Newsline Canada

Housing-bubble fears overinflated, sector has 'solid foundation,'
Prices over the next decade will rise at an average of three per cent per year.
Carl Gomez of TD reports, Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Excerpts...
TORONTO (CP) - The TD Bank economics department has soothing advice for homeowners who can't decide whether to be gratified or horrified by the high prices neighbouring homes are selling for: Don't worry, be happy.
Fears of a housing bubble are overblown, says a bank study released Wednesday. For full text click here.

Canada New immigration plan to clear backlog
CBC News, Mon, 18 Apr 2005
OTTAWA - Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe Volpe on Monday announced a new $72-million plan aimed at helping immigrants reunite with relatives and clear a giant backlog of applicants.
Part of the plan is designed to help those who want to sponsor their parents or grandparents, a process that immigration lawyers say can take between five and 10 years. Volpe said the new plan will should clear more than 100,000 applications off the book. For full text click here.

Aga Khan Development Network to establish the Global Centre for Pluralism in Canada.
April 18, 2005
The Government of Canada today welcomed the decision by the Aga Khan Development Network to establish the Global Centre for Pluralism in Canada. "Canadian society provides a model to the world of how democracy, prosperity and security can flourish when founded on a culture of respect and diversity", said Prime Minister Paul Martin. "The work of the Global Centre for Pluralism will provide important support in our continued efforts to fulfill Canada's responsibility to foster democracy and good governance in the world, which is one of the key objectives of the government's International Policy." For full text click here.

The 'Board of Directors' of the 'Canadian Seniors of the East' [CSoE] Montreal
	President: Leslie Vas [514-363-9277], Secretary: Deidre Lawrence [514-683-9590], Entertainment: Luiza D'Sa [450-676-8560], Marie Pereira [514-486-8711], Bella Alfonso [450-656-9983], Director: Robert Correa [514-620-2739], Ferman Gonsalvas [514-748-8986], Joyce Correa [514-620-2739], V-President: Joan Paes [514-733-3330], Treasurer: Suria Cotta [514-630-0252]. For full text click here.

News Clips from Goa
by Joel D'Souza & Fred Noronha

Goa stormstruck
	Sudden cyclonic winds accompanied by rain and thunder lashed several parts of Goa on April 20 causing havoc with nearly ten fishing trawlers capsising off Mormugao Harbour and hundreds of trees uprooted, damaging a number of houses and cars, blowing the roof-tops and disrupting the electric supply in many parts of the state.

Konkan Fruit fest
The annual Konkan Fruit Fest will be held from May 6 to May 8, 2005, at the IFFI promenade along the Mandovi river near Inox. The festival, which is presented jointly by government agencies, academic institutions, NGOs and entrepreneurs from all over the Konkan region, will have on display a variety of mangoes, besides the lesser known fruits.

Konkani Cinema Day
The Konkani cinema producers on April 24 urged the state government to provide all financial assistance to produce standard Konkani films and appealed to the people to promote Konkani films by patronising them. They also urged the government to provide a special slot for screening Konkani films during the ensuing IFFI 2005 and decided to make a documentation of all Konkani films produced till date and preserve it for posterity. Participating in the Konkani Cinema Day (Konknni Cholchitr Dis) organised by the Dalgado Konknni Akademi at the TB Cunha hall, Panaji, producer Rico Rod, chief guest, narrated the difficulties by him while producing Konkani films. Another producer Rajendra Talak pointed out that during the last 55 years there was a gap and no good Konkani films could be produced. On the occasion, the portrait of Al Jerry Braganza, who is regarded as the father of the Konkani cinema, was garlanded.

Govt yet to decide on 'Goa evening' at Cannes Festival
Although the Union information and broadcasting ministry has asked the state to organise 'Goa evening' at the Cannes International Film festival beginning from May 14, the state administration is yet to take a decision on it. Thus there is uncertainty over Goa's participation at the Cannes Festival.

"Music is the language of love"
"Music is everything for me. Music is the language of love," says Leo D'Souza, a self-taught musician who has been blowing glorious sax to entertain music buffs for several years, initially in East Africa and since 1971 performing in Goa with different popular bands and eventually doing a superb duo on the hotel circuit now...His father took him to East Africa where he resumed studies at Dr Ribeiro Goan School. Leo and his good friend Anthony D'Souza rigged up their first band "Rhythm Kings".

Obituary

Events
For listing of events in 2005 please click here

Announcements

Proposed Cardiac Care Center for Goa.
Presentation by Christopher Nunes [mailto:christophernunes@verizon.net]
Date: Sunday, May 8 at 2 p.m..
Place Eatonville Library in the Community Room, 430 Burnhamthorpe Road (at East Mall), Etobicoke, Located on the West Side of Toronto. The library community room can hold about 100 people.

Goan Seniors Association Planned for Mississauga/Brampton Area
A "Town Hall" meeting is planned in early June to see if an organization similar to the Toronto East Goan Seniors Association can be formed for the many 55+ Goan Seniors in the Mississauga/Brampton Area. Stay tuned. Expressions of Interest can be sent to info@goanvoice.ca

Chrystal Gomes on MS
25 Apr: Canada NewsWire. Media representatives are invited to attend a two-hour education session specifically designed for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) and depression, their families and caregivers. This event will feature MS patient & stand-up comedian Chrystal Gomes who will help all understand what they have been struggling with and how to better cope in day-to-day life at home and in the workplace. Date: Sunday, May 1, 2005.Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. Tel. (514) 602-1455, ext. 244.
Chrystal Gomes is the daughter of Danny Gomes, past President of the Dar-es-Salaam Institute and G.O.A. Toronto. For a profile of her see the link below.
Read the Goan Voice uk - http://www.goanvoice.org.uk/ for more details .

People Places and Things

Vancouver 2010 logo unveiled 24 Apr 2005 00:50:24 , CBC Sports
	The 2010 Winter Olympics will feature a unique design of an inukshuk, a traditional stone sculpture used by Canada's Inuit people, as its official logo. The winning logo, called Ilanaaq (el la nawk), was unveiled Saturday in Vancouver and was designed by local graphic designers Elena Rivera MacGregor and Gonzalo Alatorre.
Their emblem was selected by a nine-member panel and beat out over 1,600 other submissions. The logo boasts five stone-like formations in green, two in blue, and one in red and yellow. Two pillars serve as the legs in support of the body, a horizontal shape acts as the arm and an eagle is where the head would normally be. The form stands over the words "Vancouver 2010" and the five Olympic rings. The different colours represent different regions of the country: the green and blues symbolize coastal forests, mountain ranges and islands. The red represents Canada's Maple Leaf and the yellow depicts the brilliant sunrises.

Telling Lies - Can A Device Know?
Each year we hear stories of how criminal investigation authorities put suspects through tests to indicate if they are telling the truth. To the layman it seems an almost endless argument. Does the technology and wizardry work?
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1353745.htm

Health & Wellness

Temporary Resident Visa to enter Canada.
A Temporary Resident Visa is needed for those in Goa who wish to visit relatives and friends in Canada. A Letter of Invitation must be sent by the host in Canada to the Canadian Embassy in New Delhi.
The following information is only a guide. You must write the letter of invitation yourself. Some visa offices may require that your letter be notarized by a Notary Public.
Send your letter (notarized if necessary) to the person you are inviting to Canada. They must then submit this letter to the Canadian Embassy or Consulate outside of Canada when they apply for their Temporary Resident Visa. For full text click here

Child's Asthma Device - Funhaler
An innovative fun device to encourage children to use their asthma medication was invented by Dr. Paul Watt when he became frustrated with his son's refusal to use a spacer properly.
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1347845.htm

'Say no to pop,' Nunavut residents told
Mon, 25 Apr 2005 CBC News
IQALUIT - Health officials in Nunavut are calling on residents to "Drop the Pop" this week in an effort to raise awareness about tooth decay, obesity and diabetes in the northern territory.
The five-day anti-soft drink campaign kicks off Monday, aimed at both students and adults in Nunavut's population of 27,000.
Pop machines can be popular in schools
Ainiak Korgak, the manager of health promotion with Nunavut's health department, says Inuit have increasingly been choosing soft drinks and other processed foods over traditional diets, and over healthier imported items such as milk and juice.
"A community will run out of pop and they'll charter a plane to bring pop, so that tells you how much people love their pop," he said.

Canadian youth rate poorly on obesity scales
Wed, 20 Apr 2005, CBC News
KINGSTON, ONT. - Canadian youth are spending so much time in front of TV and computer screens that they rank fourth in the world for obesity, a new study finds.
The international survey is based on statistics gathered in 2001-2002 on more than 160,000 people aged 11, 13 and 15 across Europe and North America.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/04/20/obesity-children050420.html?print

Couch potato habits can form early in life.
* INDEPTH: How to get kids moving
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/education/physed.html
Dr. William Boyce of Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., co-ordinated the Canadian portion of the WHO project, which compared physical activity levels and dietary habits in 34 countries.
Wednesday's study, published in the May issue of Obesity Reviews, is the latest in a long line of such research that points to a disturbing weight trend among Canadian youth.