01SEPTEMBER2017 | Vol 9 Issue 24
Prince Narula & Yuvika in Bolly Boom, Auckland
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Kangana Ranaut
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Friday, September 01, 2017
The Indian Weekender
Community rallies around The true meaning of would-be mum battling cancer ¡¡ RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
T
he Telugu community in New Zealand has rallied around the stressed family of a pregnant woman fighting cancer in Hamilton raising almost $9000 overnight. The community is reaching out to the broader Kiwi-Indian community and beyond for generating financial resources to assist the embattled and stressed family. A Givealittle page was started on Tuesday, August 29, for a 24-year old Indian woman, Manaswini Voora, who was in the 25th week of her pregnancy when diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma (a form of cancer). Suneel Kuncha of the New Zealand Telugu Association and Kalyan Kasuganti Rao of Telangana Association, who have been constantly in touch with The Indian Weekender said that the community has raised almost $9000 overnight. “We would like to appeal to the broader KiwiIndian community for its generous support,” Mr Kuncha said. When The Indian Weekender last checked on the Givealittle page, on Thursday, August 31, about $26,437 had been raised with support of 370 generous donors. The funds raised will be used to help the couple alleviate any financial stress so that they can focus on treatment and healing and the cost of flying their parents at this time of emotional distress. Manaswini came to New Zealand from Hyderabad, India, 15 months ago with her husband Jay Krishna and lived in Hamilton. Earlier in July when Manaswini was in her 20th week of pregnancy she experienced pain
¡¡ RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
in her left leg and went through physiotherapy. When the pain developed in her right leg too, the couple consulted the doctor who suspected it to be tuberculosis as she also started experiencing shortness in her breathing. After a few checkups, the doctor at Waikato Hospital ruled out tuberculosis and confirmed that she is in the fourth stage of lung cancer. Manaswini in her 25 weeks of pregnancy is now battling cancer in Waikato Hospital, the source of the tumour is still unknown and is rapidly spreading to different parts of her body. Manaswini’s husband Jay came to New Zealand six years ago, the couple got married in India in 2015, and both are on a resident visa here. Manaswini’s mother has come to New Zealand to be with her daughter, and the visa process of her father and sister is in progress. The funds can be donated on the Givealittle page: Help Maaswani meet her parents.
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id-ul-Adha, the second biggest celebration of the Muslim community will be observed on Saturday, September 2 around the globe. It is this occasion when the Haj pilgrimage is made by the Muslims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Eid-ul-Adha like Eid-ul-Fitr also dwells on one important message – that is sacrifice. As mentioned in the Holy Quran, Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) in his dream was asked by Allah (swt) to sacrifice his only son Hazrat Ismail (pbuh). Without doubting this command, Hazrat Ibrahim decided to sacrifice his son, and as he ran his knife over his son, it was miraculously replaced by a goat. To commemorate Hazrat Ibrahim’s unwavering faith over Allah’s command, Eid-ul-Adha is celebrated by every believing Muslim in the world. The message being sacrificing the things one loves the most which is love for worldly possessions, pleasure, money, etc. Both these festivals remind the individual to sacrifice their love for worldly pleasures in the way of God and doing good. Sacrificing an animal (goat, cow or camel) is a way to commemorate the example set by Hazrat Ibrahim. The meat from the animal is not just for oneself, but it is to be divided into three equal parts, one for the less fortunate, second part for the friends and relatives and the third part for himself. Kiwi-Muslims will observe Eid-ul-Adha on Saturday, September 2 with prayer services at all the mosques across New Zealand. The
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The Indian Weekender
NEW ZEALAND
Friday, September 01, 2017
‘We are not giving up on immigration,’ says Prime Minister A PM: (Laughs) Well I know you would like me to make that undertaking, but that would be getting way ahead of me because we haven’t yet had the election and we haven’t seen who has turned up in the parliament.
¡¡ SANDEEP SINGH
head of elections, Prime Minister Bill English has reached out to the KiwiIndian community by speaking with The Indian Weekender about range of issues that matters to the community including immigration and law and order. Here are some excerpts of the interview.
IWK: Let’s talk about the education policy you announced the other day. You talked about introducing the second language for primary school children. Why was Hindi not included in the list of priority languages announced by you? PM: Well that was an indicative list only and not an exclusive list. Our idea is to initiate a national conversation about the languages that people want to learn and it’s not exclusive. IWK: Our question is that you are not even giving people an opportunity to choose Hindi in classrooms. This is despite the fact that according to the last census in 2013 Hindi became the fourth most spoken language in New Zealand replacing French. Were you aware of that? PM: I am aware that it is spoken widely, yes. And we should have that discussion because we should find that families want that
Prime Minister Bill English in talks with The Indian Weekender
language in school. There were ten languages listed, that’s the start of the discussion, it doesn’t exclude other languages because policy will be driven by what students and schools want. What we are saying is that students should have access to a second language. Anyway, the Indian community, their children particularly, have a great advantage as they almost have two languages in their household anyway. It is for Kiwi kids who would stand to gain the most by this opportunity to learn the second language. IWK: There are two KiwiIndian MPs in the National Party caucus, of which one
has been there for all three terms. Does National Party not find them talented enough to elevate either of them to a ministerial berth in the cabinet? PM: Well, that’s a matter that we sort out each time we pick a cabinet. We have in our caucus plenty of talent. That’s one of the privileges of being a Prime Minister of National caucus of having so many talented people who can be a Minister. Generally, if they are longer in the caucus, then there are more chances for them to become a Minister. I can say that both Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Parmjeet Parmar have performed well. IWK: Can we get your promise today for a Kiwi-Indian Minister in next term?
IWK: Why is the New Zealand government and your party giving up on immigration numbers? PM: Well we are not giving up on immigration. The other political parties are. One way or the other they all are seeking to cut back immigration numbers quite low, but they haven’t told us that how they will do that. What we believe is happening is that success of the economy is driving immigration. It’s not the other way around. We are not dependent on immigration. We need migrant workers to do the jobs that need to be done. IWK: Recently your government introduced the Minimum Income Threshold to classify people as “low skilled” and “high skilled.” Are you getting your unemployment statistics on the basis of “low skilled” or “high skilled”? What was the point there? PM: The point over there was to make it clearer what people could expect to happen. The occupational classifications don’t always give you the right information, and the industry keeps telling us that the name of the job in your system does not tell us how important the job is. What’s important is how we pay them. So we are just bringing in now
INGERITY LOYAL ETHICAL
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and will keep it under review as we always keep immigration policies under review. The idea is to get people into jobs with reasonable skill content and is reasonably well paid. IWK: Coming to international students, Indian international students have gone through significant troubles for right or wrong reasons and the Kiwi-Indian community thinks that immigration agents and private tertiary institutes are taking Indian international students for a ride and government is not doing enough to regulate PTEs? What do you have to say about that? PM: I think it is well regulated now, and people understand that New Zealand government will enforce its rules. We want a well-regarded international education sector. We are very pleased to have a degree of interest from Indian students and about 20 per cent of those students choose to stay back here in New Zealand permanently. We welcome them here, and we want it to be sustainable and high quality. IWK: Can you ensure that there will be more regulation of PTEs in the fourth term of National government? PM: That is in place now. In the last 18 months, a lot of efforts have been made in enforcing the rules. We have got a pretty good set of rules. But now people are clear that they are going to be enforced. For more stories from our exclusive interview with PM, turn to Page 5 and visit www.iwk.co.nz
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Friday, September 01, 2017
The Indian Weekender
Telangana community celebrates Vināyaka Chaturthī ¡¡ RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
T
he Telangana Association of New Zealand hosted Vināyaka Chaturthī, also called Ganesh Chaturthi on Friday, August 25 at the Mt Roskill War Memorial Hall Auckland’s May Road. The annual celebration of Lord Ganesha is widely celebrated by the Hindu community across the world. The ten-day festival commences with the puja and prayers and ends with the immersion of the idol. Families welcome Lord Ganesha to their homes and chant hymns, perform aarti and puja to celebrate the auspicious day. Since the Telangana community is sizable in Auckland, the celebration was hosted for the
Members of Telangna Community at Vinayaka Chaturthi celebration in Mt Roskill War Memorial Hall
public at the War Memorial Hall. The celebration commenced with carrying the Ganesha idol to the venue and placing the idol on the stage for the prayers. A significant
part of the celebration is placing sweets, in particular, ‘Laddu’ at the feet of Lord Ganesha during the prayers.
According to a tradition in Hyderabad, the laddu is then auctioned after the Puja gets over. This year the plate of laddu was
bought by community member Lakshman Kalakuntla for $1351. Nearly 300 members of the community came to witness the celebrations, Labour Party candidate for Maungakeikei Priyanca Radhakrishnan, National Party Candidate for Kelston Bala Beeram and New Zealand People Party’s leader Roshan Nauhria also attended. Advisory members of the Telangana Association Srinivasa Vanuganti, Jagan Mohan Reddy, Raman Rao Rachakond and Narasimha Rao Tuppala arranged the big celebrations, and Prakash Biradar from the New Zealand Indian Central Association also visited the event.
Vināyaka Chaturthī celebrated with fervour by the Telugu community ¡¡ RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
A
number of communities marked the much awaited Vinayaka Chaturthi starting from Friday, August 25. More than 250 community members attended the celebrations hosted by the Telugu Association of New Zealand at Fickling Centre in Three Kings on Friday. The celebration started with bringing the Ganesh idol into the hall, which is an integral part of the celebrations. The puja started at 8:30 p.m. and continued for approximately three hours. As a customary practice sweets
Members of Telugu Community at Vinayaka Chaturthi celebration at Flickling Community Centre
and flowers were placed at the feet of the idol and the devotees chanted hymns and songs in praise of Lord Ganesh. The prayer was conducted by distinguished community member Ms Lakshmi who has been leading
the prayers at such big occasions. As is the practice in Hyderabad in India, the laddu (sweet) prepared for this auspicious occasion is auctioned, and it was bought by a community member for $1501.
Leaders from the Indian community, members of parliament and candidates for the upcoming elections from different political parties also attended the event.
The event concluded with a special dinner for every devotee prepared by the members of the Telugu community.
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The Indian Weekender
NEW ZEALAND
Friday, September 01, 2017
PM bats for tougher policing ¡¡ SANDEEP SINGH
P
rime Minister Bill English has assured the community that a National led government would tackle crime head on. “I think what matters to dairies is that the way now dairy owners and police work together minimise the risk, so we are seeing a reduction in the incidences of aggravated robberies. “It does need assertive policing,” Mr English told to The Indian Weekender. Speaking exclusively to The Indian Weekender, ahead of elections, about community’s expectations and aspirations on a range of issues, Prime Minister reiterated that the National government has been watchful of the slight increase in serious crimes, whereas there was a decline in overall youth crime rate in the country. When asked if it was fair to say that it took a long time for the National government to acknowledge that small businesses and dairy owners are facing a problem of increase in overall crime, Prime Minister strongly rejected any such suggestions. “No, it is not fair to say that we have been slow. We have a strong focus on getting crime rates down generally, and actually, crime rates are coming down particularly for young people,” Prime minister said. “What you have with dairy owners was an outbreak of aggravated robberies that’s why in January this year we have announced the recruitment of 1100 new police officers,” Mr English added. “Two-three years before that we invested millions in making our police mobile so that they can spend 10-20 per cent more time on the beat to collect evidence and reporting.
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VERDICT 2017 - SPECIAL FEATURE
Rockstars from Nepal to perform in Auckland A ¡¡ RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
band of musicians from Nepal on a world tour will deliver two shows in Auckland in September. The famous band of four ‘Albatross’ and solo artist Diwas Gurung will perform at Auckland Institute of Studies (AIS) on Saturday, September 2 and the second show on Saturday, September 9 at Kings Arms Tavern in Newton. Currently, Albatross band is touring in Australia. Artist Diwas Gurung lives and works as a musician in New York and will be flying directly to New Zealand for the shows. The September 2 show at AIS is an acoustic show suitable for all ages, and the second show on September 9 at Kings Arms Tavern is an 18+ event which is set to be live and loud. “We are hoping for 800 to 1,000 people for both the shows in Auckland. People from Queenstown, Christchurch, Hamilton and Whangarei have confirmed their attendance to the shows,” Nitesh Rai, organiser of the show said. The Nepali community in New Zealand is slowly growing with an estimated 10,000 Nepalis living all over the country and up to 3,000 live in Auckland alone. “A lot of our target audience are young Nepali students, and these artistes are very popular amongst the young generation,” Mr Rai added. This is the first time Albatross and Diwas Gurung will perform in New Zealand. The band and the solo singer who have played all around the world are excited about their maiden
performance in New Zealand. “We are here to promote Nepali music and culture to a wider audience as music is universal,” Mr Rai said. These two music shows will also give New Zealanders the opportunity to witness two Nepali bands perform live with their rock performances. $2 from every ticket sold will be donated to the Himalayan Trust that is rebuilding the Everest region after the devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal. “We welcome people from every corner to come and witness two epic shows,” Mr Rai added.
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Friday, September 01, 2017
The Indian Weekender
“We want to move away from servicing miseries to reducing it”: Prime Minister ¡¡ SANDEEP SINGH
P
rime Minister Bill English launched the National Party’s campaign on Sunday, August 27, with some seemingly powerful lines to get an undiluted approval from the media and political commentators – a privilege that is largely missing from many others that the Prime Minister currently enjoys. “We want to move away from servicing miseries to reducing it,” was one such one-liner that received applause from enthusiastic party supporters. Mr English was referring to young mothers requiring support from the system, though it was said in the wider context of social investment programmes. “I’m committed to changing the system from hoping those young mothers will turn up looking for help, to going out and finding solutions that work for them. “Moving from servicing misery to reducing it,” Mr English said. There were many more such lines in the quarter of an hour long speech at West Auckland’s Trusts Arena that sought to elucidate the National Party’s vision for New Zealand and how it was different from the parties on the left. The line that in the words of The Spinoff’s Toby Manhire, “got far and away the biggest ovation of the afternoon” was “Hard working New Zealanders aren’t an ATM for the Labour Party.” However, despite these many seemingly powerful one-liners, Mr English did not succeed in winning a clinical approval from many political commentators. It was inevitable that the Prime Minister’s speech would be compared with the one that Labour’s newly-minted leader Jacinda Ardern delivered at the rejuvenated Labour Party’s campaign launch earlier. According to Audrey Young, NZ Herald political editor, “Bill English’s speech to launch National’s campaign was vintage English, part brilliant, part boring.” The Spinoff’s political editor Toby Manhire found it “solid and unspectacular and down the line.” Similarly, the 2000-3000 party supporters present in the Trusts Arena, were found to be “missing in euphoria” and “not bursting at the seams” in clear comparison with the Labour Party’s campaign launch event a week ago in the Auckland Townhall. Clearly, if the National Party and its campaign managers are being criticised for being overly focused on Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party in their campaign launch, then media commentators could also share the blame, for comparing the event with Ms Ardern’s campaign launch and the rather arbitrary diasapproval of Mr English’s performance on Sunday. In fact, the choice of the venue Trusts Arena for the campaign launch could be a symbolic choice, suggesting the fact that elections are supposed to be contested within an arena, allowing freedom to all participating contestants of hitting sportingly at each other. In that regard, the National Party has done well in elucidating its vision clearly for New Zealand, even if it required what Audrey Young calls “some intermittent negativity on Labour.” Otherwise, how will voters know the difference what the two parties bring to the table in this election? How are voters supposed to correctly attribute the same line, “We can do better than this,”
For now, Prime Minister Bill English has done well in elucidating two different visions of New Zealand, even if in “boring style” and being “intermittently negative on the Labour Party.” offered by two different leaders differently – the leader of the biggest opposition party, and the other, the Prime Minister of the day? Ms Ardern has been building election momentum over the catchy one-liner – “We can do a lot better than this.” Last week, Ms Ardern had spoken in front of a crowd of supporters and market-goers at the Otara market in South Auckland. “We can do better than what we are doing now, we can do so much,” Ms Ardern had said. Now Prime Minister Bill English has come up with his own “We can do even better.” In this regard, voters would need to hear more on what is the “better” and more believable version, of New Zealand’s future. For now, Prime Minister Bill English has done well in elucidating two different visions of New Zealand, even if in “boring style” and being “intermittently negative on the Labour Party.” If Labour and other parties of the left have a right to critique the so called “neo-liberal” market policy” being forced on New Zealanders, then the National Party also has a right to emphasise the sense of “personal responsibility and accountability,” that it seeks to inculcate so diligently in every aspect of social policy. Probably, one line that largely went unnoticed and received least attention from both the party faithful at the event and the commentators later, but was symptomatic of National party’s claim to fame was, “Because National understands the pressures of running a household, paying the bills and saving a bit for a rainy day.” The Labour Party would have to come up soon against this performance by Mr English led National Party team. Another area that has missed the attention of the mainstream media, again, was the large ethnic representation in the crowd of party supporters. There was heavy representation of ethnic Chinese-New Zealanders and Kiwi-Indians at the event. If counting the number of “Indian looking” faces is any metric, then surely the National campaign launch had more Kiwi-Indians present than at the Labour launch. However, to what extent will it translate into actual votes on September 23 still remains to be seen.
The Indian Weekender
VERDICT 2017 - SPECIAL FEATURE
Friday, September 01, 2017
7
Preparing our children for the Supreme Sikh Society in South 2030s and beyond Auckland has a
N
National Party List MP
ational has announced a $379 million package to provide New Zealand’s young people with the skills and language training to succeed in an increasingly international and high-tech world. We want to help our children develop the skills that will help them succeed over their lifetimes, both in New Zealand and around the world. This package will provide every primary school student the opportunity to learn a second language if they choose to Improve the maths skills of primary school students; Create Digital Academies and Digital Internships to give year 12 and 13 students practical, work-based learning opportunities and Extend National Standards to provide much more detailed information about how our kids are progressing Apart from the announcing the above investment in our future generations National is keen to provide opportunities to learn a second language. On re-election we will invest $120m over four years to grow the language skills that our young people need to compete in a global world. All primary school children will be given access to learning a second language if
new team ¡¡ RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
allows 1000 students a year to gain relevant NCEA credits. Digital internships will see work placements, mentoring and tailored learning provided by industry partners for 500 year 12 and 13 students a year, building a pathway between skills gained in the classroom and jobs in the IT industry. A re-elected National Government will invest $45m over four years to implement PaCT and other progress tools in schools, including support for teachers in professional learning and development. We will measure a child’s learning progress, as well as benchmarking them against where they should be. Parents will receive real time online reporting of their child’s progress throughout the year. Parents will also receive more information detailing their child’s progress in specific areas, so for example in maths they will receive information on how their child is progressing in areas like algebra rather than just seeing where their child is at overall in maths. This will highlight where more support is needed. Teachers’ workloads will be reduced through an online system of measurement where they only have to enter information once to allow multiple reporting to parents and the government.
S
upreme Sikh Society of New Zealand (SSSNZ), the largest Sikh body in the country hosted its Annual General Meeting on Sunday, August 27 at the Takanini Gurudwara to choose its next leader and plan the activities for the next year. SSSNZ was established in 1982 and operates two Gurudwaras in Auckland including the very first Gurdwara built in Auckland - the Otahuhu Gurudwara along with the largest Sikh Gurdwara in the entire Pacific Area – the Takanini Gurudwara, South Auckland. The Sikh Society has more than 500 financial members and 2000 non-financial members and its annual turnover this year is $3 million. The requirement to become the president of this organisation is that one has to spend three years in the Gurudwara kitchen and do community work before their nominations for the post are accepted Ranvir Singh Lali, the director of Dreamline House Construction Company who had previously served in many posts such as secretary and executive, was elected as the new President of SSSNZ. Mr Lali is a Justice of Peace, has a well-established business here and has been living in New Zealand for the last 27 years. Rajinder Singh, a share holder in Co-Op Taxi and a well-established community member, was elected as the secretary of the organisation.
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they choose to. We will set at least 10 priority languages, in consultation with the community. They are likely to include Mandarin, Spanish, French, Korean, Maori and NZ Sign Language. Through additional funding for teachers, language assistants and online resources we will provide primary school children with up to 30 hours a year in second language tuition. Our aim is to have this implemented over the next two years, however we know for some communities it will be much faster as they have the resources available now. A re-elected National Government will invest $126m over four years to grow the maths skills of primary school teachers, and support them in the classroom to provide intensive support to those students that need it with additional curriculum resources. We will invest in growing the maths skills of our students by providing them intensive support in the classroom to lift achievement. We will fully fund up to 1200 teachers to undertake a university math teaching paper to further their understanding. All teachers will also be supported in the classroom with a $5m per year investment in additional math curriculum resources. A re-elected National Government will invest $48m over four years to ensure our young people have access to opportunities in the IT industry to give them real world experience. We will build a pathway for our young people between the digital skills they are gaining in the classroom and jobs in the IT industry. Digital academies will be similar to Trades Academies, and offer specialised, IT-focused learning which also
nzmaritime.com
8
VERDICT 2017 - SPECIAL FEATURE
Friday, September 01, 2017
National lures parents – paid parental leave upped 4 weeks ¡¡ SANDEEP SINGH
T
he National Party has promised to extend paid parental leave by four weeks from the current 18 to a new proposed 22 weeks. This is the second policy by the National Party in last few days aiming to target on parents, after the education policy announced on Sunday, August 28, which the party is claiming will help parents to track their children’s progress throughout the year in key learning areas. Now, the Party has come up with a proposal to extend paid parental leave as part of its Parents and Newborns Package. “National will share the dividends of a growing economy, with more support for families with newborns in a new package made possible only by the improving government finances,” Women Spokesperson Paula Bennett said. National’s Parents and Newborns Package will progressively extend Paid Parental Leave to 22 weeks over two years, with an initial step of two weeks on 1 July 2018 followed by a further two weeks on 1 July 2019. The policy will also add flexibility to Paid Parental Leave, by allowing both parents to take some of the 22 weeks off at the
same time so they can be at home with their baby together. It also envisages supporting women to take care of their own health by offering them one free dental course during pregnancy and up to their baby’s first birthday. “National’s Parents and Newborns package recognises the role of both parents and allows families to have the flexibility that suits their circumstances. It is good for parents, good for their baby and will help support women in the workforce,” Mrs Bennett said. However, the Labour Party has criticised National’s plan on the paid parental plan saying that they cannot be trusted as they had earlier blocked Labour’s plan for the extension of paid parental leave to 26 weeks. “New Zealanders know they can trust Labour on Paid Parental
Leave, not Bill English, who blocked an extension to 26 weeks just last year,” Labour MP Sue Moroney said in a media statement. Ms Moroney had brought in a bill last year seeking an extension of paid parental leave to 26 weeks. “After vetoing 26 weeks Paid Parental Leave, which the majority of Parliament voted for, Bill English has no credibility promising more weeks now,” Ms Moroney said. However, National Party is saying that this changed perspective toward extending paid parental leave is concomitant of the improving fiscal outlook. “National has always wanted to increase Paid Parental Leave in a responsible way,” Workplace Relations and Safety Spokesperson Michael Woodhouse said. “We’ve already increased it to
18 weeks and widened the criteria for those that can access it – the improving fiscal outlook means we can now extend Paid Parental Leave further,” Mr Woodhouse said. Health Spokesperson Dr Jonathan Coleman says that a growing economy is allowing National to help to grow and support new families. “All New Zealanders deserve the chance to have a family, so we are also pleased to be able to stand behind people struggling to conceive, through funding for an extra IVF for those who need it,” Dr Coleman said. “We also want to support pregnant women, and new mothers take care of their health. “As pregnancy can lead to dental problems for some women, we will fund one dental course for all pregnant women and mothers up until their baby’s first birthday, including a check-up and any resulting x-rays, extractions and fillings,” Dr Coleman said. The Parents and Newborns Package will come into effect on July 1, 2018. It is expected to cost $88 million a year from 2019/2020 once 22 weeks of Paid Parental Leave is fully implemented.
The Indian Weekender
Mahesh Bindra promoted; set to return to Parliament ¡¡ SANDEEP SINGH
M
ahesh Bindra, t h e current New Zealand First List MP and party spokesperson for corrections is all set to return to
Parliament as a List MP. NZ First on Tuesday, August 29, has released a list of 56 candidates that has leader Winston Peters at the top and deputy Ron Mark at number two. Mr Bindra is on the tenth rank on the list, one better than the last time (2014) when he first entered into parliament placed at the eleventh position of NZ First List. Mr Bindra will be fourth Kiwi-Indian MP after National’s Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Dr Parmjeet Parmar and Labour’s Priyanca Radhakrishnan, who is set to enter in parliament based on their rankings in their respective Party’s list and current polling. Shane Jones, debuting as the NZ First candidate and tipped to be a potential successor to Winston Peters is placed at comfortable eighth ranking. Given the fact that a current MP from the Party – Richard Prosser was placed at a shaky 15th rank – three below than Non-MPs in the list, Mr Bindra’s elevation by one should reflect well on the confidence that Mr Peters has in Mr Bindra. The Indian Weekender wishes good luck to Mr Bindra.
The Indian Weekender
VERDICT 2017 - SPECIAL FEATURE
Friday, September 01, 2017
VOTING IN THE ELECTION
F
or Vanisa Dhiru, there is no question that she will be voting in the coming election. “It’s up to all of us to have a say in how our country is run - and you get your say by voting.” Voting starts soon in the 2017 General Election, when New Zealanders will choose who will represent them in Parliament for the next three years. Election day is 23 September, but people can vote anytime from 11 September. Vanisa Dhiru, who is of Indian descent, was born in New Zealand and lives in Wellington where she works as a consultant. She is also the Vice President of the National Council of Women NZ and takes pride in the fact that New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote in 1893. “124 years ago a bunch of great leaders pushed for women to have their right to vote, which meant everyone had that right to have their say. For that, we should be both thankful and willing to take part.” Ms Dhriu says she has been enrolled ever since she was able to vote and has taken part in every election since she was 18. “I have taken my time to review the issues and policies of all the parties, and I want to make an informed vote. After looking over the policy statements, it’s fairly easy to see who I’ll be voting for.” It’s a similar story for Kaliappan Chetty, a Fijian Indian who moved to New Zealand 14 years ago. The
Ms Dhriu says she has been enrolled ever since she was able to vote and has taken part in every election since she was 18 Auckland accountant says he is enrolled because he is a responsible citizen, and that it’s important to vote so an accountable government can be elected. Like Ms Dhriu, he has also been looking at what the various parties and candidates stand for.
“It’s easy to access information on the parties’ policies and record in Government,” he says. Aucklander Viraf Todywalla is having a harder job deciding which of the parties he wants to vote for, but he will make a decision and vote in the election. He says it’s what all responsible citizens should do. “Everybody should vote, and if you don’t vote, you shouldn’t complain later,” he says. The Electoral Commission’s Chief Electoral Officer, Alicia Wright, says there are many ways to find out more about the candidates and parties contesting the election. “Talk to your family and friends,
look at the party websites, tune into the news, or go along to a local candidate meetings. You’ll quickly get an idea of what the parties and candidates stand for,” says Ms Wright. Voters can also use online tools like Policy, Vote Compass and On the Fence to work out which political parties match their own views on issues like health, education, roads and tax. “Think about what’s important to you in your everyday lives - that will help you decide who to vote for,” says Alicia Wright. New Zealand has a proportional voting system called MMP, or Mixed Member Proportional. Ms Wright says the key thing to know about MMP is that every voter has two votes, one for the political party they want to be in Government, and one for the candidate they want to represent their local area. These are called the party vote and the electorate vote. “When you go into a voting place you’ll be given one ballot paper. On one side is a list of political parties to choose from, and on the other side is a list of people standing for election as the local Member of Parliament (MP). Put one tick beside the party you choose, and one tick beside the candidate you want to be your MP. That’s it - two ticks and you’re done,” says Ms Wright. Political parties with a bigger share of the party vote will get more seats in Parliament and coalitions are usually needed to form a government.
More information on voting under MMP can be found at www. elections.org.nz in several languages, including Hindi and Gujarati. People need to enrol before they can vote in the election. To be eligible to enrol and vote, a person must be 18 years old or older, a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and have lived in New Zealand continuously for one year or more at some time of their life. They can enrol or update their details – including a change of address - by filling in an enrolment form. Forms are available at www. elections.org.nz and at PostShops. People can also ask for a form to be sent to them by calling 800 36 76 56, or by texting their name and address to 3676. Voting starts on 11 September when advance voting places open and goes right through until election day on 23 September. To find a nearby voting place go to www.elections. org.nz or call 0800 36 76 56. “If you’re worried about voting, remember our voting place staff can help you on the day you go to vote,” says Alicia Wright. “Your vote is important, so make sure your voice is heard in 2017.”
Your Strong
LocaL VoiceS Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi Manukau East W
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi
bakshi.co.nz
Katrina Bungard Manurewa W
katrinabungard.co.nz
Agnes Loheni Mangere W
agnesloheni.co.nz
Authorised by Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, 1/131 Kolmar Road, Papatoetoe. Authorised by K Bungard, 107 Great South Rd, Greenlane. Authorised by A Loheni, 107 Great South Rd, Greenlane.
Agnes Loheni
9
Katrina Bungard
10
VERDICT 2017 - SPECIAL FEATURE
Friday, September 01, 2017
The Indian Weekender
PREFU, undeterred National has ignored Post Labour bring forward 3-year mental health issues free education policy for too long ¡¡ SANDEEP SINGH
Roshan Nauhria
N
Leader, New Zealand People's Party
Z is going through a bleak period with 606 suicides recorded for the year ending in June 2017. That’s almost 12 people a week in New Zealand who have had enough and it doesn’t count those who drink or drug themselves to death by apparent natural causes. In NZ, suicide prevention is more of a social and public health objective than a traditional exercise in the mental health sector. The time is ripe for mental health professionals to adopt proactive and leadership roles in suicide prevention and save the lives of thousands of individuals. I see this as a breakdown of our entire social system. Mental health and wellbeing and is directly proportional to unemployment, income, owning a home and to be able to provide a secure future for the family and loved ones. Men especially have to be helped out with depression, alcohol and drugs abuse, loneliness, non-communication. Youth, women and older people are also finding it harder to cope up due to failed government policies, closure of hospitals, not having ample employment opportunities and domestic violence and abuse in particular. For many, the tipping point has been our broken social framework and not
enough support due to fragmenting of the families. We ask for deliverance from our government’s failed policies that have forgotten the poor and the ones in need of support. In March this year, government has just axed $800,000 Lifeline contract to provide suicide prevention training to frontline workers, which is a huge blow to the mental health training facility for NZ. Lifeline has been a huge source of learning and providing training for more than 50 years. Chronic underfunding by the New Zealand government over the past nine years has lead to the dire situation we are in now. Our mental health services are chronically underfunded, and the recent exclusion of mental health workers from the recent pay equity settlement between care workers and the government has led to mental health workers leaving the profession en masse. We, the New Zealand People’s Party, as a solution oriented political party, want to do something by looking into the need of the moment by providing education, increasing wages, affordable housing, fixing law and order issues, regional development, improving the general state of the economy... Suicide is a multifaceted problem and hence we want to stress on the fact that suicide prevention programmes should also be multidimensional. Collaboration, coordination, cooperation and commitment are needed to develop and implement a national plan, which is cost-effective, appropriate and relevant to the needs of the community.
A
fter light rail and public transport, Labour Party has brought forward another major policy in the lead up to the elections. On this occasion the party has chosen to bring forward its three-year free education policy, promising to deliver first free-year in 2018. Earlier the Labour Party had announced fast forwarding the light rail project connecting Auckland CBD with the Airport via Dominion Road and connecting North Shore in the next decade (bringing forward by a decade). The policy announcement was made earlier on Tuesday, August 29, by Labour leader Jacinda Ardern at Western Springs College in Mt Albert, Auckland in the presence of college students and teachers. The three-year free education policy was unveiled by former Labour leader Andrew Little in early 2016, which promised three years free education for tertiary students and other “post-school” education. This is the first major policy announcement by the Labour Party after the release of Pre Election Fiscal Update (PREFU) earlier last week which disclosed that the next government would have comparatively fewer funds to splurge. The fact that Ms Ardern was accompanied by Grant Robertson, Labour spokesperson for Finance and Chris Hipkins, Labour spokesperson for Education, along with a couple of local Auckland MPs Jenny Salesa and Peeni Henare signifies that this is a major election policy for Labour. “This policy is funded out of the $6b that
Labour has allocated to education in our fiscal plan, which has been independently assessed by BERL,” Ms Ardern said, suggesting that the party is confident to bring forward this policy despite being short of funds in the next government. “I’m keen to remove tertiary fees as quickly as possible, so I have brought forward by one year our three years’ free policy. From the beginning of 2018, everyone starting tertiary education for the first time will get one year full-time study fees free. “That will be extended to two years free in 2021 and three years free in 2024. If conditions allow, we will accelerate this policy further,” Ms Ardern said. Another major election sop was a promise to increase student allowance by $50 a week. “Labour will increase the amount students can get in student allowances and living cost loans by $50 a week while accelerating our plan to make three years of post-secondary education free,” Ms Ardern said. The PREFU has predicted that government revenue will bump up in the first year before receding in the next two years, although there will be a surplus of $3.7 billion, which is less than earlier predicted in the Budget in May this year.
Raj Singh NEW ZEALAND FIRST
Candidate for Manukau East
LIST MP
SPOKESPERSON FOR CORRECTIONS CUSTOMS ETHNIC AFFAIRS L A N D I N F O R M AT I O N N Z If you would like to discuss these or any other issues, please contact my office: P E A
W
04 817 8367 mahesh.bindra@parliament.govt.nz FREEPOST Parliament Buildings Wellington www.nzfirst.org.nz
AUCKLAND OFFICE P
A
FREE PHONE 0800 BINDRA or 09 250 4070 Level 1, 21 East Tamaki Rd Papatoetoe Auckland 2025
Authorised by Mahesh Bindra, Parliament Buildings, Wellington
Raj is the founder and Principal of a South Auckland based law firm who wants to share his professional success by giving his community a voice and representing them in Parliament through his work with the Green Party. He is passionate about policy, law, effective communication and leadership, education and immigration. Raj often offers legal education seminars to communities.
Authorised by Gwen Shaw, Level 1, 17 Garrett Street, Wellington
New Zealand People's Party is the hope of the people, the wind of change and the vision of the future. We want to garner your support to make us the government's preference and no doubt the people's preference in this election with your PARTY VOTE. Sree Nampally Party Candidate
PARTY VOTE
PEOPLE'S PARTY
Authorised by A.Sharma, 258 Balmoral Road, Sandringham Auckland, 09 846 8059
12
VERDICT 2017 - SPECIAL FEATURE
Friday, September 01, 2017
The Indian Weekender
Dirty politics, lolly scrambles make comeback ¡¡ N. GURU DUTT
J
ust as in the run up to election 2014, ‘dirty politics’ has again raised its ugly head in this year’s campaigning. If personality over policy reminded Kiwi-Indians of the brand of politics back in India, as we saw in last week’s column, this week’s developments are even more redolent of the rough-and-tumble of the Indian political arena. Allegations of dirty politics flew thick and fast as the story of New Zealand First leader Winston Peters’ superannuation payments unfolded. After Mr Peters was alerted to overpaid super made to him because of reasons yet to be determined, he immediately repaid the amount. This fact was reported to two ministers under the ‘no surprises’ policy, in line withthe norm. It was also conveyed to the Prime Minister’s adviser, a political appointee not covered by the ‘no surprises’ policy. He decided the Prime Minister did not need to know of this. Of the several so far unanswered questions, the most contentious is who let the media in on this – and why? This is a clear breach of privacy and a criminal offence. Privacy today is an enormous issue. At this stage of campaigning it is explosive. The fact that three simultaneous enquiries have been ordered so quickly underscores its importance. (The issue of privacy has taken centre stage in India, too, with the proposed linking of the Adhar card with several of the government’s databases.)
Whatever the outcome of the enquiry, it brought Mr Peters an urgent and welcome supply of oxygen, starved of it as he was after the Jacinda juggernaut. Though he went into the storm slightly disheveled as it were (not clarifying how much he paid back and if he had indeed filled the form correctly), he will be determined to come out smelling like roses, seeking to prove his stand blaming the whole thing on National Party-orchestrated dirty politics. Mr Peters will do everything he can to keep the issue alive for as long as he can to keep the limelight on himself and his party– and away from MsArdern. Predictably, Mr English has denied this has anything to do with dirty politics. As things stand, there is no doubt that neither Labour nor National would be able to form a government without New Zealand First. So the question whether Mr Peters
blaming National for dirty politics will affect post-poll negotiations and alignments is an obvious one. But realpolitik being what it is, there are no differences or disagreements or hatchets that are too big to be buried in the pursuit of power, disguised of course as being in ‘the national interest’ and ‘to keep the torch of democracy burning bright’. As one has seen in coalition politics in India as everywhere else, the strangest bedfellows with a history of baying for one another’s blood come together when lured by the trappings of power, after the right horses are traded. So when it comes crunch time, dirty politics will pass through the wringer of realpolitik and all will be well as long as a government can be formed with the spoils shared to the best of everyone’s acceptance – grudgingly or otherwise.
THE INEVITABLE LOLLY SCRAMBLE
T
hough both the major parties started their campaigns on the austere side as far as spending pronouncements were concerned – the leaders even saying this election was not about lolly scrambles – we saw them both making a quick u turn this week. Both launched their own versions of the inevitable preelection lollyscrambles – National is wooing young families and women, raising paid parental leave by four weeks (after having vetoed a similar proposal earlier) and being able to take a few weeks off together. Labour
Contact Labour’s Ethnic Communities Team Email Michael.Wood@parliament.govt.nz
has essayed to entice particularly the millennials with a $50 hike in student living allowances and a fee-free first year of tertiary education. National and Labour have targeted different demographics but Labour’s ploy seems better calculated to appeal to the estimated 90,000 young voters who didn’t bother to vote in the last election because there was nothing in it to enthuse them. A hike of $50 a week might not seem much for a student living in Auckland but that coupled with the promise of a fee-free first year would definitely spur some on toward tertiary study. The Greens are promising free bus rides for everyone under the age of 19, adding to the allure of Labour’s promise by virtue of its pre-poll alliance. This makes the LabourGreen combine more attractive for that particular demographic, which can make a real difference to the numbers game. As much as it has been pushing its own policies with vigour, one can’t help but notice the National Party being at pains to pick holes in Labour’s policies in the same breath. Tealeaf diviners would probably read this as a sign of worry in the National camp. Speaking in Nelson, Mr English came out strongly against Labour’s student package saying it will leave mum and dad Kiwis worse off because the spend will have to be funded from their taxes. National has also showed similar nerves while attacking Labour’s policies announced earlier, like its regional rail network.
South Auckland has long been a key determinant of past elections and the traditional Labour bastion looked rejuvenated and enthusiastic at MsArdern’s rally last week. Supporters turned up in large numbers and that would be greatly welcomed by the party’s campaign managers. Meanwhile, the minor parties had little airplay this week, except of course, New Zealand First. But then Mr Peters doesn’t see his party as a minor one –perhaps rightly so, given its undiminished king-making potential. On those grounds he declined to be a panelist on the minor party leaders’ debate on television last week. Other than Mr Peters’ super issue, the party was in the headlines for announcing its list just shy of the electoral commission’s deadline on Tuesday. Kiwi-Indian MP Mahesh Bindra progressed by one on the list, thanks to Richard Prosser who dropped to 15 from number three, after having shot himself in the foot with a bizzare policy announcement that obviously did not have the party’s assent. Shane Jones is number eight, though polls showed him trailing behind his namesake Dr Shane Retiin the Labour Party in Whangarei. Dirty politics will likely dominate the week ahead as the parties get ready to step up to the podium for the televised debates in the coming weeks. •••
Jenny Salesa - Speaking Out for You
Jenny
SALESA
for Manukau East
Party Vote
Email Ethnic.Communities@labour.org.nz Phone 09 373 3332
Authorised by Andrew Kirton, 160 Wills Street, Wellington. 04 384 7649
Address 85 Grafton Rd, Auckland NZ 1010
Michael Wood MP Spokesperson for Ethnic Communities
Jacinda Ardern MP Labour Leader
labour.org.nz
Vote 11-23 September Vote SALESA, Party Vote LABOUR
Authorised by Jacinda Ardern MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington
Michael_Wood JA_255wx175h_advert.indd 1
3/08/17 2:35 PM
Bill English and National are building on the successes of the last few years with a clear plan to keep delivering more for all New Zealanders and ensure everyone has the chance to succeed. Ecomony
• 181,000 new jobs created in the last two •
years - projected growth of 3% over the next few years will create even more jobs and higher wages. Improving links with China – currently negotiating improvements to the historic NZChina Free Trade Agreement.
Families
• An extra $26 per week on average for
around 1.3 million working-age families from April 1 2018 – changes to the Accommodation Supplement will give 136,000 low income households even more.
Health
• Free GP visits for under 13s, after-hours
services, before school health check-ups for 4-year-olds and immunisations for babies.
• Increased health funding by a record
$3.9 billion in Budget 2017 to give care and support workers a pay rise, increase District Health Board, mental health and ambulance service funding, buy more lifesaving drugs, perform more elective surgeries and increase bowel screening.
Law and Order
• Boosting Police numbers by 10%, improving
• 20 additional ethnic liaison officers to work
with ethnic communities to reduce crime and 80 more officers to target gangs, drug suppliers and organised criminals.
Education
• Lifting achievement in NCEA. • Enabling good teachers to stay in the classroom and share their experience across schools.
• Increased education funding by a record
$1.1 billion in Budget 2017 to increase schools’ operating grants, help more at-risk kids and fund more pre-school places.
Infrastructure
• Investing $32.5 billion in infrastructure over
the next four years to deliver key roading and rail projects, more schools and classrooms, more health facilities around New Zealand, faster broadband and 34,000 additional houses in Auckland over the next decade.
Sticking to National’s strong, consistent economic plan is the only way we can do more for you and your family.
the 111 response time, introducing a new non-emergency number and making burglary prevention a priority.
• More security measures for high-risk dairies and small businesses.
Authorised by G Hamilton, 41 Pipitea St, Wellington.
14
NEW ZEALAND
Friday, September 01, 2017
The Indian Weekender
Labour will make Auckland New Zealand is growing– ACT will make it work a world-class city Priyanca Radhakrishnan
I
Labour Party candidate, Maungakiekie
grew up in a country with an exceptional public transport network. I didn’t learn to drive till I moved to New Zealand. As such, I am exceptionally proud of Labour’s transport policy, which will usher Auckland into the 21st century. The next Labour-led government will deliver a transport network that offers real transport choices – a combination of heavy and light rail, dedicated bus rapid transit that will include dedicated busways so that buses are not stuck in the same congestion as cars. We will scale back multi-billion dollar roads like the East West Link that runs through Maungakiekie and instead offer real choices for people to catch public transport that is fast, frequent and affordable. Labour will deliver a high quality transit network comparable to the London Tube or Paris Metro. Fast, frequent and affordable public transport options that will ease congestion and get us moving. Public transport that creates vibrant town centres and connects communities. Part of our plan is to deliver light rail to the airport in the next decade – and not 30 years as the government has
promised. With an average of 800 additional cars on our roads each week, we need viable public transport options now – not when I’m in my late 60s. The government’s response to increasingly gridlocked Auckland roads is to spend $10.5 billion on more roads. There is an old adage – build it and they will come. That holds true for both roads and for public transport. Some say that Aucklanders will never give up their cars for public transport. However, we’ve seen time and again that Aucklanders will use buses and trains if they are on time, regular and affordable. In fact, Auckland rail has just recorded 20 million trips in one year. In addition, the Northern Busway has been Auckland’s biggest transport success story. Passenger numbers on our rail network and the Northern Busway are growing by 20 per cent every year. That is well in advance of population growth. We’re standing on the threshold of transformation. Done well this change is the key to transforming Auckland. This is our chance to build an internationally competitive, great city. It’s your chance to be part of next month as you cast your vote.
David Seymour
N
Leader, ACT Party
ew Zealand has become the envy of the developed world. Restrained government spending and stable policy settings have meant that we’ve enjoyed job growth, low unemployment, low interest rates, and rising incomes. You only have to look at the rest of the Anglosphere. Our neighbours are in constant political turmoil and running large deficits. The UK is deeply unstable, the US is in political crisis not seen since the late 1960s. The Canadians are happy but only because they’re mesmerised by Justin Trudeau. That will wear off. That’s why most of New Zealand’s biggest problems today are a result of people wanting to come here. Of all the problems you can have, being popular is not the worst, but it is still a problem. Auckland will gain another million people by 2040, according to Auckland Council. In other words, the pressure on our schools and infrastructure that we already see is going to intensify. This should spark alarm bells considering how our schools and transport systems are already reaching breaking point. For all of local government’s proclivity to waste money on events, self-promotion,
and committees, there’s been a serious underinvestment in basic infrastructure. The best time to address this was ten years ago, the second best time is now. As ACT leader, I’ve been campaigning on a clear infrastructure proposal. We should give local councils half the GST from any building projects they consent, with the expectation that they use it on basic infrastructure. That means high growth areas like Auckland would receive a tremendous infrastructure boost. With $7.5 billion of building in the last year, Auckland would have received over half a billion dollars for use on improved roads, public transport, electrical infrastructure, and so on. This would create systemic change, ensuring infrastructure is funded automatically with growth, instead of by political whim. Another challenge is in our overstretched Auckland schools. Despite roll growth, and the proportional increase in funding, they are struggling to attract teachers. Part of this is the unacceptable cost of housing in Auckland. ACT has comprehensive policies to cut red tape, lift housing supply and reduce costs across the city. But that takes time, and our schools need teachers now, not in ten years. Right now, schools are literally not allowed to pay enough to attract talented teachers to teach in Auckland. This weekend I am announcing ACT policy to ensure schools aren’t just funded properly, but have flexibility in law and contracts to offer salaries that reflect the quality of the education they offer, and the rising costs of living in Auckland.
Get ready to roll. You will now have received your new rubbish bin. From Monday 4th September we’ll be starting bin collections. Auckland Council will no longer collect rubbish bags after Friday 1st September. To make sure your rubbish is picked up, put it in your bin and place the bin on your kerb by 7am on your usual collection day. Text your address to 3169 to sign up for a free text reminder to find out when it’s time to switch from bags to a bin. To find out more, phone 09 928 0334.
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ACT stands against Winston Peters racist attack against Sikh’s freedom of religion “Winston Peters has yet again displayed ignorance of modern New Zealand when he attacked Sikhs’ pursuit to carry a kirpan, a ceremonial religious dagger in public places and workplaces, says David Seymour. “Winston yearns for the time Indians belonged in the corner dairy; in modern New Zealand, the Indian community is an important part of the economy, society, and culture. “ACT will ensure that in the next Parliament, we will ensure a bill is passed to allow Sikhs to wear the kirpan in public.” “As a Sikh, this is an attack my freedom of religion. Anyone who can’t tell the difference between a 2 metre long lethal weapon and a 10 centimetre ceremonial ornament needs to properly educate and inform themselves,” says ACT candidate, Bhupinder Singh “The kirpan is a symbol of religion and article of faith for a baptised Sikh, and part of the statutory code of practice to carry the 5K’s (Kesh, Kara, Kanga, Kacchaira, and Kirpan). “Mahesh Bindra should have properly informed Winston of our religion and symbol and has failed as both ethics spokesperson and truly representing our community before making uneducated statements.”
Bhupinder Singh
Authorised by L Fergusson, Level 2, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket, Auckland
Thought of the week
Editorial
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. ” – Hellen Keller
English agrees for Hindi in schools
Anythiny But funny
P
rime Minister Bill English has said that he is not averse to include Hindi among the list of priority languages made available to students and schools in their Party’s recently announced education policy as a part of second language learning. Mr English was speaking exclusively with The Indian Weekender when the question of Hindi language missing from his recent announcement of education policy was raised. On Sunday, August 27, Prime Minister Bill English has announced National Party’s education policy, whereby committing $379m package to prepare children for the future. As a part of this package, Mr English has announced a $160 million investment to give all primary school children the opportunity to learn a second language, if they choose. According to that policy, schools will be able to choose from at least ten priority languages, which are expected to include Mandarin, French, Spanish, Japanese and Korean, along with Te Reo and New Zealand Sign Language. The Hindi language was conspicuously absent from the list of ten priority languages proposed in that policy announcement about which Prime Minister was made aware of. This is despite the fact that according to 2013 census, the Hindi language has officially replaced French language as the 4th most spoken language in New Zealand ahead of Mandarin and Northern Chinese and behind English, Maori and Samoan language. Since 2013, the numbers of Kiwi-Indian community has further propelled to hint that Hindi might have grown into the 3rd most spoken language in New Zealand. The Indian Weekender’s query if Prime Minister was aware of this fact that Hindi was 4th most spoken language in New Zealand was brilliantly deflected by a response stating “I am aware that it is widely spoken.” It was followed by a statement that list of priority languages proposed in National’s education policy was not exclusive, and Hindi could definitely be included in the list in future. “Well, that was an indicative list only and not an exclusive list. “Our idea is to initiate a national conversation about the languages that people want to learn and it’s not exclusive,” Mr English asserted. “What we are saying is that students should have access to a second language. “Anyway, the Indian community, their children particularly, have a great advantage as they almost have two languages in their household anyway. “It is for Kiwi kids who would stand to gain the most by this opportunity to learn the second language,” Mr English added. “We are ready to accommodate the Hindi language, and we are confident that it would be relatively easier to find teachers in the Hindi language as Indian community is a well educated community,” Mr English concluded.
Indian Weekender : Volume 9 Issue 24 Publisher: Kiwi Media Publishing Limited Managing Editor: Bhav Dhillon | bhav@indianweekender.co.nz Content Editor: Sandeep Singh | sandeep@indianweekender.co.nz Chief Reporter: Swati Sharma | swati@indianweekender.co.nz Reporter: Rizwan Mohammad | rizwan@indianweekender.co.nz Chief Reporter—South Island: Gaurav Sharma Chief Technical Officer: Rohan Desouza | rohan@indianweekender.co.nz Sr Graphics and Layout Designer: Mahesh Kumar | mahesh@indianweekender.co.nz Graphic Designer: Yashmin Chand | design@indianweekender.co.nz Accounts and Admin.: 09-6366306 | accounts@indianweekender.co.nz Sales and Distribution: 022 3251630 | 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 Views expressed in the articles are solely of the authors and do not in any way represent the views of the team at the Indian Weekender Kiwi Media Publishing Limited - 133A, Level 1, Onehunga Mall, Onehunga, Auckland. Printed at Horton Media, Auckland Copyright 2017. Kiwi Media Publishing Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Auckland Weather forecast for the week Sept 2 – Sept 8, 2017
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Thu A monring shower, some sun
Mostly cloudy with little rain
14° 8°
14° 8°
Mostly Partly sunny Some sun Partly sunny A periods cloudy, a with a with a with a of rain little rain shower little rain shower
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This week in New Zealand’s history 3 September 1939 New Zealand declares war on Germany
Alongside Britain and Australia, New Zealand was one of the first countries to become involved in the global conflict precipitated by Germany’s invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939.
3 September 1958 First open-heart surgery in New Zealand
Pioneering heart surgeon Brian Barratt-Boyes performed the surgery using a heart-lung bypass machine. The procedure, at Green Lane Hospital in Auckland, was carried out on an 11-year-old girl with a hole in her heart.
5 September 1939 Prime minister declares NZ’s support for Britain
When New Zealand declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage was recovering from an operation for colon cancer. Acting Prime Minister Peter Fraser issued a statement in his place.
6 September 1948 New Zealand citizenship established
The British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 (the order of the terms showed their relative importance) gave New Zealand citizenship to all current residents who had been either born British subjects or later naturalised (granted citizenship). Until this Act came into force, people born in New Zealand were British subjects but not New Zealand citizens.
OPINION/EDITORIAL
Franchise: A Farce The Indian Weekender
Friday, September 1, 2017
Divert part of UN peacekeeping budget to peace-building: India
I
VEER KHAR
I
n the 1980s, when I got the first opportunity to cast my vote; I along with my friend, reached the polling station in Srinagar, Kashmir, India. With a lot of enthusiasm, we joined the long queue with others but we were surprised that with our arrival, there were funny smiles all around. Soon we realised that something was not right and we were put out of this strange suspense by an elderly person who took pity at us and tapped on our shoulders. “Don’t bother your vote has already been cast, they will beat you if you do not go away from the polling booth immediately.” Thanks to the Muslim neighbour who recognised us in time and saved us from a thrashing! But we did get disciplined at our homes for trying to even venture out. We were convinced that the exercise was a farce and furthermore the candidates had no agenda for our empowerment. Living as second class citizens was a norm and a few years later from 1986 the looting, plundering and even selective killing of our community by religious fundamentalists started as an unabated practice. Finally in January 1990, we along with other Pundits of Kashmir (300,000), mainly scarred by the major abuse to our women folk had to leave Kashmir. We took shelter in various refugee camps in our own
country in Jammu, Delhi and other major cities. A sudden move from the cold valley of Kashmir to the hot plains coupled with high stress levels, malnutrition and general lack of empathy, took an immediate toll and the numbers started dwindling fast. Unlike the large population of Bangladeshi refugees who were put on electoral rolls all across India, our low numbers did not attract any interest and we stayed disenfranchised. I joined the group of activists ‘Panun Kashmir’ to seek succour and we have yet to find a taker. In 1998, instead of languishing in Delhi, I along with my wife and six-month old daughter moved to New Zealand with a firm determination that one day, we will go back to our land with all rights of a modern day human being. A new chapter in life began and all focus was on some settling down. Hard work, opportunity and our skill sets soon landed us into a bit of comfort and soon to our total surprise, we received enrolment forms by post as if the authorities
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knew about our craving for it. And then came the national elections of 1999. We started looking at the various political parties and the candidates’ profiles. There wasn’t even a single candidate with whom we could identify ourselves but we did go to the polling station to see how it looks from inside and without too much of fuss about in whose favour we cast the vote. The assisting officials were so welcoming and continuously gave us real smiles. It took many years before we got the opportunity to see identifiable candidates. But somehow their party allocates them sure losing seats and then takes them in as Members of Parliament through MMP – a system that gives us representation with no consent of ours… And the farce continues. Veer Khar is the community leader and former president of the India Association of New Zealand (IANZ). The views expressed here are those of the author's alone and do not neccessarily represent or reflect the views of The Indian Weekender
ndia has suggested diverting a portion of the peacekeeping budget to the under-funded peace-building activities because there can be lasting peace only with development and political solutions. Criticising UN peacekeeping, India's Deputy Permanent Representative Tanmaya Lal called for reforming the operations to align them with peace-building objectives and finding political solutions to conflicts – a view shared by UN experts and several countries, including the US. "There is an obvious lack of appropriate investment into the political dialogue and a huge mismatch between resource allocation for peacekeeping and peace-building," he told a Security Council debate on peacekeeping and sustaining peace. While this problem was acknowledged, only lip service was paid finding the resources, he said. Lal noted that only meagre resources are now available for development programmes and peace-building is allocated less than one per cent of the funds set aside for peacekeeping. The 2017-18 UN budget for peacekeeping operations is $7.3bn. Therefore, he said: "We may consider whether allocation of an appropriate percentage of funds from the peacekeeping budget to activities related to peace-building and sustaining peace in those situations could be an option to move forward to achieve sustaining peace in the various intra-state
conflicts we are facing." "The long extending peacekeeping missions that go on for decades and elusive political solutions remind us the need to focus on long-term investment in sustainable development or institution building and inclusive political processes," he added. While peacekeeping operations rely on the deployment of troops contributed by member-nations to try to physically prevent conflict, peace-building and finding political solutions require civilian developmental, diplomatic and institution-building resources. Lal welcomed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's idea of ensuring greater cooperation between different departments of the UN, in particular bringing together the department of political affairs and peacekeeping operations for closer internal coordination, to effectively 17 carry out its role of ensuring peace and security. The Chair of Advisory Group of Experts on UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review, Gert Rosenthal, pointed out that organisationally the responsibilities for peacekeeping and development were split between the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly. "While there is considerable overlapping in carrying out these functions, generally the traditional 'pillars' of peace, human rights and development do operate in the proverbial 'silos' we all sadly have become accustomed to," he said.
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NEW ZEALAND
Friday, September 1, 2017
SOUTH LINE
News-in-brief from South Island
The Indian Weekender
Jacinda’s plan for Canterbury
South Indian badminton
L
with the Telugu and Malayali communities separate badminton tournaments over, plans are in place for a tournament for South Indian communities involving Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalis, to be organised next month
GAURAV SHARMA
abour leader Jacinda Ardern has promised to fast-track Christchurch’s rebuild with a $300 million capital injection, if her party comes to power after the September elections. “This fund will be subject to compelling business cases showing strong potential for economic, environmental or social returns to the city. "We’ll negotiate a global settlement with the Christchurch City Council, settling the long-term ownership, opportunities and funding for the anchor projects,” Ms Ardern said at the launch of Labour’s plan for Canterbury on Sunday, August 27 in Christchurch. This will provide the certainty that residents, developers and investors need, she added. Under her leadership, a Labour government will also commit an additional $100 million for multimodal public transport for Greater Christchurch, including commuter rail from Rolleston to the Garden
tournament coming up in Chch GAURAV SHARMA
T City’s CBD, as well as restore full democracy to Environment Canterbury. Noting the importance of mental wellbeing in post-earthquake Christchurch, her government will fund an extra eighty mental health professionals across primary and intermediate schools in Christchurch, and a two-year pilot programme of mental health teams to work throughout the health sector, she said. Importantly, a University of
Canterbury study whose findings were released last week, has found that 80 per cent (four in five) primary school-goers in Christchurch are exhibiting symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Labour leader also promised to establish an arbitration tribunal to fast track the resolution of insurance issues, as well as provide extra funding for the Residential Advisory Service, if she becomes the next Prime Minister of New Zealand.
he newly-formed Telugu Badminton Club of Canterbury (TBCC), which is a part of the Telugu Association of South Island (TasiNZ), will be organising a badminton tournament for South Indian communities involving Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalis, in Christchurch next month. Rajeswar Peddisetti, Organiser TBCC, said, “As a precursor to the upcoming South Indian tournament, we conducted a tournament especially for the Telugu community last week, in which 32 players participated. After a total of 28 matches, the team of Ajay and Girish won the nerve-wracking final with the scores
Imam Gamal of the Masjid, who is from Egypt but has been in New Zealand for over a decade now said, “During this week and especially on the Open Day, we aim to present a unique and intimate look of Islam and the Muslim community in New
Zealand to the wider community. It’s an opportunity for Muslims to dispel common misconceptions in the society, as well as to celebrate their own uniqueness and contributions to the country.” During the Open Day, the attendees were given a guided
tour of the mosque, followed by a few informative seminars by the Imam, which ended with a question and answer session. “We talked about human rights in Islam, Islamic actions and beliefs, as well as similarities in Islam and
Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern with committee members of Canterbury IndiaNZ Labour in Christchurch on Sunday. Picture courtesy Narinder Warraich
TasiNZ first-ever badminton tournament's final in action
21-17, 16-21, 19-21.” Before this, the Christchurch Kerala Association’s annual Onam-2017 indoor badminton tournament was held on August 22, with 10 teams participating. Now, the communities have started practising for the upcoming South Indian tournament with bragging rights on the line.
Islam Awareness Week concludes with the Mosque Open Day GAURAV SHARMA
A
s part of the nation-wide Islam Awareness Week, the Masjid Al Noor of Christchurch organised a Mosque Open Day on Saturday, August 26.
Christianity especially as regards to Jesus. While I explained the five pillars of Islam to everyone, I also noted that the most important pillar is the belief in God, as everything else emanates from it.” the Imam said.
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The Indian Weekender
Friday, September 1, 2017
Ganpati Bappa Morya
OPINION/EDITORIAL
19
Chch celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi with gusto
GAURAV SHARMA
L
ast week, Christchurch got an opportunity to celebrate the annual Ganesh Chaturthi festival publicly at two different functions. First up was the celebration on Friday, August 25 at the New Brighton Community Centre, which was a personal initiative of Sandeep Khanna and Hitesh Sharma, and was attended by over 200 people. The day started with murti sthapana around noon, and ended with evening prayers. “The make-shift Ganesh temple decoration was done by Pramila Nand and prasad was distributed courtesy Yogiji stores. The festival is huge back home [Sandeep hails from Mumbai] and we used to miss it when we moved here. That prompted us to start
organising the festival at this scale since 2015,” noted the two organisers. Then on Sunday evening, the Telugu Association of South Island (TasiNZ) also celebrated Vinayaka Chaturthi, clubbing it together with the Association’s Indian Independence Day celebrations. Along with the prayers sung in praise of Lord Ganesh, the event saw a Bharatanatyam dance performance by Ms Sneha Kasibhatla. TasiNZ’s volunteers also performed a skit at the occasion depicting the devotion of Lord Ganesh to his parents, Shiv-Parvati. The evening concluded with everyone singing the Indian national anthem, with the gathering treated to some tasty Andhra Pradesh delicacies.
Onam celebrations begin
Gathering in traditional clothing at CKA's Onam celebrations in Christchurch on Saturday
GAURAV SHARMA
C
hristchurch’s Malayali community never disappoints when it comes to the Onam celebrations. Same was the case last Saturday, when first of the two Onam celebrations scheduled in the city was held, organised by the Christchurch Kerala Association (CKA) and attended by more than 300 people. September 2 will see another one by the city-based social organisation Kerala Cultural Forum. Mr Mathew Rafi Mathews, President of CKA, said, “Celebrations started at 10am with a few Malayali dance and music performances, most notable among those was
the Thiruvathira, a traditional dance of Kerala. "Our team at CKA also put in a lot of hard work in the traditional ritual laying of Pookalam or floral carpet. "A major event of the day was the Miss Malayali Manga contest, and the highlight, of course, was the sumptuous Onam Sadya feast at the end.” The sold-out event had National MPs Nicky Wagner and Jo Hayes, as well as Labour candidate for Ilam Anthony Rimell, attending as chief guests, who shared with the gathering their happiness in getting to know the Malayalee culture first-hand and seeing it thrive in New Zealand.
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20
FEATURES
Friday, September 1, 2017
September 1 to September 7 | By Manisha Koushik Manisha Koushik is a practicing astrologer, tarot card reader, numerologist, vastu and fengshui consultant based in India with a global presence through the online channels. She is available for consultations online as well. E-mail her at support@askmanisha.com or contact at +91-11-26449898 Mobile/Whatsapp: +919015607139 • www.askmanisha.com ¡¡ Aries (Mar 21-Apr 20) You may find the grass greener on the other side of the fence, but looks can be deceptive. Enlisting for a social cause is indicated for some. Organising a function or an event on the home front can keep some busy this week. A lot of planning may be required before starting a project, so put on your thinking cap. Weigh someone’s advice carefully before you commit your money as it may not give the promised returns. Lucky Number- 9 / Lucky Colour- Saffron ¡¡ Taurus (Apr 21-May 20) You will need to come into the flow of things quickly at work. This is a good time to organise a gathering of your near and dear ones at your place. Meeting people and visiting places will keep some happily engaged. You are likely to keep the ones who matter in good humour on the professional front. Your bargaining skills are likely to come to your rescue in negotiating a deal. Regular workouts will help in keeping fit. Lucky Number- 22 / Lucky Colour- Turquoise ¡¡ Gemini (May 21-Jun 21) Don’t be impulsive in a matter that seems pressing, but bide your time. Complete recovery from an ailment is foreseen for those unwell. Some of you may resolve to come back in shape. A fun time is foreseen for those planning to visit an out of town friend or relation. Strengthening of romantic bonds is indicated. Some changes
envisaged on the home front will be initiated. You may find yourself underemployed at work, but keep it to yourself! Lucky Number- 1 / Lucky Colour- Lemon ¡¡ Cancer (Jun 22-Jul 20) You may take a serious view of someone not toeing your line at work or at home. Changes on the home front may not be to the liking of other members. Someone’s attitude is likely to put you off at work. You may feel a bit stifled in your current occupation. Someone may smooth talk you into parting with your money, if you are not careful. A journey that you were looking forward to may get postponed indefinitely. Lucky Number- 6 / Lucky Colour- Violet ¡¡ Leo (Jul 21-Aug 22) You will need to be absolutely clear regarding your career options. Getting more focussed on the academic front will not be difficult. Someone at work may have a pleasant surprise waiting for you. Don’t be impulsive in spending money or you may regret your actions later. Not adhering to doctor’s advice may have its repercussions. You manage to bring peace and tranquility on the home front. A short journey will help in refreshing and unburdening your mind. Lucky Number- 8 / Lucky Colour- Electric Blue ¡¡ Virgo (Aug 23-Sep 23) Don’t trust anyone blindly, who promises you the moon. You will financially be in a position
to upgrade an expensive gadget. A good advice will let you seize an investment opportunity. An evening out with lover is indicated. Loving bonds are likely to get strengthened for newly married couples. Children are likely to brighten the domestic atmosphere. Shifting to a new house is indicated for some. Health remains perfect by being regular in your daily exercises. Lucky Number- 15 / Lucky Colour- Turquoise ¡¡ Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23) You may have to get a pressing matter sorted out quickly, before it becomes an albatross round your neck. Those suffering from some medical problem will be able to make full recovery. Resuming an exercise routine is indicated for some. You will be able to add to your wealth as profits accrue. Money is not likely to pose any problems for those thinking of a new venture. Salaried persons can expect additional perks on the professional front. Lucky Number- 7 / Lucky Colour- Cream ¡¡ Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22) Helping others is in your nature and you will get your due soon. You are likely to take long strides in achieving something important on the professional front. Professionals will be able to add to their client’s list. An exciting week on the family front is foreseen with the arrival of someone close. A drive with family will be most refreshing and help bring the members closer. No difficulty is foreseen in securing a loan. Lucky Number- 2 / Lucky Colour- Indigo ¡¡ Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21) Keep emotions under check to keep from spilling the beans in a confidential matter. Spending time with lover is foreseen and will help you in letting your hair down. Someone may motivate you to accompany him or her for a short journey to someplace interesting. You may become extra careful of what you eat and drink for retaining good health. Something not
The Indian Weekender
completed at work may make you spend extra time in office. Sale of property is likely. Lucky Number- 4 / Lucky Colour- Sky Blue ¡¡ Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 21) An excellent opportunity awaits some on the academic front. You are likely to plan something exciting with family and friends. Lover responds positively to your romantic aspirations, so brace yourself for an electrifying evening. You may be in a mood for a vacation and may drive off to someplace exotic. Something committed to you on the professional front will be fulfilled. Keeping fit and healthy will not be too difficult, as you make all the right moves. Lucky Number- 3 / Lucky Colour- Rosy Brown ¡¡ Aquarius (Jan 22-Feb 19) You may not want to involve yourself in a situation that may damage your reputation. Mental clarity about a particular problem at work will help you find the solution. Professionals will find this week exceptionally rewarding. An outing with family may be planned and will help strengthen the family ties. You are likely to add to your wealth substantially. Someone from the opposite camp is likely to fall prey to your charms! Shifting to a better residence is indicated. Lucky Number- 6 / Lucky Colour- Crimson ¡¡ Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20) There is a bright chance of performing beyond your expectations on the academic front. You are likely to feel more fit and energetic this week. Things that are weighing heavy on your mind are set to disappear soon. A suitable match for the eligible is likely to be found. Some celebration or ritual may be performed at home. Spending time with lover is foreseen. An adventure trip undertaken will prove most exhilarating. Taking up a hobby seriously is possible. Lucky Number- 1 / Lucky Colour- Magenta
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NEW ZEALAND
Friday, September 1, 2017
The Indian Weekender
NZ Indians celebrate Ganpati Utsav
T
he festival season has officially begun and the Indians are in a mood to celebrate. This week, Indian living in India and overseas have invited a special guest to their home who stays there for a few days before finally taking a leave. Gannu, Bappa, Ganpati, Vighnaharta are some of the many names this special guest is called
Ankit Gumber of Auckland lives in Auckland without his family but that doesn't stop him from celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi here.
by. While Indians are celebratig Ganpati utsav around the world, our readers in New Zealand have shared with us, the pictures of the celebration at their home. As it is truly said, you can take an Indian our of India but can never take India out of an Indian, and these pictures are certainly prove that correct.
NIta Dharmadhikari has decorated her temple with beautiful toarns, fruits and nuts, flowers and lights and is celebrating the festival with full fervour.
To mark the ocassion, Usha Nanji of Auckland is making a Ganesha clock. Her friend Bhavisha Pala shared these pictures of masterpiece-in-making.
Taking care of environment while celebrating the festivals. Preeti Sharma made an eco friendly Ganesha with turmeric and did the visarjan at home.
Shivani Katyal celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi at her home with this cute little Gannu idol.
Rajan Patel sent us these pictures of Ganesh Mahotsav in Otago where the festival was celebrated with chappan bhog (56 type of prasadam). The visarjan will be done on Saturday, September 2.
Rohan Chakrabarti shared the pictures of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the Chakrabarti household.
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Palak Makwana made 108 modaks or laddoos at home for Ganesha om the ocassion of Ganpati Utsav.
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FEATURES
Friday, September 1, 2017
Four cups of coffee a day may help you live longer
W
ant to increase your lifespan? Drinking upto four cups of coffee every day may help you reduce the risk of an early death, research suggests. The findings showed that people who consumed at least four cups of coffee per day had a 64 per cent lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who never or almost never consumed coffee. There was a 22 per cent lower risk of all-cause mortality for each two additional cups of coffee per day. "Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages around the world," said Adela Navarro, a cardiologist at the Hospital de Navarra in Spain. "We found an inverse association between drinking coffee and the risk of all-cause mortality, particularly in people aged 45 years and above. This may be due to a stronger protective association among older participants," Navarro added. The results were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona.Previous studies have showed that drinking up to five cups of coffee a day may halve the risk of developing the most common form of primary liver cancer and over three cups a day may halve prostrate cancer risk. Coffee contains a number of
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compounds which interact with the body, including caffeine, diterpenes and antioxidants, and scientists believe some of these have a protective impact. Coffee is also rich in antioxidants, antiinflammatory, anticarcinogenic and other beneficial properties which may lower the risk of chronic liver disease and liver cancer, the researchers explained. For the study, the team included 19,896 participants, whose average age at enrolment was 37.7 years old. During the ten year period follow-up, 337 participants died. In those who were at least 45 years old, drinking two additional cups of coffee per day was associated with a 30 per cent lower risk of mortality during follow-up.
Eating dark chocolates may prevent diabetes
L
ove to gorge on dark chocolates? According to a study, compounds found in cocoa – the main ingredient of chocolate – can actually help prevent as well as treat diabetes. The findings showed that cocoa compound named epicatechin monomers helps the body release more insulin and responds to increased blood glucose better. When a person has diabetes, their body either does not produce enough insulin or does not process blood sugar properly, because of the failure of beta cells, which produce insulin. However, the study found that the
increased presence of epicatechin monomers helped beta cells to
remain stronger as well as enhanced their ability to secrete insulin.
"What happens is epicatechin monomers is protecting the cells, increasing their ability to deal with oxidative stress," said lead author Jeffery Tessem, assistant professor at Brigham Young University (BYU), US. "The epicatechin monomers are making the mitochondria in the beta cells stronger, which produces more ATP (a cell's energy source), which then results in more insulin being released," Tessem added. For the study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, the team first fed the cocoa compound to animals on a high-fat diet.
The results showed that by adding it to the high-fat diet, the compound would decrease the level of obesity in the animals and would increase their ability to deal with increased blood glucose levels. "These results will help us get closer to using these compounds more effectively in foods or supplements to maintain normal blood glucose control and potentially even delay or prevent the onset of Type-2 diabetes," said study coauthor Andrew Neilson, assistant professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
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INDIA
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India can't afford delay in
infrastructure modernisation: Modi
P
rime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India could no longer afford to delay modernisation of infrastructure if it was to scale new heights, and added that his government was committed to completing infrastructure projects in time. Infrastructure played a huge role in the nation's development but earlier governments and policy-makers often avoided such time-consuming projects involving large investments "as people often lose patience", Modi said at a public meeting here. "But, we know that if we have to take the nation to new heights, there is a pressing need to modernise our infrastructure," Modi said. "Be it rail, road, water or power supply, optical fibre network, waterways, or coastal connectivity, India will not benefit from any further delay in setting up this modern infrastructure," he added. The Prime Minister said that once everything was in place, it would bring many positive changes in people's lives. "For example, road projects entailing expenditure of Rs 9,000 crore being launched in Rajasthan will benefit farmers in taking their produce to markets of their choice. It will also enable a sick mother to get good healthcare, which may not be available in her village," Modi said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers his address after inauguration and foundation stone laying for several major highway projects at Udaipur in Rajasthan
Be it rail, road, water or power supply, optical fibre network, waterways, or coastal connectivity, India will not benefit from any further delay in setting up this modern infrastructure. He was speaking at an event to mark the inauguration of 12 National Highways projects entailing expenditure of Rs 5,610 crore and laying of foundation stones for another 11 projects costing Rs 9,490 crore. He said these highways would not only help link Rajasthan with the outside world but also be gateways to progress. Giving example of
former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Bajpayee's Golden Quadrilateral project, Modi said it enabled farmers of Gujarat to take their produce to markets in Delhi within a day, which substantially increased their incomes. He said road infrastructure was especially beneficial for Rajasthan, a big state with huge potential for tourism. "We are committed to completing projects in a time-bound manner. We are trying to bring in a culture that we finish the works we start," he said. The Prime Minister said it took 11 years for a six-lane bridge over Chambal river, costing Rs 278 crore, to be completed. "Compare it with projects, costing Rs 5,600 crore, which have been completed since 2014 and are being inaugurated now," Modi said.
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The Indian Weekender
Sushma: India rescued 80,000 distressed citizens in 3 years
A
s many as 80,000 distressed Indians were rescued safely from different countries in three years since the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said. "The MEA now has a humane face... Earlier, we kept hearing that even if there are a couple of their citizens in distress, countries like the United States and Israel would rescue them from anywhere. It is heartening to share that we have rescued 80,000 Indians in three years," Swaraj said. She was speaking at the inauguration of the country's first Videsh Bhavan, assimilating all Regional Passport Offices and allied departments under a single roof at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). Swaraj said the government had brought in several changes due to which "India has emerged as an influential and sensitive state across the world". On the issue of passports, she reiterated the government's resolve for effective and speedy service delivery. "Till 2014, only 77 Passport Seva Kendras were operating in the country. Now, 251 such centres are working, of which 235 were made functional in the last six months." On the efforts to streamline procedures for issuance of passports, she said many rules that created hurdles in this regard have been discarded and made more relevant to the present times. "Earlier, orphans without birth
certificate were not entitled to passports. Similarly was the case for divorcees. We have changed the rules to make them more citizen-friendly." Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said it is the first Videsh Bhavan of the country and "will be a model for other states to follow". "Being an international-class city, Mumbai works very closely with the MEA and the Videsh Bhavan will help even more in this regard," he said. Under a pilot project, four offices of MEA -- Regional Passport Office, Protector of Emigrants office, Branch Secretariat and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations' Regional Office -- have been integrated and brought under one roof at the state-of-art office in BKC, Regional Passport Officer Swati Kulkarni said.
Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust Inc. Ensuring Seniors are valued and treasured by society
Shanti Niwas is celebrating “International Day of Older Persons (IDOP)�, by organising a free multicultural community programme
Performances of South Asian & other ethnic community Seniors
0800 4546 546
Activities, workshop, information, community interaction and more
www.jimsmowingauckland.com Gold Award 2014
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NZ Senior INDIAN Idol Finals
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Where: Shanti Niwas Senior Centre, 14 Spring Street, Onehunga, Auckland. When : Saturday, 7th October 2017, 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
The celebration is free and an open event for the public
ENTERTAINMENT
28
Friday, September 1, 2017
Kangana:
The Indian Weekender
AUCKLAND’S HOTTEST BOLLYWOOD STATION
When Deepika felt strange connection with Princess Diana
A
Would’ve proudly said so had I directed Simran
ctress Deepika Padukone says she would have loved to meet late Princess Diana as, while growing up, she felt a strange connection with the royal. The Piku actress has marked 20 million followers on Twitter, and is said to be the most followed woman in Asia. She celebrated this milestone with her fans by answering some of their questions on Twitter. One asked: “If you could meet anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you say to them?” She replied: “I would have loved to meet Diana. I was a little girl, obviously never met her but felt a strange connection. She radiated warmth and humility.” While she expressed her love for the show The Crown, she told her followers that horror is “not my most favourite genre”. Her tweets also reflected love for her family. One asked: “What cheers you up?” She said: “Food, family and friends.” In fact, her favourite superhero is also her father, Prakash Padukone, a former badminton player. And when she wants to boost her confidence, she thinks of all the good things in her life, including her “parents, sister and friends”. Deepika also thanked her parents
N
ational Award winning actress Kangana Ranaut, who was earlier slammed by writer Apurva Asrani for taking the co-writer credit in Simran, says she didn’t take part in the direction of the film and would have proudly said it openly if she had done it. Kangana was slammed by Asrani after the poster of Hansal Mehta’s Simran released, showing Kangana’s name as co-writer. Apurva took to Facebook to raise objections to it and slammed the actress for taking undue credit. In a conversation at the NDTV Youth For Change Conclave, Kangana was asked if she had any part to play in the film’s direction. Kangana said: “I have not done anything to do with direction in Simran. I have acted in it and written it. If I had directed the film, I would have proudly said it, but I have not done it.” Kangana, who comes from a nonfilmy background and hails from Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, also spoke about her background. “Big cities are money-oriented, small towns are more concerned about what people – buaji, mausiji – will say? I come from an extreme environment, a conservative background. I felt stifled and just wanted to be free,” said National Award winner. Kangana, who has been appreciated for films like Fashion, Queen and Tanu Weds Manu Returns, says she tries to be away from ward shows. “There is a lot of manipulation in our award shows. Like they will "I tell you in advance that you should be able will get this award, but will to communicate to ask to perform for them. I my audience directly and try to stay away from all cause some sort of impact, this.” Kangana, 31, said which will bring me closer in future she would like to to them. That’s what I am do things that have some planning to do when I will take up direction." “underlined significance”. “At 30, I have seen a lot of things in my life. A film nearly takes two years of your life. That’s the kind of contribution that I like to give to films. Other than entertainment, I will not like to do something which doesn’t have any underlined significance,” Kangana said. “I should be able to communicate to my audience directly and cause some sort of impact, which will bring me closer to them. That’s what I am planning to do when I will take up direction,” she added. “Simran” is slated for release on September 15.
the
for her choice of music to some extent. When singer Anup Jalota, known for devotional music, asked about her favourite Bhajan singer, she said: “You are definitely one of them, sir. My sister Anisha and I have grown up listening to your music, thanks to our parents!” She will be next seen on the big screen in Padmavati playing the title role, which she considers to be the most challenging role she has played in a film.
Ganesh Chaturthi one of my favourite festivals: Arjun
A
ctor Arjun Rampal says the colourful festivities and decorated pandals during Ganesh Chaturthi have “always fascinated” him. “Ganesh Chaturthi is one of my favourite festivals. The colours, festivities and beautifully decorated pandals have always fascinated me,” Arjun, who visited Radio City’s studio here during the festival to promote his film Daddy’, said. Arjun also praised the radio network for its Bappa Aayenge Gaadi Layenge campaign. The grand finale will be held on September 3. “I am very happy to see the network take the fervour of the festival to a new level... A brand new car is sure to brighten up the spirits of the participants and I wish all of them best luck,” the actor added. At the moment, Arjun is excited about Daddy, in which he will be seen playing the lead role of Arun
Gawli while south actress Aishwarya Rajesh will be seen playing the role of his wife Asha Gawli. Scheduled to release on September 8, the film is an Indian political crime film based on the true story of Arun Gawli. Presented by Kundalini Entertainment, Daddy also stars Nishikant Kamat, Anand Ingale, Shrikant Yadav, Vijay Sanap and Abhimanyu Arun in pivotal roles.
Akshay has been great to work with says Suneel Darshan
F
ilmmaker Suneel Darshan, who directed Akshay Kumar in films like Jaanwar, Ek Rishtaa, Talaash: The Hunt Begins... and Mere Jeevan Saathi, says the National Award winning actor is very disciplined and fun loving as a person. To celebrate Akshay's 50th
birthday on September 9, Zee Cinema is hosting Shanivaar Ki Raat Akshay Ke Saath. It will showcase four of Akshay's films Jaanwar, Andaaz, Ek Rishtaa and Dosti: Friends Forever. "Working with Akshay has always been a great experience. He is disciplined and fun loving at the
same time," Suneel said. "(After 15 flops at the box office) Akshay made a comeback with Jaanwar, strengthened his position with Ek Rishtaa and skyrocketed after Andaaz. "I have launched many newcomers like Karisma Kapoor, Miss Universe Lara Dutta, Miss
World Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor opposite Akshay Kumar. "I am excited to see the audience's response. "It is the same feeling one gets when a film is about to hit the theatres. I am hopeful of receiving greater adulation than we did during the theatrical release," he added.
30
FEATURES
Friday, September 1, 2017
The Indian Weekender
NZ Senior INDIAN Idol – a first in NZ
“
MOHAN NADKARNI FOUNDATION in association with Might-I PRESENTS
Tickets at www.eventfinda.co.nz
$29.95
Free Parking or call Dev on 021 171 2777
International Day of Older Persons (IDOP)”, is celebrated worldwide on October 1 each year. To commemorate the occasion, Shanti Niwas is celebrating IDOP by organising a multi-cultural community programme at their Onehunga Centre. The event has been organised and will be primarily performed by seniors, incorporating music, dance and performances of South Asian and other ethnic communities. Activities and information stalls for leading a healthy life style and community interaction will be made available. With a view to recognise and appreciate the many hidden talents of the seniors, Shanti Niwas will also be organising the NZ Senior INDIAN Idol.
The aim of the NZ Senior INDIAN Idol is to bring out the multi faceted and hidden vocal talent of the seniors. Registrations are open, please phone 096221010 or email shantiniwas@xtra.co.nz. The IDOP programme will be held at the Trust’s Onehunga centre, 14 Spring Street, beside Dolphin Theatre, Onehunga on Saturday, October 7, 2017, from 10:30 a.m. Shanti Niwas, with such programmes, provides a platform for the seniors to organise and show case their talents, skills and ability to the community. These programmes help our seniors in integrating within the community and gain the well deserved respect due to them from the younger generation and help in bridging the inter-generational gap.
CAB Manurewa with Yati Bhagwat on Tabla and Atmaram Bicholkar on Harmonium
Date: Saturday, September 2 Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Venue: Manurewa Library Community Room, 7 Hill Road, Manurewa CAB Manurewa will hold a free information session for newcomers on Employment Opportunities. Please come and join to find about understanding what Employers are looking for from job applicants and how do I qualify for full-time Employment? Registration and light refreshments will be at 10am. The session will promptly start at 10.30am and finish at 1.30pm followed by light lunch. For more information please call at Patricia Pera at 021 133 2014 or Armmajit Kaur at 021 142 1855 or Email at settlement.manurewa@cab.org.nz
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Anil and Reena Kant Live-in concert
Date & Venue: Saturday, September 2 at Waikowhai Intermediate School Hall 650 Richardson Road, Mount Roskill Sunday, September 3 at Hillsborough Baptist Church 179 Hillsborough Road, Hillsborough Time: 6 p.m. onwards Internationally renowned singer and songwriters Anil and Reena Kant are coming to New Zealand to perform a free concert in Auckland. The concert will feature songs in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarti, English and Telugu. Anil Kant has recorded numerous music albums in the past 17 years after a lifetime of travelling the world as a composer, lyricist, singer and music director. After marrying Reena, Anil spent three years in Singapore and ten years in Indonesia pursuing a career in music. His album “Pray for India” was his biggest album success.
Dussehra 2017
Date: Sunday, October 1 Time: 12 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Venue: Alexandra Park, Greenlane West, Auckland Dussehra is one of the major Hindu festivals of India. It is celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm. It is the day when Lord Rama killed the ten headed demon king Ravana and gave the throne of his kingdom Lanka to his brother Vibhishana. The programme will include Cultural Performances, Ramleela performed by kids, Ravana Dahan (Burning of the effigy of Ravana) and Fireworks display. There will be stalls for food, traditional Indian clothes,fun rides for the kids etc.
JOIN US FOR
DUCHENNE AWARENESS DAY
NZ Senior Indian Idol
Date: Saturday, October 7 Time: 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. Venue: Shanti Niwas Senior Centre, 14 Spring Street, Onehunga, Auckland NZ Senior INDIAN Idol – a first in New Zealand “International Day of Older Persons (IDOP)”, is celebrated worldwide on October 1 each year. To commemorate the occasion, Shanti Niwas is celebrating IDOP by organising a multi-cultural community programme at their Onehunga Centre. The event has been organised and will be primarily performed by seniors, incorporating music, dance and performances of South Asian and other ethnic communities. Activities and information stalls for leading a healthy life style and community interaction will be made available.
9 September 2017, 9am-12pm, Blockhouse Bay Primary School A FAMILY EVENT TO RAISE AWARENESS OF DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
• Sausage Sizzle and more • Family Fun activities – Face painting, Balloon twisting for kids • Learn more about about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy • Live music.... and much more!
Kuldeep Singh & Yasha Aggarwal
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Accurate, professional, prompt service by accredited translators. Approved by LTSA/AA/Immigration New Zealand. Birth/Marriage/Police Clearance Certificates, Diplomas, Letters, etc. 181 Hobson Street Auckland City 09-3570922, 021-488-525 Email: dsoh@ymail.com