Toronto
Mastifies South Asians - Goan cultural show thrills the
audience at MMM!
By:
Silviano Barbosa
From: goanet@goanet.org.
Excerpts:
I had a great time today at Toronto Harbourfront after
attending the annual Massala!Mehndi!Masti festival, which
presents some of South Asia's best cultural heroes in
almost all fields.
....I enjoyed all of the shows at the festival, which
is being organized by a fine group of young South Asians.
It also well supported by South Asian businesses and individuals
and by the government, which always translates into a
smashing success.Wonder why Goans don't get the same sort
of support (but that's another story).
This year this festival included The Goan Folk Dances
programme presented by a newly formed group called "GOVANA".
I was very much delighted with their performances. The
group consisted of a band of many dedicated Goans including
teenager/adult singers, dancers and musicians. We were
told the main person behind this group performance was
the most talented singer/dancer Saozinha Rodrrigues, who
performed and trained the participants and gave the audience
a performance that they will always remember.
Full article http://www.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet/2004-August/108317.html
Silviano
also writes.....
Recently
Toronto has been a venue for many a visitors from all
over.
I
just met Rita Rose, last night who was visiting Toronto
with her son Schubert and his two daughters from Arizona,
where she is visiting till October. I bought 2 nice CDs
of Alfred Rose from Rita - "The very best of Alfred
Rose" and "Mandovi...- Alfred Rose Vol 2".
These two superb albums of vintage Alfred Rose consist
of celebrated old songs, and some of which I had never
heard before on Radio. All old nostalgia came back listening
to the great master innovator of the Goan Konkani music
world for over five decades, a truly unique performer..
Lorna
arrived in Toronto
O n 9 August 2004, the date of her birth anniversary.
Present at the welcoming ceremony at the Lester Pearson
Airport were the President of Goan Heritage Canada, Mr.
Agnelo Rodrigues and other members of the organisation
as well as well wishers. The celebratory reception took
place at the residence of Everest Fernandes, President
of Goan Soccer Association, where Lorna cut the birthday
cake. Also present at the celebrations, were comedians
Ben Evangelisto and Dominic and Music Maestro Norman Cardozo.
[Photo received from John D’Souza, Goan Voice Canada].
Ontario
housing slightly less affordable, says RBC Economics
First time buyer demand to be impacted by weaker affordability
TORONTO,
Aug. 18 /CNW/ - The cost of owning a home in Ontario was
slightly higher in the second quarter of 2004 than it
was the previous quarter, according to the Housing Affordability
Index released today by RBC Economics.
"New listings and sales activity were higher in the
second quarter, but so were housing prices and mortgage
rates which is why affordability eroded," said Carl
Gomez, RBC economist. "Looking ahead, eroding affordability
will reduce housing demand especially from the shrinking
pool of potential first- time buyers. So demand will increasingly
be dominated by existing homeowners looking to trade up."
The RBC Housing Affordability Index for Ontario -- which
measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed
to service the costs of owning a home - eroded slightly
to 30.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2004 - the highest
level since the second quarter of 2002 - and up from 29.0
per cent in the first quarter of this year. This works
out to a monthly payment of
$1,453 for an average detached bungalow (principal, interest,
tax and utilities), and compares with a national average
of 31.7 per cent or $1,332 per month. The average benchmark
price for a bungalow in Ontario was $219,107, while in
Ottawa and Toronto it was $228,200 and $312,347 respectively.
In Toronto, affordability declined slightly to 37.2 per
cent -- for a monthly payment of $1,956 -- from 35.3 per
cent in the previous quarter. This is still a far cry
from the bubble years of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In Ottawa, affordability eroded from 30.2 per cent in
the first quarter of 2004 to 31.6 per cent.
Bibles
banned from citizenship ceremonies
CBC
News
SASKATOON - Citizenship and Immigration Canada has banned
the Canadian Bible Society from giving out Bibles at citizenship
ceremonies, saying the practice is not consistent with
the federal government's secular nature.
"We find that allowing holy books to be made available
at citizenship ceremonies detracts from this message and
could be construed as a tacit endorsement of certain religions,"
the citizenship department told the society in a recent
letter.
See
also: Becoming Canadian http://www.cbc.ca/news/becomingcanadian/
Ontario
invites public debate on mandatory retirement
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/08/18/mandatory_retirement040818.html
TORONTO - Ontario will move quickly to end mandatory retirement
at age 65, Labour Minister Chris Bentley said on Wednesday
as he announced a series of public hearings on the issue.
"We are determined to end the practice of mandatory
retirement without undermining existing rights to retire,
to retire early, or undermining current pension plans,"
Bentley told a news conference in Toronto.
"Ontarians are healthier and living longer so it
is unfair to insist that they stop working simply because
they reach age 65."
Some labour groups have complained the proposed change
is a cost-saving move by business and governments.
Slower, lower, weaker: India at the Olympic Games
CBC
News Viewpoint | August 18, 2004 | More from Jeremy Copeland
A commentator on the local TV coverage of the first day
of the Olympics summed up India's shortcomings at the
Games. After his colleague speculated about Michael Phelps's
chances of setting a record for winning the most gold
medals at one Games the commentator said: "Isn't
it amazing that here we are talking about the possibility
of one athlete taking seven gold medals and our country
of one billion people may not even win a single bronze
medal?"
India's performance in past Olympics has been, to put
it mildly, disappointing. At the Sydney Games four years
ago India won just one bronze medal. That was in weightlifting.
Tennis provided India with its only medal of the 1996
Atlanta Games, that one also a bronze. Before Athens,
the only other medal India had ever won in an individual
sport at the Olympics was also a bronze in wrestling at
the 1952 Games in Helsinki. More at ...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_copeland/20040818.html
CBC
Launches Exclusive South Asian VideoOn Demand Channel
By
Binoy Thomas
http://www.weeklyvoice.com/CNews/?CNewsID=526710
CBC, Canada's national broadcaster always in tune with
its multicultural communities, has taken the lead in launching
a South Asian channel that will now be available on Rogers
Cable as a Video on Demand (VOD) service. This is the
first community specific channel in Canada. Though the
contents come from the South Asian milieu, it's offered
for the benefit of all audiences who might want to plug
into this unique and increasingly significant cultural
segment of Canada. By sticking to English as the language,
CBC's South Asian programming not only reaches the different
groups hailing from the sub-continent, but also more critically,
the second generation growing up here. "This is an
ideal way for them to absorb and keep in touch with the
cultural roots of their parents," says Suresh Bala,
Senior Manager, Specialty Services, one of the prime movers
behind the project.
Dual Citizenship Registration To Begin Next Month
Putting an end to all uncertainties and following the
repeated appeals and requests from the NRIs the worldover
, India's Minister of State for NRI Affairs, Jagdish Tytler,
has finally announced that the registration process for
dual citizenship for people of Indian origin will begin
within a month.
http://www.weeklyvoice.com/CNews/?CNewsID=526711
