalled jet from USLater, Fernando, who was an ally of the then president Mahinda Rajapaksa, claimed it was a toy pistol. However, the MPs filed a case against Fernando for intimidation and attempted assault. Hambantota is the home turf of Rajapaksa. Fernando is now a supporter of President Maithripala Sirisena. He was re-elected as the mayor of Hambantota in 2018. Earlier, Fernando had been granted bail after being arrested in two other cases of violence. The Chinese built USD 1.9 billion port in Hambantota has court political controversy. In 2017, Sri Lanka had leased the Hambantota Port to China for 99 years as a means of paying back its loans for a new investment park there. India is set to enter into a management contract with Sri Lanka to run the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, the other Chinese infrastructure project located in the district.
San Francisco: Apple iPhone 11 would come with a USB-C charger as well as a lightning to USB-C cable in the box.Apple would do away with its original 5-watt charger and instead include a USB-C charger that would enable twice-as-fast iPhone charging times without ditching the lightning connector, MacRumors reported on Wednesday. Apple’s upcoming iPhone 11 line-up is also expected to feature company’s new A13 chip. The iPhone-maker would launch three iPhone 11 models this year — The D43 (internal name) would replace the iPhone XS Max, the D42 (internal name) would replace the iPhone XS and the N104 (internal name) would replace the iPhone XR.Known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had earlier suggested that the upcoming iPhone models would be equipped with reverse wireless charging.In addition, iPhone 11 would reportedly come with the same OLED displays used for Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and Note 10.
New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association on Tuesday accused the varsity administration of spreading “blatant falsehood” on its letter to historian Romila Thapar asking her to submit her CV and demanded that it immediately retract such letters sent to 12 professors emeriti, besides tendering personal apology.The JNU administration’s decision to ask historian Romila Thapar to submit her CV for assessment for her continuation as professor emerita had drawn sharp criticism from various quarters with JNUTA terming it “politically motivated”, following which the university registrar on Monday said that there are 11 others who have also been asked to submit their CVs. Also Read – After eight years, businessman arrested for kidnap & murderThe university had said it was done with the objective of ascertaining Thapar’s availability and willingness to continue her association with the University and not to assess her for continuation. The JNUTA on Tuesday released the letter sent by the varsity to Thapar, saying it was doing so to counter “such blatant falsehood”. It noted that the the subject line of the “offensive letter” read, ‘Assessment of Past Work of Professor Emeritus in Jawaharlal Nehru University for the committee to decide on continuation’. This “is all the evidence needed to expose the true intentions of the JNU administration”, the JNUTA said in a letter Also Read – Two brothers held for snatchings”The JNUTA finds it laughable that the current JNU administration thinks that confessing to an insult on a larger scale counts as a defence. …by casting its net wide across several Professors Emeriti, the JNU Registrar has initiated a process of bringing JNU’s past before its Executive Council, so that it can proceed to undo it entirely,” the JNUTA said. The body demanded that all such letters to Professors Emeriti issued by the JNU Registrar be immediately retracted, any review of their performance put to an end, and a personal apology be tendered to each of them. JNU registrar Pramod Kumar had said on Monday that Professors H S Gill, C K Varshney, SD Muni, Ashok Sanjay Guha, Asis Datta, R Rajaraman, Romila Thapar, Yogendra Singh, D Banerji, T K Oommen, Amit Bhaduri and Shiela Bhalla had been sent letters by the varsity administration as they attained the age of 75 before March 31, 2019.
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement leader Shehla Rashid has been booked for sedition over her tweets alleging that the armed forces “tortured” civilians and “ransacked” houses in the Valley after Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was revoked, police said on Friday. In a series of tweets on August 17, Rashid had alleged that the armed forces entered houses in Kashmir at night and “ransacked” them. She had also alleged that four men were called to an Army camp in Shopian and “interrogated (tortured)”. She had claimed a mic was kept close to these men so that “the entire area could hear them scream, and be terrorised”. Also Read – Uddhav bats for ‘Sena CM’ Later, Supreme Court lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava had field a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, saying the allegations levelled by the former JNU student leader were “absolutely false and concocted”. In his complaint, Srivastava had said Rashid’s allegations were baseless as she had not produced any “voice recording” of the alleged torture or date and time of the incidents. He also accused Rashid of “deliberately spreading fake news with the intention to incite violence in the country” and maligning the image of the Indian Army. Also Read – Farooq demands unconditional release of all detainees in J&K Her action is “prima facie an offence of sedition” since she intended to “excite disaffection towards the Government of India”, Srivastava said in his complaint. After Srivastava’s complaint was received, it was handed over to the Delhi Police’s Special Cell for inquiry, the police said. In the FIR filed on September 3, Rashid has been booked under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, they said. The Delhi Police’s Special Cell is also investigating the sedition case against Rashid’s batchmate and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, among others. In January this year, the Delhi Police filed a charge sheet in court against Kumar and nine others for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during an event in the JNU on February 9, 2016, to commemorate the hanging of Parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru. Rashid, the then JNUSU vice-president, and 35 others, were named in column 12 of the charge sheet. The column lists those who were named as accused at the time of the registration of the FIR but could not be charge sheeted due to lack of actionable evidence.
Mandalay (Myanmar): India’s top cueist Pankaj Advani defeated England’s Mike Russell 5-2 to enter the final of the IBSF World Billiards Championship here on Saturday. In a clash of the titans, the defending champion Indian prevailed over the multiple time world champion Briton in the semifinal match. Russell had lost at the same stage last year to settle for a bronze. Advani, who is vying for his 22nd world title, will face local player Nay Thway Oo in the summit clash in a repeat of last year’s tournament. Also Read – Puducherry on top after 8-wkt win over ChandigarhThway Oo had beaten Russell in the semifinals last year before losing to Advani in the final. In Saturday’s semifinal against Russell, Advani scored three back-to-back centuries but managed to convert only two of those frames as the Briton took advantage of the Indian’s error on 142 and made a 150. The match was evenly poised at two frames a piece and could have gone either way. But Advani appeared to be on a mission as he made breaks of 63 and 123 in the last three frames to race to a 5-2 victory. “I’m really pleased to enter the final again a year later. Mike played well so I knew I had to bring more firepower to the match to give myself a chance to defend my title. This feels like deja vu playing Oo again, that too in the final and in Myanmar two years in a row. Let’s hope the outcome is the same too,” Advani said.
EDMONTON – Friends of a man accused of breaking a woman’s arms with a crowbar in an alleged act of road rage have been granted a restraining order against him, saying they fear for their lives.Jared Matthew Eliasson, 28, was charged in March with attempted murder, possession of a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault in what Edmonton police called a road rage attack.Police say the 34-year-old woman was driving to her home and honked her horn while passing a car that was stopped on a street. When she got out of her car outside her home, a man ran up and struck her on both arms with a crowbar.Eliasson was himself a victim of a violent crime in 2014 when he and a friend, Christopher Northam, were stabbed while walking down a street.Northam, his wife Samantha Massey and her parents sought a restraining order against Eliasson after reading about the March crowbar attack. They were fearful he would get bail.In their affidavit, they said they had growing concerns about their friend, including a text message to Northam that said “I am going to kill you.”“Given his escalating, extremely violent behaviour, we are all afraid for our lives,” Samantha Massey wrote in the affidavit.A Court of Queen’s Bench judge granted the restraining order last month. None of the allegations have been proven in court.Eliasson has been denied bail and is to appear in court for election and plea on May 25.In the affidavit, Massey said she and Northam had been friends with Eliasson for about five years and saw each other regularly.She said Eliasson used to act weird at times and say strange things, but they weren’t concerned about his behaviour until the last few years.Massey said in the affidavit Eliasson blamed her husband for his break-up with her cousin. Someone threw a rock through her cousin’s window with her name on it and set a car with her apartment number spray painted on it on fire.Last spring, she said they started receiving the disturbing text messages.Massey said in the affidavit they suspected it was Eliasson and called police, who advised them to no longer communicate with him.Someone then smashed a window of their home, she said in the document.Massey said her parents’ neighbours in Leduc, Alta., reported that someone wearing a balaclava was throwing rocks at her parents’ home.“When the neighbours drove up to him, he grabbed a crowbar and smashed one of the windows in their car,” she said in the affidavit.Last December, someone smashed a window of their home and threw a puzzle inside. She said the puzzle was a Christmas gift they had given Eliasson.The same day, someone tried to pry open their back door and slashed the tires of her car.Massey said about a week before the woman’s arms were broken with a crowbar, a man wearing a balaclava confronted her father as he was leaving for work.“The driver brandished a hunting knife, and made threatening gestures, including a throat slash gesture,” she wrote in the affidavit.None of the allegations in the affidavit has been tested in court and Eliasson was not present when the restraining order was granted. Eliasson’s lawyer Zack Elias was not immediately available to respond to requests for comment.
VANCOUVER – A woman who found a black bear cub that was later killed by a conservation officer is accusing the British Columbia government of breaking its own law on the destruction of wild animals.Tiana Jackson and the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals have filed a court petition challenging the officer’s decision to kill the cub near Dawson Creek in May 2016.They argue the Wildlife Act prohibits officers from killing animals unless they pose a threat to people, property or wildlife. The province counters in court documents that the law gives wide discretion to officers to destroy animals.“The province says there are no legal limits on the ability of conservation officers to kill animals,” Arden Beddoes, a lawyer representing Jackson and the advocacy group, said outside court Wednesday.“What we say is that … the Wildlife Act actually directs that there are limits,” he said. “If they’re not a threat, the officer, we say, does not have authority to kill the animal.”Jackson found the apparently orphaned bear cub, which was about the size of a domestic cat, by the side of the road on May 6, 2016, the petitioners say in court documents.She called RCMP, which contacted the conservation officer service. In the meantime, she and others caught the bear and brought it back to a dog pen on her property to keep it safe, the documents say.They say Jackson received a call from conservation officer Micah Kneller, who told her he would come and kill the bear, even though she told him a wildlife rehabilitation centre was willing to take the cub.“She was very upset,” Beddoes told a B.C. Supreme Court judge at the start of a two-day hearing on Wednesday.The petitioners are seeking an order directing the province to obey the law as they interpret it. They also want a declaration that Kneller’s decision to kill the cub was unlawful.The province argues in court documents that the law gives officers the authority to destroy animals as they deem necessary. It points to a section of the Wildlife Act that says the offences outlined in the act do not apply to an “officer engaged in the performance of his or her duties.”The act “implicitly anticipates that conservation officers may need to euthanize wounded wildlife or wildlife that cannot otherwise survive in the wild,” the province says in the documents.It also says there would be no point in quashing the decision made by Kneller some 18 months after the bear was killed, and asks the judge to dismiss that part of the case.The province says Kneller made the decision because he didn’t consider the cub to be a suitable candidate for captive rearing and release.Beddoes told the judge the petitioners accept that some wild animals must be killed because they are sick, injured or otherwise unlikely to survive. But they say a different provincial law, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, states that the animal should be evaluated by a wildlife professional, such as a veterinarian.“That act wasn’t complied with here,” Beddoes said outside court.Conservation officers in B.C. have responded to 1,972 calls about black bears and killed 454 of the animals between January and the end of October. During the same period last year, they responded to 1,757 calls and killed 458 black bears.In 2015, conservation officer Bryce Casavant was suspended and later transferred out of the service after he refused to kill two bear cubs. The incident prompted calls on social media for Casavant to be reinstated, including from English comedian Ricky Gervais.— Follow @ellekane on Twitter.
OTTAWA – Faith-based organizations are welcome to seek federal funding to create summer jobs for youth, the Liberal government says, but it has not budged from a new requirement that recipients demonstrate they respect a woman’s right to have an abortion.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he is willing to work with churches and other religious groups that have expressed their concerns over the new application process for the Canada Summer Jobs program, which requires applicants to attest that neither their core mandate nor the job itself oppose human rights, including those related to abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity.“The aim of adding that attestation to the application form is to ensure that organizations who have those stated goals — either discrimination against minorities or removing rights from women — that federal taxpayer funding does not get directed there,” Trudeau spokesman Cameron Ahmad said Wednesday.“Other organizations, faith-based organizations who do plenty of work outside those realms, would not be affected by the attestation.”Julia Beazley, director of public policy at the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, said the Liberals are sending mixed messages.“They remain unequivocal about the attestation,” she said, “so, it’s sort of like saying, ‘You’re welcome to apply, if you decide to agree with us and check off this attestation.”Some faith-based organizations have discussed submitting an alternative attestation, such as by saying they support all charter and human rights law, but do not want to be compelled to express broad support for reproductive rights.Employment and Social Development Canada suggested such applications would be rejected outright.“The attestation is required for the application … to be considered complete and eligible for assessment,” a spokesman for the department said in an email when asked specifically what would happen if an organization submitted an alternative attestation.Matt Pascuzzo, a spokesman for Employment Minister Patty Hajdu, said federal officials have been proactively contacting organizations that have received funding through the program in the past to answer questions and field concerns about the new application process.He, too, said a workaround would not succeed.“We’ve been clear in the applicant guide that in order to proceed you have to sign or click a button that signs the attestation and that’s the way we’ve decided to go with it,” Pascuzzo said.The decision stems from a controversy last year when officials approved tens of thousands of dollars for groups opposing abortion.“The government took swift action to undertake a review of the Canada Summer Jobs program when it came to our attention that program funding was being used for jobs for young Canadians in environments that did not respect the rights of all Canadians (for example, an organization that uses summer interns to advocate against LGBTQ rights),” the departmental spokesman wrote in an email.Similar eligibility criteria — without the attestation — have been put in place for the new national youth volunteer program.But the government has gone too far in trying to achieve its goal, Beazley argued, since it could have simply changed the criteria to make it clear grants should not be used to fund jobs where the primary activity is advocating for change to existing laws.“But essentially, they have put in place a values test which requires applicants to agree with something that they don’t want to in order to be eligible — or your alternative, as they are making very clear, is just to forego the funding altogether.”The irony, Beazley suggested, is that the Liberal government would likely take no issue with many of the summer jobs hosted by religious groups.“They serve without discrimination, but they do this out of a religious ethos, out of a certain religious identity, and they are well within their rights to do that,” she said.Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said it is up to the government to decide what it will fund and what it will not, but it goes too far when Trudeau is trying to impose his “personal values” on the summer camps, soup kitchens and shelters that receive support from the program.“For them to have their funding jeopardized because of their own views on some of these issues, it doesn’t make sense to me,” Scheer said Wednesday in Washington.— With files from Jordan Press in Ottawa and Alexander Panetta in Washington— Follow @smithjoanna on Twitter
MONTREAL – “Take a deep breath, grind yourself. Go kill him.”That was one of the tweets the president of Telus Quebec had to apologize for on Wednesday, a day after one of the company’s Twitter handles seemingly went rogue with horrendously translated French-language messages.Telus’s Francois Gratton released a statement apologizing to all the country’s francophone population, and stating the tweets should never have been posted.The tweet in English was more inspirational: “Take a deep breathe, ground yourself. Go kill it.” The words were displayed over a picture of three jubilant young people seemingly ready to seize the day.Gratton said the French versions of the tweets were posted by an external agency that managed the Twitter account of the Telus Fund, an independent non-profit company funded by Telus and tasked with producing local content.The agency charged with managing that Twitter handle “no longer works for Telus,” Gratton said.Other badly translated tweets included doozies that read, in French: “You have to feed (you) Flourish,” and, “Fill the holes.”Internet denizens were harsh on the company, questioning whether Telus employed any francophones, and asking the telecom firm to spend some cash to hire some.As of Wednesday evening, the Twitter handle for the Telus Fund had been removed from the social platform. And the French-language version of the Telus Fund’s website was not operational.“We didn’t do our job to ensure all the entities that represent Telus publish texts that are respectful toward the French language and toward all the francophones in the country,” Gratton’s statement read. “We are deeply sorry about this situation.”
HALIFAX – Halifax police have charged a 19-year-old Halifax man following a breach of Nova Scotia’s freedom-of-information web portal — a problem that went unnoticed until a provincial employee made a typing error, government officials confirmed Wednesday.Police Supt. Jim Perrin said the suspect is facing a charge of unauthorized use of a computer and was released on a promise to appear in court at a later date.“It’s a seldom-laid charge,” Perrin told a news conference at police headquarters, adding that police had seized computers as the result of a search earlier in the day.In all, about 7,000 documents were inappropriately accessed between March 3 and March 5, Internal Services Minister Patricia Arab said Wednesday.“This is not great news,” she said.The admission came nearly a week after the problem was first noticed and the portal was shut down on April 5.Deputy minister Jeff Conrad said the government filed a complaint with police the next day.He confirmed that thousands of people could have been affected.Officials said about 250 of the documents contained highly sensitive personal information including birthdates, social insurance numbers, addresses and government services’ client information. Credit card information was not accessed, they said.Conrad said the breach was detected by a provincial employee, but it was a fluke.“The employee was involved in doing some research on the site and inadvertently made an entry to a line on the site — made a typing error and identified that they were seeing documents they should not have seen,” Conrad told a technical briefing.Officials said the documents were accessed through a “vulnerability in the system” and not through a hack. They said someone wrote a script of computer code that allowed them to sequentially access “every document available on the portal.”“There’s no question, this was not someone just playing around,” said Conrad. “It was someone who was intentionally after information that was housed on the site.”The government briefing on Wednesday came a day after the portal’s prolonged closure was raised in the legislature by Progressive Conservative house leader Chris d’Entremont.At the time, Arab offered little information, and later described the problem as “an issue” when talking with reporters outside the legislature.During Wednesday’s briefing, she said the proper protocol was followed, saying her department wanted to let the police investigation unfold.“We are here today because the police have made significant progress in regards to this case,” she said.Arab defended the department’s decision not to inform the public immediately.“We wanted the person responsible for this to not know that we knew that this had happened,” she said. “We needed to let Halifax Regional Police do their job and couldn’t compromise the nature of their investigation.”She also said the department decided to wait, based on police advice.However, Perrin said that wasn’t the case.“There was no conversation between us and the province about holding off and not telling anybody,” he said.Catherine Tully, Nova Scotia’s information and privacy commissioner, has launched an investigation to determine the adequacy of security and whether Arab’s department was in compliance with the province’s privacy law.D’Entremont said the government’s answers were unacceptable, adding that the 250 people whose sensitive information was compromised should have been informed by now.He later noted the discrepancy around the government’s explanation for holding off.“We know there probably would have been no problem in letting the public know there’s been a breach and we’re investigating it,” said d’Entremont. “Instead, they’ve said they waited for the police to do their investigation. I think they got things a little backwards and I think they are not being quite forthcoming the way they need to be.”In fact, the government’s privacy breach protocol says that “generally the notification should happen as soon as possible.” It adds that in cases where police are involved, they should be consulted to determine if a notification would interfere with an investigation.The government said it was beginning the process of contacting those affected by the breach.New Democrat Dave Wilson said it was alarming that breach was found inadvertently.“This wasn’t found out because of checks and balances and security … We heard today that this was found by fluke.”Government officials said the department’s cybersecurity team is working with third-party service providers Unisys and CSDC Systems to secure the site and get it back online.Premier Stephen McNeil defended the government’s handling of the security breach, saying Arab had his full confidence.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – The Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo is joining the millions of fans mourning the loss of an icon. Marvel co-creator and comic book legend Stan Lee made three appearances at the Calgary Expo, most recently in 2017 when he joined Todd Macfarlane on stage.Expo spokesperson Lindsay Thomas said it was always a great experience being around Lee.“He was a delight to be around, always. Very kind, very warm, very wise, very funny. He was one of those people that even with all the other celebrities that would come to the show, when Stan walked in to the room it was like, ‘Okay, Stan’s here, an idol has just walked in’,” said Thomas.She adds he always had time for those who loved his work.“He was always so enthusiastic with the fan, really excited to hear where his stories have taken them and how his creativity has impacted them,” she said. “I’m talking about multiple generations of people who have been influenced by his work and that’s a lot of gratitude to take in.”Lee was 95.JOIN THE CONVERSATION: The world remembers #StanLee Damn… RIP Stan. Thanks for everything. pic.twitter.com/TMAaDJSOhh— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) November 12, 2018“Stan Lee’s imagination helped spawn a universe of characters that inspired both kids and adults around the world for generations. He has become the driver of an incredible lasting legacy for our modern pop culture mythology,” said Marvel Cinematic Universe directors and brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, in a statement.Onward and upward to greater glory! Excelsior! Good man, Excelsior! https://t.co/rXLCmk4uiS pic.twitter.com/oQ89AKfkao— Angela Bassett (@ImAngelaBassett) November 12, 2018 He lives forever through his work. What a giant.With great power comes immortality. Born before Edwin Hubble discovered the expanding universe, he ultimately created an expanding universe of his own – one of scientifically literate superheroes such as Spider-Man , The Hulk, Iron Man, & Black Panther.Stan Lee RIP: 1922 – 2018— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 12, 2018-With files from Ian Busby and The Canadian Press Thank you Stan Lee for making people who feel different realize they are special.— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) November 12, 2018“I was first interviewed for Stan Lee’s obituary about 20 years ago. I was happy he defied the reaper and carried on. With Stan gone, an era really does come to an end. He was the happy huckster that comics needed. And he really did alliterate like that when you talked to him,” said Neil Gaiman, via Twitter.“No one has had more of an impact on my career and everything we do at Marvel Studios than Stan Lee. Stan leaves an extraordinary legacy that will outlive us all. Our thoughts are with his daughter, his family, and his millions of fans,” said Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, via Twitter.“Thank you Stan Lee. For your service in protecting our freedom and for your creativity and imagination! You were and will always be a SUPER HERO!” said Jamie Lee Curtis, via Twitter.To Stan Lee: Thank you for making my childhood so much more exciting with your astonishing superhero characters. Thank you for inspiring me to think and dream big. Thank you for the Hulk, Thor, Fantastic Four and many others. You will be sadly missed. RIP.— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) November 12, 2018“I was a happy little boy lost in the sanctuary of my Spider-Man comic books, collecting ’em, savoring each one, the piles of comics stacked high next to my bed. Thank you Stan Lee, what a creative whirlwind, wow. Rest In Peace in the divine. What an honour it was to help bring one of your characters to life with my scratchy little voice,” said Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who voiced Roller Man in Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, via Instagram.“You gave us characters that continue to stand the test of time and evolve with our consciousness. You taught us that there are no limits to our future as long as we have access to our imagination. Rest in power! #EXCELSIOR #StanLee #rip,” said Black Panther actor Winston Duke, via Twitter.His contribution to Pop Culture was revolutionary & cannot be overstated. He was everything you hoped he would be & MORE. I loved this man & will never stop missing him. They say you should never meet a childhood idol. They are wrong. #RIPStanTheMan pic.twitter.com/6OKH07ahJg— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) November 12, 2018 Celebrities have also been taking to social media to express their sadness.“Thank you, Stan, for making me not only the boy I was but also the man I am today. You had great power and you always used it responsibly, fostering billions of dreamers who all know your name — a name written in the stars for all time. You were not just the literary titan of comic books, you were our modern day Mark Twain. I will miss you all my days, my friend and hero. Excelsior forevermore,” wrote Filmmaker, comic book devotee and Stan Lee friend Kevin Smith, via Instagram.“Original and genius are two very overused words in the world today, but Stan was both. Add irrepressible and irreplaceable, and you begin to describe the man. We have all lost a true superhero. We will greatly miss our friendly neighbourhood Stan Lee,” said Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman, in a statement.“I owe it all to you… Rest In Peace Stan… #MCU #Excelsior #legend #rip #stanlee #TeamStark,” said Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr., via Instagram.“We’ve lost a creative genius. Stan Lee was a pioneering force in the superhero universe. I’m proud to have been a small part of his legacy and… to have helped bring one of his characters to life. #StanLee #Wolverine,” wrote Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman, via Twitter.There will never be another Stan Lee. For decades he provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship and joy. He exuded love and kindness and will leave an indelible mark on so, so, so many lives. Excelsior!!— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) November 12, 2018
Investigators say an incident last year that saw a jet operated by Sunwing Airlines Inc. strike a 36-centimetre-high light beyond the runway and fly low for four kilometres carried potentially “catastrophic” consequences after a pilot typed in the wrong temperature.A report by the U.K.’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch says the Boeing Co. 737 lifted off at the “extreme end” of a runway in Belfast after the autopilot determined the takeoff speed based on a temperature of -52 C, rather than 16 C.The report says the aircraft, which took off with 185 passengers en route to the Greek island of Corfu from Belfast International Airport on July 21, 2017, avoided a crash and “multiple fatalities” largely because of the low terrain and lack of obstacles surrounding the airport.Investigators noted the onboard software was incapable of alerting the flight crew of the temperature error, though updated versions would have caught it.The report Wednesday recommends airlines update their software — available at “nominal cost” — and that Boeing notify all operators of the 737 of the incident as well as “previous similar occurrences.”Sunwing says it has already implemented software and training updates, and it suspended both pilots from flying duties until the preliminary investigation ended. They underwent further training and Transport Canada re-qualification and have returned to full duty.The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — Tens of thousands of people remain without power two days after a powerful windstorm swept across southwestern British Columbia.BC Hydro says 800 field personnel are working around the clock to repair extensive damage to its infrastructure after one of the most severe windstorm the region has seen in 20 years.Power has been restored to more than 530,000 customers but about 66,000 across the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands still didn’t have electricity on Saturday morning.The utility says restoring power to the remaining customers continues to be challenging and many require individual repairs, including restringing hundreds of spans of power lines and replacing power poles and transformers.Thursday’s storm left a path of destruction, killing one woman when a tree fell on her tent in Duncan, and causing Nanaimo’s water treatment plant to break down and part of White Rock’s beloved pier to collapse.Environment Canada issued a wind warning for much of the B.C. coast and Vancouver Island Saturday, forecasting winds up to 90 kilometres per hour.The Canadian Press