10 July, 2015 | Vol. 7 Issue 16 | www.iwk.co.

nz

New Zealands first Kiwi-Indian weekly newspaper

The Pulse of Kiwi-Indians

Auckland Christchurch Wellington Hamilton Palmerston North Hastings Invercargill

CONTENTS

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

INSIDE

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Pg 14

FIJI

Pg 22

KID ZONE

Pg 23

I AM WOMAN

Pg 24

GLITTERATI

Pg 26

BOLLYWOOD

Pg 30

FACE OF
THE WEEK

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COVER STORY

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

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Integrating amenities for an m-powered society

Narendra Modis Digital India Week reiterates the existing digital landscape of the nation, by enabling additional applications
Paula Ray

the role of an all-encompassing

service provider from banking
transactions and educational
information to train booking
and infotainment. Couple
these
with
activist

he Eleventh Five-Year
Plan (2007-2012) of the
Planning
Commission
of India set inclusive growth
as one of its prime objectives. In
keeping with the programme,
the usage of mobile telephony
was no longer limited to a
communication tool to make
phone calls or to send and receive
text and voice messages but it
evolved as the prime technology
that helped bridge the richpoor divide between urban and
rural India.
The mobile telephone not
only gave the socio-economically
downtrodden villagers a voice by
helping them reach out to fellow
residents in distant villages,
but has also provided several
hundreds and thousands of
youth with direct or indirect job
opportunities. Ravi Ghate and
his SMSOne project is one such
initiative that aimed at achieving
this inclusivity.
Among the urban populace,

the mobile telephone took over

initiatives
and we have
had unprecedented
outcomes like uniting
the country along issues
like the Anti-Corruption Bill
and the Nirbhaya case leading
to an amendment of rape
laws
in
a
predominantly
patriarchal society.
Last week, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi launched the
Digital India Week (DIW)

to transform India into a

digitally
empowered
society
and
knowledge
economy.
An ambitious Rs 1,13,000
crore project, Modi wants it to
provide an intensified impetus
for further momentum and
progress for e-Governance and
would promote inclusive growth
that covers electronic services,
products, devices, manufacturing
and job opportunities. The
programme is being implemented
in phases, from 2014 till 2018.
The list of digital applications
and programmes that DIW
entails digital lockers to
store documents, e-Sign using
Aadhaar, e-Hospital systems,
National Scholarship Portal,
Centre of Excellence on Internet
on Things (IoT) and a high-speed
digital highway aims to make
government services efficient,
easier to access and hassle-free.
But the hype and excitement
among industrialists and other
business professionals over this
is over-rated, to say the least.
What did the mobile governance
(m-Governance as it is popularly

referred to) not achieve over the

past decade that Modis Digital
initiative will?
Even in 2007,farmers could
instantly track updates on crop
pricing or news of a seed or
fertilizer delivery often a few
towns away, over their nonsmart mobile handset with the
help of a simple text message
in their vernacular language or
even a dirt-cheap phone call.
Accordingly, the farmers would
plan their trips judiciously on
a day when they are certain to
benefit from and avoid wasting
time and energy on a futile travel
only to come back empty-handed.
Urban consumers who could
afford a 3G mobile handset
enabled with mobile internet,
at extremely reasonable rates,
had a veritable treat of immense
possibilities opening up for them.
The Department of Information
Technology of the Government of
India initiated the formulation of a
comprehensive policy framework
on mobile governance. It helped
citizens to use their mobile phone
Continued on page 4

COVER STORY

Continued from page 3

connection to file for IT returns

and pay for public services.
The government, in turn,
used text messaging to make
public
announcements
with
regard to agriculture, health and
administration, as well as simple
chores like tracking the cleaning
of garbage bins in particular
corporations and municipalities.
The multiple-access channels
of SMS, GPS and GPRS helped
in real-time monitoring. So
much so that Bihar State Road
Corporation, one of the most
poorly-funded in the country,
deployed GPS-enabled mobile
phones
to
monitor
road
construction in the state.
The usage of mobile phone
became so popular, that by
2010 India was reported to have
the second largest number of
mobile internet users in the
world, only second to the US.
This was because it was much
more affordable to acquire a
mobile handset, with internet
connectivity, than a full-fledged
computer system, especially in
the not-so-affluent rural areas of
the nation.
What Modi is trying to achieve
is to bring all of these facilities
together, organise them under
one umbrella, namely DeitY
(Department of Electronics and
Information Technology), and
present it to the world-stage
as an original enterprise. Yes,
he will do good to expedite the
never-ending delay in laying

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

down of the fibre optics network.
His plan to implement Aadhaar
Enabled Biometric Attendance
Systemand the e-sign are also
commendable (although Aadhaar
isnt really Modis brainchild), if
it can be achieved as a foolproof
measure. But his objective to cut
down import of electronics by
2020 appears to be of little use.
Desktop
computers
have
already made inroads into
rural India, often via heavilysubsidised government schemes.
The urban landscape will not be
affected by locally-manufactured
digital devices. Most Indians in
cities rely on their much-evolved
4G-enabled mobile devices to
access the internet. They have
enough purchasing power to opt
for the imported variety.
But then, Modi has always
been a statesman with enviable
marketing acumen. The DIW is
just another of his diplomatic
deals with industrialists who
might invest in the expansion
of an already-existing digital
infrastructure of the nation.

What India says about DIW

mid
loud
cheers,
applause
and
even
sharp whistles, the
PM appeared to be loving every
moment of the two-hour event,
as leader after leader from the
corporate world pledged support
for what is touted as one of his
pet initiatives to touch the life of
every citizen.
The Ambani brothers, present
on the occasion, showered lavish
praises on the PM, saying India
has now got a decisive and
visionary leader.

Red

and decisive leadership. Digital

India, would add another
unique dimension to that story.
In other words, Digital India
carries the signature of a leader
whose name is synonymous
with
the
transformational
power of connectivity and
communication.

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Bharti Airtel

Mukesh Ambani
Reliance Industries Limited:

Anil Ambani,
Reliance Group chairperson

The Indian story, which had

been driven by 3-Ds -- democracy,
demographics and demand, now
had a fourth D (decisiveness).
With Narendrabhai assuming
charge as Prime Minister, we
inaugurated a new era in our
nations history: of visionary

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Sunil Bharti Mittal

India is fortunate to have

a Prime Minister who not only
paints a comprehensive and
compelling vision but has the
personal leadership and drive to
convert his vision to reality. It is
my conviction, Prime Minister,
under your leadership, the Digital
India initiative will create a
partnership among all sections of
society... a partnership that will
leverage the power of 1.2 billion
Indians. A partnership built on
the ability and industry of all our
citizens.

Who better to lead this

initiative than our own very
popular and beloved Prime
Minister, who is a digital native,
perhaps a handful of leaders
around the globe who understand
and is comfortable with the
technology. Who is an avid user
of Facebook and Twitter and
a person who has set a trend
of selfies.
Kumar Mangalam Birla
Aditya Birla Group

COVER STORY

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

Digital India is a truly exciting possibility.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
articulated the whole
vision, whichOrange
reflects
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his clairvoyance and his futuristic thinking.

Jyotsna Suri
FICCI

Anil Agarwal
Vedanta Resources & Sterlite Technologies:

Whenever the government has trusted

the industry, it has performed whether it is
telecom, pharma, power etc. I can assure
you (Prime Minister) in the coming days if
you will trust us we will succeed.
Cyrus Mistry

Digital India Week programme is

an important milestone to engage with
renewed energy to transform Indias digital
infrastructure for the next generation users
and the unconnected.As the entire world
is looking at India, it makes practical sense
to launch such a grand programme which
has the potential to catalyse the investment
process in this high technology sector and
simultaneously generate employment.
Rahul Patwardhan
NIIT

Tata Group

I would like to congratulate the Prime

Minister on digitally empowering the
country.

Digital infrastructure being setup

under Digital India will support Skill
India by enabling mass scaling of skill
development, using technology as a mass
delivery mechanism.

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NEW ZEALAND

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

Fashion by top Indian designers

now just a click away

he growth of technology has

enabled Indian couture retailers
to tap into the global market.
SummerSouk, an online retail fashion
house based in South Island, New Zealand,
does the same by providing designer IndoWestern and Eastern apparel more easily
to the Australasian region.
Brainchild of Farah Ali, the idea of
Summer Souk came to the founder when
she was planning her wedding in Australia
and saw a gap in the Australasian market
for designer Indian bridal wear. After her
relocation to New Zealand, she established
Summer Souk that now acts as a regional
platform and point of contact for multiple
top designers to provide Indian everyday
and formal wear to Australasian clients.
With free shipping on all New Zealand
orders, and free shipping to Australian
buyers on all apparel, Summer Souk
offers designs from Hemant and Nandita,
Surendri by Yogesh Chaudhary, Mogra
by Sheena, Sapana Amin, Payal Singhal,
Zoraya, Ka Sha by Karishma Shahani Khan,
and The Little Black Bow. Their product
range also includes premium jewellery,
purses and designer Indian footwear, and
they will soon launch their own range
of embroidered silk clothing and cotton
bedding.
Technology is providing a wonderful
infrastructure that allows retailers such
as Summer Souk and Indian designers to
work quickly and efficiently. The world is
becoming smaller in this digital century,
but that just brings beautiful things closer.

For customised orders please contact

info@summersouk.com.

NZAF celebrates 30 years

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IWK Bureau

ew Zealand Aids Foundation

(NZAF) celebrated its 30th
anniversary July 1 at Auckland
Museuma day that marked an important
milestone for NZAFs history. The event
commemorated three decades of the
AIDS epidemic in New Zealand and the
foundations response to it. Notable
attendees included the foundations
first Chair Kate Leslie, Director Neville
Creighton, Executive Director Warren
Lindberg, Philanthropist Sir James
Wallace, early board members Alan Ivory
and Bruce Kilmister and long-time staffer
Tony Hughes.
The foundation has been curating
30 Project, which was central to the
anniversary celebration. Archived film
and video footage, photography and safe
sex campaign materials were converted
into accessible digital formats. The project
consisted of three short digital videos,
each chronicling a 10-year period, which
gives a real and visceral insight into New
Zealands response to the AIDS epidemic.
The project was not a mere memorial;
it also acts as a resource for the future. It
promises to reconnect new generations
with the real faces and stories of New
Zealanders, who have responded to the
HIV/AIDS epidemic over the last three
decades, and in some cases, given the
ultimate contributiontheir lives. 30
Project acknowledged the people, who
paved the way, and helped build NZAF into
one of the most effect ive HIV prevention
organisations in the world. Shaun
Robinson, Executive Director, NZAF, said,
Connecting with the past can help to reenergise the New Zealand community in
the fight against HIV/AIDS today.
The
HIV/AIDS
epidemic
has
dramatically changed over 30 years.
Medication has ensured that HIV no longer
progresses to AIDS, and people with the
virus live a normal lifespan. However, HIV
still remains incurable and it is important
to prevent the spread of new infections.
With the 2014 figure showing an increase
in new cases of HIV, NZAFs event
signified a renewed vigour and conviction

Above: (from left to right) Verity George, Kate Leslie, Shaun

Robinson and Tony Hughes
Below: Tamati Coffey addressing the attendees at the event

in responding to the epidemic.

Speakers at the event that included the
First Executive Director of the Foundation
Warren Lindberg, current Executive
Director Shaun Robinson, and the Current
Board Chair David Friar, chronicled the
journey of the foundation, how it has
evolved, and how they have conducted
precautionary and awareness programmes
across the country.
Thirty years of human rights and law
reform around homosexuality mean that
HIV and sex can be talked about openly
and safe sex can be freely promoted. As a
result, 80% of gay and bisexual men use
condoms for casual sex and this has kept
HIV at very low levels, said Robinson.
Today, New Zealand has one of worlds
lowest prevalence of HIV, thanks to a
culture of safe sex and condom use.

Aucklanders experience
the opening of Fast Iftari
IWK Bureau

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

opened their doors at the largest purpose
built mosque, Baitul Muqeet in Manukau,
to friends and Aucklanders to partake in
the breaking of the fast during the holy
month of Ramadhan on Saturday night
last week.
This is part of our vision of
inclusiveness; to share our practices and
festivities with our neighbours, friends
and well-wishers of our community
said Mr Iqbal Mohammed, the National
President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community in New Zealand.
Guests from many different ethnicities
and faiths converged at the mosque in

Wiri, Manukauon Saturdayafternoon

to experience Iftari with Muslims
friends. For many, this was a unique and
pleasant experience. Guests opened fast
at sunset and then watched those who
performed the evening Maghrib prayer
before settling for a sumptuous dinner
that evening.
National Party list MP, Dr Parmjeet
Parmar congratulated the Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community for sharing their
beliefs and educating the public of
their practices through love and
mutual respect.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is
a registered charitable organisation and
endeavours to be an active and integrated
community within New Zealand society.

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

Darrin Franks joins GFS

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IA insurance honcho joins leading

Indian home loans and insurance
adviser
Global
Financial
Services Ltd (GFS).
Insurance industry leader Darrin Franks
has joined GFS as Management Strategy
Consultant to improve the customer
experience for home loans as well as
insurance.
Until 2013, Darrin was heading
distribution and marketing at AIA
Insurancethe life insurance market
leaders in Asia Pacific region.
Darrin has been working as a management
consultant at his company Conetworkz
Management
Solutions.
He
brings
valuable expertise of more than 20 years
in the insurance industry in New Zealand
with leading companies such as Asteron
and Sovereign.
Founded by Ajay Kumar in 1999,
Global Financial Services Ltd is New
Zealands leading mortgage and insurance
advisory, having arranged more than $3
bn in loans and $2.5 bn in insurance.
Customers of GFS will benefit from
Darrins expertise.
We feel that with the vast knowledge
and experience of Darrin Franks, GFS will
be able to deliver excellent customer service
for both mortgage and insurance.
The GFS team will benefit in learning
best practices and advising customers on
choosing the right insurance at the right
price, says Mr Kumar.
GFS has focused on complete clarity
to the customer at the time the insurance
application is filled as well as an ongoing
annual review of insurance policies. So far,

Darrin Franks

its claim settlement ratio in respect of life

insurance is 100%.
Darrin and Ajay aim to work together
to improve the end to end processes
so that customers get the best advice
and assistance.
Global Financial Services Ltd is one of
the financial advisers who are successfully
serving the Indian community continuously
for more than 16 years.
The company has won 22 prestigious
awards including top advisor awards from
ANZ Bank, ASB Bank and AIA Insurance
and The New Zealand Mortgage Magazine.

NEW ZEALAND

NEW ZEALAND

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

Heralding the New Year

Esha Chanda

The dawn of Matariki

s the winter night sky

lights up with hot blue
stars, signalling the start
of Maori New Year, a month-long
celebration commences in New
Zealand. Matariki is the Maori
name given to the cluster of stars
appearing in the tail of the Milky
Way. The Pleiades or the Seven
Sisters in the Taurus constellation
can be sighted towards the end of
May or early June on the northeastern horizon in New Zealand.
Often associated with the winter
solstice, Matariki was celebrated
at different times by different
Maori tribes. While some held
festivities when the Seven
Sisters were first spotted, others
celebrated after the full moon rose
or at the beginning of the next new
moon. Today, the new moon after
the rising of Matariki signals the
Maori New Year. In early years,
the Maori were keen observers
of the night sky. The seasons
crops were planted according to
the Matariki star cluster. If the
stars were bright and clear, it
was an indication of a productive
season, and if cluster appeared
dense, planting was delayed until
October. For Maori, the rise of
Matariki signified remembrance,

fertility and celebration. It is a

time to remember the dead and
celebrate new life. It is also a time
to thank the land, the sea and
the sky.
Legend has it...

Matariki means eyes of God or

little eyes.
Maori mythology tells the
story of Ranginui, the sky
father, and Papatuanuku, the
earth mother, who had several
children while remaining in an
embrace. The children grew up
living in darkness. Frustrated,
they conspired to separate them
by forcing Ranginui above and
Papatuanuku below. This angered
Tawhirimatea, the God of winds,
and in a fit of rage, he tore out
his eyes and threw them into
the heavens.
Another traditional account
is that Matariki is the mother
surrounded by her six daughters,
Tupu-a-nuku,
Tupu-a-rangi,
Waiti, Waita, Waipuna-a-rangi
and Ururangi, who appear to
assist the sun, Te Ra, as his winter
journey from the North has
weakened him.
The festivities
This year, Matariki started
on June 18 and the festival will
run till July 19. Traditionally,
Matariki was celebrated with

family gatherings as they reflected

on the past. The Maori kite
(pakau) played a significant role
in the celebrations, as according
to ancient customs, the kites
fly close to the stars. Although
the
celebrations
gradually
dwindled towards 1940s, it
revived at the beginning of the
21st century, and today, with its
growing importance, it celebrates
Maori culture.
Aucklands Matariki Festival
is packed with live performances,
theatre, poetry, dance, art, food,
family events and Kapa Haka.
Watch the world premiere
of Romeo raua ko Hurieto
adaptation
of
the
classic
Shakespearean love storythat
will be performed live at Auckland
Museums Maori Court. The
museum will also play host to
the Matariki art market that
celebrates Maori artists, musicians
and performers.
Matariki is a time to reflect on
the rich Maori history and culture.
The first modern-day Matariki
was celebrated in Hastings in
2000 with 500 people. In 2013,
the number increased to 15,000.
Each year, Matariki has a theme
and this year, it is He rau tangata,
he koingo aroha, meaning,
people gather and affirm love in a
myriad of ways.

NZ First MPs grace BSCTs

Matariki celebration
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hartiya Samaj Charitable

Trusts seniors meet
at Mt. Roskill War
Memorial Hall on July 4 were
honoured by the presence of
MP Pita Paraone from NZ First
along with his colleague MP
Mahesh Bindra.
Pita
Paraone
elaborately
described the importance and
values of Matariki and Haka.
Matariki has two meanings,
both referring to a tiny
constellation of stars; mata riki
(tiny eyes) and mata ariki (eyes of
God).
The diverse BSCT community
adopted and celebrated Maori
New Year, which is marked
by the rise of Matariki and
the sighting of the following
new moon.
Matariki is the Maori name for
the group of stars also known as
the Pleiades star cluster or The
Seven Sisters

On the request of the Bhartiya

Seniors, Pita performed Haka
where the seniors joined him.
The event was a success,
and BSCT were overwhelmed
by
peoples
aroha
and
support
in
knowing
and
celebrating
the
occasion
with them.

(above) NZ First MPs Pita Paraone and Mahesh Bindra at the event; (top)NZ First MP Pita Paraone
performs Haka

Dr. Lingappa Kalburgi

Mobile: 021 1142 148
Email: kalburgi@ihug.co.nz

Dhansukh Lal
Mobile: 021 761 751
Email: dee.lal@mitre10.co.nz

For any further details or to register please contact:

Michael Barnett is Chief Executive of the

Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce &
Industry, and Director of both the Auckland
Chamber and NZ Chambers of Commerce &
Industry.

MICHAEL BARNETT

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Chandubhai Patel
Mobile:0274 505 757
Email: chanpatelnz@gmail.com

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DONT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY!

PARTICIPATING IN THE
AUCKLAND ECONOMY

Red






FREE BUSINESS FORUM

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

NEW ZEALAND
9

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10

NEW ZEALAND

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

Red

Business compliance costs

dropping

he Governments Better
Public
Services
for
Business
(Result
9)
programme continues to show
an improvement in reported
performance
by
government
agencies, Minister for Economic
Development Steven Joyce says.
In 2012, the Government set
targets to reduce by 2017 the
cost to business of dealing with
government by 25 per cent, and
to improve performance ratings to
levels enjoyed by leading private
sector firms.
The latest results, which track
progress over the first half of 2015,
show a 16 per cent drop in reported
effort by companies when dealing
with government agencies since
the baseline survey in 2012 - well
over halfway towards the 2017
target, Mr Joyce says.
The Better for Business
programme works in collaboration
across a number of agencies to
ensure joined-up government
services,
and
an
ongoing
commitment from agencies to
improve interaction and reduce
the time spent dealing with
government.
The downward trend in effort

and improved service levels is

positive news for businesses and
demonstrates the value of the
Governments focus on improving
public services.
Two of the major programmes
to reduce business costs - the New
Zealand Business Number and the
IRDs tax simplification project
Business Transformation - are
yet to be fully implemented. So
we have a lot of opportunity in
the pipeline to further reduce the
costs of dealing with government
for businesses of all sizes.
The gap in service performance
between the government and the
private sector has also narrowed
in the latest report.

New Zealand and

Samoa sign double
tax agreement

rime
Minister
John
Key this week joined
Samoa Prime Minister
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi in
signing a double tax agreement
between New Zealand and Samoa.
The signing of this double tax
agreement is significant for
our countries and will further
strengthen the close relationship
between New Zealand and
Samoa, says Mr Key.
New Zealand is Samoas
second largest trading partner.
The agreement will provide a
platform for increased trade and
investment between our two
countries, and will help assist the
economic development of our
Pacific island neighbour.
Importantly,
the
tax
agreement represents a further
extension of New Zealands tax
treaty network into the Pacific.
Once the agreement enters into
force, it will bring New Zealands
network of tax treaties to a total of
40, Mr Key says.

Double tax agreements help

to reduce tax barriers to twoway trade and investment by
preventing cross-border income
being taxed twice, therefore giving
certainty about how that income
will be taxed.
They also lower withholding
taxes, making it less costly for
businesses in one country to
invest in the other, and assist tax
administration.
The agreement will replace the
existing tax information exchange
agreement with Samoa which is
more limited in its scope.

By reducing the time and effort

that business owners spend on
administration, the Government
is helping the private sector to
focus on growing their businesses
and the economy, says Mr Joyce.
Government agencies have
an ambitious programme of work
to deliver even better service to
their business customers, which
will ultimately give New Zealand
businesses a competitive edge
in the global marketplace and
help to ensure that New Zealand
maintains its reputation as one of
the easiest places in the world to
do business.
The next survey results are due
out in February 2016.

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Auckland house prices

now 10 times incomes

uckland house prices

have risen so steeply
the typical house in our
biggest city now costs 10 times
the median Auckland household
income,
Labours
Housing
spokesperson Phil Twyford says.
Barfoot
and
Thompson reportsthe median
house sale price in June was
$786,000. Thats 10 times the
median Auckland household
income of $78,600, according to
Statistics NZsIncome Survey.
Three times the median house
income is the internationally
accepted
benchmark
for
affordability with higher than
three considered unaffordable.
If any further proof was
needed, this is it Auckland is
now officially off the scale.
It
is
no
wonder
that

homeownership
rates
are
plummeting and it now takes
about 50 years to pay off the
average Auckland home.
Whatever Housing Minister
Nick Smith is doing to address
the Auckland housing crisis, it is
clearly not working.
The
Government
must
urgently clamp down on overseas
speculators who are pushing
house prices out of reach of Kiwi
families and embark on a massive
state-backed
house
building
programme, Phil Twyford says.

Strategy targets international

investors

conomic
Development
Minister Steven Joyce
has announced Cabinet
approval of a new national strategy
to attract more international
business investment and increase
growth across the country.
The New Zealand Investment
Attraction Strategy will be led
by a cross-government team of
senior officials from NZTE, MBIE,
MFAT, Callaghan Innovation and
the Treasury. The Strategy sets out
a common set of priorities, goals
and key actions for government
agencies to work with the private
sector on investment attraction
activities.
It is a competitive world
for investment, Mr Joyce
says.While we have been seeing
good growth overall in recent
years, we need to sustain that and
expand on it to really see a stepchange in economic activity across
New Zealand.
Applying an overall strategic
direction
will
enable
the
Government to target its efforts

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alongside the private sector and

local government, and attract
investments that provide the
biggest benefits to New Zealand.
The Strategy sets out three
priorities:
}} The attraction of high-quality
foreign direct investment in
areas of competitiveness for
New Zealand;
}} The attraction of overseas
investment in research and
development,
especially
encouraging
multinational
corporations to locate their
R&D activity in New Zealand;
and
}} Expanding New Zealands pool
of smart capital by attracting
individual
investors
and
entrepreneurs to New Zealand.
Achieving the Governments
goal of building a strong
competitive
economy
with
increasing numbers of higher-paid
jobs requires ongoing significant
increases in business investment,
Mr Joyce says.
Attracting more international
investment will enhance our
export markets and international

linkages,
introduce
new
technologies and processes to
New Zealand firms, create more
skilled jobs, and increase regional
economic activity.
Development
of
the
Strategy is a key priority of the
Business Growth Agenda and
complements other actions aimed
at strengthening New Zealands
investment environment. It will
particularly dovetail into the
regional growth studies, which are
identifying growth opportunities
in Northland, the Bay of Plenty,
the East Coast and Manawatu/
Wanganui.
The Strategy will align the
relevant activities of the Ministry
of Business, Innovation and
Employment,
New
Zealand
Trade and Enterprise, Callaghan
Innovation, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the
Ministry for Primary Industries.
Targeted consultation with the
private sector will be undertaken.
The finalStrategy will be publicly
available.

NEW ZEALAND

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

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Advisory panel vacancies

uckland Council is
calling for candidates
to fill vacancies on the
Ethnic Peoples Advisory Panel (two
positions) and Disability Advisory
Panel (up to three).The purpose of
the panels is to:
}} provide knowledge on issues
that are important to specific
communities
in
Auckland
in relation to the councils
regional strategies, policies,
plans and bylaws. This includes
contributing to the big picture
conversations about Aucklands
development
}} advise the council on how to
engage effectively with these
communities.
Panels work on a programme
agreed with the council. Members
receive a meeting fee of $250 (less
withholding tax) and meet six
weekly. The council will provide
the necessary assistance to support
people with a disability in the
application and selection process.
The council is looking for panel
members who:
}} have a broad perspective and
are committed to Auckland as a
whole as well as commitment and
expert knowledge of their own
communities
}} provide a reliable source of

11

knowledge and judgment on

current issues, emerging trends,
challenges and opportunities
}} are critical thinkers, able to
give and appreciate alternative
perspectives and priorities
}} have a sound understanding and
experience of giving advice in a
governance role (e.g. on a board,
committee, trust)
}} understand the mandate of
local government and respect its
decision-making processes and
the respective roles of elected
members,
advisory
panels
and officers.
Applications open 6 July 2015 and
close5pm20 July 2015.Applicants
must complete an application
form and provide a Curriculum
Vitae (CV), including references.
Applicants will be assessed on how
they demonstrate the following
competencies:
1. Ability to think strategically
and critically on issues and trends
specific to people with disability
2. Knowledge of the main
issues for people in their specific
community
3. Sound understanding of
community perspectives, dynamics,
key organisations and networks
4. Experience of a governance
and advisory role.

Applicants for the Disability

Advisory Panel vacancies must have
direct experience of what it means to
live with a disability.

Information
leaflets
and
application
forms
are
available online fromwww.
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/
advisorypanels,www.madison.
co.nzand from council
libraries and service centres.
Completed forms with CV and
references should be emailed
toACadvisorypanels@
madison.co.nzor posted to
Madison Recruitment Ltd, PO
Box 105 675, Auckland 1143

Funding for community

projects on offer

ooking to fund a project,

activity or event that
will make a positive
contribution to your community?
Applications for community
grants from most local boards
open this month, the first
under Auckland Councils new
community grants policy.
This is the first time we have
had a regional policy with a
consistent programme of grants
so this first round of applications is
a major milestone for the council,
says Councillor George Wood,
chair of the Regional Strategy and
Policy Committee.
Quick
response
grants
are for community groups or
organisations
only
requiring
small amounts, generally less
than $2000. Every local board,
which offer quick grants, have set

thresholds for the minimum and

maximum amounts available.
Those with larger projects
can apply to a local board grants
programme.
All grants programmes support
arts and culture, community
development,
environment
and natural heritage, historical
heritage, events and sport and
recreation
projects.Another
significant change from July
this year is local boards will be
considering applications against
priorities and outcomes identified
in their local board plans.
Information
on
the
all
community grant programmes,
including
application
dates
and criteria is available at
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/fundingor
call on 09 301 0101 and ask to
speak to a grants advisor.

12

NEW ZEALAND

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

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Is New Zealand heading into a recession?

Phil Goff
Labour MP

ollowing a series of negative

economic statistics, top
BNZ economist Stephen
Toplis sounded a warning that
has serious implications for all
of us. He said last week that New
Zealand could be heading into
recession. He didnt make that
statement lightly and as New
Zealanders we all hope that will
not occur.
Sadly, while the Government
has been boasting about a
rockstar economy, it has not
taken steps to ensure the long
term future of the country.
While dairy prices soared

sky high and China seemed an

insatiable market for New Zealand
agricultural exports, National sat
back complacently and didnt use
the good times to put our economy
on a sounder basis.
Even though I led the
successful trade negotiations
which saw Kiwi exports to China
quadruple after I signed the China
Free Trade Agreement, I warned
that New Zealand shouldnt rely
on the export of a narrow range
of commodities into one market.
The National Government seemed
oblivious to our history in that
regard.
As Leader of the Opposition,
I also repeatedly warned that
we needed to prepare for New
Zealands ageing population - that
we had to encourage savings and to
discourage inflationary property
speculation. I said that we should

be using the building industry to

construct more houses especially
in Auckland and Christchurch
to counteract the effects of the
recession caused by the Global
Financial Crisis.
All those warnings and
suggestions fell on deaf ears.
Instead, the Government focussed
on selling off our assets like power
stations for a one-off benefit and
built up a huge government debt
borrowing heavily overseas.
The things that have led the
Bank of New Zealand to warn of
a coming recession arent all the
Governments fault. Just like the
Global Financial Crisis in 2008,
international events are again
playing a part. Greeces failure to
meet its debt to the International
Monetary Fund and the crash in
Chinas share market which last
week fell by US$2.4 trillion cant

Too much secrecy

Winston Peters
NZ First leader

ewZealand First has

always been in favour of
trade but it should be a
two-way street.
We are concerned about the
secrecy around the negotiations
for the TPPA, a 12-country deal
around the Pacific Rim. It is being
sold to the public as free trade and
beneficial for New Zealand but
there is little to show for years of
negotiations.
It is now reaching its final
stage and we still have not seen
any move by other countries that

they will drop tariffs and their

subsidies for producers that New
Zealand did years ago.
So, it is not a level playing field.
The government keeps saying
that we will be able to have our
say when the deal comes to
Parliament. What they are not
telling us is that the treaty will be
signed and sealed when it arrives.
All that will be done legislation
additions or changes to fit the
signed document.
At the moment New Zealand
farmers compete against Canada,
Japan and the United States which
all have huge payments going to
farmers basically they prop up
farming. Even in treaties New
Zealand has signed, like the recent
South Korea free trade agreement,

New Zealand producers can only

export up to a certain level, then
they have to pay huge tariffs.
There is nothing about free trade
in this.
The Trans Pacific Partnership
Agreement (TPPA) aims to
create a regional free trade
agreement involving: Australia,
Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Japan,
Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, the
United States, Viet Nam, Mexico,
Canada and New Zealand.
Leaks reported from drafts
of the agreement reveal that
we risk being trampled over by
giant corporations. The threat
lies in a clause called Investor
State Dispute Settlements. This
clause gives these corporations
the right to sue the New Zealand
government for compensation if

Black

be blamed on National. However,

the Government should have been
aware of the other risks. Dairy
prices fell sharply again last week
and are now over 50 percent lower
than a year ago. The ANZ Bank
Business Survey saw business
confidence fall to the lowest point
since 2011.
If there is a recession, New
Zealand is much less prepared
for it now than we were in 2008.
Labour had run budget surpluses
every year for the nine years it
was in Government. Instead of
giving big tax cuts as National
constantly proposed, we paid off
New Zealands debt and prepared
for the future by building up
billions of dollars in the Cullen
Super Fund. When the recession
came in 2008 we had prepared for
it. New Zealand fared relatively
well. If there is another recession,
this time we are not prepared.

National has run seven budget

deficits in a row and borrowed
tens of billions of dollars. The cost
of that debt will go up as our dollar
slips in value.
Many
New
Zealanders,
especially in Auckland, have
paid heavily inflated prices for
their homes. When inflation and
interest rates go up because of the
low dollar, they will struggle to pay
the interest on their mortgages.
They may end up with negative
equity i.e. mortgages higher than
the value of their houses.
What New Zealand needed was
a long term plan and a vision for
where the Government wanted
the country to go. Short term
measures like selling off our state
houses to Australian investors
shows just how bereft of real ideas
the Government is to take New
Zealand forward.

any law or regulation we pass does

not suit them. There have already
been a number of these cases in
other countries.
Germany is fighting a claim of
$4.7 billion brought by Swedish
company Vattenfall after Germany
decided to phase out nuclear
plants after the Fukushima
disaster in Japan. Ecuador had
to pay $2.3 billion to oil company
Occidental after Ecuador ended
its oil concession. The list keeps
getting longer. New Zealand First
has a bill in Parliament to stop
any future government signing
any agreement that has a clause in
allowing corporations to sue the
government.
These cases are not settled
through the normal open court
system. They go to an overseas

tribunal made up of lawyers. It is

unacceptable in democracies that
these large commercial cases can
be decided away from the sunlight
of open justice.
There are other flaws affecting
New Zealand. Pharmac, the
government drug buying agency
saves millions of dollars buying
generic medicines but big US
pharmaceutical companies are
pushing for new rights. New
Zealand must not let this happen.
Free trade must also be fair
trade. Good political news is
trumpeted from the roof tops.
Teams of ministers bask in selfsatisfied smugness. Yet there is
not a word about the negotiations.
The silence over the TPPA speaks
for itself. We have every reason to
be afraid.

Next phase of Canterbury recovery taking shape

Kanwaljit Bakshi
National List MP

ore
than
four
years
after
the
first
Canterbury
earthquake,
supporting
the
rebuilding
of
Christchurch
remains
one
of
Nationals
main priorities. Together with
Cantabrians and the support of
local Government, were making
significant progress but theres
still more to do.
Since 2010, the National-led
Government has committed $16.5
billion to the initial response,
the recovery, and rebuild of
Christchurch one of the most

ambitious undertakings in New

Zealands history.
While we would all like to see
some things happen a bit faster,
good progress is being made on
the commercial and residential
rebuild, and were determined to
get the Anchor Projects absolutely
right for generations to come.
Two Anchor Projects have
already opened this year, Hagley
Oval hosted the opening game of
the Cricket World Cup, and the
first stage of the $53 million Bus
Interchange opened in May.
With many more projects
completed or underway, now is
the right time to take stock of our
progress and look ahead to the
regeneration of Christchurch.
As local leadership progressively
takes control of the rebuild, the way
ahead for Christchurch is through

collaborative management.
As we move through this phase,
the Government will work closely
with councils and other local
stakeholders to progressively pass
governance and management
of the rebuild to the Canterbury
community.
The Prime Minister has
announced
a
new
Greater
Christchurch Regeneration Bill
will be drafted to replace the
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery
Act 2011, which expires next April.
The new legislation will enable
an organisation, which we propose
to call Regenerate Christchurch,
to implement the Christchurch
Central Recovery Plan. This
organisation will drive central city
development, having responsibility
for issues such as consenting,
transport
and
residential

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development. It will also deliver

the Governments major projects
and precincts in the central city.
Transition
arrangements
are explained in detail in the
Draft Transition Recovery Plan,
which will be released for public
comments and submissions. I
encourage everyone to take this
opportunity to have their say on the
future direction of this recovery.
It has also been confirmed that
Fletcher Residential has been
selected as the Governments
preferred development partner
for an exciting new $800 million
residential precinct in central
Christchurch.
The East and North Frame
Residential Precinct will provide
around 940 new townhouses
and apartments, priced between
$400,000 and $900,000, to

accommodate up to 2,200
residents. There will also be
space for small-scale commercial
activities to help businesses in the
area to flourish.
The new precinct is expected to
increase the inner city population
by around 45 per cent, and will add
further vibrancy and activity to the
central city.
Taken
together,
these
announcements allow us to look
forward with certainty.
As the rebuild momentum
continues, theres plenty to get
excited about in the regeneration
of Christchurch.
The National-led Government
is committed to the people and
communities of Christchurch;
making it an even better place to
live, work and raise a family in.

NEW ZEALAND

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

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14

FIJI

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

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Increase In 10 Sectoral Minimum Wage Rates

he Fijian Government
has
increased
the
wage rates of the 10
Sectoral
Wages
Regulations
in its commitment to accord
Fijian workers their right to a
just minimum wage under the
Fiji Constitution.
The increased rates, which
range from 2 to 5 per cent, came
into effect this week. The Minister
for Employment, Productivity and
Industrial Relations Jioji Konrote

said the Fijian economy has

achieved an unprecedented growth
rate in the last five years, with an
estimated growth for 2014 revised
to 4.5 per cent and 2015 forecasted
as 4.3 per cent.
With our buoyant economic
conditions, it was important for
Government to ensure that Fijis
workers receive the benefits of the
growing economy.
He said that the increase is a
necessary step taken by Government

in its effort to ensure that Fijian

workers are accorded decent wages,
decent working conditions and
social protection.
He has encouraged employers to
engage in good-faith employment
relations with the workers, according
them with their rightful wages and
benefits, thus ultimately achieving
higher productivity and sustainable
businesses. Employers are required
to display the written notice of
the increased wage rates in their

workplaces informing the workers

of the increase. These notices
can be obtained from the various
Ministry of Employment offices
around Fiji. Failure by employers to
display these Regulations warrants
a $100.00 penalty by the Ministrys
Enforcement Officers.
In an occurrence where an
employer fails to comply with the
fixed penalty notice, on conviction
is liable to a fine not exceeding
$10,000 or a term of imprisonment

not exceeding 2 years or both, and

for a corporate body a fine not
exceeding $50,000.
The 10 industries expected to see
an increase in wage rates include,
Printing Trades, Wholesale & Retail
Trades, Hotel & Catering Trades,
Garment Industry, Sawmilling &
Logging Industry, Road Transport,
Building & Civil & Electrical
Engineering Trades, Manufacturing
Industry, Mining & Quarrying
Industry and Security Services.

Tourism giant honoured

ne of the pioneers of the

Fiji Hotel and Tourism
Association,
Yanktesh
Permal Reddy, was last night
honoured for his long years of
service to the industry.
He received his award at the
Sheraton Fiji Resort and Spa at
Denarau during the associations
50th annual general meeting.
The Tanoa Hotel Group founder
recalled how the Reddy famly were
the first locals to get into tourism
hotel ownership and development.
Today, Tanoa is the countrys
biggest hotel group with properties
in Nadi (3), Lautoka, Rakiraki
and Suva.
When we first got into hotels
in Fiji, it was owned by overseas
owners, he said.

Tourism is the number one

industry in Fiji. When we first
got in, the sugar industry was the
biggest foreign exchange earner.
So tourism grew very fast and
it will grow even faster now with all
the new hotels and we are very close
to Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Reddy said Fiji had the right
people to look after the tourists
and it was helped by the Voreqe
Bainimarama-led
Governments
inclusive approach by extending the
use of the name Fijian.
The most important asset Fiji
has got is the people, he said.
Mr Reddy has dedicated his
achievements to his lovely wife who
has sacrificed as much he had.
He credited her for raising his
four daughters and son.

The big reveal...

First look of the ten finalists for the Miss World

Fiji pageant. One of these women will be
crowned Miss World Fiji on July 25 at the Pearl
Resort.

Fall basks in fashion limelight

arie Falls perseverance

was
awarded
last
weekend when she
was named Fiji Airways Project
Jejemon Model of the Year.
Ms Fall was lost for words
when approached for a comment
straight
after
her
name
was announced.
It was a fitting finale for FBC TV
Project Jejemon when Ms Fall was

named Model of the Year, with

Marist Brothers High School pair,
Seci Burese and Andre Marseu,
under the label SNM, taking out
the Designer of the Year award.
Ms Fall said it was an
unexpected honour.
I was not expecting this. I
thank (show producer) Andhy
(Blake) and the organisers for
opening this door, Miss Fall said.

News source: Fiji Sun

I started modelling last year at

the Fiji Fashion Week Show and
through my mothers motivation,
I was able to make it this far.
Ms Fall will now get the chance
to meet representatives of a
Wellington modelling agency for
possible representation and have
a return flight with Fiji Airways to
Wellington, New Zealand, and a
$500 award.

She will then go on to represent Fiji at the

Miss World competition in Sanya, China, on
December 19.
From left: Elisha Singh, Melita Nukuvou, Emele

Matanisiga, Brittany Hazelman, Shaayal Seth,

Sukannika Qaqa, Varea Romanu, Mere Seruvatu,
Anshuka, Faith Jedidiah.
Photo: Jason Chute

Flag response unprecedented

rime
Minister
Voreqe
Bainimarama
says
he
is delighted with the
unprecedented response to the
23 flag designs.
Because of the positive
feedback, he announced the
closing date for the new flag design
consultations had been extended
to December 31 this year.
Cabinet and the Parliament will
then consider the new flag design
when it convenes next year.
In announcing the extension,
Prime
Minister
Voreqe
Bainimarama said he was delighted
by the high level of engagement
Government was now getting from
the Fijian people.
After a relatively slow start,
the national debate on the new
designs for the new flag is now in
full swing, he said.
We
are
getting
an
unprecedented
number
of
responses via our national
flag website, through e-mail
correspondence and talkback radio.
In addition, national flag feedback
teams have already returned
from Kadavu and certain parts of
Lau, are currently in Rotuma and
Lomaiviti and will soon be visiting

the Yasawas, Mamanucas, Vanua

Levu and Taveuni.
The response these teams have
been receiving from the Fijian
people has been very positive. And
the Government recognises that
they want more time to consider
what form the new flag should take
and are seeking more choices than
are being offered by the existing
23 designs.
By extending the deadline,
there is now ample opportunity for
Fijians of all ages and backgrounds
to further contribute and consider
what symbols most appropriately
represent our wonderful nation.
We will soon be announcing
precise details of the revised
timetable for consultations. And
I appeal to all Fijians who have
yet to do so to become involved in
the process in a spirit of
cooperation,
collaboration,
goodwill and nationhood.

FIJI

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

Fiji Labour leader confident of

partys resurgence

Red

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he leader of Fijis Labour

Party says the party still has
a future, despite winning no
seats in last years election.
Mahendra
Chaudhry
has
announced he intends to stand
down after 23 years as leader, one
of those as prime minister.
But the once-powerful party
has dwindled since the 2006 coup,
and it gained only two per cent of
the vote at last years election, well
below the threshold needed to gain
a seat in parliament.

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But Mr Chaudhry says both he

and the party have been victims of
campaigns by the Bainimarama
regime to eliminate the party,
and it will one day return to its
former strength.
Well the party is there, the
Labour Party will recover and I will
assist the party, I will remain with
the party and Im sure we will be
able to build it back to what it was.
A new leader will be appointed
at
the
partys
conference
next month.

NEWS in BRIEF
A sacred union

union between a man and a

woman is recognised by the
Catholic Church and the State
as marriage, says Archbishop Peter
Loy Chong.
Speaking on the issue of gay marriage
following Americas legalisation of same
sex marriage, he said the union between
a man and a woman and its definition
predated the State and church but now
the bond had been defined as marriage.
Firstly, its for their own good, because
of the complementary nature of the two
sexes they bring wholesome to the other.
Secondly, it is open to procreation and
because of that their love overflows into
the wider society; according to the church
this is what we understand by marriage,
any relationship that falls short of this
cannot be called marriage, Archbishop
Chong explained.
The natural attraction that brings
them together, its not about self
satisfaction but in the relationship they
have each other to grow.
Deewan
Chand
Maharaj,
the
immediate past national president of the
Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji
said, If you look at the scriptures, God
has made men and women and if you look
how the world has started, man and man
cant do children.
As being the head of the Sanatan
Dharm of the Indian community, we will
never support that, Mr Maharaj said.
The whole scripture will go wrong,
all the religion is saying man and woman
create love and children are born out of
that, and its a continuity, born, die and
born again, Mr Maharaj said.

Fijian influence

S our Flying Fijians prepare for

the match against the New Zeal
and Maoris this Saturday a piece
of rugby history should give them some
food for thought.
It is something we should all be proud
of. The fact is that Fijian rugby has been
one of the greatest influences in what
modern professional rugby has finally
now become.
The inclusion of six Fijian players
in the Wallabies and All Blacks squad
is testament to this as Fiji rugby
development struggle over the years is
reaping fruits not only locally but mainly
overseas as a total of eight rugby players
represent Fiji in four different countries.
On top of that the hundreds of players
playing around the globe make rugby one
of our fast growing exports.

15

Fijian troops safe despite ISIS attacks

espite an escalation of
clashes in the Sinai,
Fijian troops serving
under the Multi-national Force
Observer group are safe.
In the past two days, the
Egyptian army faced one of largest
co-ordinated attacks by ISs local
affiliate, Sinai Province.
BBC reported that the Egyptian
army will continue an offensive in
the Sinai Peninsula, after clashes
with the militants left more than
100 dead.
The peninsula has been under
a state of emergency and a curfew
since October. RFMF Landforce
Commander, Colonel Sitiveni

Qiliho said the insurgency had

been ongoing.
He said the fighting between
the Egyptian forces and the antigovernment elements had been
ongoing for years now.
There are contingency plans in
place and when needed, that will
kick into place.
We are confident in the plans
and measures being put in place
by the Multi-national Force
Observer group and our Battalion
Commander in Sinai Lieutenant
Colonel Petero Talemaivatuwiri.
There are 339 Fijians on
peacekeeping duties in Sinai.
News source: Fiji Sun

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Thought of the week

Try not to become a person of success,

but rather try to become a person
of value.
Albert Einstein

Editorial

From the desk of the

Managing Editor

Anything but funny

George Bernard Shaw was right. He summed it all up when he said: The secret
of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy
or not. So dont bother to think about it! Spit on your hands and get busy. Your
blood will start circulating; your mind will start tickingand pretty soon this whole
positive upsurge of life in your body will drive worry from your mind. Get busy. Keep
busy. Its the cheapest kind of medicine there is on this earthand one of the best.
Dale Carnegies How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
It isnt for nothing that they say that an empty mind is the devils workshop it
thus becomes our responsibility that we ensure to keep ourselves busy and occupied.
This has worked for me all my life too. Whenever you feel you have time at
your hands fasten your belt and get on with something, immerse yourself in a
pursuit or a project. These are little steps that we can take towards our goals and
dreams. Its true that people who dream the most do the most, but it is important
to also realize that at some point in time we need to snap out of the dreaming and
start doing.
One such man of action is also Harman Singh who is being applauded by
communities worldwide. A true hero! In celebrating his receiving an award from the
NZ Police, we caught up with him to discover his simple heart read more about him
in our Heroes Amongst Us series.
In our endeavor to amalgamate the community better into the mainstream New
Zealand community, we bring you an introduction on Matariki and its background
and significance.
Prime Minister Modi launched the Digital India Week and it will be both,
interesting and exciting to see how things unfold in any case the focus of the Modi
government on e-governance and the many initiatives related to it are heartening to
see. Also, on the New Zealand tour of the Indian parliamentarians, Mr Rajiv Pratap
Rudy, who was heading the delegation had said that India looks to increasing its
engagement with New Zealand. He had also said that New Zealands participation in
Digital India would be one such area of collaboration. So it will be exciting to watch
this space. We bring you a section on Digital India in this issue.
In other trivia the Kapoor Rajput wedding has made waves and everyone
seems to want more of what they can get on this. We bring you some snippets
from this too.
The school holidays are on and we would like to urge all parents to encourage
their children to paint or write or do anything creative and then share it with us.
We often get very interesting contributions from our little readers but we are
always looking for more. We are also happy to receive pictures of any road trips
or excursions that you take with your children. So heres hoping that parents are
getting some quality time with their children this school holiday and we get to
hear about it.
Until next time.

Giri Gupta
Indian Weekender : Volume 7 Issue 16
Publisher: Kiwi Media Group Limited
Managing Editor: Giri Gupta | girigupta@xtra.co.nz
Editor: Annu Sharma | editor@indianweekender.co.nz
Chief Reporter: Swati Sharma | reporter@indianweekender.co.nz
Reporter: Rizwan Mohammad | iwk.rizwan@gmail.com
Reporter: Esha Chanda | iwk.eshac@gmail.com
Columnist: Paula Ray | paula@indianweekender.co.nz
Chief Technical Officer: Rohan Desouza | rohan@indianweekender.co.nz
Senior Graphic & Layout Designer: Mahesh Kumar | mahesh@indianweekender.co.nz
Graphic Designer: Yashmin Chand | designer@indianweekender.co.nz
Accounts and Admin.: Farah Khan | accounts@indianweekender.co.nz
Sales and Marketing: 021 1507950 / 09-2137335 | sales@indianweekender.co.nz
Views expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher
is not responsible for advertisers claims as appearing in the publication
Indian Weekender is published by Kiwi Media Group, 98 Great South Road, Auckland
Printed at Horton Media, Auckland

Courtesy:
Satish Acharya

Pick of the week

Thats the super tweet that went out from the Indian Prime Ministers official account
and went viral on the micro blogging site. The Twitterverse was quick to grab on to this
super opportunity to turn into fun memes, tweets and gifs. The most followed Indian
politician on Twitter, Modi is currently on his eight nation tour.

Tip from the trenches

Eating a piece of chocolate at
breakfast can help stabilize
your mood and enhance your
happiness throughout the day.
Have some bad breath? Stick
a cucumber to the roof of your
mouth for thirty seconds.

Copyright 2015. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://1000lifehacks.com

OPINION / EDITORIAL

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

17

Greek crisis unlikely to spillover to India: Analysts

Red

Black

Orange

he Greek crisis is unlikely to impact

India and its financial system due
to the limited commercial bilateral
engagement and the countrys own strong
fundamentals, policy makers and other
stakeholders maintained this week.
Hours after Greece cast a No vote to
a referendum on whether or not to except
the bailout package proposed by its lead
lending institutions with conditionality,
analysts said even the limited impact
had already been factored-in by Indian
financial markets.
This, perhaps, explains why key Indian
equity indices that had begun on a negative
terrain at opening bell on Monday, rose
consistently through the day to end on a
positive note, up by over 40 basis points
over the previous close.
We are well protected in at least three
ways. Our macro-economic situation is
much more stable. We have reserves.
We are an economy which is still a very
attractive investment destination. So I think
we are relatively well insulated, Arvind
Subramanian, chief economic advisor to the
government said.
Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi
warned that if yields on euro bonds go up,
then it might impact inflows and outflows
from India.
We will have to see how the euro moves
now. We are closely monitoring the Greek
situation. There could be some reaction on
the Fed rate hike, Mehrishi said.
Devendra Nevgi, chief executive of ZyFin
Advisors, elaborated that the crisis may

File photo taken on Feb. 5, 2015 shows Greeces Finance

Minister Yanis Varoufakis attending a press conference in
Berlin, Germany.

actually bring a boon to India by delaying

the US rate hike.
The major factor is the expectation that
the crisis and the lower job creation in the
US will help in delaying rate hike. This will
be a major gain for India, Nevgi said.
Indian currency, equity and bond
markets have shown very good resilience
towards the whole crisis.
It is expected that with higher interest
rates in the US, the FPIs (Foreign Portfolio
Investors) will led away from the emerging
markets such as India.

Other economy observers feel that

the impact of the Greek crisis might not
be that significant given the fact that
Greece accounts for just 1.5 percent of
eurozones economy.
Strong growth in Spanish economy,
the signs of recovery witnessed in other
eurozone countries as well as the massive
QE announced by the ECB would prevent
any form of contagion spreading to other
European economies, Dinesh Thakkar,
chairman and managing director, Angel
Broking said.
The bond yields are expected to remain
modest. The Indian markets also have
factored in the Greece default.
Anand James, co-head, technical
research desk, Geojit BNP Paribas,
predicted that volatility can be expected
in the stocks of Greece-exposure specific
companies and sectors in the coming days.
Some information technology (IT)
company stocks or the IT index might be
impacted slightly. However, there is no
major concern from the sector specific
side, James said.
According to Dipen Shah, head of private
client group research with Kotak Securities,
the Indian equities markets are still hopeful
that a solution would be found to keep
Greece in the Eurozone.
The complete clarity on the issue is still
not out yet. The markets are hopeful that a
final solution would be found to resolve the
crisis, Shah elaborated.
The Indian economy is not linked to
Greece in any major way. While there can

be an impact on currency due to potential

outflows, the strong forex reserves should
help in reducing the impact to a great
extent, Shah said.
Rupee has shown exceptional resilience
to the Greece crisis and not shown any
major signs of volatility.
Forex reserves has given cushion to
the rupee. It has been very resilient during
this crisis. The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has been very active to see there is
no major volatility in rupee value, Hemal
Doshi, chief currency strategist, Geofin
Comtrade said.
The RBI has been building up its foreign
reserves to counter any future financial
shocks and slide in rupee value like the one
which was witnessed in 2008 and June
2013.
Indias foreign exchange reserves stood
at $355.22 billion for the week ended
June 26.
The RBI had said earlier in its financial
stability report (FSR) for June 2015 that
the countrys strong macroeconomic
fundamentals in terms of growth, inflation,
current account and fiscal deficits provides
a reasonable degree of resilience to Indian
financial system.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) gained
more than 115 points or 0.40 percent in the
days trade.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National
Stock Exchange (NSE) made marginal gains
on Monday this week, closing 37 points or
0.44 percent up at 8,522.15 points.

Reforms & technology hold key to urban revamp

Vinod Behl

he three-pronged initiative
of the NDA government
through big ticket urbanfocused investment schemes of
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation &
Urban Transformation (AMRUT),
Smart Cities Mission & Housing
for All with central funding of
Rs.4 lakh crore ($63 billion),
holds the promise of providing the
much- needed fillip to real estate,
housing and infrastructure and
raise the living standard of people
by creating world class cities and
spaces.
But the government needs
to surmount a number of tough
challenges
to
successfully
implement these schemes and
realize their full potential.
As per the plan, under the Smart
Cities Scheme, 100 cities will be
developed, with each getting an
annual central funding of Rs.100
crore each over the next five years.
Under AMRUT, 500 cities and
towns would be rejuvenated over
next 10 years. And under Housing
for All, two crore affordable
houses will be built through slum
rehabilitation with the help of
private developers, housing for
poor with credit- linked subsidy,
housing projects with public and
private sector and subsidy for
individual house construction.
The enormity and challenge of
urban revamp can be gauged from
the urban population explosion.
Every decade, we add one Brazil

(181 million people). By 2020,

about 123 million of additional
urban population will be added.
An estimated 600 million Indians
will be living in cities by 2030,
up from 290 million, as reported
in the 2001 census. By 2025,
78 percent of Indias urban
population will be concentrated in
69 metros, putting severe pressure
on already crumbling physical and
social infrastructure.
Inefficient and faulty urban
planning is resulting in massive
consumption and wastage of
precious water and energy
resources and causing major
sanitation and health problems
due to increasing slums and poor
waste disposal.
In this backdrop, Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modis
initiatives assume significance,
especially as the contribution
of the built environment to the
economy accounts for about
17.5 percent of GDP, as per 2010
statistics, and in view of industry
and services growing faster than
agriculture, people are moving
from farms to urban areas.
That technology holds the key
to governments initiatives aimed
at urban rejuvenation, is amply
demonstrated by a recent survey
of 2,000 buildings in India done
by Honeywell that emphasize on
the need to invest more in smart
building technologies as such
smart building solutions can
make facilities more connected
and adaptive, reduce energy and
operating costs and improve

the safety and quality of life for

occupants and users.
Information & Communication
Technologies (ICT) help make
smart
citys
critical
infra,
components
and
utilities
interactive and efficient. Through
Intelligent Building Management
Solutions, energy saving and
lower maintenance costs can
be achieved, at the same time
prolonging the life of assets and
reducing the carbon footprint.
Last year, the government
introduced draft Internet of
Things(IOT) to create IOTenabled smart cities eco system
to ensure faster implementation
to improve overall efficiency.
CISCO has established IOT hub
in Bangalore to help companies
develop software application for
deployment in upcoming 100
smart cities. IBM has prepared
the Integrated Communication
Technology (ICT) Master Plan for
Dighi Port Industrial Area under
DMIC.
Along with technology, crucial
real estate reforms are necessary
for the success of programmes
aimed
at
urban
revamp.
Considering that in future, power

will be increasingly generated

from renewable resources, it is
necessary that we move from a
consumer- oriented generation
model to one based on principles
of smart power generation, smart
power grids, smart storage and
smart consumption. Keeping
this in view, the government
has converted the Solar Energy
Corporation of India into a
growth-oriented
commercial
company to generate and sell
power and develop other sources
of renewable energy. It has also
revised the solar power generation
target for 2022 from 20,000 mw
to 100,000 ME.
In another progressive policy
initiative, the government has
approved 6.5 percent interest
subsidy
on
housing
loans
with tenure up to 15 years for
economically weaker sections
and lower income groups. It is,
however, questionable as to why
real estate has been kept out of
GST when fees and taxes account
for as high as 35 percent of what
the home buyer pays for a house.
Similarly,
with
direct
institutional support to the
real estate sector from banks,
HFCs, private equity and the like
accounting for only 22 percent of
total investment flow in the sector,
reforms to increase capital flows
are required.
There are other key challenges
which need to be met before
governments initiatives for urban
revamp could be successfully
implemented. There is funding

challenge. Though the centre has

earmarked liberal funding for the
three initiatives , it will not be
easy for the states and local urban
bodies to arrange for additional
large investment, considering
their poor financial health.
It is also a big challenge to meet
the huge gap in services under
AMRUT scheme. Against the
desired water supply of 135 litres
per person per day, the urban
population gets only about 69
litres. Besides, cities and towns
are able to treat only five percent
of total waste while sewerage
treatment is merely threepercent.
The situation on the power
front is equally bad. Also,
considering the scope and scale
of urban development initiatives,
there is a severe shortage of skilled
professionals, with a demandsupply gap of 82-86 percent in
the core professional group of
civil engineers, architects and
planners, not to talk of skilled
labourers.
There is a huge challenge to
make land available for massive
urbanisation programme. On the
technological front, the challenge
will be to achieve economy of scale
and their viability on mass scale.
And last but not the least, there
is a challenge of smart governance
at the local urban bodies level as
there is a tremendous shortage of
professionals. The challenge is to
provide transparent and efficient
governance at the municipalities
level.

18

INDIA

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

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Orange

Holistic approach for Smart Cities

mission: Need for a reference framework
Sujaya Rathi and
Shrimoyee Bhattacharya

ith the simultaneous launch

of the Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation (AMRUT), Housing for All
and the coveted Smart Cities Mission (SCM)
on June 25, 2015, it was a landmark day in
the evolution of Indias urban agenda. The
message of convergence emerging from the
common launch of all three programmes
will hopefully be sustained in the future
while implementing them.
The Smart City guidelines seek the
convergence of different schemes such as
AMRUT, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM),
National Heritage City Development and
Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), Digital
India, Skill Development, Housing for All,
construction of Museums funded by the
culture department and other programmes
connected with social infrastructure such
as health, education and culture. SCM, with
an outlay of Rs.48,000 crore ($7.5 billion),
is expected to enhance the quality of life in
100 cities, which will be identified over the
next few months.
Since the initial declaration of building
Smart Cities in the BJPs election manifesto
in early 2014, the Modi governments plans
on this front have been taking shape slowly,
and will need time to evolve.
The SCM guidelines highlight the need for
a holistic approach to urban development.

This will require an integration of physical,

institutional,
social
and
economic
infrastructure. Thus emerges the need for
a strategically articulated framework to
address a citys urban challenges, which will
greatly aid this process of integration. This
framework should focus on a more processoriented path than a simple projectoriented path.
The guidelines provided by the
government do not mention a specific
definition of Smart City.
There are, however, four key imperatives
that emerge from the guidelines along with
various other perspectives on smart cities
obtained from both academic literature
and deliberations in India over the last 15
months.
The first imperative is that a city needs
to be sustainable in order to be smart. This
will mean that the interventions under
the Smart Cities Mission need to align
their goals, objectives and processes to the
overarching principle of sustainability.
The Draft Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) released by the United Nations
can be a useful and handy reference. The
key principles emerging from SDGs include
ensuring well-being, equity, efficiency,
and embedding foresight in all plans and
actions.
Adhering to these principles at all stages
of all programmes will ensure consistency
in the outcomes achieved and thus enable
the
much-intended
convergence
of

programmes sought by the Smart Cities

Mission Guidelines.
The second imperative that emerges
is the importance of imbibing the
characteristics of good governance for
achieving sustainability. For example,
transparency, accountability, participation
and consensus-building are some of the key
characteristics of good governance, which
form the foundation for ensuring equity.
The third imperative is to understand
the role and use of technology in urban
development.
There needs to be a departure in the
way technology is being portrayed as the
panacea of all urban ills. It is in fact an
important enabler, which can yield the
desired results only when applied in a
context-specific manner.
Collective vision, supportive policy
instruments and domestic stability are
equally important in achieving smartness
in a city through technology.
The fourth and a frequently discussed
imperative is that urban institutions,
especially the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
need the capacity to work towards the
three imperatives mentioned so far. This
gains additional significance as the prime
minister himself has said that ULBs will be
key instruments in implementing the Smart
Cities Mission.
The four imperatives mentioned above
suggest that India needs to formulate
concrete Terms of Reference (ToR) to

realise the Missions objectives, drawing

from the initial ideas proposed in the
Guideline. A reference framework based
on a set of guiding principles is needed
to enable state and city governments to
implement different schemes, understand
the complementarity of schemes and
maintain consistency.
The Reference Framework should be the
overarching and all-encompassing umbrella
that will guide all urban development and
related schemes to achieve sustainable
urban development in India.
The positioning of SCM can be seized as
an opportunity to address the challenges
discussed in this article and achieve the
larger goals of urbanisation featured in the
national development agenda.
The complementarity of the schemes
presents the biggest opportunity in this
trajectory of urban development. It could
also be the biggest challenge! Streamlining
the efforts of various organisations by
ensuring that various aspects of sustainable
urban development are addressed will be a
critical factor in taking this Mission forward
smartly.
(Sujaya Rathi, Principal Research
Scientist, and Shrimoyee Bhattacharya,
Research Scientist, are with the Center
for Study of Science, Technology and
Policy (CSTEP), Bengaluru. The views
expressed are those of CSTEP.)

INDIA

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

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19

Orange

Modi cites India, Central Asias shared Islamic

heritage to combat extremism

rime Minister Narendra

Modi this week touched
on the shared Islamic
heritage of India and Central Asia,
which, he said, has always rejected
the forces of extremism, as he
urged for boosting defence and
security cooperation to defend
the regions peace and defeat
terrorism and rising extremism.
In his address at the Nazarbayev
University in the Kazakh capital,
Modi also said Indias engagement
with Central Asia has been short of
promise and potential and added
that he is determined to change it
with closer cooperation.
Speaking on the shared heritage
of India and Central Asia, Modi
said the Islamic heritage of both
India and Central Asia is defined

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a group photograph with the CEOs and business leaders of Kazakhstan and India, in Astana, Kazakhstan on July 7, 2015.

by the highest ideals of Islam knowledge, piety, compassion

and welfare. This is a heritage
founded on the principle of love
and devotion. And, it has always
rejected the forces of extremism.
Today, this is an important
source of strength that brings
India and Central Asia together.
He spoke of the close
connection between the two sides

through Bollywood, Sufi music,

yoga and Hindi, adding: It is
the foundation of a relationship
of hearts and emotions. And, it
cannot be measured only by the
scale of trade or the demands
of states. Modi said India and
Central Asia would combat
terrorism through the strength of
our values and our commitment
to humanism. Pitching for

production, said Tomar at a

meeting of the parliamentary
consultative committee attached
to his ministry in New Delhi.
India envisages to achieve a
steel production of 300 million
tonnes by 2025 and the steel
ministry is working out an action
plan and strategies to achieve this
target, said Tomar.
He said the older steel plants
are being modernised and
expanded and highlighted that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
recently opened Indias largest
blast furnace with a capacity of

4,160 cubic metres at IISCO steel

plant in Burnpur, West Bengal.
To sustain the long-term
growth of the Indian steel
industry, problems in raw
material area need to be addressed
to utilize low grade ore and
high ash coal through research
and development (R&D) and
technology interventions, Tomar
said.
He said Indian steel
industrys R&D should focus
on producing value added
products to lessen
imports.

boosting trade and connectivity

with the land-locked region, he
expressed hope that all of Central
Asia would become members of
the International North South
Transport Corridor and said that
India is keen to join the Ashgabat
Agreement on trade and transit.
Both sides would work together
in the sector of minerals, industry,
pharma, engineering and small
and medium industries, he said.
Modi and his Kazakhstan
counterpart Karim Massimov
also launched the first exploratory
drilling of the Satpayev oil block
by Indias OVL and KazMunaiGaz
through live video conferencing.
Later, addressing a CEOs
forum, Modi urged Kazakhstan
to participate in Indias Make in

India initiative, Smart Cities and

urban infrastructure programme
to create a win-win partnership.
He also invited Kazakhstan
to participate in modernization
of Indian Railways in which 100
percent FDI is allowed.
Earlier, Modi held talk with
Uzbekistan
President
Islam
Karimov, on his first stop on his
Central Asian tour. In restricted
and delegational talks with
Karimov Modi said that both
nations agreed to intensity security
cooperation
and
exchanges
and also defence and cyber
security cooperation.
Uzbekistan also reaffirmed its
support to Indias candidature for
permanent membership of the UN
Security Council.

To give an impetus to R&D of

national importance, the Ministry
of Steel is contributing up to 50
percent of the corpus required
for setting up the new institution
SRTMI.
Major private steel companies
have
also
signed
a

memorandum of understanding
with the steel ministry for SRTMI
and will financially contribute the
initial corpus of Rs.200 crore.
Tomar highlighted that
India is a low steel consuming
country at just 60 kg per capita
compared to the world average
of 216 kg.

India emerges third highest steel producer

nion Minister of Steel

and Mines Narendra
Singh Tomar has said
that Indian steel production
reached the third highest position
in the first five months of 2015.
The minister also said that the
steel industry grew at more than
eight percent during 2014-15.
So far, India was the fourth
largest steel producer in the
world only after China, Japan
and the US. However, during the
first five months of this calendar
year, India has achieved the
third position in the global steel

Fathers consent not needed for childs

guardianship: SC

he Supreme Court of India has ruled

that there was no need for the fathers
consent in giving guardianship of a child
to an unwed mother as it held that the views of
uninvolved father are not essential if the child is
solely raised by the mother.
The views of an uninvolved father are not
essential, in our opinion, to protect the interests
of a child born out of wedlock and being raised
solely by his/her mother, said a bench of Justice
Vikramajit Sen and Justice Abhey Manohar Sapre
in their judgment.
There is thus no mandatory and inflexible
procedural requirement of notice to be served
to the putative father in connection with a
guardianship or custody petition preferred by the
natural mother of the child of whom she is the sole
caregiver, the court said.
Addressing the apprehension of amicus curiae
Sidharth Luthra that such a position might be
misused, the court said: The sole factor for
consideration before us, therefore, is the welfare
of the minor child, regardless of the rights of the
parents. We should not be misunderstood as
having given our imprimatur to an attempt by
one of the spouses to unilaterally seek custody of a
child from the marriage behind the back of other

spouse. The court further said that

implicit in the notion and width
of welfare of the child, as one of
its primary concomitants, is the
right of the child to know the
identity of his or her parents.
The apex court verdict came
on the appeal of the mother
who had challenged the
dismissal of her plea by Delhi
High Court on August 8, 2011
after she refused to disclose
the name and address of the
father of her child so that he
could be issued notice on her
plea seeking guardianship of
the child.
The mother had contended
that the man stayed with her for
a short duration and did not even
know the existence of the child.
The apex court, while allowing her
plea, directed the guardian court to
recall its dismissal order and then consider
the mothers application for guardianship
expeditiously without requiring notice to be
given to the putative father of the child.

Study without
the stress of
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20

INDIA

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

SC issues notice to political

parties over RTI

he Supreme Court has

issued notice to the
central government of
India, Election Commission and
all the national political parties
seeking their response as to why
parties should not be treated as
public authorities for the purpose
of being under the ambit of the
RTI Act.
A bench headed by Chief Justice
H.L. Dattu issued notice on a plea
by Association for Democratic
Reforms (ADR) that had sought
the political parties must be
exposed to public scrutiny under
the transparency law as they play
an important role in the affairs of
the country.
Besides the central government
and the poll panel, the notice
has been issued to Congress,
the Bharatiya Janata Party, the
Communist Party of India-Marxist,
the Communist Party of India,
the Nationalist Congress Party

and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Appearing for the ADR, counsel
Prashant Bhushan told the court
that political parties play an
important role in the formation
of government, taking political
decisions, including enactment of
laws, having far-reaching bearing
on the society and the country.
He said political parties get state
funding by way of tax exemptions
on their funds which they
get
from various sources.
Bhushan said the political parties
should disclose the source of their
funding, including those making
contributions up to Rs.20,000,
which, under the present system,
they are not compelled to disclose
and forms a major part of their
funding. The plea has sought
directions to all national and
regional political parties to disclose
for public scrutiny complete details
of their income, expenditure,
donations and funding including

details of donors making donations

to these political parties and their
electoral trusts.
ADR has contended that it was
seeking greater transparency and
accountability in the functioning
of all recognized national and
regional political parties in
the country.
The ADR in its petition has
contended that political parties in
power exercise significant control
over the legislatures and executive,
as the elected representatives
belonging to party in power are
obliged to follow the party line
failing which they face the threat of
being disqualified.
However,
important
information
about
political
parties, their income, expenditure,
complete details of donors are not
disclosed by political parties for
public scrutiny and for the right of
information of an average voter,
says the petition.

Amarnath Yatra begins

ver 85,000 pilgrims

have paid obeisance
at the Amarnath cave
since the annual pilgrimage to the
Himalayan cave shrine began on
July 2, the Shri Amarnath Shrine
Board (SASB) said.
On the 6th day of the ongoing
Shri Amarnathji Yatraon Monday
this week, 19,512 yatris paid
obeisance at the holy cave. Till
date 85,007 yatris had darshan of
the ice lingam at the holy cave,
said the SASB manages the affairs
of the Hindu pilgrimage.
The SASB CEO has advised the
pilgrims to follow the dos and
donts issued by the shrine board
and come well prepared.
Yatris have been advised not

BRICS central banks

sign operating
agreement on
currency reserve pool

he chiefs of BRICS
central banks have signed
an operating agreement
on the currency reserve pool,
Russias central bank said.
The BRICS member-countries
are Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa.
The signing ceremony took
place in Moscow after the meeting
of the finance ministers and heads
of the central banks of BRICS
countries ahead of the summit
of the organisation in Ufa, TASS
news agency reported citing a
statement by the Russian central
bank. The operating agreement
contains a detailed description of
the procedures which are carried
out by the central banks of BRICS
states within the currency reserve
pool, and defines their rights and
duties. The pool is an insurance
system aimed at maintaining
financial stability in the memberstates of the BRICS grouping.

Devotees begin their pilgrimage to the Amarnath Yatra at Pahalgam in Anantnag district of Jammu and
Kashmir

to trek alone and always travel

in a group on the yatra route to
enable prompt action being taken
in case of any emergency. Yatris
have also been advised to always
carry their Yatra Permit and any
other identity card.
As the earth, water, air, fire

and sky are integral parts of

Lord Shiva, the Base Camp and
the entire Yatra routes are the
abode of Shri Amarnathji. Yatris
have therefore, been advised to
respect the environment and do
nothing to pollute it throughout
the pilgrimage.

Keep government out of appointment to

higher judiciary, SC told

he Supreme Court of India

was told that the entire
country was suffering on
account of bad politics by bad
politicians, who should thus have
no voice in the higher judicial
appointments.
We are suffering from bad
politics and we are suffering from
bad politicians. Whole political
class is under cloud and should
be kept out from the appointment
of judges, senior counsel Ram
Jethmalani told the constitution
bench of Justice Jagdish Singh
Khehar, Justice J. Chelameswar,
Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice
Kurian Joseph and Justice
Adarsh Kumar Goel hearing
challenge to the National Judicial
Appointment
Commissions
constitutional validity. The panel
has the union law minster as one
of the six members.
This evil is avoidable and we
must keep this evil out, he said.
Holding that the appointment

of judges was a paramount part

of the independence of judiciary,
Jethmalani, appearing for one
of the petitioners, argued that
If you start (the appointment
process) fraudently the then
judiciary will die.
Referring to the government
stand
that
eligibility
and
suitability are different criteria,
he wondered what government
meant by the latter that will play
independently in appointment
of judges. Divan urged the court
that all the criteria should be
incorporated in the constitution
and not in the NJAC Act, 2014
which can be amended by the
parliament by a simple majority.
As court sought to describe
as
conjectures
Divans
apprehensions that the judges
may soft paddle their opinions
for their future prospects, Divan
cited the instances in the past
where judges have fallen prey to
their ambitions.

NEWS in BRIEF
Red

Black

Orange

Delhi to get five mega labs by

2015-end

elhi will have five mega labs for pathological examinations

by the end of this year, Health Minister Satyendra Jain said.
The minister also said Delhis first neighbourhood clinic
will start functioning by next week in east Delhi.
The Arvind Kejriwal government had earmarked Rs.125 crore for
opening 1,000 neighbourhood clinics in the budget presented last
month.
The first neighbourhood clinic would be ready by next week
in Peeragarhi in east Delhi, said Jain, who visited the clinic with
Deputy Chief Minster Manish Sisodia this week.
The government is trying to set up neighbourhood clinics in slum
areas, unauthorised colonies and villages. The health department is
aiming to improve services and reduce pressure on OPDs of existing
hospitals and dispensaries, he added.
He said these clinics will help help ease the burden on government
hospitals.

Nod for ISRO to launch five British

satellites

ndian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) XL variant

will launch five British satellites on Friday night, said an Indian
space agency official.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said the
Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) at its meeting on Tuesday this
week has given the go ahead for the July 10 night rocket launch.
According to him, the four stage/engine PSLV rocket in XL variant
is slated to blast off at 9.58 p.m. (IST) on Friday.
Of the five British satellites, together weighing around 1,440
kg, three are identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites
weighing 447 kg. These will be put into a 647-km sun-synchronous
orbit.
Of the other two satellites, CBNT-1 weighs 91 kg and also is an
optical earth observation technology demonstration microsatellite,
while the De-OrbitSail weighs 7 kg. This is an experimental nano
satellite for demonstration of large thin membrane sail and drag
deorbiting.
The three DMC3 and the CBNT-1 satellites are built by Surrey
Satellite Technology Ltd. The De-OrbitSail is built by Surrey Space
Centre.
According to ISRO, accommodating the three DMC3 satellites
each with a height of about three metres within the existing payload
fairing or the heat shield of the PSLV was a challenge. Thus, a circular
L-adaptor and a triangular Multiple Satellite Adapter-Version 2
(MSA-V2) were newly designed and realised by ISRO for this specific
purpose.
Frances SPOT 7 satellite weighing 714 kg was the heaviest single
foreign satellite carried by a PSLV rocket till now. It was launched on
June 30, 2014.

Referendum on Delhi statehood

not unconstitutional: AAP

referendum on full statehood for Delhi was not

unconstitutional and the BJP and the Congress had
also asked for the same in the past, AAP leader Dilip
Pandey said.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party
leader said the demand for full statehood to Delhi was the first propeople issue before the central government and hoped that Prime
Minister Narendra Modi accepts it.
Full statehood to Delhi is a very important issue and necessary
for the proper development of the national capital. It is an issue
concerning the people of Delhi, and so it is necessary to get their
opinion on this matter, he said. Pandey also hinted that the
government may seek help from the Election Commission for
conducting a referendum on the statehood issue.
The government is mulling all possible ways to conduct a
referendum. The government may approach the Election Commission
for a referendum.
Pandey said the current discussion on full statehood for the capital
was not an AAP initiative but had been raised earlier by the Bharatiya
Janata Party and the Congress.
He said that in 2013, the BJP in its vision document released
before the Delhi assembly election had talked about full statehood.
He said the Congress had also advocated full statehood for Delhi.
In a cabinet meeting last week, Kejriwal stressed that the priority
of the urban development department of the city government should
be on gaining statehood for the national capital.

INDIA ABROAD

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

Red

Black

Orange

4 Indian-Americans honoured as
The Pride of America

our
Indian-Americans
are among 38 individuals
being
honoured
for
having helped advance and
enlighten our society, culture, and
economy as Great Immigrants:
The Pride of America by Carnegie
Corporation of New York.
The four Indian-Americans
being honoured are Preet Bharara
US Attorney, Southern District
of New York; Rakesh Khurana,
Danoff Dean of Harvard College

and Marvin Bower Professor of

Leadership and Development;
Madhulika Sikka, Vice President,
Executive Editor, Mic (India) and
Abraham Verghese, Physician,
Professor, Author (India).
Our
founder,
Andrew
Carnegie, came to this country
as the son of impoverished
immigrants and grew up to
become one of the greatest
contributors
to
American
industry and philanthropy, said

Vartan Gregorian, President of

the Corporation.
His devotion to US democracy
stemmed from his conviction that
the new infusion of talent that
immigrants bring to our country
keeps American society vibrant.
The 38 Great Immigrants
honoured this year come from
more than 30 countries around the
world and represent leadership in
a wide range of professions, the
corporation said.

Celebrating naturalized US
citizens whose contributions are
vital to the fabric of our nation and
the strength of our democracy,
it noted that nearly nine million
legal permanent residents are
currently eligible to naturalise
and become US citizens.
Carnegie Corporation of New
York was established by Andrew
Carnegie in 1911 to promote the
advancement and diffusion of
knowledge and understanding.

Indian scientist Kamal Bawa elected fellow of

Royal Society
Arun Kumar

oted Indian conservation

biologist
Kamal
Bawa will be formally
admitted to the prestigious Royal
Society as a fellow on July 10 for
his pioneering contributions to
understanding the population
biology of tropical forest trees.
India-born
Bawa,
an
internationally
recognised
evolutionary ecologist and a
distinguished professor of biology
at the University of Massachusetts,
Boston, was elected a fellow of
the London-based society in
April, according to a university
media release.
Bawa joins former and current
fellows such as Isaac Newton,
Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein,
Stephen Hawking, and about 80
Nobel laureates.
Established in 1660, each
year the Royal Societys existing
fellowship proposes about 700
candidates for election, and
then elects up to 52 fellows from
England and the Commonwealth
countries, and up to 10 foreign
fellows.
Bawas
pioneering

contributions to understanding
the population biology of tropical
forest trees led to new strategies
for their conservation, and also for
the sustainable use of non-timber
forest products, read a statement
published on the society website.
On this base he has provided
leadership
in
conservation
science in India by establishing

ATREE, an influential NGO

that generates interdisciplinary
knowledge, guides policy making,
disseminates
information,
and builds human capacity in
biodiversity science.
Through his work and
popular writing Kamal Bawa,
has
promoted
international
cooperation in science, while

also strengthening biodiversity

awareness and public support
for conservation in Indian civil
society, it said.
I am interested in developing
new paradigms of conversation
that take into account the need to
alleviate poverty in biodiversityrich areas through sustainable use
of biodiversity, said Bawa.
Bawa noted that there was
considerable
debate
about
the
success
of
integrated
conservation and development
projects in meeting the twin
goals of conservation and
poverty reduction.
Work
on
sustainable
livelihoods at several sites in the
Eastern Himalayas tests whether
conservation and biodiversity
can be enhanced while alleviating
poverty, he said.
His approach is to quantify
changes in economic and social
parameters
resulting
from
economic
and
institutional
interventions, Bawa said.
Data are analysed and findings
integrated with results from other
similar projects both within and
outside South Asia.

Darshan Jain
among math,
science teachers
honoured by
Obama

arshan Jain, an Indian

American teacher is
one of the 108 teachers
named by President Barack
Obama as recipients of the
prestigious Presidential Award
for Excellence in Mathematics
and Science Teaching.
Jain,
who
has
taught
mathematics
at
Adlai
E.
Stevenson High School in
Lincolnshire, Illinois for eight
years where he currently serves
as the director of mathematics,
and other winners will receive
a $10,000 award each from the
National Science Foundation.
The educators will receive
their awards at a Washington,
DC, event later this summer.
These teachers are shaping
Americas success through their
passion for math and science,
Obama said of the winners.
Their leadership and commitment empower our children
to think critically and creatively
about science, technology, engineering, and math. The work
these teachers are doing in our
classrooms today will help ensure
that America stays on the cutting
edge tomorrow, he said.
The Presidential Award for
Excellence in Mathematics and
Science Teaching is awarded
annually to outstanding K-12
(kindergarten
through
12th
grades) science and mathematics
teachers from across the country.
The
Presidential
Award
validates my core belief that all
students can learn mathematics
in authentic, rigorous, and
impactful ways, Jain said.
It is grounded in my
experience that collaborative
teachers can help all students
achieve excellence.

Indian-American named World Agriculture Prize laureate

.
Paul
Singh,
a
distinguished professor
emeritus
at
the
University of California, Davis,
has been named as the 2015
Global Confederation for Higher
Education
Associations
for
Agriculture and Life Sciences
World Agriculture Prize laureate.
Singh,
an
agricultural
engineering
graduate
from
Indias
Punjab
Agricultural
University, has been recognized
for a body of research in areas
such as energy conservation,
freezing
preservation,
postharvest technology and mass
transfer in food processing. He
has helped establish and evaluate

21

food-engineering
programmes
at institutions throughout the
world, including in Brazil, India,
Peru, Portugal and Thailand.As of
June 2015, his 115 video tutorials
have been viewed more than
150,000 times by individuals
from 193 countries.
Im deeply humbled and
honoured, upon receiving news of
this award, said Singh.
Im also indebted to my
UC Davis colleagues for their
consistent support, which has
allowed me to pursue my research
and teaching activities in food
engineering, he said.
The award was announced at
the annual GCHERA conference,

held June 24-26 at the Holy Spirit

University of Kaslik, Jounieh,
Lebanon, according to a post on
UC Davis website.
Formal presentation of the
award will take place Sep 20,
during a ceremony at Nanjing
Agricultural University, Jiangsu
Province, China.
Singh earned a masters
degree and PhD at the University
of
Wisconsin-Madison
and
Michigan
State
University,
respectively. He joined the UC
Davis faculty one year later
in 1975.
For over four decades,
Professor Singhs work as a
pioneer in food engineering has

been improving lives the world

over, said UC Davis Chancellor
Linda P.B. Katehi.
This prestigious, and welldeserved, honour is a testament
to the importance of his research.
Singhs research on airflow in
complex systems helped design
innovative systems for the rapid
cooling of strawberries, and his
studies on food freezing led to
the development of computer
software that is used to improve
the energy efficiency of industrial
freezers. Under a NASA contract,
his research group created foodprocessing equipment for a
manned mission to Mars.

KID ZONE

22

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

zzle
u
P
s
n
ie
l
A
s
v
r
e
t
ons
Red

Black

Orange

up in the sky
Up in the sky, I sometimes wonder
If I could fly like a bird
So high that no one would even see me
I could fly to a different place
Where I might just find the perfect place
Where my heart would rest
For a time when I don't need to
worry about anything
But I have to realise that no
such place exists
Until you find it
Poem by Anoushka

r
a
e

rough play
h
t
g
n
i
n

Saturday sessions
with the coach:
Sidh and other kids
after Little Kickers
graduation
in Titirangi

The Miser

There was

once a miser.
He melted all
his money into
a block of gold
and buried it in
a pit.
Every day he
would dig it up and smile to see it. One night
the gold-block was stolen. So, the miser was
in tears.
A friend of his saw him weeping and said,
You should bury a stone in the pit and look at
it every day.
You never spent money when you had. It
was better than a stone anyway.
MORAL: It is a cause to be a miser.

Send us stories,
drawings, poems and
other contributions by
your little ones along with
their photographs for this
page. Email us at editor@
indianweekender.co.nz

FEATURES

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

23

From the desk of

Red

Black

Orange

Twitter trolling
Esha Chanda

rime
Minster
Narendra
Modis
#SelfieWithDaughter met
an ironic twist of fate. As part of
his Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
(Save your Daughter, Teach
your Daughter) campaign, he
announced a nationwide social
media campaign for fathers and
daughters to take selfies together
and share them on Twitter. On the
ninth edition of radio programme
Mann Ki Baat, he expressed his
views on the skewed gender ratio
in several districts of India. He
spoke about the sarpanch (leader)
of Bibipur village in Haryana,
who organised a Selfie With
Daughter contest on WhatsApp
with the objective to increase the
importance of daughters in the
state, which is plagued by female
foeticide and has one of the worst
sex ratios in India.
While most Indians shared
their photos, not all responded to
the Prime Ministers request in a
similar way. Two women, who
criticised the Prime Ministers
campaign, met with a wave of
hate tweets from the PMs loyal
supporters on Twitter. The
social media platform not only
erupted with father-daughter

Kavita Krishnan

Shruti Seth

photos from around the country

but also highlighted the sexism
that runs deep in the roots of the
Indian society.
Kavita Krishnan, a womens
right activist and secretary for the
All-India-Progressive Womens
Association (AIPWA), faced the
first blunt after she called Modi a
#LameDuckPM and said that he
has a record of stalking daughters.
Her reference to the infamous
SnoopGate scandal sparked a
row of irate replies. Prominent
actors joined the bandwagon and
accused her of crossing the line
and limit. In the second instance,

Shruti Seth, Indian television

and film actress and former VJ,
tweeted that selfies wont bring
about any change, reform would.
While Krishnans response was
sharper in comparison to Seth,
in the both cases, the women
faced a backlash from Twitter
users. They were trolled, abused
and threatened on a social media
platform because they crossed
the invisible line by sharing their
opinion on Twitter. Krishnan was
subject to hate tweets and Seth
faced a tsunami of tweets targeted
not only at her but her husband,
her 11-month-old daughter and

IDLI SAMBHAR
IDLI INGREDIENTS
1 cup parboiled rice
1 cup split black gram lentils (dhuli urad dal)
2tsp salt
Water as required
Oil to apply to the idli moulds
METHOD
Wash and soak the rice and lentils in
enough water separately for at least 6 hours.
Drain the lentils (do not throw away the
water) and grind, using a food processor to a
fine smooth paste using its water by adding
few tablespoons at a time, the batter should be
light and fluffy. Drain the rice and grind it into
a fine and a little coarse mixture. Mix the two
ground ingredients with salt and enough water
to form a batter of dropping consistency.
Leave, covered in a warm place to ferment,
overnight (the batter will rise and double
up). Grease the idli moulds with the oil, add
spoonful of idli batter to the moulds not
filling up to the top. Steam the idlies for 10-12
minutes in an idli steamer on medium heat.
Make all the idlies and keep aside.
SAMBHAR Ingredients
1cup
pigeon
pea,
split
lentils
(toovar/arhar dal)
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp oil
2 cups water
1 cup mixed vegetables of your choice
1 onion, big and cut into quarter
3tbsp tamarind pulp, thick

3 tbsp sambhar masala

tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Ingredients for tempering
2tbsp oil
2tsp mustard seeds (rai)
7-8 leaves of curry leaves
4-6 whole dry red chillies
tsp asafoetida (hing)
1tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Method
Soak the tamarind pulp in cup of warm
water for 4-6 minutes, remove the pulp, strain
and keep aside. Cook lentils with water, salt
and 1 teaspoon of oil in a heavy bottom pan till
absolutely tender and no grains on medium
heat that will take approximately 6-8 minutes.
Add vegetables to the lentils, mix well and
add the onions, cover and cook the lentils for
4-6 minutes. Add tamarind, sambhar masala,
turmeric powder and salt to the lentils, cover
the lentils and let it cook on low heat.
Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard
seeds, when they crackle, add the whole red
chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida, saut for
2-3 minutes and then add the mixture to the
lentils.
Bring the lentils to a boil, then cover
and simmer for about 5 minutes or till the
vegetables are cooked through.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot sambhar with idli.

her career. In response, Krishnan

wrote a mail to the Commissioner
of Delhi Police and requested
him to treat the snapshots of the
comments on her tweets as an
FIR. Sheths open letterA Little
Note to Indiatalks about the
disturbing turn of events after
posting her tweet. The letter
reads, Men and women alike
said the most vile things about
me, stripping me of all my dignity
as someones daughter, wife and
mother, and most importantly
a woman.
Men
who
were
busy
hashtagging their selfies with
their daughters one minute called
me slanderous names the next.
She ended the letter by addressing
a note to Modi: If you truly wish
to empower women, I urge you to
condemn this kind of hatred being
spread in your name. Regretfully,
I deleted my initial tweet because
of the backlash. But I stand by
what I said and Ill reiterate it
here: Selfies dont bring about
change, reform does. So please try
and be bigger than a photograph.
Come on! And as for my initial
reservation about the initiative
being nothing more than eyewash,
I am deeply saddened to see that,
in the end, I was proved right.

There is nothing wrong in

supporting a campaign. However,
the irony here is that sexism
raised its ugly head in an initiative
that was meant to respect women.
Campaigns, whether initiated by
the Prime Minister or not, will
be subject to criticism. It cannot
demand a universal acceptance.
Responding to criticism by
continuously trolling outspoken
women
undermines
the
foundation of the initiative.
Abusing, sexual threats and
violence on social media against
women in the name of a campaign
that was aimed to increase the
importance of women only shows
that if you voice an opinion that is
not unanimously accepted by the
public, you will have to face the
wrath of online bullying. The case
of Krishnan and Seth portrays the
consequences of being a woman
who voice a rebellious opinion on
a social media platform.
On one hand, our society talks
about empowering women, and
on the other, we continue to raise
a girl child in an environment
poisoned by male dominance. If
you build a society on patriarchy
and misogyny, mere campaigns
will do nothing except generate
more likes, retweets and selfies.

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24

FEATURES

3 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

Red

Black

Partying in style :
The Royal party
at Bollywood Affair

Glitzy premier of
Twisted Families
held in Auckland

Orange

FEATURES

www.iwk.co.nz | 3 July 2015

25

I am privileged that I was the chosen one

Red

Black

Orange

The 22-year-old young Sikh boy, who was not only praised by New Zealanders but also different communities worldwide, doesnt think
that he is a hero amongst us. He never thought that his obvious act of helping someone in need would have him all over the news.
Swati Sharma

ecently
Harmanpreet
Singh
received an award in appreciation
and recognition of his outstanding
compassion and empathy, from Counties
Manukau Police. He was hailed as a hero,
as he put humanity before his religion when
he removed his turban to help the bleeding
6-year-old Daejon Pahia, who was hit by a
car in Takanini in May 2015.
Harman while talking about the
incident, explains that it was about 8:45 in
the morning, when he heard the screeching
sound of tyres outside his home. He says
that probably God had already chosen him
to be there at that time because generally
it would be his working day but he had
got his shift exchanged with another staff
member. He was snoozing but was woken
out of his slumber with the sound he heard.
As he peeked through the window and saw
a couple of cars and some people gathered
around.
My friend and I rushed to the spot. I still
remember the scene. A small kid was lying
on the road. His head was wounded and he
was bleeding profusely. A lady, whose car
had hit the kid, was holding him, Harman
says.
My hands were shaking and for a
moment I stood still, not knowing what to
do, he continues. I asked the woman if she
had called the emergency, which she had.
The boy was in a lot of pain. I sat beside
him. I was so scared, I couldnt think of
anything else. I just thought of the Dastaar
(turban) that I was wearing. I just removed
it hastily and put it under his head from
where he was bleeding. I just made sure
that his head doesnt touch the ground.
Medical services arrived in 5-10 minutes
and Daejon was taken to the hospital.
Harman says that he didnt, for a second,
think that he would disregard his turban
which is a symbol of his religion. He says
that Sikhism teaches us to help others, as
humanity is the biggest religion of all.
Harmans heroic act has got praises not
just to him but also for his family and the
community. He mentions that his family
hails from a small village near Ludhiana
city, of Punjab, was recognised for his act by
the village council. The family got to know
about the news from the local newspapers
as it was already all over social media and
other mainstream media.
A real estate professional from Auckland,
took his picture while he was holding the
injured boy and shared it on social media.
The post was shared by hundreds and
thousands of people all over the world. The
news made headlines in different countries.
Harman says that at that time he
would receive almost 20 friend requests
on Facebook every hour. His friend list
went from 200 friends to 1500 during
that time. People from various countries
and ethnicities still send him messages
praising and encouraging him and his act of
kindness.
He has been interviewed by many media
and has always said that he doesnt think
of himself as a hero. I am just a normal
person. I am privileged that I was the
chosen one, he humbly says.
People now recognise him when they see
him. Many ask him for a picture with them.
Some of his friends also thought that he
would have been taking money for all those
interviews with various media houses.
I was interviewed by various media

Harman Singh at Counties Manukau Police award ceremony

Harman Singh with Daejon Pahia after receiving the Police awards

including the daily Post UK. Their

photographer visited me. But I have never
taken any money. Why would I? I am just a
normal person. I am not like some celebrity
that I dont have free time. I am always
happy to talk to people.
But he agrees that his friends do tease
him that he has now become a celebrity
after being in the news all over the world.
Yet, theres no change in any of his friends
behaviour but they do feel proud to be his
friends.
This one incident has not just improved
Harmans life in New Zealand but also
has given the world a reason to believe
that Sikhism teaches you to work for the
betterment of humanity. I have received
several messages from Sikhs that earlier
people would considered as Muslims and
some even considered them as terrorist
but this incident has now changed the way
Sikhs are seen, Harman mentions.
Theres a need to make people aware
about our religion. I wish to do something
in future that can help people understand
the true meaning of Sikhism and its values
and principles.
When the news of Harman removing
his turban was quite hot, an immigration
lawyer from the community started a debate
that Harman should be given Permanent
Residency in New Zealand considering his
admirable act. However Harman believes
that it was that persons thought and he
himself wasnt in its favour. Amid the mixed
responses from the community, the debate
wasnt discussed any further.
Harman in real life
Harman is a very common Punjabi
boy in his real life who loves aaloo de
praanthe (potato stuffed Indian bread),
love watching and playing cricket, loves his
family and wants to make them happy. He
came to New Zealand to financially help
his family back in India. Harman is the
youngest one of his two siblings; a brother
and a sister. His father died last year and his
mother is living in India with her eldest son
and daughter in law.
Harman, sharing his mischievous

childhood, says, I used

to create troubles for my
sister. Also whenever I
got in trouble, I would
blame it on my brother
and he would always be
the one who got a growling from my Papa.
Receiving an appreciation award from
the police was very special and proud
moment for Harman. He wishes that
everyone should do their bit of kindness
whenever and wherever they get a chance.
He also urged others from the community
not to get involved in negative acts.
If I did my bit of goodness, somebody
else from my community did the opposite
of it. I would just like to say that it takes a
single act to tarnish the reputation that has
been built by the efforts of thousands doing
good work.
True it is! Someone once told me, that
when you want to do an act of good , do it like
you are going to die tomorrow and just do it
in the first instance. But when you want to
do something bad, remember that you have
a whole life in front of you so you can put
it off for another day. Harman reminded
me of that. Everybody cant help everybody
but everybody can help somebody. But it
certainly takes a hero to put everything
aside and selflessly help another. Its these
heroes that make life worth living and the
world a better place. Harman Singh we
salute you.

Cosmopolitan Punjabi Family looking

for a match for their daughter.

Fair, good looking, Post Graduate and

well settled. Suitable matches between
45 and 55 years may contact.
Ethnicity, caste no bar.
Contact : seekalliance2013@gmail.com

26

ENTERTAINMENT

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

Red

Black

Orange

Shahid hitched in low-key

Vivah with Delhi girl

ctor Shahid Kapoor

and Delhi girl Mira
Rajput tied the knot on
Tuesday in a low-key ceremony
at a farmhouse on New Delhis
outskirts after months of
speculation
surrounding
their nuptials.
The
wedding
ceremony
was attended only by close
relatives and friends, and
a grand celebration took
place in Mumbai at the
wedding reception.
The much-guarded wedding
was attended by around 40 to
50 guests, according to sources.
The celebrations started on
Monday evening with a sangeet
ceremony, where Shahid was
seen shaking a leg with Mira on
the hit wedding song Saj dhaj ke
from his film Mausam. This was
leaked via a video, which went
viral online.
After their wedding on
Tuesday morning, the couple
also attended a celebratory
lunch with their families.
They
changed
their
ensembles, and while Shahid
opted for a pristine white
sherwani designed by Kunal
Rawal, Mira looked elegant and
resplendent in a light pink and
silver embroidered lehenga with
a veil over her head.
On the career front, Shahid
will next be seen in Vikas Bahls
Shaandaar opposite Alia Bhatt
and in Udta Punjab, which
is produced by Vikramaditya
Motwane.
Meanwhile, he will also
be seen making his debut on
the small screen as a judge
on the celebrity dance reality
show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa
Reloaded. This leaves no time
for a honeymoon for Mrs and
Mr Kapoor.

Still a long way to go: Rajkumar Rao

e wasnt born with a silver

spoon in his mouth but
managed to secure a National
Film Award within five years of joining
the film industry.
The talented and versatile actor
Rajkumar Rao thanks god for this and
says theres still a long way to go.
I think god has been really kind to me.
Ive been lucky to be a part of some
really wonderful films and to get to work
with some really talented filmmakers.
I think its a good start and theres still
a long way to go, Rajkumar said in an
interview.
Having forayed into Bollywood
with LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha in
2010, Rajkumar went on to do films

such as Shaitan, Kai Po Che, Queen

and Citylights.
His emotive and intense performance
in Hansal Mehtas Shahid won Rajkumar
the National Film Award for Best Actor
in 2014.
Talking about how he chooses a script,
the actor said: I just listen to my heart
when Im selecting a film. I go with my
gut feeling. I read so many scripts in a
month and whatever touches my heart or
whatever I feel is something that I should
devote three to four months of my life to,
I just say yes to it.
The actor is proud of his latest film with
Mehta, Aligarh. The film is based on the
real life story of Shrinivas Ramchandra
Siras, a doctor who was terminated from

his job because of his sexuality.

Aligarh is a really strong film.
Im really proud of it. Ive seen bits
of it and I think it has shaped up
quite well.
My character is very different in
the film. Im playing a journalist. Hes
somebody who is very enthusiastic
and peppy, he said.
Apart from Aligarh, Rajkummar
has just finished shooting for Ramesh
Sippys
Shimla
Mirchi,
which
also stars Hema Malini and Rakul
Preet Singh.
If reports are to be believed, the
film revolves around a mother and
daughter who fall in love with the
same guy.

ENTERTAINMENT

www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

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28

ENTERTAINMENT

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

Its a dream to
work with big
stars: Sunny
Leone

Did Mika steal

Red
song from
Salman?

entire cast to their respective

roles. Kanganas swagger in her
double role, R. Madhavans subtle
nature and Deepak Dobriyals
wit got highly appreciated at the
box office, garnering rave reviews
from critics as well as viewers.
Focussing on the rediscovery
of love between a married couple,
the film has a talented supporting
cast of actors like Jimmy Sheirgill
and Swara Bhaskar.

he carved her own image in

the film world through her
bold and passionate roles
in films like Jism 2 and Ragini
MMS 2 and now actress Sunny
Leone says its her dream to star
opposite Bollywood A-listers.
Its anybodys dream when
they come into the industry to
work with people, who they have
seen in so many movies. First and
foremost, Im a fan of Bollywood
films and have been following
them since a lot time. So, it would
enhance my talent if I get a chance
to work with big stars. It would be
a dream, Sunny said.
Im a part of everything that
I want to be. I work really hard
for my roles. For me the only
acceptance and the only thing that
is most important are my fans and
staying connected with them,
she added.
The 34-year-old is returning as
a host with actor Rannvijay Singh
in the eighth season of reality
show MTV Splitsvilla.
On the career front, Sunny is
currently waiting for the censor
board to pass her delayed sex
comedy film Mastizaade. Apart
from that she will next be seen
in Beimaan Love and One Night
Stand.

People taking
selfies at
cremation
disgusts Big B

egastar
Amitabh
Bachchan was left
disgusted
by
the
insensitivity of people who were
crowding around him and taking
selfies while he attended the
cremation of his friend.
He said he is disappointed as
people have no respect for the
dead and no respect for the living
present their to pay homage.
Without sharing identity of
his friend, the 72-year-old actor
expound over his feelings on his
official Facebook page.
My dear friend passed away
suddenly... was chatting and
suddenly gone! Fragility of
life...Went for the cremation to
Delhi...at the cremation, people
taking mobile pics and selfies...
DISGUSTING ! They have no
respect for the dead and no
respect for the living that come to

Tanu Weds
Manu Returns
crosses Rs.150
crore mark

fter
garnering
appreciation
from
all quarters, actress
Kangana Ranauts Tanu Weds
Manu Returns has become the
first Bollywood film of 2015 to
gross over Rs.150 crore, according
to trade gurus.
Continuing its successful run at
the box office in its sixth week, the
romantic comedy film has minted
Rs.150.03 crore, trade analyst
Taran Adarsh shared on Twitter.
Other sources in the market too
confirmed that the Aanand L. Rai
directorial has become the first
movie of 2015 to cross the mark.
A sequel to the 2011 film Tanu
Weds Manu, it released on May
22, marking the return of the

pay their respects for the dead,

Big B shared.
The actor also took to microblogging site Twitter to share his
feelings, saying he came back from
the last rites with a void in his life.
Travelled to bid final farewell
to my friend...painful...there with
us in a moment and suddenly
gone!Leaving behind a vacuum.
Cremation of lost friend over...
back within the void and the
grief...painful.
At cremation people taking
selfies! Disgusting! No respect for
the departed, or for the moment,

the cine icon posted in a string of

tweets.
The Paa star had earlier
shared the news of the death of
his friend on his official blog and
how it make him think about the
uncertainty of life.

Karan Johar was

stunned at my
Hindi: Lauren
Gottlieb

urrently enjoying the

success of her dance film
Any Body Can Dance 2,
American dancer-actor Lauren
Gottlieb has also worked efficiently
to perfect her Hindi, which has
stunned filmmaker Karan Johar.
One of the judges of upcoming
season of dance reality show

Orange

alman Khans Bajrangi

Bhaijaan launched its
special Eid song Aaj ki
party last week. Sung by Mika
Singh, the song has already
connected with the masses but
it was Salman who was going to
sing the song before Mika stole
it from him.
Mika has stolen my song and
thats why this song is a sure
shot hit. I tried a lot this time
again to be the one who sings
this song but Mika has beaten
me again by bagging this song,
quipped Salman.
However, this is not the first
time that Mika has recorded
a song which was originally
intended to be sung by Salman.
Salman had recorded his version
of the superhit track Jumme ki
raat from the film Kick, but Mikas
version was the one used in the
film and it became a blockbuster
track. Bhai (Salman) had sung
Jumme ki raat brilliantly and I
told him to release the song in
his voice. I was in Jakarta when I
received a call from him at 12.30
in the night asking whether I said
the truth about liking his version.
And he told to hear it again and
send my version, Mika said.

Big fan of Al
Pacino: Tiger
Shroff

Jhalak Dikhlaja
, Lauren,
interacting with the media
regarding it, said: Youll see an
evolution of me throughout this
season especially with regards to
speaking in Hindi. Ill be speaking
Hindi on the show and when we
were taping my lines recently,
everyone was shocked to hear my
Hindi.
Karan Johars jaw dropped on
the floor and he wondered How
the heck could you do that? And
this is the first time that people
are going to be seeing me speaking
Hindi live.
Karan Johar is also one of
the judges on the show along
with Shahid Kapoor and Ganesh
Hegde.
The characters that Lauren
essayed in all her three films ABCD, ABCD 2 and Welcome 2
Karachi werent Indian characters
and hence she had the freedom of
speaking English or Hindi with a
foreign accent in these films.
But willing to establish herself
in the industry, she has now
realized that glamorous looks
are not enough as is with the
case of Katrina Kaif who has
tremendously
improved
her
Hindi now. Even Sunny Leone is
working hard to perfect her Hindi
and Lauren can take a cue from
these stars.

Black

ctor Tiger Shroff, who is

hogging the limelight in
B-town for his chiselled
frame and physique, says he is a
big fan of veteran Hollywood
actor Al Pacino.
My dad is my style icon in
Bollywood and in Hollywood, I am
a big fan of Al Pacino, he said at
the launch of Planet Fashion redcarpet fashion show in Mumbai.
The actor, who began his career
with Heropanti, also talked
about his forthcoming projects at
the event.
I am doing a film called
Baaghi with (Sajid) Nadiadwala,
and a superhero film, titled, The
Terminator or Flying Jat or
Flying Sikh with Balaji, he said.
Tiger has also been offered
Kung Fu Yoga by action super star
Jackie Chan.
Talks are going on, for now,
but I havent signed it yet. I am
very grateful that I got such
an offer so early in my career
and Jackie Chan has been my
inspiration growing up, he said.
Praising his fathers humility,
the 25-year-old said: I really
admire the humility in my Dad. He
has stayed grounded throughout
the years, hes had very humble
background and I really respect
for the journey hes been through
and raising me and my sister.
That is why I am working so
hard, to make him proud and take
care of him someday.
Tiger is a big fan of Hrithik

Roshan and considers him as the

god of everything.
Many compare Tigers dance
moves with Hrithik but the
former believes that there is no
comparison.
As for the comparison, its a
big compliment. But trust me, he
is god of everything, he said.
Tiger also denied being offered
ABCD 3.

Kareena already
thinks Bajrangi
Bhaijaan biggest
hit: Salman

here is high optimism

from all quarters that
Bajrangi Bhaijaan might
eclipse all box office records in
Bollywood but hero Salman Khan
says his heroine Kareena has
already assumed that it will be the
biggest hit of all time.
At a media event to launch the
Eid song from the film, Salman
joked that Kareena was trying to

alienate herself from the movie.

Kareena is already enjoying
the success of the film in London.
In her mind, the film has already
broken all box-office records.
And hence she is partying with
her husband (Saif Ali Khan) and
father (Randhir Kapoor).
The question was prompted by
Kareenas absence from the song
launch of Aaj Ki Party sung by
Mika Singh. Kareena has claimed
in several interviews before that
she feels Bajrangi Bhaijaan will
be the biggest hit of the year.
Salman also quipped that there
is no chemistry between him
and Kareena and so calling her
behenji was a cakewalk.
I used to forget that her name
also has a Khan attached to it. But
after finishing the song, I would
add Khan back.

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Friday 31 July 2015, 7.30pm, Victory Convention Centre 98 Beaumont St, Auckland

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29

30

FEATURES

10 July 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

From an athlete to an Olympian

Rizwan Mohammad

something

How long has she been riding

independently?

Pratima Patel

Pratima got the necessary

training from North Harbour
Special Olympic and it has been
close to four years now since
she has been riding without any
assistance.
Would you put some light on
her achievements so far?
For a special child, sports
is not just about sports
achievement, it is about learning
to live independently and social
competence
their ability to
interact with others well, follow
instruction and simply take care
of themselves.

about

My name is Pratima Patel. I

am 28 years old, and I was born
on Christmas. I work at Spencer
in Byron Hotel once a week. I
like music, dancing and watching
DVDs.
(Jamna Patel takes
the conversation forward). My
daughter was born with Down
syndrome but she has been blessed
with a strong talent in sports.
Where has she completed
her education from?
Pratima attended a unit at
Red Beach Primary School after
turning 6, later she attended
Birkdale Intermediate where she
completed mainstream education.
She completed her secondary
school education at Takapuna
Grammar School after which she
did a course in Employment and

Red

Summer World Games in a sport

she has a great love for.

wenty-eight-year-old
Pratima Patel has a
flair for sports since her
childhood; her hard work and
determination has earned her
a space at the Special Olympics
World Games (SOWSG) in Los
Angeles this year where she will
be competing in Equestrian.
Indian Weekender spoke to the
young athlete and her mother,
Jamna Patel.
Tell us
yourself

What about her training and

fitness?

Community Skills at Unitec.

What about her interest in
sports?
As a child, she was always
interested in sports. She plays
basketball, swims and also skis.
She was selected as a nontravelling

reserve

for

the

Special Olympic World Winter

Games in 2013.
In the past she has played
hockey

and

football

school level.

at

Tell us about Equestrian?

How does the selection to the

Special Olympics take place?

Pratima was introduced to

horse riding at Primary School
through Riding for the Disabled.
She instantly took a liking to it.
The TV series Saddle Club
became her favourite show to
watch. She would go on horse
treks whenever she could.
She began riding with Special
Olympics in 2009 and currently
rides for her club North Harbour
Special Olympics.
It was exciting for her to be
selected for the Special Olympic

The athletes have to perform at

Regional Games and after getting
the medal, they play the NationalGames.
Pratima won in 2013 and
qualified for the World Games.
Even after qualifying, the
player has to be nominated
to go for Olympics or World
Championships.
She was nominated by the
Special Olympics North Harbour
and now she will compete in Los
Angeles this month end.

Black
Orange
She has
been regular
with
her trainings for the Special
Olympics for months. She used
to go for practice once a month
earlier, and with the World
Games approaching, she has been
practicing twice every month
at the North Harbour Special
Olympics. She goes for basketball
and swimming regularly. In
addition to this, she attends the
gym at least once a week and
walks most mornings.

How has been the support

from the community?
It has been overwhelming.
They have come forward on their
own and helped us raise funds for
her training. We are grateful for
their contributions (both in time
and funds raised), and their warm
wishes for Pratima.
Are you going with her to the
games?
Pratima will fly to Los Angeles
with the New Zealand Special
Olympics team on Thursday,
July 16, and I will be joining her
soon after to cheer and render
my support. I am very proud
of Pratima, and thankful to
Special Olympics New Zealand
for
nominating
her
and
giving her this opportunity
of a lifetime. I know she will
do her best to make her
supporters proud.

Eid-ul Fitr Namaz Venues in Auckland 2015

Note: Bayan will start approximately 30 minutes before the Namaz Time

Bhartiya Samaj
Seniors Meet

Date: Monday 13 July 2015

Time: 10:30 am onwards
Venue: Old Flat Bush School hall,
Corner Murphys Road and Flat Bush
School Road, Flat Bush, Auckland.
Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust
(BSCT) has extended its wings by
starting a new program every second
Monday of the month at Flat Bush
Auckland. Morning tea and lunch is
provided. Activities package include:
friendship and fellowship, exercises,
entertainment, outings and picnics,
health checks, guest speakers,
celebration
of festivals, mutual support,
community lunches.

Auckland Eid Day Eid ul Fitr

Date: 18 or19 July(Dependent on

sighting of the new moon)
Time: 8:15am - 3pm
Venue: Trust Stadium - Henderson
Auckland Eid Day is NZs largest
congregational prayer and celebration
of Eid, to mark the ending of the Holy
month of Ramadan. From food and
merchandise stalls to the cultural
entertainment and ladies VIP area, this
event is for anyone and everyone. To
receive the official FIANZ moon sighting
notifications for Ramadan and Eid,
please text EID8 to 5778 (one off cost
of 20c).

CAB Hamilton
Workshop on
Employment

Date: Wednesday 22 July 2015

Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm
Venue: Waikato Migrant Resources
Centre, 46G Boundary Road,
Claudelands, Hamilton
CAB Hamilton will hold a free workshop
on Employment in New Zealand. Topics
to include: Types of Employment,
Employment Agreements, Personal
Grievances, Termination, Mediation,
Employment Relations Authority and
Labour Inspectors. Presented by
Community Law Centre and Young
Workers Resource Centre. RSVP:
Please confirm your place by phoning
CAB office on (07) 839 0395 or (07) 839
0808 or Email at cab.hamilton@xtra.
co.nz by Friday 17 July 2015.

Sargam Fusion

Date: Saturday 25th July, 2015

Time: 6:30PM | Venue: Blockhouse
Bay Community Hall.
You are invited to be a part of an
upcoming music experience by Sargam
Fusion a band that brings together a unique
ensemble of Indian musical offering
with a Western touch, backed by vocal
brilliance covering a range of genres.
Limited Seats, Tickets are already on
sale. Tickets: $15. Available at Sargam
School, 419 Blockhouse Bay Road and
Yogiji Food Mart, Carr Road

Masjid/Centre

Addesss/Venue

Suburb

Namaz Timing

Airport Masjid

91 Westney Avenue (TBC)

Mangere

*8.30 am

Al Farooq Islamic Centre

Kath Day Hall, 1719 Mason Avenue (TBC) Otahuhu

*8.15 am

Al Iqra Islamic Centre

12A Tironui, Station Road

Takanini

8.15 am

Masjid-Al-Noor

Botanical Gardens, 102 Hill Road

Manurewa

9.00 am

Al Falah Islamic Centre

1/8 Laidlaw Way, (Off Ormiston Rd)

Dannemora

8.00 am

Auckland Eid Day

Trust Stadium, 65-67 Central Park

Henderson

9. 00 am

Avondale Islamic Centre

122 Blockhouse Bay Road

Blockhouse Bay 8.30 am

Glen Eden Madrasa

7 Waikaukau Place

Glen Eden

8.00 am

Glen Innes Islamic Centre

127 Elstree Ave

Glen Innes

8.30 am

AUT Muslim Prayer Space

9 Mount Street, Auckland Central

Auckland City

8. 00 am

Masjid Abu Bakr Siddique

5B Cortina Place

Pakuranga

8.30 am

Masjid Al Mustafa

26 Mangere Road

Otahuhu

8.00 am

Masjid Al-Taqwa

56-58 Grayson Avenue

Manukau

8.00 am

Masjid Ayesha

96 Maich Road

Manurewa

8.00 am

Masjid-e- Abu Hurairah

45 Cartwright Road

Kelston

8.00 am

Masjid-e-Umar

185 Stoddard Road

Mt Roskill

8.15 am

Muanatul Islamic Trust

45 Thomas Road

Mangere

8.00 am

New Lynn Islamic Centre

13 Ward Street

New Lynn

8.00 am

North Shore Islamic Centre

30 Downing Street

Glenfield

8.00 am

Onehunga Islamic Centre

140 Church St

Onehunga

8.00 am

Papatoetoe Islamic Centre

63 Park Avenue

Papatoetoe

8.15 am

Ponsonby Masjid

17 Vermont Street

Ponsonby

8.00 am

Pukekohe Islamic Centre

107 Princess Road

Pukekohe

8.00 am

Ranui Masjid

31-33 Armada Drive, Ranui

Henderson

8.30 am

Whangarei Islam Centre

11C Porowini Avenue

Whangarei

8.30 am

Source: Mohammad Azeem from Muslim Council of Auckland

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www.iwk.co.nz | 10 July 2015

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