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Appeal for Haiti from the Goan Charitable Organization The disaster in Haiti has touched the hearts and minds of people the world over. There is a widespread desire that Goans here offer support, as a community, to the people of Haiti. We have in place the Goan Charitable Organization, which has responded in the past to pressing humanitarian needs at home and abroad. We ask members of our community be responsive and make generous contributions to the plight of the people of Haiti. The Goan Charitable Organization can receive these donations, and, as in the past, hand amounts raised to the Red Cross. This has the advantage that donations received will be matched by equivalent amounts by the Federal Government . Donations can be made to: Goan Charitable Organization P.O. Box 5667, Station”A” Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1N8 Income Tax receipts can be issued for amounts $10 and above. P.S: PLEASE INSERT IN MEMO FIELD OF YOU CHEQUE “HAITI” For further details please contact: President: Roque Barreto 416-997-9155 Vice President: Francisco Carvalho 905-829-1698 Secretary/Treasurer: Emano Moniz 905-828-8993 Directors: Elma De Souza 820-6446 Alvito Fernandes 905-566-4881

Best Six Canadian Cities For Settlement Announced http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/10-60.aspx http://canadianimmigrant.ca/learn/newsitems/article/6284 Miho Takaya | January 13, 2010 Mississauga received an overall "C" grade, Calgary, Alberta; Waterloo, Ontario; Ottawa, Ontario, Vancouver, British Columbia; St. John's, Newfoundland and Richmond Hill, Ontario, have been selected as the top six cities that have “What migrants are looking for when choosing where to locate,” according to the Conference Board of Canada’s second report on the best cities in Canada to settle in. The report assessed 50 Canadian cities based on 41 indicators including health, economy, environment, society, education, innovation and housing to rank the locations that most attract skilled workers and mobile populations. The six top cities all got an “A” grade in the report. Richmond Hill and Vancouver are, in particular, marked with diverse and multicultural populations, the report says. “Cities that fail to attract new people will struggle to stay prosperous and vibrant,” says Mario Lefebvre, director of the Centre for Municipal Studies, in the report. “[Top-ranking cities] have particular strengths that make them magnets to newcomers, both from within Canada and abroad.” Fourteen cities - including Edmonton, Alberta; Victoria, British Columbia; Markham, Ontario; Vaughan, Ontario; Kingston, Ontario; Oakville, Ontario and Guelph, Ontario - earned “B” grade. Toronto, Canada's largest city, also earned a “B” grade. Although it scored low in the health and environment categories (due to the lack of physicians per population and poor air quality), the City of Toronto was ranked first in the society category, particularly thanks to the proportion of the foreign-born population and those employed in cultural occupations. The greater Toronto area attracted 35 per cent of all new immigrants (about 85,000 per year) between 2001 and 2006, but this number is partly offset by in-country migrants, about 25,000 annually, who left for other Canadian cities. Twenty-one cities get “C” grades, including three of Canada’s largest urban centres: Winnipeg, Manitoba; Montreal, Quebec and Hamilton, Ontario. Although it received an overall "C" grade, Mississauga attracts a high number of immigrants and gets a "B" in attractiveness among university-educated newcomer. The “D” class includes nine smaller or mid-sized cities including Oshawa, Brantford, Windsor and Cambridge — all cities located in Ontario. These cities have shown little population growth and were ranked nearly at the bottom in the innovation and education categories. For more information on Canada's cities, check read: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/10-60.aspx

Canada's real estate market expected to continue strong gains into the first half of 2010 Demand and supply finding balance in the second half of the year TORONTO, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - Canada's residential real estate market is forecast to remain unusually strong through the first half of 2010 as economic conditions across the country improve and the stimulus impact of low interest rates continues to stoke demand, according to today's Royal LePage Market Survey Forecast and House Price Survey. As confidence in the recovery builds in early 2010, increases in average house price levels and overall market activity are expected to continue. The gradual erosion of affordability driven by higher house prices and the expected late-year modest upward movement of interest rates, together with an improvement in listings supply as confidence improves, are expected to bring the market back into balance in the second half of the year, when home price increases are expected to moderate.   "The Canadian real estate market enters 2010 with considerable momentum from an unusually strong finish to the previous year," said Phil Soper, president and chief executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services. "The stimulus effect of low borrowing costs has contributed to a sharp rise in demand that has driven activity levels to new highs. This demand, coupled with a typical seasonal undersupply of homes for sale, should cause home prices to continue to appreciate significantly during the early months of the year. Improving supply as the year unfolds and easing demand as the cost of home ownership rises should moderate home price increases in the second half of 2010." Toronto's house prices stabilizing, forecast shows sustainability for 2010 Royal LePage's Market Survey Forecast predicts five per cent average price growth TORONTO, Jan. 7 /CNW/ - The three types of properties surveyed in Toronto's real estate markets made modest gains in the fourth quarter after soaring prices in the previous quarter, signaling to real estate brokers that house prices are stabilizing, according to the latest Royal LePage Market Survey Forecast and House Price Survey. House prices in Toronto are expected to grow another five per cent in 2010.   In comparison to the fourth quarter of 2008, the average price of standard condominium increased 2.9 per cent to $309,316 and standard two-storey homes increased 3.5 per cent to $564,175. Detached bungalows made the largest year-over-year gains at 9.9 per cent to $446,214, although it is a less common housing type in the region.  Royal LePage's Market Survey Forecast predicts prices will be up by five per cent in 2010 as greater numbers of more affluent buyers re-enter the market. First time buyers have been active in taking advantage of low interest rates. "There is a lot of optimism in Toronto's real estate market," said Gino Romanese, Senior Vice President, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. "Last year, we saw a surge of first-time-buyers, which depleted entry level listings. Now we are seeing activity in all other sectors - move-up, executive and luxury buyers. This will help Toronto's real estate market become more balanced." A surge of new condos being completed in 2010 will also stimulate the resale market as the new residents sell their existing properties.

African Migrants Flee Italian Town As Pope Condemns Violence http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/article255197.ece?service=print "An immigrant is a human being, different in where they came from, in their culture and tradition, but a person to respect who has rights and responsibilities." Pope Benedict XVI More than 1,000 Africans fled a southern Italian town over the weekend after a wave of violence against migrant farm workers as Pope Benedict XVI condemned the assaults on immigrants. An investigation was under way to establish whether local organised crime groups were involved in clashes that left 67 people injured in the Calabrian town of Rosarno -- 31 of them migrants, 19 police officers and 17 locals. Calm was generally restored Sunday after two days of unrest. Police in the regional capital Reggio di Calabria said Sunday 1,128 African migrants had left the Rosarno area, with more than 800 transferred to reception centers in the southern towns of Crotone and Bari. Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against the violence which erupted on Thursday and Friday, saying in his traditional Sunday sermon, "We have to go to the heart of the problem, of the significance of the human being. "An immigrant is a human being, different in where they came from, in their culture and tradition, but a person to respect who has rights and responsibilities." "Violence must never be a means to solve difficulties. The problem is a human one, and I invite everyone to look in the face of those nearby and see their soul, their history and their life and say to themselves: he is a man and God loves him as God loves me," the pope added. A Rosarno police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity and referring to the possible involvement of the region's 'Ndrangheta network, one of Italy's most brutal organised crime group, told AFP that "several investigations are under way but they have only just started." 'Ndrangheta members are suspected of having exploded a device outside the public prosecutor's office in the regional capital Reggio Calabria earlier this month in a revenge attack. Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni confirmed on Sky TG24 news channel that the cause of the two-day unrest in Rosarno, population 15,000, was being investigated. Maroni accused the 'Ndrangheta of having "secretly brought thousands of workers into the country" to unscrupulously exploit them. He also criticized local authorities, the migrants' employers and employers' associations for worsening the migrants' condition by paying them poorly and accommodating them in slum quarters. "Police recognized local 'Ndrangheta clan members in the clashes with the immigrants," Il Quotidiano della Calabria reporter Michele Albanese told AFP. "The mafia cynically exploits the immigrants. The criminal masterminds know that clandestine immigrants will not even try to revolt because they have no ID and no state protection," anti-mafia priest Luigi Ciotti concurred. Il Giornale, the newspaper owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's family, meanwhile, offered provocative advice for residents of the southern Calabria region: "Rather than shooting negroes, shoot the mafia." "Why won't Calabrians shoot the mafia? Immigrants are poor and weak, ugly and dirty, perfect targets," the paper said. "Organised crime which keeps security forces in check is powerful, violent, revengeful and therefore must not be bothered," the paper added with a twist of irony.

Gulf Non-Resident Indians Air Their Problems, Suggestions At Diaspora Meet‏ From: goanet-news-bounces@lists.goanet.org on behalf of Goanet News (news.goanet@gmail.com) Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/gulf-nris-air January 9th, 2010 - Shashi Tharoor New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) Taking overseas Indians into consideration in the government’s divestment process and creating Islamic-finance friendly projects to attract Gulf investments were among the various suggestions overseas Indians from the Gulf made to the government Friday. At a session on “Indians and the Gulf: Gulf Session” held on the third and concluding day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2010, the annual conclave of the Indian diaspora here, prominent members of the Indian community in the region voiced their problems and suggestions in the presence of three ministers - Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor and Minister of State for Railways E. Ahamed. United Arab Emirates (UAE) based EMKE Group’s managing director Yusuff Ali M.A. set the tone by suggesting that the government hold the next edition of mini-PBD - the smaller version of PBD that is held abroad every year - in the Gulf.  “Let the government decide on the venue and we Indians in the Gulf will fully help in its organisation,” he said. He also requested the government to take overseas Indians into consideration in the government’s divestment process. Chairman and managing director of Qatar’s Behzad Group of Companies C.K. Menon said that Gulf nations were sitting on huge investible funds and were looking to put this money in emerging economies. “But they want to invest this money in projects that areSharia-friendly,” Menon said. “Many countries in the West have already modified their financial systems in such a way that these are Sharia-friendly. In India too, such a system needs to be created,” he added. Managing director of Oman’s Galfar Engineering and Contracting Mohamed Ali dwelt on the issue of illegal Indian workers in the Gulf and their plight. “They land up there through illegal recruiting agents in India and then find that were not getting what they had gone there for. So, they illegally seek work in some other companies and end up getting virtually enslaved,” Ali said. “We need to have a system from the Indian end that will require every worker going abroad to report to the Indian missions there,” he said. Director of the UAE’s ETA Ascon & Star Group Syed M. Salahuddin sough the government’s help in setting up better schools for Indian students in the Gulf. “Out there education is nothing but a business. We need to have schools that charge low fees and impart good education. Maybe the government can help create a fund from which salaries of teachers can be paid,” he suggested. President of Saudi Arabia’s Pravasi Rehabilitation Centre K.M. Naushad requested the government to look into the possibility of a bilateral pact with the Saudi government that covered all aspects of labour so that problems of Indian labourers are mitigated. “Also, attestation of employment contracts by Indian missions must be made mandatory,” he added. Earlier, addressing the gathering, Ahamed said that India should formulate its foreign policy with the Gulf countries keeping the Indians there in mind. On his part, Tharoor said that India would not take Gulf countries for granted. “Precisely because we have no problems in our ties with the Gulf, we should not let it slip into complacency,” he said. Significantly, of the six concurrent sessions held Friday, only the Gulf session was region-specific, the others being thematic. There are five million expatriate Indians living in six Gulf nations.

UK- Tackling Race Inequality: A Statement on Race UK - Government is committed to tackling inequality and disadvantage wherever it exists http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1432659 See copy of document at link below: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/1432344.pdf 14 January 2010 Note in UK BME means: black and minority ethnic (BME) Excerpt: Research shows that people whose surname suggests they are from a BME background find it harder to get an interview when applying for a job. Communities Secretary John Denham today re-affirmed the Governments steadfast commitment to tackling race inequality and set out plans to build on the significant achievements by pledging to tackle inequality wherever it exists. John Denham has today published Tackling Race Inequality: A Statement on Race. This document details the consistent progress that has been made to tackle racism and secure race equality in recent years, highlights the remaining challenges and the need to broaden the focus of equalities work to respond to new and emerging issues. Over the past decade, the Government has worked tirelessly to build a fairer, more equal society. A society where a person's chances and opportunities in life are determined solely by their talent and effort - not by their class, gender, religion, sexuality or their race. ….. Across Government, efforts to raise incomes, reduce poverty and promote inequality - whether through the minimum wage, Sure Start or housing - has made a real difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged, including those from BME communities. However, there is still much to do. There are still areas of concern, especially in school exclusions and stop and search. Alongside these old challenges there are new and emerging trends affecting White and BME people There is a growing Black and Asian middle class - they are now coming up against the old problems in new settings. Research shows that people whose surname suggests they are from a BME background find it harder to get an interview when applying for a job. In education we know that Chinese and Indian students in particular do better than the average in schools whilst White working class boys appear to be lagging behind. Read entire article at http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1432659