Indian Weekender 27 May 2016

27 May, 2016 • Vol. 8 Issue 10 • www.iwk.co.nz

NZ’s first Kiwi-Indian weekly newspaper

The pulse of Kiwi-Indians

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CONTENTS

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

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New Zealand

Barrister Sanjay Patel appointed Acting District Court Judge Pg

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India India successfully tests winged reusable launch vehicle Pg

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India Abroad

Photography

Indian-American student wins Nat Geo Bee title

Understanding exposure—Part 2/3

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Education World-class creative learning centre launched

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Features A metal musician’s quest to revive physical formats in India

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

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Investing in our thriving tourism industry Rt Hon John Key Prime Minister

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ur tourism industry is thriving.

With more visitors coming, staying longer and spending more, tourism is becoming an increasingly significant part of our economy.

It’s now our second biggest export earner and a major employer of New Zealanders. That’s why the National-led government is committed to supporting this industry and ensuring all our regions benefit from it.

Later this week, Finance Minister Bill English will be delivering our eighth Budget.

In the lead-up to Budget 2016, I recently announced a $45 million investment into two initiatives to support tourism across New Zealand.

The first is a $20 million fund to support communities to build small infrastructure projects to help them cope with the influx of visitors, and to promote New Zealand in key growth markets.

The second is a $25 million investment into the New Zealand Cycle Trail to ensure it continues to offer a world-class visitor experience. Both these investments will

Budget 2016, which was delivered on Thursday, May 26, focussed on investing in a growing economy while still ensuring we continue to support families and our most vulnerable people.

The FIFA tournament alone boosted our economy by $30 million and attracted 3,600 international visitors.

As well as investing in the sector directly, we are helping the industry attract the money needed to fund infrastructure.

A group involving government and people from the tourism sector has been established to help accelerate investment.

The group is working to identify opportunities to develop high-quality accommodation and to promote those to overseas investors.

There have been some positive developments in this space in recent months.

Work is underway on a $200 million five-star hotel at a landmark site in downtown Auckland, one of the largest-ever foreign investments in New Zealand’s tourism infrastructure.

Budget 2016, which was delivered on Thursday, May 26, focussed on investing in a growing economy while still ensuring we continue to support families and our most vulnerable people.

New Zealand’s economy is performing well; we’re on track for annual growth of around three per cent for the next few years, which is helping to deliver more jobs and higher wages for New Zealanders.

I look forward to letting you know about some more of the initiatives in Budget 2016 over coming weeks.

further support tourism’s contribution to economic and job growth in regions across New Zealand.

This extra $45 million in Budget 2016 is in addition to the more than $130 million a year the government already spends on tourism.

We also support tourism in other ways such as funding major events, which help to attract high-value visitors.

Since 2013, the government has invested $46 million in 58 events, including the FIFA under 20 World Cup, the Cricket World Cup and the World of Wearable Arts.

For more coverage on Budget 2016, go to page 10, 11

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27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

CAB helps migrants to settle down Red

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Moving to a new country is often an overwhelming experience for many. To help you get accustomed to a new surrounding, Citizens Advice Bureau helps newcomers find the right information they need.

Esha Chanda

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ew migrants tackle a number of hurdles as they inch closer to their dreams. Borders are crossed to step into an unknown land and settle among unknown people.

New Zealand has been seeing a rise in the number of immigrants in recent years. For them, the laws, rules and regulations of the country, and their rights and obligations as a resident of their adopted homeland are different from the one they have left behind.

That’s where Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) steps in. The notfor-profit organisation provides free and confidential advice to individuals and helps solve their queries.

CAB was first started in New Zealand in 1970, and since then, has opened numerous branches across the country. Adding to the growing number of bureaux is the recently opened branch in Botany Town Centre, Auckland.

With many new migrants settling in Botany, Dannemora, Ormiston and Flatbush, the reopened bureau (it closed in December 2014 due to a lease expiry) has recently seen a surge in the number of Indian clients.

The community link

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AB’s involvement in the community can be seen in their dual role of helping individuals settle in a new place, and working for a change within the society. Through their social policy work, the organisation aims to bring about a positive social change.

By working alongside their clientele, CAB increases awareness about the rights and obligations of new migrants. Their seamless service assists in overcoming the challenges faced by new migrants.

“If you have recently moved to New Zealand you probably have lots of questions about how things work here, and we’re here to help,” says Louise Boswell, Manager of CAB Pakuranga and Botany.

“We can make settling into your new home easier by helping you find out what you need to know, whether it is how the school system works here, how to sign up with a GP or who provides English language courses. We can help you to understand your employment rights, assist you in resolving tenancy issue or help you to sort out a problem with goods or services you have bought. If you’re looking for a social or sports club to join, we can help you with that, too,” she adds.

Each branch of CAB is operated by local community volunteers who are trained to provide an independent, confidential and free service. “The people who volunteer as bureau interviewers (and members of our board) are the drivers of our organisation and provide the “listening ear” to our multi-cultural clients who seek answers to their problems and issues,” says Boswell.

For migrants who find it difficult to communicate in English, CAB provides help through Language Link—a service available in more than 20 languages that can be accessed by anyone. Their team of interviewers also include volunteers who can fluently speak in Mandarin, Cantonese and Hindi.

Tracing back its origins

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he first Citizens Advice Bureau opened its door in Ponsonby Terrace in October 1970 and today, there are more than 80 CAB branches around the country. With more than four decades of experience, CAB has become a trusted source for information for new migrants. But its history goes further. Its origin lies in war-time England when the bureau was established during the

Second World War to help people, who were dislocated to cope with the trauma.

The CAB edge

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oswell says that their face-toface interview information service provides the “human touch” to their clients, and this is what makes them different from other organisations that provide migrant services in the country.

CAB regularly organises workshops and seminars on topics such as employment, education and health, which helps newcomers familiarise themselves with their rights and responsibilities in the country; they have one on June 18 on employment, which will cover CVs, job searching, New Zealand employers, interview skills and coaching.

Like the Pakuranga branch, the one opened in Botany provides immigration services and has a weekly visiting Justice of Peace.

Legal Clinics—a 15-minute free session with a lawyer that offers legal guidance on issues such as court proceedings, power of attorney, wills, tenancy and dispute matters, family law and legal aid—are held every Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and are voluntarily run by lawyers.

“At the bureau, we have resources that cover a wide range of topics. You can also read the information our website www. cab.org.nz, which includes a community directory of local and nationwide service providers,” says Boswell.

Services offered

by CAB:

• Healthcare • Education and schooling • Working in New Zealand that covers CVs, job searching, interview skills, etc.

• Clinics—Justice of Peace, Immigration, Legal, +65 Counselling • Taxes • Tenancy Tribunals and Disputes Tribunals • Consumer rights • Income support and benefits • Immigration • Housing and tenancy • General matters such as contacts for local recreational activities, and public transport timetables

Barrister Sanjay Patel appointed Acting District Court Judge IWK Bureau

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uckland barrister Sanjay Patel is one of the two Acting District Court Judges appointed recently.

Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson QC announced the appointment on May 17.

Both will hold jury warrants.

Mr Sanjay Patel, who has been appointed an Acting District Court Judge in Manukau, began his career in a general practice in 1992.

After 12 months, he moved to Davenports in Henderson carrying out general civil litigation, criminal and employment work.

In 1996 he moved to Corban Revell where he remained until 1999 when he became a barrister sole specialising in criminal defence litigation in the District Court, High Court and Court of Appeal.

Judge Patel will be sworn in on June 22 in Manukau.

Hamilton barrister and solicitor Philip Crayton has been also appointed an Acting District Court Judge in Whanganui. He was previously a barrister in the United Kingdom and has practised in New Zealand

Auckland barrister Sanjay Patel, who will be appointed as Acting District Court Judge on June 22

for more than 14 years. Prior to becoming a partner at Almao Douch in 2004, he was a senior staff solicitor with Almao Kellaway Barristers & Solicitors. He has practised in the criminal jurisdiction at all levels up to the Court of Appeal with occasional appearances in the Family Court and Youth Court.

Judge Crayton will be sworn in on June 14 in Hamilton.

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www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

Business leaders from agritech industry to gather at the upcoming INZBC Summit 2016

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ore than 300 global business leaders and stakeholders will come together on June 13 for a first-of-its kind summit on agritech, being held by INZBC. The summit will witness business leadership from across New Zealand and India to discuss the scope of agribusiness in both the countries. The summit is being held in partnership with New Zealand National Fieldays.

“INZBC has always endeavoured to bring together a range of organisations, think-tanks, academicians under one roof through our flagship event—INZBC Summit. This year, for our third annual summit, the Agritech theme is very relevant and timely given the importance of the agriculture sector for both the countries”, said Wenceslaus Anthony, Head of Govt Relations, INZBC. The summit has an interesting line-up of speakers from both countries including representatives from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Kwality Dairy India Ltd, Agriculture Skill Council of India, Binsar Farms, Qualitat Products (India), Pipfruit, Waikato Innovation Park, Fieldays, New Zealand

Trade and Enterprise, ATEED and Callaghan Innovation. The summit will touch upon areas such as major trends and future market opportunities in the sector, technology advancements, animal husbandry for increased productivity and scope of growth in dairy farming.

For the past few years, INZBC has been successful in bringing together networks of business and organisations including key companies and policymakers who are interested in developing trade between India and New Zealand. Attending this summit will not only equip attendees with knowledge on opportunities in agritech sector but also help to get connected with excellent speakers and business community in the sphere. As India looks to increase its agricultural output, there is great need— and a growing market—for sophisticated mechanized tools and equipment. There is a significant opportunity for Kiwi businesses to get access to networks of business from India.

The event is open to the public and will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Langham Auckland.

Tickets can be purchased from www.inzbusinesssummit.com

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MP Parmar to host a Pink Ribbon Breakfast IWK Bureau

Escalating crime rate worries businesses in South Auckland Red

Rizwan Mohammad

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MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar will host a Pink Ribbon Breakfast on June 3

can help investigate new treatment options for women with advanced breast cancer, and help women have access to leading-edge research. In 2015, more than 2,600 Kiwis hosted a Pink Ribbon Breakfast and collectively raised more than a million dollars for breast cancer research.

MP Parmar is inviting everyone to join her in this noble cause to make a difference. The details of the breakfast are as follows: Date: Friday, June 3 Time: 7:30 a.m.

Place: Sierra Café, 563 Mt Albert Road, Royal Oak (corner of Hillsborough Road) Cost: $20 per ticket proceeds go to NZBCF (payment may be made on the day) RSVP: MP Parmar’s Mt Roskill office phone (09) 620 6707 or parmjeet.parmar@parliament. govt.nz

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assured to convey messages to the higher authorities and huge number of government so that stringent aggrieved victims actions can be taken against the offenders. turned up at the The meeting also showed Indian community meeting some positive solutions last weekend to discuss and deliberate on the suggested from the audience. issue of rising in crime in “Why don’t we invite the South Auckland. offenders and the young Hosted on Saturday, May individuals who wander 21, at the Indian Community From left to right: Labour MP Phil Goff (addressing the attendees), through the streets to the Centre in Papatoetoe, the National MP Kanwaljit Bakshi and NZ First MP Mahesh Bindra Gurudwaras and serve them afternoon witnessed a langar? We serve free food wistful narration of the horrors The victims were from all three times a day, these teenagers of growing crime in the area ages and walks of life especially do not have access to good food including burglaries and assaults. self-employed people such as and clothing, and many dwell on The crime rate in South Auckland taxi drivers, dairy and liquor benefits and turn towards crime has recently increased with the shop owners along with pizza for their needs. This positive move victims being robbed of their delivery boys and pedestrians on could reduce some opportunistic money, dignity and security. deserted streets. crime at the least,” added an To answer the queries of the “I was punched and pushed attendee. victims at the meeting were to the ground and stabbed Ms Nand listed precautionary National List MP Kanwaljit amid aggravated robbery at moves that should be taken by Bakshi, Labour MP Phil Goff, my liquor store last month,” business owners and associations.

NZ First List MP Mahesh Bindra exclaimed traumatised Sarabjit The associations can pool funds to and community leader Ms Singh. The CCTV footage of the increase surveillance by installing Pratima Nand. robbery went viral on Facebook new cameras outside shops and The growing concern on how to alleviate crime in Auckland after the vicious attack and complexes, install loud sirens to is being scrutinised for a really the police were able to nab alert distress, report suspecting long time. Regions in East and the criminals. The same criminals individuals and groups through South Auckland such as Otara, were reported to have robbed a constant monitoring, increase Pakuranga, Botany, Papatoetoe, liquor store in Takanini the night lighting and presence of more Manukau, Manurewa, and they stabbed Sarabjit. An enraged people during late evenings.

Reducing the number of liquor Takanini have become a centre victim added, “If the police are for the offenders to commit the unable to act on time, we may take stores, closing stores early in crime. MP Goff, who has been a the law into our own hands and deserted areas, rehabilitation of victim of burglary, blamed the then the police should not blame the broken families, monitoring school activities of teenagers were law enforcement authorities for us for being defensive.”

Speakers at the event calmed some of the other suggestions not taking stern actions against criminals on priority. the claims of the victims and floated at the meeting.

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very year, many women battle breast cancer.

To increase awareness, The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation (NZBCF) encourages women around the country to host a Pink Ribbon Breakfast, which can help raise money to fund breast cancer research in the country.

Early next month, National list MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar will be hosting a Pink Ribbon Breakfast— an opportunity to not only have fun with friends and family but also help in raising donations. A Pink Ribbon Breakfast can be held at home, work, school, your coffee group or a local participating café or restaurant.

Even a small contribution towards the cause can make a big difference. All the donations raised at the breakfast go to NZBCF to fund a potentially lifesaving research.

A $40 donation could help fund a tumour sample from the tissue bank used for genetic testing while a $75 donation could fund a box of 100 tissue culture flasks, to test response to new drugs.

By raising $400 from your breakfast, you could be funding an antibody detection kit (allowing 50 antibody reactions).

Collectively raising $1.5 million

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www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

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IWK Bureau

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wenty years ago, a simple love story performed by one man and many masks propelled Indian Ink Theatre Company into the forefront of New Zealand theatre.

Performed by Jacob Rajan, Krishnan’s Dairy told the story of an Indian shopkeeper and his family after immigrating to New Zealand for a better life.

Rajan, whose family originated from Kerala, South India, moved here at the age of four and became the first Indian actor to graduate from Toi Whakaari Drama School.

Since 1997, Rajan and his long-time associate Justin Lewis have seen the theatre company grow and continue its success within New Zealand and internationally, winning awards and touring the globe, including visits to India, the US and the UK. Their repertoire has played to more than 460,000 people and includes popular shows The Guru of Chair, The Pickle King and Kiss the Fish.

Rajan believes that the Indian culture offers a richness and exoticism, alongside wonderful humour that draws audiences into the story and characters.

The team aims to create shows that are funny but sad, beautiful and true, and blend western theatre with eastern flavours to create work that resonates with many people. Comedy is a signature of Indian Ink’s work—laughing at the silly and the

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Their newest show The Elephant Thief is set in futuristic India and follows female Mahout as she struggles to protect her elephant— one of the last on Earth.

The show stars up-andcoming Fijian Indian actress Vanessa Kumar.

Some of the best theatre in the world NZ Herald

serious to communicate deeper issues through humour.

They are also well-known for their use of masks, live music and crafted storytelling.

The company works with Kiwi actors from a range of backgrounds, giving New Zealand Indian actors a spotlight and unique opportunity.

Their newest show The Elephant Thief is set in futuristic India and follows female Mahout as she struggles to protect her elephant—one of the last on Earth. The show stars up-and-coming Fijian Indian actress Vanessa Kumar.

Favourites Nisha Madhan and Julia Croft are also part of the five-strong cast.

The Elephant Thief plays in Wellington until June 4, New Plymouth from June 9 to 11 and Auckland from June 15 to July 2. Tickets are available from www.indianink.co.nz

The future is ours to see 15 June – 2 July Q Theatre 09 309 9771 #wheresmyelephant

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Tashi and Nungshi Malik hope to scale Mount Cook this summer

The Everest Twins are hoping to raise money to fulfil their dream of hoisting the tricolour atop Aotearoa’s highest peak Gaurav Sharma

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ndia is a land of contradictions. We worship our rivers, calling them Mother Ganga and Mother Narmada. Almost the entire country bows down to a female goddess nine days in a row, twice every year, all of this seen in a deep-rooted patriarchal society, with strong male-child preferences and an unfavourable femalemale sex ratio due to widespread female foeticide.

That’s why instances such as when an Indian Army officer spends his entire life savings to fund his twin daughters dream of completing an Explorers Grand Slam—scaling the seven highest peaks in all the seven continents along with skiing to the North and South Poles—its a story worth telling again and again. Especially when those twins are Tashi and Nungshi Malik—modern, progressive and high-achieving Indian women!

While their mountaineering exploits are well-documented— Indian Weekender (IWK) too covered those at length when the girls were special guests at our last year’s Hall of Fame event—their experiences of living in a country for more than a year now, with different male-female societal dynamics, is not. (read New Zealand’s peculiar “male drought” issue) That’s why IWK decided to catch up with the girls again and learn how the land of the long white cloud has treated them over the past year-and-a-half.

IWK: Please start by telling us your reasons for coming to New Zealand.

Tashi and Nungshi: Sir Edmund Hillary!

To elaborate, the New Zealand High Commission in Delhi had organised an event in 2013 to commemorate the 60 years of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic feat, which we were fortunate enough to attend. That, we would say, sparked our interest in New Zealand. We thought it would be great to experience a country where the legend of our trade learnt his lessons.

Moreover, our love for outdoors, and this being “heaven on Earth for people who love the great outdoors”, it was the obvious choice. That’s why when we were offered the NZISS, we jumped at the opportunity.

IWK: So now that you have experienced New Zealand a bit, what have you learnt?

Tashi and Nungshi: A lot!

Nungshi (left) and Tashi (right) in a national park in US during their participation in the Global Sports Mentoring Programme in 2015

Especially in the context of gender inequality and societal attitude.

Over centuries, women have faced, and continue to face, huge societal obstacles when it comes to succeeding in life. And for that to change, societal attitude, especially among men, needs to change. Men need to understand that women play an equal role in every sphere of human life.

And sadly, the situation is the same everywhere, though at different degrees. In New Zealand, which is a far more genderequal society, rugby, played by men, gets all the funding and support, while netball, played by women, struggles.

IWK: So that’s why your Foundation emphasis so much on changing attitudes?

Tashi and Nungshi: Precisely!

That’s why through the NungshiTashi Foundation, we aim to empower the girl child by promoting outdoors. We want to break the stereotypes and emphasise that outdoor adventures and mountaineering are for all. Girls love it, can excel in it, and can be leaders in these sports. We hope to have regular hiking and outdoor leadership programmes by the later half of this year.

We believe if we can do our bit in helping change attitudes, the rest will follow.

Even the Government of India’s Beti Bachao Beti Padao Yojana (save the daughter, educate the daughter) aimed at saving and empowering the girl child, which we wholeheartedly support, is also about changing societal attitudes among other things.

IWK: Now that both of you are in New Zealand, do you have plans to initiate the

Foundation’s work here?

Tashi and Nungshi: Certainly.

We are looking to start our work in New Zealand as well, for which we are looking to partner some likeminded organisations. We might start with a few student exchange programmes and later take on women empowerment and gender issues such as tackling domestic violence, which is alarmingly high in New Zealand.

IWK: Coming to the life in New Zealand, what has been your experience?

Tashi and Nungshi: Wonderful, to say the least. Everyone has welcomed us with open arms.

People here love their outdoors and keep up-to-date with other people’s achievements as well. That’s why we got more recognition here as compared to back home.

Whether it is the staff or students at SIT, the wider community of Invercargill, the Alpine Club in Auckland, the Rotary Club, the Canterbury Mountaineering Club, or more recently TEDx Queenstown, our experience has been extraordinary.

Meeting Prime Minister John Key was a highlight too!

IWK: There have been some reports in the past that Indians find it difficult to settle in places such as Invercargill, which are not so diverse. What are your thoughts on it?

Tashi and Nungshi: Our experience wasn’t like that at all.

Maybe because we are girls, we are pampered a lot. And everyone smiles at us. [laughs] But, on a serious note, one does keep hearing stories of Indians finding it difficult in the job market here.

That’s why we keep doing whatever little we can do to encourage people. Even in our talks, we focus a lot about developing life skills, not losing hope and keep fighting.

Metaphorically, ‘climb higher’ and ‘climb better’ is the only way out.

Also, due to our networks and contacts, if we find that some people can help each other out, we put them in touch.

It’s not about diversity, or Invercargill, or being a Kiwi, or an Indian. From what we have seen, we have realised that all major problems of the world are caused by a fight over identities. Even gender inequality stems from gender identities.

The challenge for all of us is to embrace each other and tide over our separate identities.

IWK: That’s a very mature take on our world, especially coming from two 23-yearolds. How long do you plan to stay in New Zealand?

Tashi and Nungshi: At least for the next three years, till we complete our masters and doctorate programmes.

IWK: That’s the long-term plan. Any short-term goals?

Tashi and Nungshi: Yes, we want to climb and hoist the tricolour atop New Zealand’s highest mountain, Aoraki/ Mount Cook, in the coming summer. We are actively seeking sponsors for this endeavour as mountaineering is an expensive sport.

Their claim to fame

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n just under two years and one month, Tashi and Nungshi Malik have climbed the seven summits (highest ones in all the seven continents), skied to North and South Poles, and scaled an unnamed virgin peak alpine-style in Bara Shigri Glacier at 21,000 ft. With this, they became the world’s youngest persons, first twins, and first siblings to complete the Explorers Grand Slam and three-pole challenge.

But what is even more appreciative is the motivation behind their #mission2for7 (climbing the seven peaks together). Armed with the motto “Gender equality now—fight against female foeticide”, the girls use mountaineering as a metaphor for life’s climbs and breaking gender stereotypes. Recognising this, their home state of Uttarakhand has made them the brand ambassador for the Beti Bachao (save the girl child) campaign.

Notably, the world’s second most populous nation has an abysmal record with regards to reining in female foeticide. So much so that as per the last census held in 2011, the child sex ratio (914 girls per 1000 boys) is at an all-time low since independence.

To put it simply in Malik sisters’ words, “India cannot realise its full potential as long as its girls and women cannot realise theirs!”

What they have been doing in NZ • Completed the Explorers Grand Slam by skiing to the North Pole on April 21, 2015 • Completed Graduate Diploma in Sport and Exercise at the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT), Invercargill on New Zealand India Sports Scholarship (NZISS) • Pursuing their Masters at SIT now and aiming to complete their doctorate eventually • Started the NungshiTashi Foundation in Dehradun, India in February 2016 to promote girl empowerment through outdoors • Attended US Department of State and Global Sports Mentoring Program (run in cooperation with University of Tennessee) in September 2015 • Talks at Canterbury Mountaineering Club in Christchurch, New Zealand Alpine Club in Auckland, and Rotary Clubs in Invercargill and Auckland, where the girls shared their journey of the Explorers Grand Slam for the cause of the Indian Girl Child • Most recently, the Malik sisters spoke at TEDx Queenstown in April 2016 about the plight of “millions of girls in much of the developed world who have to climb their daily invisible ‘mountains’ merely to survive”

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

Tie a turban on Auckland Turban Day this weekend

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Swati Sharma

Social networking for business and real estate Rizwan Mohammad

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ith an aim to educate people of different cultures about Sikhism and Punjabi culture, a group of Sikh youth is organising Auckland Turban Day on May 28.

Events such as this are quite popular in many parts of the world, where nonIndians also participate to learn about the Sikh culture.

One of the members of the Sikh Youth New Zealand (SYNZ), Amrita Kaur explained the reason behind carrying out such exercises in public.

“In an attempt to reduce the chances of discrimination and bullying in schools, workplaces and public places due to the turban, we have conceptualised this idea as a fun, colourful (with all the different turban colours) and interesting way to achieve our goal of education and awareness. We believe that such an event would contribute greatly to the rich culture and varying faiths of Auckland and New Zealand,” said Amrita.

The event is supported by community members where SYNZ is receiving donations from public to buy turbans. Some turban retailers have also come forward to help. As a part of the event, a flyer will be distributed in order to answer some basic questions about Sikhism such as who Sikhs are, what turbans are and why Sikhs wear them and also the 10 Sikh Gurus’ teachings regarding equality, love and unity of people.

NEW ZEALAND

on Ha Real Estate hosted an evening of networking last week bringing together businessmen, professionals, and individuals enthusiastic to amplify their trades, services and businesses.

The invite-only event provided a platform to introduce oneself and one’s business, to reach out to a greater set of audience. The attendees gathered at Lakewood Court (Old Valentine building) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, sharing their business cards over drinks and nibbles.

The Auckland Turban Day will be held at Aotea Square in Auckland CBD on Saturday, May 28 from noon to 3 p.m.

Anyone can join the event to have fun and learn about Sikh faith and also to get a taste of Punjab with masala chai (tea) that will be served free of cost to the public.

Don Ha Real Estate licensed salesperson Steve Starke emceed the event briefing about the company and its exponential growth over the last few years. Don Ha took over the stage and shared some light moments from his experience, and his story of establishing one of the most successful real estate companies in Auckland.

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Don Ha invited attendees to come to the dais and brief about their businesses and services, which was the crux of the networking event. Individuals present at the venue grabbed the opportunity to introduce and showcase their businesses to other businessmen present.

The venue also exhibited a life-size replica of the Manukau Lakewood Plaza apartments, the exotic lounge, rooms, and kitchen area with attached balcony. There was also a tiny model of the Plaza that received some attention from the people at the venue.

Don Ha Real Estate (Top One Real Estate Limited, Licensed Real Estate Agents REAA 2008) has its office located at 12 Osterley Way in Manukau and provides services for buying and selling real estate.

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NEW ZEALAND

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

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Budget 2016: at a glance

Social Investment

IWK Bureau

$

652 million for a Social Investment package to help drive changes to help improve the lives of the most vulnerable New Zealanders. The package, which provides $641.6 million of operating funding over the next four years and $10.5 million of capital, includes additional support for vulnerable children as well as initiatives in corrections, education and health.

Finance Minister Bill English delivered the National-led government’s eighth Budget in Wellington on Thursday, May 26.

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he Budget talks about investing in a growing economy, while ensuring continuing support to families and the most vulnerable people who need it the most.

“New Zealand’s economy is performing well and we’re on track for annual growth of around three per cent over the next few years.

We’re also on track for growing surpluses and falling debt,” said Mr English.

“That’s thanks to the Nationalled government’s clear economic plan and responsible management of the books. Budget 2016 is about building on that good progress.”

The main highlights of budget 2016 are as follows:

Health

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n additional $2.2 billion for health to help pay for more lifesaving drugs, more

elective surgeries, more disability support services, and to start the roll-out of a national bowel screening programme

Infrastructure

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$2.1 billion public infrastructure package to invest in building new roads, schools and classrooms, and to support our thriving tourism sector. School infrastructure is a key part of the package. The $882.5 million investment will deliver 480 new classrooms, nine new schools, two school expansions as well as the relocation and rebuilding of three schools and a Kura. This includes $168.5 million

for the Christchurch schools rebuild programme, which is now in its third year and has completed six schools, with a further eight under construction. A core part of the package focuses on growth and provides $270.6 million of new capital funding and $80.3 million of new operating funding over the next four years.

Science and innovation

$

761 million for an Innovative New Zealand package, which invests in science, skills, and regional economic development initiatives to help grow and diversify the economy.

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will include $200 million for more social housing places in Auckland, costs related to redeveloping social houses in Tamaki and for increased Income Related Rent Subsidy payments because of higher rents; $41.1 million for emergency housing and a new Special Needs Grant; $7.5 million in new operating funding to manage social housing transfers to community housing providers and $3.7 million in 2016–17 for the Ministry of Social Development’s housing unit and the Auckland social housing team.

Housing

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Social housing

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udget 2016 invests $258 million to ensure people most in need of social housing have access to this essential service.

Over the four years, the package

36 million to ensure more New Zealand families live in warmer, drier and healthier homes. The investment includes $18 million of operating funding over two years to extend the Warm Up New Zealand programme to insulate rental houses occupied by low-income tenants, particularly those with high health needs, and $18 million over four years to expand the Healthy Homes Initiative to reduce preventable illnesses among young children (newborns to five-year olds) who are living in cold, damp and unhealthy homes >>

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www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

Education

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dditional investment in early Red Black Orange childhood education, children with special needs, and new schools and classrooms takes annual education spending above $11 billion for the first time.

This includes $640.5 million of operating

Police

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299.2 million in additional funding for police over four years, which includes $49.2 million from a Budget 2015 contingency, will fund $279.9 million

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funding over the next four years, plus $75.1 million in 2015–16 and $727.3 million in capital. Key spending includes an extra $396.9 million over the next four years, plus $39.2 million in 2015–16 for ECE. By 2019–20, this will provide funding for a further 14,000 children. $43.2 million over the next four years for schools educating students most at risk of educational underachievement and $42.1 million over the next four years for students with high and special educational needs.

for police pay increases, $8.2 million for the child protection offenders register development and operating costs, $6.4 million to ensure police comply with the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 and $4.7 million to cover the first two years of the new operating costs of Christchurch’s Justice and Emergency Services Precinct.

Civil defence

Justice

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xtra $6.2m to increase Civil Defence capability to ensure New Zealanders are better prepared for natural disasters by providing an extra $6.1 million of operating funding over the next four years and $63,000 of new capital funding for the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM).

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udget 2016 invests heavily in core justice services, with $208.4 million in additional funding over the next four years—the largest increase to Justice and Courts in almost a decade.

Free job placement service for all students Flexible online learning in all Industry Programmes:

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY FREIGHT & LOGISTICS TOURISM & TRAVEL RETAIL & BUSINESS

For a detailed analysis of the Budget 2016, read our next issue (June 3).

People’s safety not about ‘bottom lines’ or dollars Mahesh Bindra

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ew Zealand First has long held the view that we should all be safe in our homes, businesses and communities.

We share the concerns of those at the public meeting in Auckland, which discussed safety for business owners and their staff, particularly smaller businesses such as dairies and liquor stores.

We have been raising the issue of the increased number of attacks and share the concerns of those at the Indian community meeting held last week.

This violence is unacceptable, and it is a sad reflection on the deterioration of society under this National government that so many youths are the perpetrators; they are jobless, without direction.

The reality is that a large number of these frontline, high-risk businesses are owned by Kiwis of Indian origin. We believe in hard work and enterprise and have achieved success in business all over the world because of our work ethics and pride in running a business.

The government constantly tells New Zealand that crime is down but this is not evident, as the community well knows.

Then there are the statistics. Of course the government is fudging the figures especially when it comes to Auckland.

There are not enough police to keep our communities safe.

The senior police authorities have gone on record, on questioning by us, that they

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NZ First MP Mahesh Bindra addressing the attendees at the Indian community meeting

have closed down 30 police stations but opened 15 new ones resulting in a net loss of 15 police stations to New Zealanders.

This is not good enough and our role as an opposition party is to hold the government to account on this and we continue to do so.

The other trend that was evident in this meeting was that an increasing number of business owners are so frustrated they won’t mind taking law into their own hands if they have to. We are peace-loving, lawabiding people and this is not what we should be forced into.

This government needs to realise that it is not about “bottom lines” and dollars when it comes to the safety of our people, our homes and our businesses. We need more policemen and women in our streets so they can prevent crime and respond to incidents in acceptable time frames.

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NEW ZEALAND

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

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Creative Communities brings Calling all the magic of the arts to all SuperGold

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isually-impaired children will be able to experience the wonder of the theatre, thanks to a grant from the Creative Communities Scheme.

Tim Bray Productions will provide audio described performances included in the company’s July and September shows at The Pumphouse Theatre that feature touch tours of the set.

“Creative Communities has been stunning in supporting these performances which allow blind and visually impaired children to enjoy our shows. They sit alongside our New Zealand Sign Language interpreted shows, which we have been offering for 12 years now as we try and create productions that are accessible to all children,” says Tim Bray, whose company is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Each year, Creative New Zealand provides Creative Communities Scheme funding to city and district councils to distribute in their area.

A showcase event was held on Thursday, May 26, to celebrate the success of Auckland community arts projects funded under the contestable grants scheme.

This allocation round, Auckland Council has distributed $488,866 to 152

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local projects that will reach an estimated audience of more than 263,000 people.

“Through supporting grassroots organisations, the fund helps bring art into the everyday lives of Aucklanders from all our different communities telling our

stories in many languages,” says Barbara Procter, Sector Investment Leader at Auckland Council’s arts and culture unit.

Other projects awarded grants in the latest round include creative wānanga

by Te Waka Huia to develop a play based on the Brynderwyn Bus Disaster, the country’s worst road accident, and the Battlecry breakdance competition staged by thebreaksnz.

The applications for the next round of grants close on August, 26.

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he SuperGold public transport concession switches to AT HOP from July 1.

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See AT.govt.nz/supergold to identify the services that provide free SuperGold travel.

AT HOP cards cost $10 and must be loaded with at least $5 at the time of purchase. The purchase price is nonrefundable. The AT HOP card makes journeys easier and faster.

Terms of use and registered prospectus for the AT HOP cards are available at AT.govt.nz/athop.

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he Manukau Harbour Forum is inviting nominations from respective mana whenua, iwi, individual contributors and community group representatives for the Mauri o te Moana Award.

The award will be presented at the 2016 Manukau Harbour Forum Symposium, and recognises the work of those who have helped to protect and restore the mauri of the Manukau Harbour over the last three years.

Mauri is the life energy force, or unique life essence, that gives being and form to all things in the universe.

“We know there are many organisations, large and small, that have contributed to the harbour’s wellbeing,” says Manukau Harbour Forum Chair Jill Naysmith. “This is an opportunity to celebrate and highlight their efforts so we can learn from them in the future.”

Each of the recipients will receive a copy of an original artwork by mana whenua artist Charlotte Graham, to be presented at the Manukau Harbour Forum Symposium, which will be held 10 June at Ngā Tohu o Uenuku (Māngere Arts Centre) and is free to attend.

Instigated by the Manukau Harbour Forum, the Manukau Harbour Forum Symposium is focused on the harbour’s future, and on real actions that can contribute to the restoration of its mauri. It will consider proposed and current projects, innovative approaches and smart ways of acting to create a new reality.

Nomination forms close on June 1 and are available at www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/ manukauharbourforum, or can be requested via email at manukauharbourforum@ aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.

Booking to attend the symposium is essential. You can find out more, reserve a seat, and nominate someone for an award, by visiting www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/ manukauharbourforum.

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W W W. U N I O N C O. C O. N Z DISCLAIMER: *Subject to approval by Home Bond New Zealand Limited of a Development HomebondTM security, the value of the required deposit, over a purchaser’s existing property. +Please refer to view disclaimer on Marketing Material. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of the information contained herein or for any action taken in reliance thereon. Prospective purchasers are encouraged to seek legal, technical or other advice to satisfy themselves on all aspects. Details and statements contained herein do not constitute any representation by the vendor or by the agents and are excluded from any agreement for sale and purchase. Changes may be made during development including to dimensions, finishes, fittings and specifications without notice.

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NEW ZEALAND

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

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THIS IS SENDING TO A BANK ACCOUNT IN INDIA

More families to receive intensive home support Kanwaljit Bakshi National List MP

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his National-led government is reprioritising $7.3 million a year for Family Start, an intensive home visitation support programme for vulnerable children. The funding is being redirected from October 1 from another programme that hasn’t shown itself to be effective at reducing child maltreatment.

Our aim is about investing in those children and families who are the most vulnerable and ensuring services are evidence-based and effective. $7.3 million a year will be reprioritised to support more vulnerable children and their families through Family Start, an intensive, home visitation service.

Family Start has shown positive results in reducing post-neonatal mortality, increasing the reporting of child abuse and neglect and has been shown to

increase mothers’ use of communitybased mental health services, child immunisation rates and participation in early childhood education. The funding is being reprioritised from the low-intensity home visitation programme called Parents As First Teachers (PAFT), which has shown no evidence of effectively reducing child maltreatment.

Family Start currently works with 5,000 at-risk families at any one time, and this funding will support an additional 1,250 families nationwide. Eligible families currently receiving PAFT will be referred to Family Start and others will be able to access resources such as Strategies for Kids, Information for Parents (SKIP) and targeted parenting programmes such as Incredible Years. Officials will work with existing Family Start sites to expand their boundaries and new sites will be established in Tauranga, Palmerston North, New Plymouth and Timaru/Ashburton.

More information about Family Start is available on https://www.familyservices. govt.nz/working-with-us/programmesservices/early-intervention/newfamily-start/

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FIJI

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

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PM in “warm and cordial” talks with Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi

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o-operation between India and Fiji on a broad range of issues has been discussed during talks in New Delhi between Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. The two leaders met during the PM’s stopover in the Indian capital on his way to the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey next week. Prime Minister Bainimarama, who described the talks as “warm and cordial”, stressed the importance of Fiji being able to access funds to strengthen its ability to withstand

future events such as Tropical Cyclone Winston.

“We ask for India’s support to gain access to the finance we need to build our resilience to the extreme weather events and rising sea levels caused by climate change. We urgently need funding to rebuild or reinforce our homes and infrastructure to prepare for the more frequent and intense cyclones that the scientists say are coming.” The Prime Minister warmly thanked Mr Modi for India’s immediate support to Fiji in the wake of Cyclone Winston.

“We are deeply grateful for India’s generous response—the

Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama (right) with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left)

45 tonnes of relief supplies that were flown to Fiji so quickly and the one million US dollars in cash for the relief effort. We especially appreciate India entrusting us to direct the cash where we saw fit to

Unforgettable moment with the Queen

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nforgettable!

That was how Joji Marau described his visit to Windsor Castle on the invitation of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Mr Marau is the head of School of Mechanical Engineering at the Fiji National University. He is also the designer and one of the builders of the authentic traditional iTaukei drua, Adi Eta, which featured during the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.

“I will never forget this day for the whole of my life when I and five other members of the Fiji delegation was part of the tea party with the Royal Family in the Castle…what an opportunity.”

Mr Marau posted the comment and photos from Windsor Castle on his Facebook account.

He was also thrilled about the Queen’s acknowledgement after

Joji Marau meets Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle

their performance. “I am glad the Fijian delegation performance in the final and main event last night at the main arena and in Windsor Castle was well acknowledged by Her Majesty the Queen.”

As the members of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Brass Band make their way home, Adi Eta will be on her way to Norwich.

The drua will be shown in the exhibition Fiji: Art & Life in the

Pacific at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts from October 15, 2016 to February 12, 2017.

Adi Eta will then move to her new home at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, in its new Voyagers exhibition gallery, which will open in 2018.

The double hull canoe stands at eight metres in length and 2.15 meters in width and is made from damanu tree from the interior of Viti Levu in Nakorosule, Naitasiri.

Govt keen to work with Asia-Pacific body

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he Fijian Government has extended an invitation to the AsiaPacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) to collaborate on climate change issues.

Attorney-General, and Minister for Finance, Civil Service, Public Enterprise and Communications Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum made those remarks during the opening of the ABU Administrative Council Meeting at the Sheraton Fiji Resort, Denarau Island yesterday.

“The Fijian Government is very keen to work with Organisations such as ABU,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

The A-G said the Government would be very keen to have some specific gathering or

Source: Fiji Sun

Attorney-General, and Minister for Finance, Civil Service, Public Enterprise, Communications Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum with participants during the opening of the ABU Administrative Council Meeting at the Sheraton Fiji Resort, Denarau Island

conference in the country through the broadcasters regarding climate change.

“We are also quite keen and would like to inform you next year, we are hosting one of the largest conferences on the Oceans

that are also key feature for us,” he said. “These are the hardcore realities that are faced by the Pacific island countries. I suppose to highlight these issues to you so we have an understanding and of course can collaborate with.”

meet our own priorities. Because of your generosity and the speed of your response, the goodwill towards India among ordinary Fijians has never been greater”, the PM said.

The Indian leader expressed his condolences for the loss of life in Fiji and said India stood ready to provide all possible assistance in the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. He also reaffirmed his commitment to strengthen cooperation in disaster management with all Pacific Island countries, including through the establishment of a Space Technology Applications

Centre for the region. Prime Minister Bainimarama also asked India for assistance to boost Fiji’s solar energy programme to enable it to meet its international commitment to reduce its carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

India is an acknowledged leader in solar technology.

The PM is holding a series of high level meetings in India before he moves on to Turkey to lead Fiji’s delegation to the World Humanitarian Summit.

The subjects include new avenues of cooperation between India and Fiji in the energy and medical sectors.

Fiji appointed advisory member to PIANZEA

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iji has been appointed as an Advisory Group Member representing the Melanesia region to the Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand Electoral Administrator’s (PIANZEA) Network following a nomination by the Melanesian grouping at the PIANZEA meeting in Nadi. The Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, accepted the nomination.

“Since the re-admittance into the network, the Fijian Elections Office has benefitted from several training and capacity building initiatives organized by PIANZEA, including this week’s meeting,” Mr Saneem said. “Fiji’s appointment as a PIANZEA Advisory Group

Member will give us even greater access to networking opportunities and electoral assistance.”

The PIANZEA member countries manage and direct PIANZEA activities through a PIANZEA Advisory Group and the Advisory Group members are rotated through nomination by member countries. PIANZEA, a semi-formal association of Pacific Election Management Bodies (EMBs), is a platform for networking, sharing capacity-building opportunities and provides mutual electoral assistances to member from the region funded by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia and currently hosts the PIANZEA Secretariat.

PM leads Fijian delegation to world humanitarian summit

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rime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama is leading a Fijian delegation to the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit, which opens in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Summit is being attended by representatives of 175 countries, including 53 heads of state and government, who will discuss a range of humanitarian challenges such as the mass displacement of refugees due to conflict and natural disasters.

In a series of statements at the Summit, the Prime Minister will call on the global community to assist countries such as Fiji with the funds they need to build their resilience to climate change and brief other nations on the relief and rehabilitation effort in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston.

He will also be speaking about the need for international

assistance to enable Fiji to give permanent refuge to the people of Kiribati and Tuvalu in the event that both nations are submerged by the rising seas caused by global warming.

In other sessions, the Prime Minister will speak about the government’s programme to improve the position of women and girls in Fiji and the steps being taken to integrate the private sector into decision making and improve the ability of the business community to deal with disaster.

Among the Fijian delegation are the Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management, Inia Seruiratu, Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Nazhat Shameem and the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Yogesh Karan.

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FIJI

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

NZ PM John Key plans an official visit to Fiji next month

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r Key will be in the country for a two-day visit from June 9 to 10, an informed government source said. A planning committee is understood to be working on the visit. Mr Key is due to meet Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

This will be a significant step forward in the relations between the countries. No NZ Prime Minister has made an official visit to Fiji since 2006.

Mr Key’s visit will be a follow-up to his Foreign Minister Murray McCully who visited Fiji in February in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston. In NZ, Mr Key

Extra million tourists predicted for Pacific: World Bank

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he Pacific region could attract an extra million tourists per year by 2040, according to a new report by the World Bank.

That would translate to an additional yearly revenue of around $1.8 billion, significantly helping the economies of island nations. The World Bank says for that to happen, the region needs to focus on improved international transport links and aggressively target higher-spending tourists from markets such as China.

Author of the Pacific Possible tourism report John Perrottet says tourism is one of the Pacific region’s most economically viable sectors, with significant opportunities for sustainable growth in the Chinese tourist, cruise ship, luxury travel and retiree markets.

Perrottet believes the United States, China and Japan could be the next boom markets. In 2014, the region hosted 1.37 million overnight visitors with most coming from Australia and New Zealand.

had signalled more aid may be in the pipeline for Fiji after pledging NZ$3.2million (F$4.58m) including defence force assets and personnel.

Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Fiji soured after the 2006 takeover. Australia and NZ deserted Fiji and were instrumental in Fiji being suspended from Pacific Islands Forum.

But the relations were restored after Mr Bainimarama’s FijiFirst party won the 2014 general election. However, the situation was complicated when Mr Bainimarama did not attend the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in

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Source: Fiji Sun

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key at a meeting in the UN last year

Their talks focused on Fiji’s role in the Pacific and a likelihood of a top-level visit

by Mr Key. Next month’s visit would be the icing on the cake for the restored relations.

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Mr Bainimarama revealed this while addressing the World Humanitarian Summit on the implementation of the Nansen Initiative, a proposed international mechanism to protect people displaced across borders because of natural disasters and climate change in Istanbul, Turkey.

Mr Bainimarama said Fiji was ready to support its island neighbours in the event that the current scientific projections were realised and the islands were submerged.

"One of Fiji's formal commitments at this summit is to support the Nansen process.

Fiji has offered to give a permanent home to the populations of two of our closest neighbours—Kiribati and Tuvalu—and we will naturally need the assistance of the global community to carry out that mass movement of people when the time comes.

"It is understood the leaders have yet to establish an international legal framework to address the issue of displacement of people who are vulnerable to climate change." Mr Bainimarama said Fiji had allocated funding to explore the researched legal areas of climate change, including giving refuge to the citizens of Kiribati and Tuvalu.

"In the meantime, we have facilitated the purchase by Kiribati of a large area of land on our second biggest island, Vanua Levu, to ensure its food security. Our own challenge as mainly volcanic mountainous islands pales into insignificance beside the challenge to our atoll neighbours."

Port Moresby early September last year.

Mr Bainimarama objected to Australia and New Zealand’s “undue influence” and said he would not attend the Pacific Islands Forum until the two countries became development partners rather than full members. He said he believed Pacific Islands Forum no longer served the best interests of Pacific islands.

A few weeks later, on September 30, Mr Key and Mr Bainimarama posed together for a photo in New York. After a quick chat about rugby, the two leaders withdrew to a private room to continue their meeting.

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Thought of the week

One person’s craziness is another person’s reality — Tim Burton

Editorial

From the desk of the Managing Editor

“

The most self-defeating thing you can do is to take action with divided intention.

If you are doing something while resisting, resenting, or complaining about it, you are ripping yourself off, along with everyone else involved. Nothing is more annoying than someone doing something and kvetching and whining as they do it.

Either do something with a whole heart or don’t do it. If you agree to do something, then really do it. If you don’t agree to do it, then really don’t do it. Be total.” ~Alan Cohen from Enough Already

I really like these words. These also remind me of the words of Walter Russell, who gives his brilliant insight saying: “There should be no distasteful tasks in one’s life. If you just hate to do a thing that hatred for it develops body-destructive toxins and you become fatigued very soon. You must love anything you must do. Do it not only cheerfully but also lovingly and the very best way you know how. That love of the work which you must do anyhow will vitalize your body and keep you from fatigue.”

There are many others who have spoken about the importance of pursuing what you really enjoy or love to do. Often times, this takes a lot of effort to break through your comfort zones and chase after a dream. Sometimes it may even involve taking a leap of faith in the direction of your dreams, sometimes the risk may actually be quite significant, but eventually the pros far outweigh the cons.

Just as we are putting this issue together, the Hon. Bill English is announcing the Budget 2016. We bring you some instant snapshots of what’s coming. The analysis and further details of the budget and how it will affect the community, in general, will be covered in the next issue.

At a glance, health, education and social services seem to be the big winners in a Budget, which contains some surprises but also a few contentious moves.

Auckland housing along with Justice and Defence also feature prominently in the National-led government’s eighth Budget. There, however, seems to be no respite for first-home buyers but at a glance, it seems that funding will help free up land for housing developments in Auckland and open up more social housing places for the most desperate families.

The Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame is drawing closer, and we are bracing ourselves for the biggest celebration for the Kiwi-Indian community. The nominations have now been handed over to the jury to deliberate and make their decision regarding who the winners will be this year. As developments keep happening, we will keep bringing you the updates.

Winter is slowly setting in, and I hope that all our readers are looking after their health. Until next time.

Pick of the week

In the Dead of Night : The skies are in constant movement over the stillness of Dead Vlei (“dead marsh”) in Namibia. The star trails are a fitting backdrop to a landscape that looks otherworldly even in the light of day. (Photograph by Michael Kovler)

Until next time.

Giri Gupta

Indian Weekender : Volume 8 Issue 10 Publisher: Kiwi Media Group Limited Managing Editor: Giri Gupta | girigupta@xtra.co.nz Editor: Annu Sharma | editor@indianweekender.co.nz Chief Reporter: Swati Sharma | reporter@indianweekender.co.nz Reporter: Rizwan Mohammad | iwk.rizwan@gmail.com Reporter: Esha Chanda | iwk.eshac@gmail.com Chief Technical Officer: Rohan Desouza | rohan@indianweekender.co.nz Sr Graphics and Layout Designer: Mahesh Kumar | mahesh@indianweekender.co.nz Graphic Designer: Yashmin Chand | designer@indianweekender.co.nz Accounts and Admin.: accounts@indianweekender.co.nz Sales, Marketing & Distribution: 022 3251630 / mahesh@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 Published by Kiwi Media Group, 98 Great South Road, Auckland • T. +64 09 213 7335 Printed at Horton Media, Auckland Copyright 2016. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

Cover photo courtesy nbr.co.nz

Word: Chur Meaning: Cheers Usage: Jack: Saw you were running low bro got you another beer John: Chur bro!

Tip from the trenches

Tips to go greener at home • • • •

Switch all your lightbulbs to CFLs Plant a herb garden Use cloth napkins instead of paper Unplug unused chargers and appliances • Replace glass jars as leftovers containers

17

OPINION/EDITORIAL

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

White House contenders: bend it like them!

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Arun Kumar

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andhi did not quite say it. But that has not come in the way of any of the three remaining White House warriors from Republican Donald Trump to Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton to purpose it in their cause.

Capitalist Donald has done it to plug “Make America Great Again,” Socialist Bernie to show “A Future to Believe in” and sophist “Hillary for America” “Fighting for Us” to simply suggest “Love trumps hate.”

But Trump trumps them all. The pearl of wisdom misattributed to the Mahatma by many, according to fact checking site Snopes.com—“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”—fits the Manhattan mogul to a T. For the apostle of peace and non-violence there was “no god higher than truth”. But they have no such qualms. No one can bend it like them.

After demolishing “Low Energy” Jeb Bush, “Little Marco” Rubio and “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, the master of monikers Trump has now turned full blast on “Crooked Hillary”.

First, he called Bill Clinton “the worst abuser of women in the history of politics” and Hillary an “enabler” of her husband’s peccadilloes. Now Trump aided and abetted by a Fox News host has branded an allegation of sexual assault against the former president as “rape”.

Clinton, in turn, has called Trump “divisive and dangerous”, “unmoored”, and “a loose cannon”.

And from her opponent’s hurry to call EgyptAir plane crash a likely “terrorist attack” she “has concluded he’s not qualified to be president”. She called his “suggestion” to temporarily bar all Muslims

Republican Donald Trump

Democrat Hillary Clinton

Democrat Bernie Sanders

from entering the US “until we figure out what’s going on” a total ban on Muslims.

It would keep even Nobel Prize winners out and send a “message of disrespect” to Muslim nations and a message to terrorists.

Trump’s willingness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un became praise for a repressive regime and his criticism of British Prime Minister David Cameron as an attack on US allies.

Trump hit back Friday, calling her “absolutely dumb” and suggesting the former secretary of state is “ill-equipped” for the presidency.

He has also egged “Crazy Bernie” to take on Hillary as an independent, saying the Democratic system of picking their nominee is as “rigged as the Republicans”.

Trump and Bernie may have a lot to disagree, but they agree on at least one thing: Hillary is “unqualified” to be president. She has shown poor judgement

in voting for the “disastrous” Iraq war (ditto Trump), refused to release transcripts of her speeches to big banks for $225,000 dollars a pop and raised millions from Wall Street.

Clinton, who thinks her being the Democratic nominee is a done deal in effect with her “insurmountable” lead in pledged delegates, has returned the compliment questioning Sanders’ qualifications for not doing his “homework” on his big promises.

She has also accused him of backing gun manufacturers despite his D minus grade from the powerful gun lobby and criticised him for not releasing his tax returns.

Sanders’ take on that is: “My wife does the taxes and she is busy campaigning.”

But maths-defying Sanders dogged persistence to fight till the very end, even as new polls show an overwhelming majority of Republican voters pushing their party leaders to get behind Trump, has the

Democrats worried. Unlike India, there are literally no writings on the walls, but with more and more Trump lawn signs popping up in “suburbs that had been trending blue” Democratic, as the Washington Post put it in a report from Philadelphia, is adding to their headache.

With choice limited to “widely disliked” Trump and Clinton, as a new NYT/CBS poll revealed, a Virginia woman took the matter in her own hands, or at least one of her sons did after she died of lung cancer at 68.

“Faced with the prospect of voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, Mary Anne Noland of Richmond chose instead to pass into the eternal love of God,” the dutiful son wrote in her obit to “carry on her sense of humour.”

Unfortunately that choice is not widely available!

With Assam in bag, time to move forward with reforms Amulya Ganguli

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ssam has given Narendra Modi a breather. It is now up to him to make full use of the time he has got to recover from last year’s drubbings in Delhi and Bihar, and brace for the battles in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Goa next year.

Assam was a low-hanging fruit for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by an octogenarian who couldn’t keep his house in order as the politically damaging departure of an able lieutenant, Himanta Biswa Sarma, from the Congress showed.

Uttar Pradesh will be different as the BJP will come up against the feisty Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), who expects to cash in on the antiincumbency sentiments against the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

In Punjab and possibly in Goa, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) will make its debut outside of Delhi with its usual hyperbole.

Again, the task will not be easy for the BJP, which tends to be thrown off balance by Arvind Kejriwal’s rhetoric skirting the thin line between insult—the prime minister is a psychopath, he once said—and defamation.

Only in Gujarat can the BJP expect to hold its own because, for one, its opponent will be a Congress licking its wounds from a series of defeats.

For another, Modi’s home state can be expected to stand by him even if his successor as chief minister, Anandiben

Amguri Voters wait in queues to cast their vote during the first phase of Assam Assembly election in Amguri in Sivasagar district of Assam

Patel, hasn’t been a roaring success. What the battles against the BSP, SP and AAP underline is the Congress’s absence as the BJP’s main adversary.

It is not a Congress-mukt Bharat yet, as the BJP’s provocative slogan about ridding India of the Congress proclaims.

But the political scene appears to be evolving in that direction as the mother-and-son duo of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi appears clueless about ways to revive the party.

But there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip. The BJP will need at least the victories in Gujarat and Goa to justify its slogan since U.P. and Punjab are tough nuts to crack, the latter being hobbled by the misrule of the father-andson combine of Prakash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal.

To advance towards the objective of decimating the Congress, therefore, the BJP has to be far more politically savvy than it has been till now.

Since Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the BJP’s victory in Assam

underlines a popular rejection of the politics of obstructionism practised by the Congress, Modi will have to reach out to possible allies in order to push through the partially stalled economic reforms.

The two victorious ladies will have to be on the top of the BJP’s list in this regard.

Modi is fortunate that both Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalithaa are expected to be more confident at the beginning of their second terms and are unlikely to hesitate in the matter of striking deals with the centre.

Of the two, Mamata Banerjee’s extraordinary success can enable her to enlist the support of the BJP MLAs in West Bengal as she helps Modi to implement reforms.

The death blows she has inflicted on the Congress and the Left are expected to neutralise their carping exercise in naysaying on the pro-market initiatives.

Jayalalithaa, too, will be an able ally since she has no ideological hang-ups about a neo-liberal economy.

It is possible that the reverses suffered by the Congress from the time of its defeats in four assembly elections in 2013 followed by the general election drubbing in 2014 and the latest losses in Assam, Kerala and West Bengal will take the wind out of the sails of the “socialists” in the party led by Sonia Gandhi.

However, it is not only the Congress, which advocates this outdated thesis but also parties such as the Janata Dal (United), the SP and others in the so-called Janata parivar.

Modi has to take the present opportunity, therefore, to push ahead energetically with reforms in parliament and outside so that the roadblocks on the path of economic growth are quickly removed as well as discredited.

At the same time, a palpable sign of employment-generating development will silence the “socialists” and weaken them in electoral terms since the modern generation looks for jobs and not dead dogmas.

Apart from the focus on the economy, the prime minister will have to cut the loudmouths in the saffron brotherhood to size lest their comments on the removal of the Reserve Bank governor and the building of the Ram temple are interpreted as those of Modi.

He will also have to pay greater heed to the views of industrialist Adi Godrej about the baneful effects of measures such as the beef ban and prohibition on the economy.

The almost constant round of elections has its value in telling the politicians what needs to be done to keep the system on the move.

For instance, the results show, as in West Bengal, that opportunistic alliances like the one between the Left and the Congress have no future.

And Jayalalithaa’s success has shown that in choosing between two sets of tainted parties, the voter rejects the one by a nonagenarian.

In traditionally Left-leaning Kerala, the comrades will feel that it is not the end of the road for them as their critics believe.

18

INDIA

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

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Cook, Modi discuss plans to manufacture in India

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n a fresh insight into Apple’s future plans for India, CEO Tim Cook discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the possibilities of manufacturing and retailing in the country as the two met on Saturday, May 21.

On his part, Modi explained his Digital India initiative and identified its three key objectives as e-education, health and increasing farmers’ incomes.

“Modi sought support from Apple in these objectives,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

During the meeting, Cook, 55, appreciated the breadth of young talent in India, saying the “youth have significant skills, which Apple would like to tap”.

He mentioned the immense potential for “app-development” that exists in the country and elaborated on the Map Development Centre that Apple is setting up in Hyderabad.

Hailing Modi’s initiatives in “ease of doing business”, Cook also launched an updated version of the Narendra Modi Mobile App. In an exchange of tweets later, the two praised each other.

“Thank you @tim_cook! Friends, welcome and happy volunteering. Your views and efforts are always enriching,”

Apple CEO Tim Cook calls on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on May 21

Modi tweeted. Cook replied: “Thanks @ narendramodi for a great meeting. Already looking forward to next visit to India. Best wishes on the app!”

“I am delighted to share that Tim Cook launched an updated version of the ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App’. Thank you, Cook,” said Modi in his tweet.

“I urge you to have a look at the new feature My Network that empowers you to contribute on lively and enriching forums where you can share your ideas and deliberate with others. You will also enjoy the daily tasks on the app,” the prime minister added.

They also deliberated on issues regarding cyber security and data encryption.

Modi encouraged Cook to help the global community to cope with the challenges of cyber crime. In an interview with an Indian TV channel on Friday, Cook asserted that he was looking at India holistically and Apple was “here for the next thousand years”—a comment that was hailed by Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at an event later.

“I complement Apple chief executive for a public commitment of one thousand years in India. We are ready to work together,” Prasad said. Cook also met Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, one of India’s leading telecommunication companies which was the first to launch 4G in India and set to offer the service countrywide.

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Modi calls for country to move towards cashless society

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enewing calls for India to move towards a “cashless society”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, May 22, said this was essential to curb black money in the country.

Exhorting citizens to begin using the “electronic technological” payments systems put in place, Modi in his Mann ki Baat address over All India Radio said, “I urge fellow citizens to begin using the electronic modes of cashless transaction and illegal businesses will close down, black money will disappear. Through electronictechnological means we can now both pay and receive money. The world is moving towards a cashless society.”

The prime minister also said the move towards such a society was being enabled by the government’s JAM initiative—Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar and Mobile—to implement direct transfer of benefits.

“Through the JAM trinity, we can move towards a cashless society,” Modi said.

“RuPAY cards have been given with Jan Dhan accounts and in the coming days these will have credit and debit card facilities, to disincentivise cash transactions,” he added.

RuPAY cards were launched by the National Payments Corporation of India to address the needs of Indian consumers, merchants and banks. The benefits of RuPay debit card are flexibility of the product platform and high levels of acceptance.

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INDIA

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

19

India, Iran commit to build strong India appreciates Canadian PM’s gesture relationship based on civilisational ties

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ndia on Saturday, May 21, appreciated Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s gesture of apologising in the House of Commons in Ottawa for the infamous Komagata Maru incident of 1914.

“We welcome and deeply appreciate the gesture of Prime Minister of Canada to deliver a formal apology in the House of Commons for the Komagata Maru incident,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a statement.

“The Indian diaspora in Canada has contributed immensely to Canada’s growth and development and acts as a bond between our two nations. Prime Minister Trudeau’s gesture constitutes an acknowledgment of the positive role of the Indian diaspora,” he said. The Komagata Maru was a Japanese ship that was hired by a rich Malaysia-based Sikh, Baba Gurdit Singh, to bring 376 Indians, mostly Sikhs, to Canada to challenge the racist laws of the time in 1914. Since both India and Canada were British dominions at that time, the Indians should have had the right to enter Canada. But the Canadian government of that time put in place various clauses in laws to bar Indians from entering Canada. The Komagata Maru,

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the Secretariat Lobby at the UN headquarters

which entered Vancouver harbour on May 23, 1914, was forcibly sent back to India after two months. On reaching Budge Budge in Calcutta in September 1914, the passengers were subjected to firing by British Indian police in which 19 of them were killed.

In his apology in the House of Commons on Wednesday, May 19, Trudeau said, “Canada’s government was, without question, responsible for the laws that prevented these passengers from immigrating peacefully and securely. For that, and for every regrettable consequence that followed, we are sorry.” In his statement on Saturday, Swarup said that Trudeau’s gesture reflected “Canada’s commitment to the values of pluralism and multiculturalism, which India fully shares”.

n Monday, May 23, India and Iran pledged to build a strong and cooperative bilateral relationship based on the strength of their historical and civilisational ties.

The two sides also saw “potential for cooperation” in the sphere of mines and mining besides other sectors and also “noted their shared desire to develop an Information and Communication Technology Zone in Chabahar”.

“The leaders (Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi) were united in their determination to build a strong, contemporary and cooperative relationship that draws upon the strength of the historical and civilisational ties between the two countries,” a joint statement issued said.

Both countries “were also of the view that their governments must enable and encourage utilisation of the emerging opportunities to the maximum possible extent in all areas of bilateral economic and commercial cooperation, in particular connectivity and infrastructure, energy, and trade and investment”.

The statement further said, “The Iranian side welcomed the investment of Indian side in setting up plants in sectors such as fertilisers, petrochemicals and metallurgy in Chabahar FTZ on

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of Iran Hassan Rouhani, during the Joint Press Statement, in Tehran, Iran on May 23

terms mutually beneficial to the concerned parties.”

Rouhani and Modi also welcomed prospects for participation of India’s railways in various ongoing and future projects. In this regard, they noted the steps for cooperation taken

by IRCON and CDTIC of Islamic Republic of Iran, the statement said. The Indian side thanked the Iranian government for India’s ongoing participation and investment in the development of the oil and gas sector in Iran.

In this regard, they expressed the hope that a Heads of Agreement will be concluded by the third quarter of 2016, it said. The leaders noted with satisfaction the decision to convene a bilateral ‘Energy Dialogue’ with participation of important stakeholders alternately in India and Iran, to focus on all aspects of mutual concern in the energy sector.

“President Rouhani and Prime Minister Modi agreed to strengthen the longstanding trade ties between the two countries by, inter alia, stepping up the momentum of economic engagement through early conclusion of a Preferential Trade Agreement, preferably within a year. The two leaders also directed that Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and Bilateral Investment Treaty should be concluded before the end of the year,” it said.

According to the joint statement, “India fully supports the accession of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the World Trade Organisation and the ongoing consensus building efforts among WTO members to reactivate the accession process, consistent with the objective of making the organisation universal and inclusive.”

westernunion.co.nz

20

INDIA

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

India successfully tests winged reusable launch vehicle Red

Fakir Balaji

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n Monday, May 23, India successfully tested its home-grown winged reusable launch vehicle (RLV), demonstrating its space technology prowess and joining an elite club of space-faring nations such as the US, Russia and France.

“We have successfully tested the first delta-winged-body aerospace vehicle operating in hypersonic flight regime,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement after accomplishing the mission as a technology demonstrator (RLV-TD).

“We have successfully accomplished the RLV-TD mission. The lift-off was at 7 a.m. from the first launch pad,” ISRO director Devi Prasad Karnik said after the shuttle returned to Earth.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian scientists.

Mukherjee, in a message, said, “Heartiest congratulations to ISRO Team on successful launch of India’s first indigenous space shuttle RLV-T.” Modi said in a tweet: “The dynamism and dedication with which our scientists and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) have worked over the years is exceptional and very inspiring.”

The sleek 1.7-tonne RLV was latched on top of a 15-tonne rocket with a booster for lift-off from the spaceport here in Andhra Pradesh, about 80km north of Chennai, off the Bay of Bengal coast. “We started the countdown for liftoff at 11 p.m. on Sunday and the

rocket blasted off at 7 a.m., as the wind and weather conditions were good for launching the vehicle,” ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSS) director K. Sivan said later.

After 91.1 seconds into the flight, the burn out occurred while the rocket along its vehicle coasted to an altitude of 56 km and separated to ascend to 65 km above the Earth in sub-orbital space.

From 65 km height, the vehicle began its descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at Mach 5 (five times speed of sound).

“Navigation, guidance and control system steered the vehicle for safe descent to the defined landing spot over the Bay of Bengal, about 450 km from Sriharikota on the east coast,” the statement said.

The entire flight duration from launch to landing in the sea was 13.3 minutes. Critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance and control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management have been validated. The vehicle was tracked during its flight from ground stations at Sriharikota and a ship-borne terminal.

“We have located the place where the vehicle is floating. The landing was soft as the vehicle was intact and did not break up on impact,” Sivan claimed.

The Indian Coast Guard and National Institute of Ocean Technology extended support for the mid-sea wind measurement and ship-borne telemetry in the mission.

The space agency’s telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) centre in Bengaluru

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying Indian Regional Navigation Satellite SystemIRNSS-1F blasts off from Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra Pradesh on March 10

recorded the data of the vehicle’s hypersonic speed, autonomous landing and powered cruise flight using air-breathing propulsion.

The maiden mission has qualified India to enter the elite club of space-faring nations such as the US (NASA), Russia (Roscosmos), France (European Space Agency) and Japan (Jaxa), which developed and used RLVs for their space missions over the years.

The seven-metre RLV prototype was used as a flying test bed to evaluate technologies the state-run space agency developed to reduce the cost of launching satellites into the Earth’s polar and

geo-stationary orbits in the next decade. “The long-term objective of this mission is to reduce the launch cost by 80 per cent of the present cost by using a reusable vehicle,” Sivan said, ahead of the test.

Rockets and support systems for launching satellites and space exploration missions are made at the space agency’s VSSC at Thiruvananthapuram in southern Kerala.

Space agencies around the world spend, on an average, $20,000 per kg to build and use medium-to-heavy weight rockets to launch satellites into the Earth’s polar and geo-stationary

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orbits, about 36,000 km above planet Earth. “In subsequent test flights, we will attempt to land the reusable vehicle at a specific location on land like an aircraft does on a runway so that we can again use it for launching satellites,” Sivan pointed out.

The space agency is developing the RLV and its support systems from the budget earmarked annually for technology development and research and development activities.

The cost of developing the RLV technology is estimated to be about Rs.100 crore ($14 million).

“Developing the complex technology and using a reusable vehicle will take over a decade as we have to build them with our own resources,” Sivan added.

The space agency will make two more RLV prototypes with additional features for other tests before the final version, which will be six times bigger than its demonstrators.

US-based billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin have recently conducted similar test launches.

SpaceX tested its Falcon 9 rocket in December while Blue Origin’s New Shepard completed a third launch and vertical landing in April.

NASA, however, grounded its space shuttle programme in 2011 after using its reusable vehicles such as Discovery, Endeavor, Columbia and Challenger as a space transportation system for over three decades since 1981 to launch various missions, including International Space Station (ISS) and Hubble telescope.

Special visa for foreign film-makers in offing

I NEW ZEALAND FIRST LIST MP

MAHESH BINDRA BASED IN AUCKLAND

Contact Auckland Office

Level 1, 21 East Tamaki Rd, Papatoetoe, Auckland 2025 Ph: 0800 BINDRA (246372) mahesh.bindra@parliament.govt.nz

Authorised by Mahesh Bindra, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

n a major move to make India a global film shooting hub, the information and broadcasting ministry has urged the home and external affairs ministries that a special category visa be created for foreign film-makers who want to visit India and scout for shooting locales in the country.

While the suggestions were made to the ministries of external affairs and home separately to facilitate travel within India of foreign film-makers, official sources said the matter may be initially referred to a panel of officials from the concerned ministries and departments.

“There are various issues involved.

Foreign nationals visiting north-eastern India require another permit called Restricted Area Permit (RAP) besides the necessary passport-visa. All these need to be examined,” an official said. Meanwhile, official sources said that a proposal has been prepared under which the central government may provide assistance to an Indian film competing for the Oscars.

An assistance of Rs.1 crore may be given to films in contention for an award at Cannes or Rs.50 lakh for films at Venice.

INDIA ABROAD

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Indian students win six awards at Intel competition in US

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ndian students have won six awards at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the US where New Delhi’s Shreyas Kapur was declared the grand winner of the “Google Thinking Big Award.”

Organised by Intel Corporation and the Society for Science and the Public in Arizona this month, the Indian team comprising 16 students won a total of $9,500 in three grand awards and three special awards in the fields of biotechnology, medicine, biomedical engineering and mathematics, Intel declared in a statement on Tuesday, May 24.

Kapur from Modern School at Barakhamba Road won the award for the “project that addresses a large and seemingly-impossible problem, by finding an elegant solution with broad impact.”

His project titled ‘Cellphone-based Optometry using Hybrid Images’ also won him third position in both the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Biomedical Engineering award.

Arvind Krishna Ranganathan from Ecole Mondiale World School in Mumbai won the second place for his

Indian-American student wins National Geographic Bee finals

O Organised by Intel Corporation and the Society for Science and the Public in Arizona this month, the Indian team comprising 16 students won a total of $9,500 in three grand awards

project titled ‘Deterministic Approach to the Position, Trajectory, and Collision Prediction of Particles within Bounded Two-Dimensional Environments’.

Suhani Sachin Jain and Divya Kranthi of Centre Point School in Nagpur won the third award in plant sciences for developing an ‘Innovative Strategy using Endophytes for Effective Biocontrol of Insect Pests in Cotton’.

Vasudev Malyan of Maharaja Agarsain Public School in Delhi won fourth spot

in translational medical science for the development of a ‘Novel Paper Sensor as a Diagnostic Test for Multiple Sclerosis’.

The 16 Indian students were selected to attend ISEF as finalists of the Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS) 2016 that featured more than 1,700 young scientists selected from 419 affiliate fairs in 77 countries.

The Intel Foundation also awarded $1,000 grant to each winner’s school and to the affiliated fair they represented.

ut of the 10 finalists for this year’s National Geographic Bee, three Indian-American students secured the first three positions.

Rishi Nair, 12, from Florida was declared the winner of the 28th annual National Geographic Bee title. He received a $50,000 college scholarship and will travel on an allexpenses paid trip to Lindbald expedition to southeast Alaska, including a stop at Glacier Bay National Park. Fourteen-year-old Saketh Jonnalagadda from Massachusetts secured the second place and received a $25,000 college scholarship while the third place was secured by Kapil Nathan, a 12-year-old from Alabama, who received a $10,000 college scholarship.

Indian Americans students hold the record of winning the last four championships with Rahul Nagvekar winning in 2012, Sathwik Karnik in 2013, Akhil Rekulapelli in 2014 and Karan Menon in 2015.

The remaining seven finalists won $500 each.

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SPORTS

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

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Liverpool to face Barcelona in International Champions Cup

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nglish football club Liverpool will take on Spanish champions FC Barcelona in the International Champions Cup clash at the Wembley Stadium in London on August 6.

Liverpool ambassador Gary McAllister and Ronald de Boer, representing Barcelona, were at Wembley on May 24 to launch the news of the clash.

“What an incredible game to round off such a high-profile tournament, and all set under the iconic Wembley arch.

“I’m sure this game will be a great spectacle for Reds fans and football fans in general.

“I can’t wait,” McAllister was quoted as saying by Liverpool’s official website on Tuesday, May 24.

The Jurgen Klopp-coached side are one of 10 teams competing in the International Champions Cup and will play two matches in California in July before heading back to the United Kingdom to face Barcelona.

Liverpool will take on Chelsea at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on July 27, followed by AC Milan three days later at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Barcelona last played Liverpool in the last-16 stage of the Champions League nine years ago

IPL: AB patiently hunts victory for RCB from Gujarat Lions

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oyal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsmen AB De Villiers and Iqbal Abdullah guided the team to a fourwicket win against Gujarat Lions in the first qualifier of IPL match on Tuesday, May 24 at the Chinnaswami stadium in Bengaluru.

RCB scored 159/6 to snatch the victory from the Lions with 10 balls to spare.

With an asking rate of 7.5 runs in 20 overs, Royal Challengers started off shakily, losing wickets early. Gujarat Lions bowler Dhawal Kulkarni ripped apart RCB top order, castling both the openers Virat Kohli for duck and Chris Gayle for nine.

Three Royal Challengers batsmen suffered duck-out fate, Kohli, Rahul and Baby. RCB was 65/5 midway through the sixth over and lost another wicket before the end of 10 overs.

It was at this difficult juncture that star South African batsman De Villiers took the onus of steering the team to victory aided

by Stuart Binny (21) and Abdulla (33) later.

De Villiers remained unbeaten at 79 in 47 balls with five fours and five sixes, playing slowly and responsibly initially but breaking free later after the 15th over to ensure the match was safe in the hands of Royal Challengers. Abdullah and De Villiers managed to grab 16 and 15 runs respectively in the 15th and 16th overs to lower the asking rate to 32 runs in 23 balls by the 17th over.

The batsmen constructed an unbroken partnership of 91 runs in 52 balls. Kulkarni came out with the best bowling figures for Gujarat Lions with 4/14 with a splendid

AB de Villiers of Royal Challengers Bangalore in action during qualifier 1 of IPL 2016 between Gujarat Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore at M Chinnaswamy Stadium

economy of just 3.50 while Jadeja was the only other bowler to claim wickets for the Lions with bowling figures of 2/21. Earlier, Gujarat Lions set RCB a target of 159 runs

after Dwayne Smith (73) saved the day for the visitors, enabling them to cross 150 runs. After openers Brendon McCullum (1) and Aaron Finch (4) departed in the second over off left-arm spinner Abdullah, Smith rose to the rescue of his team with 73 runs in 41 balls, smashing five fours and six sixes. With just nine runs on the score board and two wickets down, Gujarat lost another crucial wicket, Suresh Raina (1) was caught by Sreenath Aravind off Shane Watson’s bowling in the fourth over.

With the top order crumbling, no boundaries were hit even after four overs, until Smith hit two in the fifth over.

Only Dinesh Karthik (26) and Eklavya Dwivedi (19) made some contribution with the bat to put a respectable total, while other batsmen fizzled—Ravindra Jadeja (3), Dwayne Bravo (8), Praveen Kumar (5) and Dhawal Kulkarni (6). After 15 overs, the Lions managed to score 104/4 but Smith and Dwivedi powered it ahead until Royal Challengers captain Virat Kohli held two excellent catches in the long on area to send back Smith and Dwivedi, who had hit two sixes in the 19th. Electing to field first after winning the toss helped Kohli in not allowing a big total to the Lions. Watson 4/29 produced the best bowling figures, followed by Chris Jordan with 2/26 and Abdulla with 2/38, while bowling mainstay Yuzvendra Chahal managed only a wicket.

De Villiers was adjudged the man of the match for his winning knock.

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ricocheted off the woodwork as United seemed to be closing in on the opening goal.

Instead it was Palace that struck first in the 78th minute, with Jason Puncheon receiving the ball unmarked after United failed to clear a ball out of its area and powering a left-footed blast past David De Gea at close range. United struck back just two minutes later when Wayne Rooney made an

outstanding run down the right side before executing a cross that Fellaini chested to Spanish midfielder Juan Mata, who finished off the play with a left-footed volley that hit off defender Joel Ward’s ankle and into the net past net minder Wayne Hennessey.

The match came down to the extra period when defender Chris Smalling was sent off for a second yellow card in the

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IPL: De Kock’s 60 pulls Delhi to 138/8

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outh African opener Quinton de Kock’s matured 60-run knock helped Delhi Dardevils post 138/8 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a must-win encounter for both sides in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Sunday, May 22.

Fellow South African Chris Morris (27 not out) was the next most successful batsman for Delhi. Leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal claimed 3/32 off his four overs.

West Indian Chris Gayle chipped in with 2/11 in two overs.

RCB captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to chase at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium.

Sent in, Delhi lost Rishabh Pant (1) in the second over with the score at 11.

Pant tried to punch on the up a delivery from pacer Sreenath Aravind, but the ball held its line and flicked the outside edge of Pant’s bat to be caught behind.

De Kock together with No.3 batsman Karun Nair then put up a brief partnership.

But Nair (11) was dismissed after getting a promising start, superbly caught by Kohli off leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Nair played a booming drive to a flighted delivery. But Kohli completed a catch after sprinting a fair distance to reduce Delhi to 42/2 in the sixth over.

Sanju Samson (17) was the next man in and he too promised a lot. Hitting a six and a four to get settled only to lose his wicket in the 10th over with his team at 71/3.

They were in more trouble when Sam Billings (4) went cheaply. Chris Gayle took a sharp catch of the bowling of pacer Chris Jordan.

Losing wickets after building small partnerships was hurting Delhi’s cause though de Kock held firm. But at 81/4 in 11.2 overs, Delhi needed someone beside de Kock who brought up his 50 in the 14th over with a single. That didn’t happen. Instead, Delhi slipped further losing Pawan Negi (6) and Carlos Brathwaite (1) in the 15th over by Chris Gayle.

To make matters worse, de Kock went back in the next over, bowled by Jordan after hitting five fours and a six during his 52-ball knock. That deprived Delhi of a strong finish to their innings, though Morris provided some lusty blows. RCB replaced left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah with pacer Varun Aaron.

Delhi made two changes, bringing in batsman Sam Billings and all-rounder Chris Morris in place of Jean-Paul Duminy and Nathan Coulter-Nile, respectively.

Man United salvages season with 12th FA Cup title

remarkable goal by Jesse Lingard in the second half of extra time gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace in the Football Assoiation (FA) Cup final. It was United’s record-tying 12th title in football’s oldest tournament, reports Efe. Marouane Fellaini and Anthony Martial both fired shots early in the second that

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105th minute. But five minutes later, Lingard finished off the game in style with a powerful volley off an attempted clear that gave Hennessey no chance to react.

Manchester United saved the best for last in a disappointing season in which it was bounced from both the Champions League and Europa League and finished fifth in the Premier League.

KIDS ZONE

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

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A story about generosity e g d e l w o n k h t Fun wi M Black

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Help the bumble bee find his way to the flowers in this lovely hand-drawn maze

ahatma Gandhi was on an expedition to collect funds from various cities and villages for Charkha Sangh. He went to several palaces and reached Orissa. He had organised a meeting in Orissa. He requested to offer funds for the Sangh and gave a speech. After the speech, a very old woman with bent back, faltered clothing, white hair, dry and shrunk skin got up. She was trying to reach the stage and requested the volunteers to allow her to reach Gandhi Ji. However, the volunteers stopped her, yet she fought with them and reached Gandhi Ji. She touched the feet of Gandhi Ji. Then she took out a copper coin kept in her folds of saree and placed the copper coin at his feet. The old lady left the stage.

Gandhi Ji very carefully took the coin and placed it safely. The in-charge of the Sangh asked Gandhi Ji for the copper coins, but he refused to give it. I keep cheques worth thousands of rupees for the Charkha Sangh, the in-charge said laughingly yet you won't trust me with a copper coin. Gandhi Ji said, This copper coin is worth much more than those thousands Gandhi Ji said. If a man has several lakhs and he gives away a thousand or two, it doesn't mean much.

Yes, the coin was just the only thing that the poor old woman possessed. She did not even have proper clothes and seemed that she could not afford for good food, still gave everything she had. It was the greatest offer ever made. That is why Mahatma held the coin very preciously. We may have tons of wealth, but that doesn't make us generous.

Offering helping hand when we have nothing or very little wealth makes it more valuable.

Soduko

Solution to last week's Change Twelve Letters Puzzles

co.uk - Keeping Kids Busy Copyright of www.ActivityVillage.

I run a thousand miles But still can’t see you You used to stand right next to me But now I can’t even see your foot steps Is this the only way for you to punish me I know I haven’t kept my promise Been busy but I guess the time I should have spend with you Has taken us apart Send us stories, drawing s, poems and other contributions by your little ones along with their ph otographs for this page. E-mail us at editor@ indianweekender.co.nz

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Understanding exposure—Part 2/3 Jeffery Chan

The image to the left was shot with a wide aperture at f/1.4 making the background blurry so that attention is on the ring.

For a landscape image, where the aperture is f/11 in the image below, almost everything is in focus and visible.

This week, we shall explore in more detail in the second part of understanding exposure and the concept of depth of field.

Aperture

The Aperture is the opening in the lens that allows light to pass through. Think of it as a pupil of your eye. The amount of light is controlled by “f/stops”. As you can see in the diagram below, a shallow f/stop, usually f1.4, will allow plenty of light to pass through your lens. This has an effect of shallow depth of field, which simply means that if the focus is in the front, the background will become blurry. This is ideal for portrait photography.

On the opposite end, f22 restricts light and makes the foreground and background sharp. This is great for landscape shots where you want a sharp foreground and background.

see both objects when you photograph.

Set your camera to Aperture mode and the camera will adjust the other elements (Shutter and ISO) automatically. Focus on the front object and photograph using the widest Aperture of your lens. Change to the next f/stop and take another photo. Keep doing this till you reach f/11. You should see that the background object starts out blurry and keeps getting more in focus as you change your aperture.

Try

Tip

The best way to learn this is to try photographing using all the f/stop. Place two objects front and back on a table, separated by 10 inches. Make sure you can

ISO

Use the Aperture setting if you want to blur out either the background or foreground. This helps to draw the viewer’s attention to the point of focus. This is great for portrait, macro or food photography.

ISO is a level of sensitivity of your camera to available light. The lower the ISO, usually 100 or 200, the less sensitive it is to light while a higher ISO is more sensitive. The sensor on your camera is responsible for your ISO sensitivity and cost a big part of the camera. Think of it as the brains of your camera. Most modern digital cameras have advanced sensors that can capture low-light images without a flash. The result of high ISO is grainy images, or in the photographic term, noise. Generally, noise is not flattering in an image, but you can use it to produce an image that looks vintage..

How Aperture, Shutter and ISO affect each other can be seen from this Exposure Trinity diagram. I shall continue with Shutter in my next article.

Photo critique

Feel free to send in your photos for a constructive critique and I will publish them in the following articles. There are no right or wrong answers; just suggestive ways to improve an image. You can send them to jeff@studio81.co.nz

Jeffery is the owner and photographer at STUDIO81 photography which has 2 locations i.e. Newmarket and East Tamaki.

STUDIO81 is one of Auckland’s leading portrait photography studio and specialises in modern glamour transformation. Jeffery is an award winning photographer and NZIPP Master of Photography.

Kiwis encouraged to shave for a cause It was a tough decision, as I I have never cut Esha Chanda

n a bold yet simple move, thousands of Kiwis across the country participated in a hair-razing event held from April 4 to 10 to raise money to help 10,000 New Zealanders battling with blood cancer.

For the past 12 years, Kiwis have been showing solidarity with blood cancer patients by chopping off their locks.

The funds raised at the event go towards Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC)—a national charity dedicated to supporting patients and their families living with blood cancers.

LBC not only provides patient support but also uses the funds for research, information and awareness programmes.

“Shave for a Cure is such an exciting fundraiser for LBC and every year we are so blown away by the amount of selfless people who decide to shave,” says Pru Etcheverry, LCB’s CEO. Although Kiwis are encouraged to shave during the Shave Week, individuals interested in participating in the movement can shave anytime during the year. They can sign up for the cause or support someone by sponsoring a fundraising page on LCB’s website (www.shaveforacure.co.nz).

One such individual who chopped her locks is Stephanie Sequeira. She shaved her head on May 1 and has raised $2,141 so far through her fundraising page. Sequeira says, “In the past, my godfather (father’s brother), a strong businessman became weak when he lost his battle to cancer. It was difficult to go through that experience.

To show solidarity, all the men, including

my hair short, let alone shaving my head,” says Sequeira.

my dad, s h a v e d their head.

I thought that it was a commendable gesture.

In recent times, two family friends, both women in their 50s, had to go through chemotherapy.

“At a recent event, seeing someone bald, one of them said, ‘Now I will have some company, too!’ This is what made me look for things to do to create the same positive vibe.”

Like Sequeira, many Kiwis of all ages have pulled out their clippers to shave. The website’s leaderboard displays names of individuals, schools, businesses, community groups and farmers. As of May 25, LCB had crossed the one million mark. “It was a tough decision, as I have never cut my hair short, let alone shaved my head,” says Sequeira. “I decided to do it anyway because I act rather than just be sympathetic.”

When young Sequeria informed her employer ICNZ about her idea, they supported her by offering to host the event.

“It was a small event with some close family and friends.

The family friend who inspired me to do it was also there. I have raised $2,141 so far and hope to raise much more. Any support small or large will be greatly appreciated.”

Her goal is to reach $2,500.

Sequeira’s fundraising page can be found on my.leukaemia.net.nz/stephanieforsave

HALL OF FAME

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EDUCATION

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Applications sought from Kiwi youngsters

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otary is currently accepting applications from New Zealand students who want to experience a “true” exchange with a family on the other side of the Tasman, including a week-long safari.

Celebrating 50 years of exchanges in 2017, the Rotary Australia & New Zealand Student Exchange (RANZSE) programme is regarded as one of the most respected and safest student exchanges in the world.

Often referred to as a “matched twin exchange”, RANZE is primarily aimed at students between the ages of 13½ and 16, who will be in Year 10 or

Year 11 in the year of travel. The exchange covers two school terms.

Direction of travel alternates each year, but in 2017 New Zealand students will travel to Australia for one term, before they host their Australian “match” in the second term.

Chair of RANZE in New Zealand, Max Patmoy, from the Rotary Club of Ahuriri in Napier, said by becoming part of another family and attending school in another country, the Kiwi students experienced personal growth and development, enjoyed improved confidence and maturity, and learnt responsibility. “RANZSE differs from most youth exchanges

in that the student stays with the matched family in the other country with the support of the RANZSE committee and the local Rotary club in each country. It is for a shorter time away from home, the student participants are younger, and they reciprocate the hosting experience with their match family,” Mr Patmoy said.

There was an approximate cost of $4,500 to parents, Patmoy said, but that included airfares, spending money, a supervised bonding weekend and a supervised week-long ‘safari’, among other things. A contribution from the student’s sponsoring Rotary Club would go towards the cost of their

World-class creative learning centre launched in Wellington

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ellington’s creative community is set to benefit from the build of a new $22.5 million campus, which will produce more than 1,000 graduates each year to support New Zealand’s flourishing film, creative technology and applied arts industries.

Te Auaha New Zealand Institute of Applied Creativity has been established to provide a world-class learning facility in Wellington, New Zealand’s creative capital. The name Te Auaha means ‘to shape, create, form, fashion, create and innovate’ and reflects the exciting mix of programmes to be delivered in the campus.

Te Kāhui Auaha, which means ‘the cluster of creativity’, is the name provided by Te Ātiawa for the campus building. Established

by Whitireia New Zealand and the Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec), Te Auaha brings together programmes from Whitireia’s and WelTec’s visual and performing arts, design, media and creative technologies.

The new campus will provide a dynamic learning environment for students with world-class facilities, including a performance theatre, in-house cinema, music studios, photograph studies, workshops, hair and makeup studios, digital labs, and programmes that reflect industry requirements.

The campus build is part of a wider development of the old DEKA building by Willis Bond & Co. “Te Auaha New Zealand Institute of Applied Creativity will be unique in New Zealand bringing together an incredible range of tertiary education options for aspiring film directors, producers, musicians, artists and artisans, jewellers, photographers, graphic designers, animators, broadcasters and stage and screen performers,” says Roger Sowry, Council Chair of Whitireia

RANZSE gear, including polo and rugby shirts, jacket, backpack and duffle bag, passport holder and nametag. Any excess money would be used to offset the cost of the exchange, he said.

On her RANZSE trip to New Zealand this year, Australian student Lily Collins from Muswellbrook in New South Wales, was “matched” with Ana Rathbone, from Havelock North in Hawke’s Bay. Together they attended Anzac Day commemorations and travelled to the South Island, where they rode on the luge in Queenstown, visited Te Anau Glowworm Caves and cruised

Milford Sound.

“I [had] the pleasure of attending the ANZAC Day services; I was the only one who knew the Australian anthem. I got a couple of weird glances. I am so grateful to everyone who made the student exchange happen… I will never forget how amazing that trip was!” Collins said. Expressions of Interest forms can be found at rotary9930. org/Page/youth-ranzse which need to be returned by June 30.

Students may also apply online at http://rotary9930.org/Page/ youth-ranzse

New scholarships to support more students

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undreds of new undergraduate scholarships will be provided by the University of Auckland to help entrylevel students transition into university life.

Stuart McCutcheon. Guaranteed accommodation in a university hall of residence is a major component of the new scholarships. The accommodation package includes pastoral care, social activities, and membership of the University

The University of Auckland opened applications for four brand-new scholarship types that will be awarded to more than 400 students starting undergraduate studies in 2017: • University of Auckland Top Achiever Scholarships—value $20,000 • University of Auckland Māori Academic Excellence Scholarships—value $20,000 • University of Auckland Pacific Academic Excellence Scholarships—value $20,000 • University of Auckland Academic Potential Scholarships—value up to $20,000 The University of Auckland will have many more scholarships available for students to apply for than any other New Zealand university.

“Our focus in designing the new schemes and increasing the number of scholarships available has been on empowering students from schools across New Zealand to successfully transition into their first year at the university,” says University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Professor

Recreation Centre and, for first year students, three meals per day.

Auckland-based students wishing to live away from the family home, as well as students from elsewhere in New Zealand, will now be able to experience living in the central city, in a safe environment, with student services on hand and the opportunity to build lasting and supportive peer-group networks.

Living close to the university will ease the burden of travel time and costs for those who would otherwise be commuting and help incoming students get the most out of University life and opportunities.

The assessment criteria include whether an individual is the first in their family to attend university, is from a refugee background, has a disability, is living in a rural area, or is experiencing financial hardship.

Students currently enrolled in University pathway programmes will also be eligible to apply for the new University of Auckland Academic Potential Scholarship.

Applications for these scholarships close on August 23.

Whitiereia performing arts student Orama Fisher with Te Auaha ambassador Gino Acevedo

Kidman, creative performance Launched to around director and entrepreneur Dame 200 industry leaders, Suzie Moncrieff, musician and business people, central composer Barnaby Weir, digital Scott Houston, and local government technologist make-up artist Gino Acevedo, representatives and and internationally acclaimed media, Te Auaha New choreographer Malia Johnston.

“We are very excited to have Zealand Institute of these ambassadors on board Applied Creativity, supporting this important located in Wellington’s development in Wellington,” says Whitireia and WelTec Chief creative precinct on Executive Chris Gosling.

Cuba Street will open “The ambassadors are all incredibly well known in their for learning in early field of expertise and it is an 2018. immense privilege to have and WelTec. The launch included an array of live performances showcasing the best from the new institute’s programmes, alongside speeches from Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment Hon Steven Joyce and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Hon Maggie Barry.

High profile creative sector ambassadors were announced at the event to represent Te Auaha.

The inaugural ambassadors drawn from a number of the areas in which Whitireia and WelTec teach are: renowned writer Dame Fiona

them supporting Te Auaha and helping us tell the Te Auaha story to the rest of the country and the world.”

Construction of Te Kāhui Auaha is well underway and will include an impressive array of learning spaces including 9,000m2 of dance studios, rehearsal and performance spaces, recording studios, mixing rooms and an in-house radio station, studios and salons for hair, beauty and make-up artistry, workshops for woodwork, jewellery making and sculpture, film photography studio and dark rooms, a 250 seat theatre and a 60 seat cinema.

FEATURES

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

A metal musician’s quest to revive physical formats in India

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Ankit Sinha

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ne of the fondest memories of my early teenage days was scrounging for music CDs at stores.

At that time, I was completely oblivious about the Internet and didn’t even own a computer. The notion of high-speed online music streaming and searching for music on smartphone apps was like a dystopian dream.

I may have been 16 when I unknowingly stumbled upon a bootlegged CD compilation featuring hard rock and thrash metal acts such as Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. When I slipped the disc in my old stereo system, I had no inkling that the music I was about to hear would change my life forever. Almost a decade later, I am still a proud metal head and, yes, I am still attached to the physical format of CDs and even vinyl more than ever.

Although in today’s Internet era, where everything is just a click away, devout fanatics of hard rock and heavy metal like me have a hard time sourcing physical copies of albums. A look at the once-popular music store Planet M’s website—where 32 pages worth of listed music items are labelled “out of stock”—is enough to understand the abysmal state of the physical format in the country.

However, defying all odds, and even somewhat succeeding in his effort to keep the scene alive, Bengaluru-based musician and entrepreneur Vikram Bhat is still ensuring that in these dark times, the country’s select few metal fans and rock lovers continue

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to get their regular supply of music titles through his store Mahatobar Distribution.

Bhat, who is also the frontman of long-running death metal band Dying Embrace, says the idea to create a physical store came through his quest to “get good music out to fellow fans”. A couple of years ago, he took a leap of faith and established a small shop at M.G. Road, Bengaluru, to relive the old memories he grew up with and “also for younger fans to experience how it is to be in a store with physical copies of music on display”.

People thought he was crazy, but the store recently completed its second anniversary, thus dispelling the notion that people don’t want to buy CDs or vinyl anymore.

While most youngsters today spend their time streaming music online, checking a song or two before moving on to the next artiste, Bhat proudly imports titles from music giants such as Sony Music, EMI, Warner, Universal along with a plethora of underground heavy metal record labels.

“Sourcing stocks is not much of a problem, the companies are surprised that there is a market still and there is a physical store still standing. I am pretty much the only one they are importing rock and metal titles for in the country exclusively. Most bigger stores have given up,” Bhat said.

“There was a booming bootleg and tape trading scene back then...

Friends would get an album from a friend who had a friend, who got the album from a friend’s friend,” he reminisced.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Vikram Bhat was a part of the city’s tape trading scene—the primary way for rock and metal lovers to source the music in the country during those days.

To one’s surprise, even in the late 80s and 90s, Bengaluru (then Bangalore) had plenty of little music shops that peddled hard rock and heavy metal albums.

“Major labels [such as] HMV, Magnasound [and] Universal all put out metal albums on cassette tapes adding to the madness.

Actually, we were spoilt for choice without the Internet; only difference, we had to pay for the music, which kept the industry rolling, the shops running and our passions fuelled,” he said.

“The 80s and 90s had so many fans, shows would have nothing less than 200 to 400 fans turning up and everything was spread via word of mouth. The underground music network worked better that way,” Bhat added.

It was during the 1990s when Bhat took his undying passion for heavy metal to newer heights by stepping in as the vocalist of Misanthrope—touted as the firstever death metal band to emerge in the country—in 1996. The band was later re-christened Dying Embrace, and it celebrated its 25th anniversary at a gig called High Voltage in Bengaluru just earlier this month.

However, unlike today, sourcing good equipment to play and record music was a herculean task in the 90s, reveals Bhat.

“Dud amplifiers, sub-standard guitars, tin can drums, we went through it all,” he said, while lamenting that the younger generation is “not appreciating music as much”.

A bunch of self-taught musicians, Dying Embrace went on to release a string of EPs between 1998 to 2002, before going on a decade-long hiatus, only to rise like the triumphant phoenix in 2011. The reformed band went on to release a compilation album, a new EP, a single and a split with Pakistani metal band Dusk.

“I think it was a case of us being there at the right place at the right time! Extreme metal from India was put on the global underground music map unknowingly by us,” says Bhat. And rightly so.

He believes that extreme music is an experience and it’s for a chosen few.

“It’s these fans who have kept the faith alive and helped small stores and distros [such as] mine around the world survive and keep the flag flying high!”

He emphatically declared that had he had 100 lives, he would have willingly sacrificed each of them for the sake of his beloved leader.

An Indian Samurai makes a number of startling revelations.

Even with the stakes heavily loaded against the Japanese-INA forces in terms of numbers, firepower, logistics and supplies, they mounted attack after attack on the British, which unnerved them. These formations displayed extraordinary levels of battlefield resilience and morale.

Though virtually decimated, these units suffered “no mass surrenders... no crumbling of morale,” the author observes.

What is more, they retained their combat cohesion and managed to retreat to the Chindwin, only to undergo a twin assault from disease and starvation, which took a heavy toll.

In the viciously fought campaigns with the British, the

INA lost 26,000 men out of its strength of 60,000. These martyrs became the role models for more than two million conscripts, who practically hailed from the same villages and formed the backbone of the British Army. Their loyalty could now no longer be taken for granted and became a decisive factor in the British quitting India.

Even though the Japanese reported that Bose had died in an air crash on August 18, 1945, the latest lot of declassified files released in March 2016 indicate that he had indeed made three radio broadcasts long after the date of his alleged crash, namely, on December 26, 1945, January 1, 1946 and in February 1946.

“The air crash theory is full of gaping holes, yet the Nehruvian government went to inordinate lengths to prove that Bose had indeed died in that air crash,” writes Gen Bakshi.

Indian Samurai reveals why British feared Bose Shudip Talukdar

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s an iconic figure, Netaji Bose has a few parallels or peers anywhere.

He continues to exercise such a mesmeric hold on the collective psyche of the nation that the air crash which allegedly killed him might have never happened.

But the latest take on the popular leader, Bose: An Indian Samurai, authored by Maj Gen G.D. Bakshi, debunks the theory and assesses his role as a military leader, based on 10 years of exhaustive research.

Enough has been said and written about Bose as a political stalwart and as a radical. But it is only in the fitness of things that an experienced military commander such as Gen Bakshi undertakes the task of highlighting the strategic role played by the Indian National Army (INA) in our independence.

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In bitterly fought campaigns across Burma, Imphal and Kohima, the INA performed creditably and under tremendous odds with their Japanese counterparts. These two theatres have been described as the most significant of the historic World War II battles fought by the British, matching Stalingrad in sheer scale and ferocity.

Gen Bakshi attributes Bose’s exemplary leadership with inspiring a fierce loyalty and patriotic fervour among his military cadres; so much so that they rose above their religious and linguistic identities to act as a single entity, motivated by national pride and a spirit of sacrifice.

A contention seconded by none other than one of Bose’s closest military aides and later envoy to Canada, the late Colonel Mahoob Ahmed, in an interview with The Illustrated Weekly of India.

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ENTERTAINMENT

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

Film industry is male dominated: Kajol Red

Natalia Ningthoujam

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t 41, award-winning actress Kajol still stands strong and bold in the film industry. But the Padma Shri awardee, who has a film career spanning over two decades, believes that showbiz is “simply just another business” and is a man’s world.

Wage inequality recently became a hot topic in Hollywood and Bollywood. Asked about gender inequality in the film industry, Kajol said in an interview, “It is male dominated. There is no getting away from that fact.

Whether it is Hollywood or Bollywood, that will be there because currently our world is like that.

“Hollywood or Bollywood, it is simply another business where it is male dominated. But again it has to be monetarily feasible and economically viable. That’s something that has everything to do with the pay scale as far as this particular business is concerned.”

But neither age nor her marital status has ever come in the way of her career.

Married to actor-producer Ajay Devgn, the mother of two, was last seen on the big screen in the 2015 film Dilwale. And no, she isn’t taking a break from movies as of now. She will soon start shooting for a film under their home banner production.

“I can’t talk about it right now. It is still in the scripting stage. I hope it goes on floors in the next three months or so. The director is yet to be finalised,” said the Gupt star.

Apart from doing movies, she is also Lifebuoy’s Help a Child Reach 5 handwashing ambassador. Help a Child Reach 5 has been advocating hand washing with soap as one of the most cost-effective means of preventing child deaths on platforms.

“It’s (the campaign) very close to my heart. As a star and as a person, you have a responsibility... you need to stand up and be a part of society and help out in whichever way you can. For somebody like me...I am famous and people recognise me.

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“Hopefully, they will believe in the things that I have to say, so I can use that to the advantage of my society and work for it,” she said about the cause for which she visited New Delhi and also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She shared that they talked about how hand wash should be mandatory in schools. “It is necessary to put in not only toilet but wash basins as well. So that facility should be available and then only the habit will be available.”

Has he shown any support to the cause?

“Officially, no. I can’t say that we have tied up. But I think the way we are going, what we are talking about, it coincides well with his own campaign (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan). We are definitely on the same page,” said the Dilwale star.

Kajol also wants to make a difference as a part-time member of the Prasar Bharati Board that runs public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio.

“My opinion is one of many. Since I am on board, hopefully my suggestions will be taken. I am there to give suggestions and make a difference if I can,” she said.

With so many projects in hand, don’t her children—daughter Nysa and son Yug—complain?

“They always complain. If they had their way, I would be sitting at home 24/7. My son tells me ‘Mama I like it when I enter the house and see you waiting for me’. I think every child wants their mother to be their bai (maid),” she signed off.

Nana Patekar should have won National Award for Natsamrat: Irrfan

ctor Irrfan Khan says that veteran actor Nana Patekar should have won the National Award for his performance in the much-appreciated Marathi film Natsamrat.

At a screening of the recent Marathi blockbuster Sairat he organised, Irrfan, asked about Natsamrat, said, “Outstanding film. I think it should’ve won the National Award for Nanaji. Anyway, I wasn’t in the jury.” The Mahesh Manjrekar-directed Natsamrat, starring Nana as a veteran stage actor, was a highly critically acclaimed film, which also did brilliant business at the box-office. Incidentally, it was megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who won the Best Actor National Award for Piku in which Irrfan also played a crucial role.

Considering the fact that most of the National Awards winners this year have been films which released in 2015 such as Piku, Bajirao Mastani, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, it is not clear if Natsamrat, which released on January 1, 2016, still has a chance next year.

Films such as Tharai Thappattai and Sairat, which released in 2016, have however been considered this year.

Apparently there is a particular rule, which state that the film has to be certified by the CBFC between January 1 and December 31 to be considered for National Awards.

About Marathi cinema in general, Irrfan added, “Marathi film industry is hitting a sixer every year. And this is great for Indian film industry... In Marathi cinema, when Umesh Kulkarni had started making his

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films, Vihir, Deool, that’s when I came to know that some interesting work happens there. And since then I have been in touch with Marathi cinema and have been watching it.”

About the importance of regional cinema, he added, “Regional cinema is what is creating a new kind of cinema. The way Hollywood and Hindi cinema has got popular, similarly regional cinema has also got popular, and Marathi cinema is the prime example of it. Every year some good film is coming from there. I feel that in some other place as well regional cinema will evolve with fresh cinema.”

Is Irrfan open to acting in Marathi films?

“Yes, why not? If I get a good role and a good director, t h e n definitely I’ll run to do it.” Irrfan has acted in a Bengali and a Telugu film before.

Sonu Nigam sang more than 25 songs over three hours on the streets

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inger Sonu Nigam, whose recent six-minute video The Roadside Ustaad has gone viral, says that he sang almost 25 songs over the three hours at various locations in Mumbai for it.

In the video, Sonu, dressed as an old man and in shoddy clothes, sings with a harmonium, on the streets of Mumbai. About people’s reactions, Sonu said in a media interaction, “They didn’t recognise my voice.

They liked my voice; that was the good part that I could actually, out of nowhere, attract them through my voice.

I was dreading the fact that these people shouldn’t recognise me; that would be an embarrassment for me. There was no one around me, no bodyguards, no team, no managers.

“What you guys saw, was a very short clip.

At every spot, I sang for one hour each. One hour behind Chandan (theatre in Mumbai), then one hour in front of Chandan, one hour at Four Bungalows (area in Mumbai).

So it wasn’t easy, sitting in the sun, in the dust, and I sang a varied range of songs; you just heard two. I might have sung at least 25 songs. I worked that hard; that’s why so many people joined in.”

The video has gone viral on social media, collecting more than 3.5 million views already on Youtube within a week’s time.

Along with sending a message across of

finding happiness with the present, the video was also a marketing feature for Sonu’s latest single, Crazy Dil, which was launched on Tuesday, May 24.

“We had no idea that people would like it so much and make it so huge. From where all I’ve received calls, they gave me good vibrations, they told me that they were crying, they couldn’t believe that I did this,” Sonu said.

About what people can learn from the video, he said, “What learning can we give others; we, ourselves, learned a lot. For me, it was my own learning. It’s the same me, it’s the same voice, the only difference is of the clothes, where I’m singing, and how I’m looking. A man sitting alone and without inviting anyone, we wanted to know how would that experience be.”

ENTERTAINMENT

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

Pooja Batra’s Black Orange Hollywood debut film’s trailer shown at Cannes

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ooja Batra’s Hollywood debut film’s trailer was shown at Cannes The world premiere and the trailer launch of One Under the Sun, starring Bollywood actress Pooja Batra, took place at the Cannes Film Festival.

The former beauty queen, who set her Bollywood aspirations aside to marry Los Angeles-based orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sonu Ahluwalia, was spotted having her moment under the sun.

The Virasat actress, dressed in a white sari at the gala, looked excited about her Hollywood debut in which she essays the role of an astronaut.

“It is a proud moment for me to play the lead in my first Hollywood film. It is a great role. In order to prepare for it, I needed to really dig deep into myself and my feelings to find honest inspiration. For my physical

appearance, I took hints from Indian-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla and American astronaut Sunita Williams,” Pooja Batra said in a statement.

Executive producer Sunny Vachher, who “always believed” in Pooja, said “she has what it takes, a true go-getter”.

One Under the Sun is the story of astronaut Kathryn Voss (Pooja), a sole survivor of a disastrous space shuttle mission. As a distraught mother desperate to reunite with her terminally ill daughter, she becomes a wanted fugitive after discovering she possesses an extraordinary gift.

Co-director Vincent Tran has praised Pooja for her hard work and dedication towards the project.

He said, “Pooja’s acting in One Under the Sun brings audiences on an emotional journey and challenges their notions of war.”

The trailer launch took place recently at the Indian Pavilion of Cannes Film Festival where Sunny Vachher, Isha Vachher, Thomas Pierce, co-director Riyanna Hartley, managing director of World News Network Satish Reddy, co-director Vincent

Tran, Pooja, actor Rich Paul, executive producer Mike LeBlanc were present along with many delegates from India and the international film fraternity.

John Abraham holds fitness masterclass

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He gives an impression of the late English comic actor, film-maker, Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin, who was known for his small moustache.

ctor John Abraham gave a fitness masterclass, organised by sportswear brand Reebok India

and online portal Jabong. Giving fans a holistic fitness experience, John made a grand entry amid resounding cheers and enthralled the audience on Friday.

Consumers were thrilled as they received fitness tips from the actor.

“I had a great time working out with the enthusiastic audience and sharing my fitness mantra for a healthier body and mind,” John said in a statement.

Silvia Tallon, senior marketing director, Reebok India, thanked the star “for supporting this initiative and inspiring our consumers to be fashionably fit”.

Apart from the star, Reebok trainers gave CrossFit sessions, thereby engaging consumers with high intensity and fun workouts.

“Our aim has always been to make shopping an experience for our customers and I am happy that this will be a memorable one for some of them,” Sanjeev Mohanty, CEO and managing director, Jabong said.

The 31-year-old appears to have posted the photograph on the micro-blogging website in the midst of the shaving process.

Ayushmann will be seen essaying the character of an author named Abhimanyu Roy. Set in Kolkata, the film is directed by debutant Akshay Roy and is a Maneesh Sharma production.

Parineeti will be seen essaying the character of an aspiring singer in the Yash Raj Films (YRF) movie and will also croon a number for it. According to reports, Ayushmann will also be singing in the film.

Tisca Chopra happy to break ‘serious’ image with full-on comedy 3 Dev

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“There is a film of mine coming named 3 Dev, which will come in June.

That you should definitely watch; it’s a full-on comedy, but with a little bit of meaning in it,” said Tisca at the Pink Power initiative for upcoming women entrepreneurs.

Known for her serious roles in films such as Taare Zameen Par, Firaaq and Rahasya, she says, “I want to do many different things. I’m essentially not a very serious person.

Looking at my face, it might seem that I’m very serious, but I’m not very serious.”

3 Dev also stars Tisca’s Rahasya co-star Kay Kay Menon, as well as Karan Singh Grover, Kunal Roy Kapur, Raima Sen, Prosenjit Chatterjee, and marks the debut of TV actor Ravi Dubey. The film is directed

by Ankoosh Bhatt.

About her character, she said, “It’s too early to talk about the character; you know how it is nowadays, leave the producers to do their job; I’ll do my job.”

The other roles that fascinate her? “I’d like to play Indira Gandhi, I’d like to play Amrita Sher-Gil; I’d like to play a killer, a cop, a spy, so many different roles.”

Since she was present at a women entrepreneurship event, she was asked about her entrepreneur plans, and said, “I want to produce some films.

After that I want to start a restaurant, not right now.”

Will we see less of Tisca on screen after she turns a producer? “You feel that I’ll produce films for others?” she said.

Tisca was last seen in Loveshhuda and Sardar Gabbar Singh.

SRK invites Hollywood filmmaker Paul Feig

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fter hosting a star-studded dinner party for Apple CEO Tim Cook, superstar Shah Rukh Khan has extended an open invitation to Hollywood director Paul Feig, his wife Laurie and all their friends.

On Wednesday, May 25, Laurie tweeted that she hoped that someday Paul is welcomed to Shah Rukh’s house Mannat in Mumbai.

Ayushmann tries Chaplin-inspired look for Meri Pyaari Bindu

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etting rid of his thick beard, actor Ayushmann Khurrana tried out a moustache which was inspired by Charlie Chaplin, Adolf Hitler and Indian comedian Mehmood for his upcoming project Meri Pyaari Bindu.

The actor was seen sporting a scruffy look for the film, which also stars Parineeti Chopra, and took to Twitter to share the new look.

While posting a black and white image of himself with the moustache, he shared: “Going for the clean shaven look. I tried this.

Hitler/Chaplin meets Mehmood. Got rid of my beard. Meri Pyaari Bindu.”

In the image, with a dressing table in the background, the Dum Laga Ke Haisha star has kept a dead pan face.

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ctress Tisca Chopra, who is often tagged as a serious actor, is happy to break that image with a full-on comedy titled 3 Dev. “I’ve been wanting to do a comedy for a long time, as you do one film where people really like a type of role of yours and then everybody thinks that you can do only that.

If you compare it to telling a singer to sing in only one sur, it will get very boring.

“Someday I hope Paul Feig can be welcome at Mannat! dream, Shah Rukh Khan,” Laurie had tweeted.

Responding to that post, Shah Rukh shared that he will keep French fries ready for the Spy director.

“Laurie Feig, Paul Feig and all your friends are most welcome whenever you are in India.

“Tell Paul, will keep French fries ready for him,” the Don star tweeted.

The Bridesmaids director said that it would be an honour to meet the 50-yearold Bollywood actor. You’re on, Shah Rukh Khan! I’ll bring the ketchup.

“It would be an honour to meet you.

Many thanks, my friend,” Paul tweeted.

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FEATURES

27 May 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

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Pink Ribbon Breakfast

Date: Friday, 3 June 2016 Time: 7:30 a.m.

Place: Sierra Café, 563 Mt Albert Road, Royal Oak (corner of Hillsborough Road) Cost: $20 per ticket proceeds to The NZ Breast Cancer Foundation (payment may be made on the day) National party MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar is inviting everyone to join her in this noble cause to make a difference with this worthwhile event. A Pink Ribbon Breakfast is an opportunity to not only have fun with friends and family but also help in raising donations. Even a small contribution towards the noble cause can make a big difference. All the donations raised at the breakfast go to NZBCF to fund the potentially life-saving research that allows families to keep their precious wives, mothers and sisters for longer. RSVP: MP Parmar’s Mt Roskill office phone (09) 620 6707 or parmjeet. parmar@parliament.govt.nz

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Auckland Turban Day Date: Saturday, 28 May 2016 Time: 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

With an aim to educate people of different cultures about Sikhism and Punjabi culture, Sikh Youth of New Zealand (SYNZ) is organising Auckland Turban Day on May 28.

Come and try amazing and colourful turbans on yourself with the help of our experts.

It’s a free event. Anyone can join the event to have fun and learn about Sikh faith and also to get a taste of Punjab with masala chai (tea) that will be served free of cost to the public.

Auckland Art Fair Date: Saturday and Sunday 25-29 May 2016 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Venue: The Cloud, Queens Wharf, Auckland CBD Auckland Art Fair returns to The Cloud with a new focus on art of our region - the wider Pacific rim. See artworks by more than 150 artists represented by the leading galleries of New Zealand, Australia and further afield. For those just starting to collect contemporary art, Ngatahi Editions is a collaboration of nine Auckland non-profit organisations, showing artworks made specially for them by artists to help raise funds for their organisations. The cafes, bars and restaurants at the fair are by internationally renowned chef and art collector, Peter Gordon. Make a day of it and come experience the Auckland Art Fair. Bu tickets at artfair.co.nz/buy-tickets or contact Stephanie or Hayley hello@artfair.co.nz or 09 376 4603. General admission $30 ($25 early bird until 30 April) Students and senior $20, Child $15, under 5s free, opening night $95 and artists’ party $45.

Open Orchestra Central Date: Saturday 28 May 2016 Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Venue: Auckland Town Hall, Queen Street, Auckland CBD Enjoy a free performance by the full Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and explore individual instruments up close in the Music Zoo. Come along and watch, talk to APO musicians and listen to some orchestral favourites.

By Manisha Koushik

Weekly forecast: May 27 to JUN 2

Manisha Koushik is the talented daughter and associate of world renowned celebrity astrologer Dr Prem Kumar Sharma. A practicing astrologer, tarot card reader, numerologist, vastu and fengshui consultant is based in India but maintains a global presence through the online channels. She is available for consultations online as well.

Let her tarot cards do the magic and numbers make you understand which choices in life will be best for you!

E-mail: support@askmanisha.com | Website: www.askmanisha.com Contact: +91-11-26449898 Mobile/Whatsapp: +919015607139

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

A promising week for professionals is foretold.

Changes in the workplace are inevitable, but will not affect you in any way. Judicious spending will find your bank balance in a healthy state. If there are any differences with spouse over some issue, this is the time to resolve them. Your initiative on the romantic front can get you a lukewarm response. Adopt a wait and watch policy regarding buying or selling of property.

Lucky No.: 9 / Lucky Colour: Dark Red

Your fondest wishes are likely to come true this week as you steal the show in a family function.

You will manage to impress one and all by your gift of the gab on the work front. A vacation will give you ample opportunity to enjoy the new locale and let your hair down. Good financial returns from previous investments will keep you in an upbeat mood. Health remains satisfactory.

Finger in every pie will keep you abreast at work and make you fully prepared for any eventuality. You can count on the total support of family members in domestic matters. You manage to ward off a financial crunch by thinking ahead. Good eating habits will keep you safe from lifestyle diseases. Romance at this juncture may not rock. An out of town trip is in the offing for some.

Workplace colleagues will lend you a helping hand without any reservations. You will succeed in getting your work recognised by the ones who matter. You manage to save enough to organise a grand function or an event. Shopping will be fun, but don’t loosen the purse strings too much. You will find your relationship going from strength to strength. Starting an exercise regime is on the cards for some.

Lucky No.: 7 / Lucky Colour: Grey

Lucky No.: 5 / Lucky Colour: Turquoise

Lucky No.: 7 / Lucky Colour: Red

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

You are likely to be happily involved in your profession and take the best decisions. It may be difficult to find extra energy for lending a helping hand on the domestic front. A marriage proposal can become a source of joy for the eligible. Some of you can suffer the after effects of love gone sour.

A real estate transaction is likely to prove profitable.

Conserve money by keeping a check on spending.

A change of portfolio is in the offing for some at work. Your leadership qualities will be much appreciated in a particular situation that you may find yourself in this period. Homemakers will find this phase fruitful when they manage to make the changes on the home front. Those spiritually inclined will be able to set out on a pilgrimage.

Financial worries can make some restless, but the situation will not be beyond redemption.

Lucky No.: 6 / Lucky Colour: Dark brown

Lucky No.: 7 / Lucky Colour: Grey

Hard work and sleepless nights are in store for some organising a family function, but it will be worth the effort. Your expertise is likely to get you some good breaks on the professional front. It is best to consult knowledgeable people before going in for investments. Treating partner to a movie or dinner will go a long way in an enriching relationship. A family member can hold an imaginary grudge against you.

Lucky No.: 4 / Lucky Colour: Orange

Your skills and expertise will help you in establishing yourself at the workplace. A windfall can be expected for those disposing of property, but they will have to be careful while investing this money. It may seem difficult to get rid of an ailment permanently. You will succeed in raising the spirits of a depressed family member. A compatible match is likely for the eligible.

Don’t overstrain yourself by becoming too figure conscious.

Lucky No.: 8 / Lucky Colour: Electric green

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Those with a creative bent of mind can feel a bit frustrated due to lack of recognition. Financial betterment is just round the corner for some. A family function is on the anvil and will give you an opportunity to showcase your talents. Your efforts on the romantic front will be richly rewarded. Those wanting to reduce weight can taste success. New drivers need to be careful on the road.

Lucky No.: 2 / Lucky Colour: Indigo

Feeling positive about a situation will set things right for you, even if they are going wrong. An excellent investment opportunity comes your way that will lead you to financial security. Higher studies can beckon some. Domestic harmony is assured for those wanting to spend time by themselves at home. Newlyweds are likely to enjoy an extended togetherness on a short vacation. There will be nothing to complain about the health front.

Lucky No.: 9 / Lucky Colour: Peach

You can feel a bit mentally disturbed this week due to something that happened in the past. A deliberate attempt at saving is the only way you can repay your loans. Shooting your mouth off at an inappropriate time can harm your image, so keep a low profile at work. You can get a feeling of being neglected by those close to you. A regular routine will keep you in the prime of health.

Those opting for higher studies will be able to gather their focus and energy. Spending without a set plan can affect your future financially. Appreciation at work is in store for some. All your attempts at a fresh beginning or turning over a new leaf are likely to face unanticipated hurdles. Profits are likely to dip for retailers as footfalls refuse to increase despite best efforts. Those ill will make good progress.

Lucky No.: 17 / Lucky Colour: Coffee

(March 21-April 20)

(July 23-August 23)

(Nov 23-December 11)

(April 21-May 20)

(August 24-Sep 23)

(Dec 22-January 21)

(May 21-June 21)

(Sep 24-October 23)

(Jan 22-February 19)

Lucky No.: 9 / Lucky Colour: Cream

(June 22-July 20)

(Oct 24-November 22)

(Feb 20-March 20)

FEATURES

www.iwk.co.nz | 27 May 2016

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