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nz 19 July 2013
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n illustration of the Hindu goddess Kali holding amongst other things a packet of cigarettes published in the New Zealand Herald has caused shock and offence in the Indian community. The Hindu Council of New Zealand has formally brought this to the notice of the Race Relations Commissioner. The illustration was pulled from the newspapers website, but a string of comments refer to it. The Goddess Kali image you put up is very offensive to Hindus. This is a national newspaper and you should have given it a thought before you put up an image like that. Would appreciate if you can remove it, said Sathu in a comment on Heralds online version of the story, before the cartoon was removed. Another comment by Jptan reads, I was just going to say the same. Im not Hindu but this image seems like it might cause offense and whoever drew and put it up was a bit ignorant of that fact. The illustration accompanies the story which talks about dairy owners expected to become moral police. Indian Associations are of the
opinion that the illustration in addition to depicting what Hindus hold sacred in a derogatory fashion; has no connection to the article. The illustration of Goddess Kali published in New Zealand Herald cannot be attributed to ignorance Continued on page 4 and has nothing to do with the article on dairy owners that it was accompanying. It seems to be a malicious desire to cause mischief by the cartoonist and the editor. They hurriedly removed the caricature from their
internet version and this indicates they realized they had been caught, but instead of an apology and owning up, they just hoped no one will notice. , said Rajiv Chaturvedi, PRO, Hindu Council of NZ. The New Zealand Press Council Statement of Principles states that Editors should take care in photographic and image selection and treatment. Any technical manipulation that could mislead
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major issue facing New Zealanders at the moment is housing. These days, only the lucky live in a warm, dry house at a price they can afford, and thats not right. If youre renting, your house is likely to be uninsulated, cold and overpriced. Last week I spoke to a young couple whose rent increases have forced them to move three times in 18 months. Each move took them further and further away from the city: from Point Chevalier to Mt Wellington. Theyd love to buy a house but despite being hardworking, university-educated professionals they feel like theyll never be able to afford it. Owning your own home used to be a rite of passage for young New Zealanders. When I was young, I bought an old house and lovingly restored it. It was hard work, but also an achievement I look back on with real pride. I want the same opportunity for our children, but there arent enough affordable houses available: just 5% of new builds are affordable compared with more than 30% in the 1960s and 1970s. No wonder a record 51,274 New Zealanders left on a one way ticket to Australia in the past year.
Last week I spoke to a young couple whose rent increases have forced them to move three times in 18 months.
I believe we can turn that around. Our children can have lives of opportunity here in New Zealand but its going to take bold policy
from the government. Under my leadership, Labour will move 100,000 families into their first homes over the next 10 years through our visionary Kiwibuild policy. It will be the largest public building programme in 50 years, and the houses will be warm, dry, quality homes to take pride in. For those living in rental properties, well introduce a Healthy Homes Guarantee so landlords insulate their rental properties and make sure they are efficient to heat and healthy to live in. This will improve quality of life for renters, and its financially smart: research shows we
can expect up to five dollars worth of benefits from every dollar spent on insulating homes. Meanwhile, well bring in a capital gains tax to encourage investment in productive businesses, not speculation in the housing market. The next Labour government will bring change to housing in New Zealand because we wont accept second best for our young people. I want them to have the same great opportunities I enjoyed when I was young. - Mr. Shearer is the leader of the Labour Party
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he clear message of the recent welfare reform is the focus on finding employment. All sickness beneficiaries, and sole parents and widows with no children under 14, are now subject to the same requirements as other unemployed people to look for full-time work. Sickness may make you eligible to postpone work temporarily. The reforms reduce all existing benefits to three new categories and are the biggest upheaval in the welfare state since the Social Security Act was passed by the first Labour government 75 years ago. As per Auckland Councils latestAuckland Economic Quarterly release, unemployment remains high at 7.3%, ahead of 6.1 per cent. We know what these changes will mean for all the ordinary New Zealanders who end up in the welfare system. This isnt about anything pretty, or nice, or useful, as Paula Bennett likes to pretend. This is not about getting people into decent work, at a time when there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed people already looking for a job, says Auckland Action Against Poverty spokesperson Sarah Thompson. In fact, this bill is deliberately aimed at driving up competition between paid and unpaid workers, scrabbling for the same low paid, casual and insecure jobs while keeping wages low for business. If the National Party
In fact, this bill is deliberately aimed at driving up competition between paid and unpaid workers, scrabbling for the same low paid, casual and insecure jobs while keeping wages low for business.
and its friends really cared about unemployment and the unemployed, they would be instigating far reaching job creation programs across all sectors, now. While some communities are particularly hit hard by the Governments welfare reforms, there seems to be no inkling as to how and in what ways the reforms are affecting the Indian community or if the communitys approach to social welfare is different from other ethnic groups.
Yes, it is possible that the Indian ethnic community may approach welfare differently from other ethnic groups in NZ, but without data, it is not possible to comment, says Edwina Pio, Associate Professor at AUT. Indians form the fastest growing ethnic community in New Zealand, yet, the Ministry of Social Justice dont break down the data along the lines of ethnicity except for Maori and Pacific people. As per the Ministrys data, at the end of
June 2013, 310,000 working age people were receiving main benefits. This compares with 258,000 in June 2008 and 333,000 in June 2010. The number of working age people receiving main benefits increased by 75,000 (29 percent) in the two years ended June 2010, then decreased by 23,000 (7 percent) between 2010 and 2013. Main benefits include unemployment benefits, domestic purpose benefits for sole parents and for care of sick.
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thnic people make-up almost 30 percent of Aucklanders, yet only have only five percent of council management jobs. Asians make up 13 percent of the ethnic breakdown of management position and Pakeha 81 per cent. The document does not note a further break-down of Indians that hold decision making positions. This was revealed at the annual meeting held by Auckland Councils Ethnic Peoples Advisory Panel (EPAP) on July 13 to debate if Aucklands 400,000 ethnic people have any genuine influence in the city. It does not appear that Auckland Council keeps reliable statistics on the diversity of its own workforce. A council document produced at the meeting showed that of the 9052 managers and staff members in Auckland Council, data had not been collected on the race of 4195 almost half of the council workforce. The governments Office of Ethnic Affairs defines ethnic people in New Zealand as anyone whose culture and traditions distinguish them from the majority of people in New Zealand, i.e. those who are not of Mori, white/Pakeha or Pacific Island heritage. According to the panels chairperson, Dr Camille Nakhid, most ethnic Aucklanders work in the voluntary sector and there are very few, if any, ethnic staff in management positions on council. The data that had been collected showed that only five percent of Auckland Council managers are Mori, even though Mori make up over 11 percent of the Auckland population. Pasifika people make up only four percent of Auckland Council management even though they are 14.3 percent of the total Auckland population. Deputy mayor Penny Hulse said she would have further discussions with Brown about his communications team. Theres no ethnic representation there. Not just ethnic representation, but there needs to be more women in management position as well. The organisation is going to take a lot of turning around she said. Denies racism But Brown denied that council had an institutionally racist policy to reject Ethnic applicants. He said it was the job of the councils chief executive officer, Doug McKay, to employ staff. So Im not going to jump in there and make judgement calls as to how he does that, said Brown. But he admitted that ethnic people were not being employed in management in numbers proportional to the size of the ethnic population. Brown did not respond to suggestions that the EPAP be invited to sit on staff selection panels, saying only again, it is part of the journey. It is going to take a while. Ethnic communities not just about song and dance. Chairperson Nakhid added that ethnic organisations make the Auckland
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*where known and excluding contractors, temporary staff and consultants Council look good with their numerous cultural festivals, but that the council needed to recognise they were not just food and festivals or a marketing tool to promote the city. We are not just about dancing and celebrations said Nakhid, calling for Auckland Council to commit to including ethnic representatives on decision making structures and on staff selection panels. The EPAP was established along with the Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel in 2010 under the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act 2010, and both bodies will be disestablished on 1 November 2013. After this date, the Auckland mayor can decide whether to re-establish the two panels or not. Brown said the panels were limited to reporting to the mayor only and that the law would have to be changed to give them more influence. There was almost no chance of getting the law changed to allow for Ethnic and Pasifika representation on all committees with voting rights, said Brown, adding that he would find a way to convey the EPAPs decisions to the council structure. Panellists emphasised that they were unhappy that the future existence of the Pasifika and Ethnic panels would depend on the generosity of various mayors of Auckland. - Inputs by Anna Majavu, Master of Philosophy (MPhil) student at AUT University and a Pacific Scoop and Pacific Media Centre contributor. PHOTO: Bevan Chuang
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o to another country, says Lakshmi Narayan. There is nothing here. Its not worth the effort, getting an education loan to come to New Zealand. Youre led to believe this is a great country, where they want you because youre skilled and your skills will be valued. There is only exploitation here. Narayans experience in New Zealand resonates with many migrant students existing in an invisible economy of cash payments and abysmal working conditions. Unaware of their rights, pressure of mounting bills, loans and fear of immigration authorities, theyre forever on a treadmill; clocking hours for employers to survive, week to week. Wispy dark hair frames her round face. On a cold evening in Auckland, she has just returned from one of the multiple jobs she holds down to make ends meet and she is firm: she is no victim. She wants to speak-up because she got out. This one is not a cash job, she grins, dark rimmed eyes crinklingup. Unblemished nut-brown skin, belies her 30 something years. She moved to Auckland in search of job about 18 months back. One day, I had 5 dollars in my pocket, and it was either a calling card to call back home or buying food. I had to take up the cash job
offer, she remembers. Caught in this vortex of vulnerability and insecurity; many feel they have no other option. Because, she says, there are no jobs. She is not off the mark because employers are reluctant to take on new staff as there is no demand for goods and services produced by Auckland as per a recent report by Auckland Councils chief economist Geoff Cooper. The quarterly update on the health of the city
has to make-up the sunk cost. As if thats not enough, our own people exploit us, she says. This thought is echoed by Dana Anderson, Researcher, at AUT University, who closely studied the health, safety and human rights implications for student migrant labourers in NZ. Unfortunately this type of situation is not uncommon within migrant communities. There has clearly been an increase in the numbers of migrants working in low-waged
states that in Auckland alone, unemployment stands at 7.3 per cent, ahead of 6.1 per cent elsewhere. Youth unemployment is the worse in Auckland. A couple of years back; Narayan used to work in a call center in Delhi, was making good money and had a decent life, one where she says she could breathe. And now she says, here she is miles away from home, crammed into an apartment with 5 others, separated from her husband for months, because she
jobs in the New Zealand labour market and communities have a shared responsibility alongside regulation to work on stamping out these illegal practices. By ignoring these issues the Indian community is gaining a
reputation as exploitative and illegitimate employers. Professor Anderson explains that this cannot be simply interpreted as a response to a labour shortage, lax immigration controls or migrants superior work ethic. Not all managers seek to exploit workers but many see it as a way to keep costs down, she says. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) data shows that between July 2012 and 31 January 2013 the labour inspectorate received 429 complaints which had a minimum wage component, all of which were investigated. Of those 97 (23%) were from migrant workers. Many of the serious cases appear to be where new migrants are employed by other migrants, probably due to the networks and opportunities and their knowledge of NZ systems and processes, or where the work is on a casual basis. MBIE is committed to treating migrants fairly. If migrants work with Immigration New Zealand and MBIEs Labour Inspectorate to investigate serious cases of exploitation, they may be eligible to remain in New Zealand while their complaint is looked at and resolved, assures Justin Strang, Acting General Manager, Labour Inspectorate, MBIE. (Some names have been changed)
Migrant workers have the same employment rights as all other workers in New Zealand. If youre being exploited, call 0800 20 90 20where concerns will be handled in a safe environment.
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ake sure you know all the immigration options open to you. Whatever your budget, someone can help with your expiring visa or plans to become a permanent resident. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) does not charge and can assist you in Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali, Punjabi, Tamil and Urdu. Immigration advice and the law Anyone giving New Zealand immigration advice must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority, unless exempt. This includes people giving immigration advice from India, Fiji or anywhere in the world. Exempt people, who can give immigration advice without a licence, include INZ staff and
lawyers with a current New Zealand practising certificate. Licensed immigration advisers Licensed immigration advisers are listed on the Immigration Advisers Authoritys website. The Authority can help you find out how to find an adviser, what the average cost might be and how to complain if you are unhappy. You can find out more about licensed immigration advisers at www.iaa.govt.nz or by contacting the Authority at info@iaa.govt. nz, on 0508 422 422 from New Zealand or on +64 9 925 3838 from overseas. You can get help with your visa or immigration matter by contacting Immigration New Zealand on 09 914 4100. If you do not speak English, ask for a translator.
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sk restaurateur, businessman, actor and now mayoral candidate for Auckland, if he might be peering in from an ivory tower and if he is in touch with the Aucklanders yes, he is; is the answer. I have been in the restaurant business all my life and my restaurants were successful because I was talking to people and listening to feedback. Ive always been in touch with the community and the people. My biggest thing is to give the voice back to the community. He is originally from America, where he ran restaurants and in New Zealand, his TV show, the Kitchen Job, was about fixing kitchens. The TV3 website says thats where Mr. Palino is saving restaurant and cafe owners from the brink of ruin! Its easy to see why Mr. Palino is from the service industry. He is soft spoken, polite and very, very pleasant. He came to New Zealand from America following his heart and a Kiwi girlfriend in the 1990s and fell in love with the place. The relationship ended, but he stayed on. Working
110 hours a week and never being there is the reason is why he has had so many women break-up with him and is still single at 53, although planning to get married next year, he is quick to add with a smile. He smiles a lot. He speaks fondly of America. And being from overseas he has a distinct advantage he says; the most effective education to have. I found when I came here that New Zealand was kind of like a young America where you could pick up the phone and call the CEO of any company and they picked up the phone. A newbie as a politician he may be, but in his Ponsonby office, he is animated and speaks passionately, detailing the ideas he has for the city; using pen and paper to illustrate what he exactly means. His comments current Unitary Plan further illustrate that he can have a bite. Over the years Ive seen Auckland grow, the population growth is a really great opportunity. But during the growth in the last few years, were seeing a tremendous amount of deterioration, he says. And when they do plan like with the Unitary Plan, they do it incorrectly. Len Brown is saying that we dont want to be like LA ok then why is your plan outlining exactly what LA did?
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take an area like Manukau and turn that into another cluster, another city. In the current plan, it will take about 30 years. So when are you going to actually put the transportation in? You cant put the transportation in until you can afford it. So when is it going to happen? You dont know when its going to happen. Palino may evolve into the avatar of Mayor yet; but he certainly has the approach of a performance oriented businessman. He intends to make the council dealings more transparent, cut unnecessary spending and get
Mr. Palino has very specific ideas about planning for a future Auckland, but says, thats only if the people want it. The current Unitary Plan has generated quite a bit of interest amongst Aucklanders as well as the ethnic communities.
ewly opened Mt Roskill Healthcare at Stoddard Road offers multiple health care services under one roof for Aucklanders. Full GP services are offered at this clinic, which is a modern facility that houses a pharmacy, physiotherapist and dentist on the same site. New patients are welcome to this one stop shop, which formally opened its doors to the public last Friday, July 19. Mt Roskill Healthcare Stoddard Rd (a branch of Mt Roskill Medical & Surgical Centre), is a part of the East Tamaki Group of Companies. Mayor Len Brown, was the guest of honour at the opening and other guests included patients, doctors, Members of Parliament, media, as well as other business and community partners. The clinic is open Mondays - Fridays from8am 5:30pm. For more information, please call (09) 627 8552. - IWK Bureau
cent, well lets take a look at LA. Every single block in LA has apartments on it. So why did it sprawl and intensify because you had only one CBD. And in Auckland we have only one CBD. Youre in fact going to have a plan that is going to do exactly what you say you dont want. What the mayor has done is to tell you: this is how youre going to live. Anywhere else he wouldve been in a lot of trouble for that, Mr. Palino says. Building clusters, is the answer, We can
rid of inefficiencies. You dont want a lawyer running a business. Im a businessman and I know how to surround myself with the best people for the right job. In the Mayoral race, this skill would certainly come handy along with good social graces, for which Mr. Palino gets full marks. He walks me to the lift and doesnt forget to ask me what I think about his plans for Auckland. Which is very nice of him.
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Private detectives hunt Free workshops for Ankur Sharma Accounting Workshop NZ Education System
Date:18 July, 9.15am to 2.00 pm The Accounting workshop will feature employers, who will be giving hints & tips about gaining employment in the accounting industry in NZ. We also have a recruitment agent visiting talking about putting your best foot forward to gain employment & a speaker from UNITEC talking about bridging courses to help you gain employment in accounting in NZ. Location: ARMS Manukau Centre,Address: 2 Osterley Way, Manukau City.To register please call 09 263 5490 or emailmanukau@arms-mrc. org.nz
Information Workshop
Time10am 1 pm Saturday, 31stJuly Are you a newcomer parent? Would you like to get some information on schooling in NZ? Come to this FREE 2-hour workshop to learn more about: New Zealand Education System Early Childhood Education Primary Education National Standards Location: ARMS Manukau Centre,Address: 2 Osterley Way, Manukau City.To register please call 09 263 5490 or emailmanukau@arms-mrc.org.nz
Free English Language First Home Buyer Workshop Advice Clinics in Time: 10am 1 pm Saturday,3rdAugust. Manukau
Date:24th, 31stJuly, 2013,10.00 am to 1.00 pm Auckland Regional Migrant Services help migrants find about their level of English, English classes or community resources. To make an appointment to meet the English Advisor atARMS Manukau Resource Centre, 2 Osterley Way, Manukau City (Next to Work & Income), Please phone 2635490 to make an appointment. You are welcome to bring a support person with you.
nkur Sharmas family have now hired a private investigator, to help the New Zealand police in their search for the missing Indian student. We are spending thousands of dollars for a private investigator to help supplement the police. But in reality the New Zealand police need to step up their efforts, said Ms Aditi Jasra, Ankurs sister. The family had last heard from Ankur on the 1st of June, and it has now been over a month, still no traces have been found. They are appealing to the Indian community for help. Ms Jasra said she doesnt understand how no one could have seen her brother in over a month. He must be in the wrong hands said Ms Jasra. With the last conversation he had with his sister, Ankur was at a train station, and had then informed his sister, he would speak to them over the weekend. Ankur sounded like he was doing fine, he was in the middle of moving homes but mentioned he had applied for a new job, said Ms Jasra. Ankur has been missing for over a month and his parents back in India are
distressed and desperately waiting for news. The police are asking Ankur to get in touch with his family directly, or anonymously. So they can at least assure everyone, he is safe and well, said Detective Grant Arrowsmith of Manurewa, CIB. The 23-year-old student, from Jalandhar, Punjab, was last seen in Manurewa on the 9th of June. He is 168 173cm tall with a skinny build, also known to be wearing a leather jacket and stonewashed jeans. - Nilam Patel
This free educational seminar is designed to prepare first home buyers for the biggest financial investment of their lives. Get inside tips from property professionals who will explain the process of purchasing property.Please phone 2635490 to register. Location:ARMS Manukau Resource Centre, 2 Osterley Way, Manukau City (Next to Work & Income).
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couples opted for a registry wedding and this may be because couples going overseas to have an elaborate wedding with extended kin. Organisations can be approved that have as one of their principal the upholding or promotion of religious beliefs or philosophical or humanitarian convictions; these organisations can nominate their designated celebrants. While community institutions can have a list of celebrants, this is potentially a route to viable self-employment for individuals who can charge fees for their services.
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wami Nalinanand Ji, a visiting Hindu monk will be accompanied by three musicians from India (playing flute, harmonium and tabla); and will conduct a 10 day Katha session from July 19 to 28 at Shri Ram Mandir in Auckland. Guru Poornima, a day for thanking the role that teachers play in shaping individuals and society at large, is marked on July 22 and there is no better way to celebrate it than a traditional, musical session with Swami ji. Swami Nalinanand Giri Ji Maharaj, originally from Patiala, India is only 33 years old, and has renounced the trappings of the material world and given up his own familys business to dedicate his life to religious teaching. He has mastered all of the important Hindu texts and is able to recite them and explain how they relate to the daily lives of devotees. Daily katha schedule: The daily katha programme will begin at 6 am with pooja, 6.45 flag raising ceremony and vyas pooja, Shri Ram Katha and Kirtans by Swami Ji, ending with Arti and blessings by Swami Ji. On Guru Poornima day, Swami Ji will be available between 10 am and 2 pm at Shri Ram Mandir to bless all devotees. Venue: 11 Brick Street, Henderson, Auckland 0610 Dates: The 10 day katha series will begin on Friday, July 19 with an official opening ceremony, the Sthapna Poojan from 4.30pm, Shobha Yatra (procession), Yajman Pooja, Jhanda Vandan (flag raising) and Ram Katha by Swami Ji from 7pm followed by Arti at 9pm and announcements, prasad and mahaprasad (dinner). The opening day procession will begin from the temple site, 11 Brick St Henderson, and will proceed through Mihni & Swanson roads and end at the temple site in a loop. Thanks go to the many Ramayan Mandalis who have offered to provide daily prasad and dinner. The members of the mandalis will be able to meet and receive blessings from Swami Ji.
Left: Swami Nalinanand Giri Ji Maharaj; Shri Ram Mandir (temple) under construction
Special Kalash (water jars) are being brought from India for the procession when devotees participating in the Shobha Yatra will carry specially blessed Kalash on their heads during the procession. These will then be placed at the pooja site for the 10 days of the katha. After the final days programme is over, the devotees will be able to take their Kalash home. Each Kalash will be available to the devotee after a donation in aid of the temple of one hundred and one dollars. All the proceeds from the Katha discourses will go towards the temple project. Grand finale: The final day programme on July 28 will be held during the day with hawan from 9 am, katha and purnahuti from 10 am and mahaprasad (lunch) at 1.30pm. Information: A specially covered walkway will be constructed from the road verge to the temple site and adequate heating provided for the comfort of the devotees. Basement and first floors have been laid out where huge marquees will be constructed for the seating of devotees. For more information on the availability of Kalash please contact Umesh Chand on 0226811763. Contact: For more information or assistance, call (09) 369-1723, 021846663 or email info@ shrirammandir.org.nz
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abour says it would be unfair to impose tolls on Aucklanders without a massive improvement in the public transport system. It would be unfair to roll out a toll scheme when Aucklanders who want to get to work on time have little option other than to drive, says Labours Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford. Future funding options for Aucklands transport infrastructure have been outlined in areportreleased today. The report reflects what every Aucklander knows -- we must fix the gridlock, Labours Transport spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway said. I applaud the reports frank approach -doing nothing is not an option. The city must invest in a modern transport system or it will grind to a halt. Gridlock is bad for Aucklanders, bad for the economy, and bad for New Zealand. But making Aucklanders pay tolls to use the citys roads will hit hard-pressed workers in the pocket. Lets get the public transport up to scratch first so at least people have the option of catching a bus, train or ferry to get to and from work. At the moment workers in West or South
Aucklandcannot rely on public transport. Instead commuters run cars at a huge cost. Adding more taxes or tolls on top of that, without a decent public transport alternative, would be unfair, Phil Twyford said. Now that John Key has been dragged kicking and screaming to support the City Rail Link, he needs to take a fresh look at Aucklands longer term transport priorities. While pledging $1.4 billion to the City Rail Link with one hand, he loaded another $8.5 billion on top for more motorways with the other. He needs to be transparent about the effects of his governments transport priorities. Mayor Len Brown deserves kudos for the Consensus Building Groups work. He has shown that not only can Auckland speak with one voice, but if the right people sit around the table they can hammer out a consensus, Iain Lees-Galloway said. - IWK Bureau
trong house price growth across the Auckland region is boosting other parts of the economy including construction, finance and real estate industries, according to latest economic figures for the region in the first three months of this year. Economic activity is now more sustained and broad based, with 17 out of 20 sectors recording gains in the quarter. Auckland grew at a rate of 3.2 per cent in the year to March; along with Christchurch, these two cities are underpinning growth across the country, said Geoff Cooper, Auckland Councils chief economist. Mr Cooper said activity in Aucklands construction, finance and property sectors will likely spill over into other parts of the regions economy, and with time, other areas of New Zealand. Auckland house prices continue their upward march, which is buoying consumer confidence and further stimulating demand, Mr Cooper wrote in the latest Auckland Economic Quarterly, released today. Were already seeing a pick-up in activity across the finance, property and real estate and
construction services sectors. As building work gathers pace, it will act as a catalyst for growth in various downstream sectors, particularly domestic manufacturing and retail. The median Auckland house price was $562,000 in March 2013, up 12.5 per cent from March last year. Signs that migration is rebounding, amid the slowing Australian economy, are likely to support house prices in the medium term. Aucklands consumers are among the most optimistic inNew Zealand, spurred on by activity in the housing market. Westpac McDermott Miller reports a consumer confidence score of 119.0 for Auckland, well ahead of the national average of 110.8, and up 13.7 per cent from Q1 of last year. Still, lack of job growth continues to weigh on Aucklands recovery as unemployment remains high at 7.3 per cent. With business employment intentions in positive territory and economic activity looking more sustained, job seekers have more reason for optimism in the year ahead. - IWK Bureau
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NEW ZEALAND
Celebrate A musical celebration to mark 25 Gurupurab years of the Otara music facility
IWK Bureau
ri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Gurudwara Sahib, New Lynn is pleased to inform you that the following program will be held to celebrate the Praksh Divas of Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji and Fourth Anniversary of Gurudwara Sahib.
July 20
July 23
July 27 July 28
Bhog Sri Sehaj Path. From 10.00 am Keertan and lectures by children from 10.30 am to 2.00 pm Keertan Darbar, Katha and prize distribution All programs will be followed by Guru ka Langar and the community is warmly invited to take part in the celebration. For more information call 09 826 1300 orinfo@gurudwara.co.nz
tara Music Arts Centre (OMAC) will celebrate its 25thanniversary onSaturday 27 July. During the last 25 years,AucklandCouncilowned OMAC has worked to engage youth and families, creating a sense of identity and contributing to the culture ofAucklandand New Zealand. OMAC has helped developed local talent and promoted them in the Kiwi music scene. Artists including King Kapisi, Giant Killa and Adeaze all started their careers learning, recording and performing at OMAC. Celebrations will include live musical performances by local artists including Sistema Aotearoa, King Kapisi, Giant Killa, Cydel, Ma-V-Elle and many more. There will also be colourful graph art displays and a free public sausage sizzle. Festivities will run from9.30 amthrough to2pmat OMAC in the Otara Town Centre and commence with a karakia courtesy of Matua Bill Wiki. CouncillorAlf Filipaina,AucklandCouncilArts, Culture and Events Forum Chair says: OMAC is not just any recording studio, it is a centre point
for music inAuckland. I am looking forward to participating in this milestone celebration. For 25 years, people have been coming to OMAC to meet, learn and create. It is important to have a place for our young people to feel connected to, to feel part of the community. This is not just about a building; it is about empowering our youth to know that there are positive ways of spending their time and growing their lives, he says.
N AT I O N A L L I S T M P
Ph: 09 278 9302 | Email: bakshi.mp@parliament.govt.nz Postal Address: PO Box 23136, Hunters Corner, Auckland 2025
www.bakshi.co.nz
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INDIA
15
he Uttarakhand disaster at the beginning of the 2013 monsoon season is a consequence of ignorance and greed. Uttarakhand is the source of Ganga and its tributaries. The disaster which has led to five thousand deaths on current estimates and the disappearance of nearly 100000 people is a wake-up call. We need to be informed by the latest of ecological sciences, not by an obsolete development model which is nothing more than an exploitation model which has led to the tragic disaster in Uttarakhand. The disaster is clearly manmade, not a natural disaster, and politicians, decision makers, businesses need to take responsibility for the disaster their actions and policies have caused. Today, driven by greed and corruption, the government has become ignorant of the culture of the sacred, and the ecological fragility of the Himalaya. The sacred sets limits. Ecological fragility sets limits. Today these limits are being violated, as rivers are dammed and diverted for electricity, and the pilgrimage to the Char Dhams is being turned into crass consumerist mass tourism. Mass tourism has led to construction on the fragile banks of the rivers. When rivers flood, more damage is caused. In my childhood old people did the pilgrimage
on foot. Along the main arteries we had roads for one way traffic. Today, there is an attempt to make 4 lane highways in the mountains. Highways means landslides as mountain slopes are dynamited, and the rubble is thrown down the slope. Landslides create slope instability, with more boulders and debris causing destruction of forests and fields. Less space is left for water, rivers flood more easily. And instead of reaching faster, pilgrims and local people face road blocks for days on end due to landslides. Pilgrim
monsoon. This year they came with the first rain. The monsoon came early, and the rainfall was much more than normal. This is climate instability. Meantime, the ecological damage caused by maldevelopment has reduced the capacity of the mountain ecosystem to deal with heavy rain. Climate havoc adds to the vulnerability. Kedarnath, the 8thcentury Shiva shrine is located at the source of the Mandakini river. The damage at Kedarnath was caused by the fragmentation and falling of a glacier and the
Today, driven by greed and corruption, the government has become ignorant of the culture of the sacred, and the ecological fragility of the Himalaya.
tourism needs to be slow tourism to respect the sacredness and fragility of the Himalaya. Blasting with dynamite recklessly for the construction of dams and tunnels has triggered thousands of landslides. When the first rain comes, these landslides fill the river bed with rubble. There is no space for the water to flow. We are literally stealing the ecological space from our rivers. And when they have no space to flow, theywilloverflow, cut banks and cause flooding. Usually floods come at the end of a heavy
bursting of a glacial lake. These are climate disasters. Yet just before the Copenhagen Climate Conference, in order to join the US in denying climate change, the Government issued a report saying there was no impact on our glaciers. The Kedarnath tragedy shows haw heavy the cost of this denial is. We need to recognize that our glaciers are threatened, and melting glaciers will lead to disasters. Disaster preparedness is the duty of government. But disaster preparedness needs honest and robust ecological science, and honest
and robust participatory democracy. The Chief Minister has said the damage will cost Rs 3000 Crore (Rs 30 billion), and it has undone 3 years of development. He obviously is only looking at profits from concrete and construction. He cannot see the soil that has been washed away and the 500 years it will take to build one inch of the protective layer of top soil, the skin of the mountains. He cannot see the thousands of years it took for rivers to shape the landscape and the communities to create their settlements in river valleys. He cannot see the millions of years it took the Himalaya to form. He cannot see the sustainable economies and cultures built by local communities over thousands of years of hard work to coexist with the fragile mountains, their home. He cannot see that the destruction of their lives and livelihoods cannot be reversed in 3 years. In many cases the damage is irreversible and immeasurable. Local communities, who have been made invisible in the media and government reports of the disaster will never get back the lives of their loved ones that were extinguished, or the fields and homes that were washed away. But those that have caused the damage -the construction companies like JP, GVK, LANCO, L&T - who are building dams by recklessly blasting the ecologically sensitive Himalaya will be bailed out through our tax money, without our consent and approval. - Dr. Shiva is is an Indian environmental activistand anti-globalizationauthorbased inDelhi
If you didnt receive your enrolment update pack then youre not enrolled to vote in this years Local Elections. If youre 18 or older, a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident and have lived in New Zealand more than one year continuously, youre legally required to enrol to vote. Enrolling is easy, do it now.
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16
Editorial
It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
- Maya Angelou,
Exploitation of the migrants is like poison to society welfare as well as it is a defilement of lawswhich are implemented by the NZ government.Authorities need to take action in order to out a stop to this issue.Exploitation contributes to a loss of taxto the government which in turn affects the economy and growth rate. - Abhiram Badrigari Reddy,Chef
Indian students who are in the 20s age group, dont try hard to get IRD jobs and always opt for illegal cash jobs, and employers encourage this by paying them in turn with $4 or $5 per hour. Employers allow them to also work over the limit of 20 hours.There is only one way we can control this; by keeping an eye on the employers and their workers, as well as keeping an eye on accounts. - Rakesh Kumar,Software Engineer
of the week: What do you feel about welfare reform & do the Q changes affect you?
Email your opinion in no more than 50 words to shriya@indianweekender.co.nz along with your photo, name, occupation and area of residence. Please request anonymity should you wish your name and picture to be withheld. Readers who share their photos and names are more likely to have their opinions published.
Exploitation is happening and lets admit it, it is very saddening too. The capper is it is done by our own countrymen. New migrants need relevant work sponsorships to attain or renew their visas further leading to PR and employers are creaming this for their own benefit. When someone wants to report this they are subjected to complications in their visas, so they dont report. We need to end this in the community. And I hope this paper and this discussion will act as a catalyst. - Kartikay Soni, Retail Manager
Indian Weekender Volume 5 Issue 6 Publisher: Kiwi Media Group Limited Managing Editor: Giri Gupta | girigupta@xtra.co.nz Associate Editor: Shriya Chitale| shriya@indianweekender.co.nz Chief Reporter: Arwa Janjali | arwa@indianweekender.co.nz Chief Technical Officer: Rohan Desouza | rohan@ indianweekender.co.nz Design: Media Solutions Advertising & Business Development Manager: Gaurav Gupta M: 021 292 4519 l gaurav@indianweekender.co.nz Accounts and Admin.: Farah Khan - P 520 0922 l accounts@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
There is a famous quote in India Marta Kya na Karta means the one in trouble is ready to do anything. Thats the situation of migrants who cant find any jobs and ending up doing such low wages jobs just to cope up with their living cost. Restaurant owners take advantage of migrants quite well as they know there are heaps available easily. The only way to stop this is to conduct random check by concern authorities. - Krupesh Desai, Software Engineer
Indian Weekender is published by Kiwi Media Group, 98 Great South Road, Auckland Printed at Guardian Print, Ashburton Copyright 2010. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.
There is a famous quote in India Marta Kya na Karta means the one in trouble is ready to do anything. Thats the situation of migrants who cant find any jobs and ending up doing such low wages jobs just to cope up with their living cost. Restaurant owners take advantage of migrants quite well as they know there are heaps available easily. The only way to stop this is to conduct random check by concern authorities. - Vikram Subramanian, Tutor
COMMENT
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xploitation of migrants to many countries including New Zealand may happen the moment a would be migrant or an international student express an interest in migrating. Unscrupulous immigration agents, touts and middle-men are known to extract exorbitant sums of money from many migrants who seek to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I have met many a migrant who has paid sums upto US $ 25000 to come to New Zealand as a student. I am sad to say that some of these deceitful people are migrants themselves and usually are from the same ethnic group as the migrant/student. About 2 years ago, a friend asked us to help a student who would come to NZ to study. We found that this young man has paid US $ 20 K to an agent who had organised for him to study at a tertiary institution for 2 years. The money he paid included his first years fees and he was told that he could get work for 20 hours which would enable him to not only manage his daily expenses but he would be able to save his next years tuition fees. He arrived in the height of the recession and he only had with him a
limited amount of money which wouldnt have lasted even a month. The course he did also would not have found him a job in NZ and the institution he studied was rather disreputable and he was not aware of that. There are many like him who suffer due to such situations and I meet several people
fear of losing even that meagre income or because of their immigration status. Many students and new migrants face this situation and are helpless to seek justice due to their vulnerability. The man whose story I shared was working in an Asian supermarket for $5 an hour and even that was sometimes not
Kiwi Experience without which poses one of the biggest barriers for employment for a newcomer. There are many who use this to exploit helpless people. I know of one woman who moved from one volunteer job to another for a total duration of 11 years.
like him often in my line of work. There are many employers who employ people from their own community and pay them very low hourly rates and exploit them. Many of these employees are not able to report their employers to authorities for paid to him. I know of another student who worked in a petrol station for several weeks and was told that it was his training period and he was not entitled to be paid during training which was not discussed at the time of hiring him.
I have encountered another form of subtle exploitation volunteering. Volunteering is one of the great ways Kiwis contribute to their society but it is also a way some migrants can be exploited for free labour. Many migrants are willing to volunteer to gain the much needed Kiwi Experience without which poses one of the biggest barriers for employment for a newcomer. There are many who use this to exploit helpless people. I know of one woman who moved from one volunteer job to another for a total duration of 11 years. She was good enough to work unpaid and never got a paid job although she had flawless English, good qualifications and also a great work ethic. The MBIE and Department of labour are tightening laws to make exploitation of migrants harder. This is good news but I hope migrants and international students who arrive on our shores become more aware of the ways in which they can be exploited and know how they can avoid being targets of unscrupulous exploiters.
- Ms Basnayake is Media Spokesperson for the Auckland Council Ethnic Peoples Advisory Panel and Member, Asian Advisory Board NZ Police Auckland City.
on our own terms, when and how we want to be. The man ban infers that women would only for female candidates; that men are voted in purely because of the lack of an alternative. It fails to identify that MPs are ideally voted in on their party affiliation as well as their political beliefs,and promises to the electorate be they male or female it doesnt make all that much different to a conscientious voter. All the
parliament. At this point I could delve into the plethora of scientific research that shows that women are different to men and we need them in authority positions because of their different biological skills and inherent ways of thinking. All that argument will do however, is distract us from the real issue of why people are elected into government for their views, beliefs and promises not biology. What the plan does
Even beyond all my previous arguments what is arguably the worst part aspect of the plan is that it requires a quota. In nations where women are oppressed, and degraded, a quota needs to be used to fight such subjugation by making it lawful to require a certain number of female representations.
practicalities of the plan do is reduce women to their status in the 50s when they usually lived in the kitchen and had only just started to work. Now that I have gotten my little rant out of the way, I want to address the issue that Labour is trying to tackle. The basic principle of the argument is not at all difficult to defend, and endorse. Women make up approximately 50% of the New Zealand population and therefore should be represented to at least that degree in
not take into consideration however it that, as I mentioned above, many women are perfectly happy being represented by a member of the opposite sex with similar views to themselves, and truly do not see the need for gender to define the MP. This is in line with the arguments in opposition to the proposed American Equal Rights Amendment which seeks to state that equality of right will not be denied on the
basis of sex. The amendment, while it is seen by some as furthering gender equality, can be seen as demoting women to needing a separate amendment distinguishing them from a citizen under the US Constitution. Where the Constitution refers to a citizen, the word should, and does include women, making the need for such an amendment redundant. Even beyond all my previous arguments what is arguably the worst part aspect of the plan is that it requires a quota. In nations where women are oppressed, and degraded, a quota needs to be used to fight such subjugation by making it lawful to require a certain number of female representations. In a country like New Zealand however, where we often, in our enthusiasm for equality, overcompensate (this man ban being an example), imposing a quota is unnecessary and really just degrades women implying they dont have the gumption to stand for office. An ideal percentage or a target number is more along the lines of what we should be using. That said, the real agenda of the plan in encouraging more women to join the politics game is nothing to shy away from, but to be embraced. David Shearer also finally seems to have realised this and has withdrawn, on July 9th, the women only section of the proposed plan. All of this uncertainty of opinion, and shoddy media presence is really not going dear David any good especially with Duncan Garners love of finding rumours and scandals in all things Shearer. - Pooja Sundar is an LLB/BA student in Auckland.
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INDIA ABROAD
angalore:Nearly 20 Arab states have pledged to improve the welfare of minorities in Karnataka with financial aid to young entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises and for empowering women. About 20 Arab nations in West Asia and Africa have committed to grant Rs.8 million this year to fund minority entrepreneurs, help young women become self-reliant and educate the youth, Indo-Arab Chamber of Commerce executive director Asif Iqbal said. Among the states that have pledged help are Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A delegation of the chamber recently met
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here and offered support to the governments various minority programmes. With offices in Dubai and Muscat, the chamber has about 330 members, including 130 from across the Arab states. We assured the state government that we will facilitate more investment to Karnataka from the Arab world, Iqbal said. A 250-member trade delegation from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) will visit the state to participate in the TAB (Transcending Arabian Borders) 2013 conference here in August, he said. - IWK Bureau
engagement with India, said Sujata Sudarshan, CEO, OIFC. OIFC is positioned to serve as a single-point contact for facilitation in areas of information, economic engagement, knowledge partnering and mentoring, she added. India and Indonesia have shared two millennia of close cultural and commercial contacts, and according to Sudarshan about 150 delegates representing 10,000 NRIs and over 80,000 Indonesians of Indian origin comprising of professionals and mid-size entrepreneurs are expected to participate in the meets. OIFC has engaged with over 6,650 overseas Indians through 23 such Diaspora Engagement Meets and business forums held in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle-East, North America and Southeast Asia, the statement said. The next diaspora business meet will be at the forthcoming Regional Pravasi Divas scheduled at Sydney (Australia) in November this year.
ashington: Amar G. Bose, the visionary Indian-American engineer and inventor, famous for making high-quality Bose audio systems bearing his name and speakers for home users, auditoriums and automobiles, is dead. The billionaire entrepreneur and founder and chairman of the privately held Bose Corporation, died at his home in Wayland, Massachusetts, Friday, July 12, The New York Times reported. He was 83. His death was confirmed by his son, Dr Vanu G. Bose. As company, Bose focused relentlessly on acoustic engineering innovation. His speakers, though expensive, earned a reputation for bringing concert-hall-quality audio into the home, the Times said. Though his first speakers fell short of expectations, Bose kept at it. In 1968, he introduced the Bose 901 Direct/Reflecting speaker system, which became a best seller for more than 25 years and firmly entrenched Bose, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, as a leader in a highly competitive audio components marketplace. Later inventions included the popular Bose Wave radio and the Bose noise-cancelling headphones, which were so effective they were adopted by the military and commercial
pilots, according to the Times. Boses devotion to research was matched by his passion for teaching. Having earned his bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1950s, Bose returned from a Fulbright scholarship at the National Physical Laboratory in New Delhi and joined the MIT faculty in 1956. Amar Gopal Bose was born Nov 2, 1929, in Philadelphia. His father, Noni Gopal Bose, was a Bengali freedom fighter who was studying physics at Calcutta University when he was arrested and imprisoned for his opposition to British rule in India. He escaped and fled to the US in 1920, where he married an American schoolteacher. At age 13, Bose began repairing radio sets for pocket money for repair shops in Philadelphia. During World War II, when his fathers import business struggled, Boses electronics repairs helped support the family, the Times said. Bose and his ex-wife, Prema, had two children, Vanu, now the head of his own company, Vanu Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Maya Bose, who survive him, as does his second wife, Ursula, and one grandchild. - IWK Bureau
INDIA
19
ot on the heels of Narendra Modi being introduced as the BJPs prime ministerial candidate at Pune, has come the development versus secularism debate. In particular, it was Modis remark likening secularism to a burqa that has caused reactions from Congress party. Every time there is a crisis, Congress wears a burqa of secularism and hides. This has been going on for 50 years. It is pushing the country in the wrong direction, he said adding the party must be uprooted from power, Modi said. He addressed students at Fergusson College and was scathing in his criticism of the Centres failure to bring about quality education, he said: We need to choose between creating university buildings and building universities. Stating that human building was essential for nation building, he endorsed the need for a larger share of national spending on education. Claiming that China spent 20 per cent of GDP on education, Mr. Modi said the government had failed to create world-class universities. His speech was peppered with Marathi, which he said was crowd-sourced through social media, and was giving voice to what thousands of youngsters had written to him. Indian universities, he said, needed to start linking research to policymaking, like their counterparts in the U.S.
Modi lashed out at the Congress and called for a Congress-free country, stating India needs actions, not mere acts. Taking a dig at the Food Security Bill, Mr. Modi said when it became impossible for the Congress to fulfil the
promise, the party took the easy way out. They threw a piece of law instead of food in the plate. This country is tired of acts, it wants action. - IWK Bureau
ongress leaderAjay Maken attacked Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman NarendraModiover his burqa (veil) of secularism remark and said it was better than naked communalism. The burqa of secularism is better than the nakedness of communalism. Secularism unites the nation while communalism breaks the country, Maken said while addressing a press conference. Maken also attackedModion numerous issues ranging from sports to education. Questioning the BJP strongman over the contribution of his state in the paradigm of Indian sports, he said: NarendraModisaid that our Olympics performance could have been much better. I will like to askModithat how many youngsters have qualified from Gujarat for the Olympics...He has been the Chief Minister of Gujarat for over 10 years, what did he do for sports in the state? People from Gujarat are interested in sports, but as a Chief Minister what has he done? he askedModi. - IWK Bureau
20
FIJI
man wanted for various criminal offences in the Peoples Republic of China was arrested in Fiji following a multi-agency operation led by the Fiji Police Force. The operation was executed after international policing agency INTERPOL issued a Red Notice for the Chinese national. With support from the International
Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), the Department of Immigration, the Peoples Republic of Chinas Ministry of Public Security and Vanuatu Police the fugitive who had been evading Chinese authorities was arrested at the Nadi International Airport last week. Chief Operations Officer Assistant Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudravu said the successful implementation of the Red Notice
requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crimerelated information. In the case of Red Notices, the person concerned is wanted by national jurisdictions for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant or court decision. - Tevita Vuibau, Fiji Times
he leader of Fijis first two coups and a former elected prime minister who ushered in the 1997 constitution, MajorGeneral Sitiveni Rabuka, admits he still has political ambitions. He also believes Australian and New Zealand sanctions imposed on Fiji are punishing the innocent. Rabuka, who led both coups in Fiji in 1987 and was prime minister from 1992-1999, said in an exclusive interview onTV3sThe Nationlast weekend that he had not ruled out contesting next years post-coup elections. I believe God doesnt believe in retirement, he said. I am still available to contest if my chiefs and my people want me to run as their representative. While he would most likely be a member of Parliament if he re-entered the political sphere, he did not rule out a prime ministerial bid. Rabuka also said New Zealand and Australias sanctions on Fiji were punishing the innocent. Theyre being felt by the people who have no say in what is going on. Rabuka said the sanctions were being particularly felt by the people in the army. Theyre just slogging along and they need medical treatment in New Zealand and Australia, theyre not allowed to come in, he said. So we have to take them all the way to India. Youre punishing the innocent.
He said that because of the sanctions, New Zealand and Australia had lost a lot of mana. Even after the restoration [of democracy in Fiji] it will not be a restoration, it will be the establishment of a new order. If we have elections and Australia and New Zealand want to come in, we have the right to say where were you when we needed you. - Pacific Scoop
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SOUTH ASIA
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16-year-old girl died of acid burns inflicted by her husband, was the catalyst for the women to defy local convention in which public space and the right to dispense justice belong to men alone. Their objective is to counter the typically misogynistic decisions that, in the absence of the female perspective and coupled with womens low status in society, are often handed down by the traditional jirgas. The editorial observed that weak systems of civil
administration allow the anachronistic jirgas to survive in many parts of the country as a means of inexpensive and speedy justice. Although they must in time be replaced by the formal justice system, for now jirgas could certainly do with a shake-up to their malecentred approach that treats women as little more than dispensable bargaining chips, it added. - IWK Bureau
himphu: B h u t a n ushered in the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to power on July 13 in the second elections to the countrys National Assembly since it became a democracy. The PDP stormed to power winning 32 of the 47 seats of the National Assembly or the lower house of Bhutans parliament while Prime Minister Jigmi Thinleys Druk Phuensom Tshogpa (DPT) party could manage only 15, according to the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB). To gain power, the winning party needed 24 seats. For Saturdays polling, India had provided Bhutan with nearly 2,000 EVMs and Indias Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath was invited to oversee the election process. The results are seen as a defeat for outgoing Prime Minister Thinleys policies of opening up to China, a move that was seen with wariness and even suspicion by India that wields considerable influence over Thimphus foreign and economic policies. Both parties subsequently agreed not to make India an election issue even though withdrawal of subsidy on kerosene and cooking gas by New Delhi adversely affected energy prices in the country and became a campaign point.
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22
FEATURES
RAMADAN SPECIAL
he atmosphere of piousness spreads in the Bohra household as soon as Ramadan begins. The family, which belongs to the Dawoodi Bohra community (a sub-sect of Shia Muslims), thoroughly follows each and every belief associated with the holy month. There is an immaculate observation in terms of prayers and fasts, with the two little girls in the house joining their parents and granparents in the recitation of Quran, fasts and praying five times a day. For me, the significance of Ramadan is to develop intense faith in religion and inculcate it in my daughters so that when they grow up, they follow the same and remain in the same environment. Ramadan also gives an opportunity to exercise self control. Apart from its religious connotation, fasting helps in cleansing, detoxifying and purifying ones system. Also, we believe fasting is for all senses and hence, we refrain from watching television during this time too, Batul Bohra, the woman of the family, tells us. The Bohras go to their community hall every evening to pray and break their fast, joining in for the community dinner at the hall thereafter. My bedtime storytelling session with the girls also revolves around Ramadan during this month as I narrate stories of the Prophet and Ali to them along with translating the waaz (lectures by the priest at the community hall) in English. My younger daughter Lubaina, who will turn seven, began fasting last year. She fasted for around 19 days, says the proud mother. As compared to the majority of Muslims, Dawoodi Bohras do not follow the moon during Ramadan. They go by the calendar, which determines the date of Eid exactly after 30 days.
Clockwise from top left: The Bohra family does Sehri at dawn; Batul narrating Ramadan stories to her daughters Zanobia and Lubaina at bedtime; The little girls greeting their grandparents with the traditional gesture of salaam, which marks a sign of respect for elders in the Dawoodi Bohra community.
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RAMADAN SPECIAL
Month of minimalism
ocussing on the message spread justice, forsake anger, remove sources of division and improve sympathy between each other the Shaikh family observes Ramadan keeping its core significance in mind. This also extends to having a minimalistic approach to everything during this one month. Hence, whether its food or the overall lifestyle, the Shaikhs forego all luxury. The family ardently follows a routine, putting themselves in the shoes of those people who are actually surviving with basic necessities. Ramadan is about giving up the desire for material needs. To slow down ones animal soul, thereby killing all lust and greed. Hence, this month not only calms us down but also disciplines us. My family prays at home five times a day, we sleep early, rise up early and go for lectures at the Husseiniya Centre in Pakuranga every odd day, says Sajid Shaikh. As opposed to common perception, which highlights Ramadan as a month of Fasting and Feasting, the Shaikh family exercises a strict regime with respect to their food habits as well. For sehri (the meal before the break of dawn), we just have a banana, bread and butter. We dont make anything for iftar (the meal to break the fast) and there is nothing extravagant cooked for dinner too. The meals are very basic, informs Shaikh. The Shaikhs belong to the larger sect of Shia Muslims, who follow the moon and start Ramadan a few days after the Dawoodi Bohras.
Sajid Shaikh offers maghrib (evening) namaz with his daughters Mahdiya and Aliyah.
or Naveed Shahzads family, Ramadan is a month which brings the whole family together on the dining table. Sehri becomes the breakfast that they otherwise never have and dinner is an elaborate affair where everyone eats together. While the sehri is generally parathas, curd and eggs, the iftar comprises of a sumptuous variety of dishes from lamb nuggets and chicken wings to palak and fish pakoras accompanied by milkshakes, juices and the likes. But beyond the food fervour, the days in the Shahzad family during Ramadan revolve around rehmat (blessings from Allah), magfirat (forgiveness from Allah for ones sins) and nijaat (saving ones self from hell). Ramadan is a month when there is no distraction from the Shaitaan (devil). And we spend as much time as we can in doing ibaadat (remembering God). Prayers take centre stage and we also wake up after midnight to pray the tarabi namaz, explains Shahzad. As per the belief of Sunni Muslims, which is said to be the largest sect of Islam, tarabi is the time when Allah is on the seventh heaven and there is acceptance of ones duas (prayers). Hence, tarabi namaz holds a lot of importance for Sunnis during Ramadan. My wife and I also keep fasts for six days after Eid, as we believe that is equivalent to fasting for the whole year, informs Shahzad.
he Chougles, another Sunni Muslim family, revel in the essence of the holy month. Ramadan is something that we eagerly wait for and we enjoy the process, says Rehana Chougle, who also tells us how living in a joint family makes Ramadan all the more special for her. My father-in-law conducts the morning, evening and tarabi namaz at home, just like it takes place in the mosque. Since I am not able to go to the mosque, I like the exact atmosphere of the mosque being created at home. Eight of us pray together with my father-in-law leading us all, she adds. Iftar forms the highlight too as the family indulges in a lavish fare of at least four to five dishes every day, including a mix of different cuisines. I love cooking and iftar for us is a veritable feast with stuff that we usually dont get a chance to make throughout the year. Along with signifying worship, purity, forgiveness and charity, Ramadan for our family also symbolises happiness. As we dedicate this month to Allah, we also maintain the element of celebration through food, Rehana explains. Her two daughters (five and six years old) also actively participate in all things pious during this month. Even though the eligible age for kids to keep fasts is seven years, my elder daughter has already begun to keep fasts once or twice during this month since last year and the younger one will start this year. I want them to get used to the cycle by the time they are eligible, she says.
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FEATURES
HERITAGE
e commonly hear this statement that the difference between life and school is that, in school you are taught the lesson first and then the tests follow but in life the tests are given first and the lessons follow suit. Depending on how well we fair in lifes tests, we either experience joy or success (and often forget the real lesson to be learnt) or we learn a harsh lesson out of it. There is a similarity in our process of learning in both school and in life itself. Just as in school we have to repeat the year if we havent studied properly, in life too, we find our challenges that we havent quite mastered keep repeating themselves albeit in different forms. So why do these situations recur? Ironically, this is the same reason why we fail at school. When we do not learn the lesson that are to be learnt from the past experiences, and when we do not prepare well for future eventualities, then we find ourselves illequipped to face the situations that come to test us. This condition naturally increases the
probability of us failing in those situations. We may have managed to pass our exams and even earn a degree but if we havent learnt the subject matter, we will always find a lack of confidence in us in those subjects in which we did not prepare well earlier in life. So the challenge of studying for an exam at university when not done well, comes back as the challenge at work when a similar case study needs to be answered at work, but this time failure leads to embarrassment or even a loss of our job. Thus, we find the same challenge becomes more potent in time if not dealt with earlier. From school we graduate but in and through learning lifes lessons, we mature and become wiser, not for others, but in ourselves, in our choices, in our vision, in the way we lead our life. The introductory statement that in life the tests are first and then come the lessons is not entirely true. It is just that the lessons are less obvious until the testing situations are faced. The lessons are very subtle in life for it to dawn on us. We need to be prepared to learn them. In the Kathopanishad, the student there, Nachiketa describes the three types of students; The worst type is one who listens to the
teachers instructions, misunderstands it and does the opposite of it, the middle type is one Who listens and understands the teachers words correctly and does exactly as per the instructions; but the best student is one Who understands the teachers mere wish even before it is expressed and executes it diligently. Such a student performs the task most efficiently and sets new standards of performance. One can be the best student only when we are in tune with our teachers. In life, the very surroundings we are in are our teachers - our children, our parents, our siblings, our in-laws, boss, peers, etc. they are all our teachers. When we are in tune with our lifes teachers (our surroundings) we are in harmony (in ourselves) and we bring harmony to others and everyone desires this. To the extent we become good students, to that extent we will learn the right lessons from our varied experiences in our lives. Hence, it is important for us to focus on how we harmonize ourselves with our surroundings. To learn the right lessons in life one needs
the right goal in life. Just as a student who values the opportunity to learn needs no other motivation to excel. However, if one enters the classroom to with the aim to socialize, then for sure, he wont learn the right lessons from that class. Hence the right goal guides us. The three stages of learning in life are: When we learn What is the best outcome for me? When we learn What is the best outcome for everyone? and finally; When we learn What is the BEST? The last stage of learning is spirituality. It is when we have fully matured through all our prior experiences. Let us deepen our learning and eventually graduate through lifes university! Bramhachari Adarsh Chaitanya serves as the Resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission Auckland and conducts weekly spiritual classes for children, youth and adults. For more information about the Chinmaya Mission and Bramhachari Adarsh Chaitanya please follow this link: www.chinmaya.org.nz or contact him at 2756954
Ram Lingam
Face to face with Kli... If you were to encounter Goddess Kli face to face to us, this is how she will show up. Kli is a ferocious woman who is black, wild-haired, wears a mala (garland) of skulls around her neck, and has several hands with many weapons and the head of a demon. Her bloodlust tongue protrudes from her mouth, her eyes are red and her face and breasts are sullied with blood. If you find this form grotesque, try going face to face with a nebulas exploding star in the cosmos or even a tsunami. The experience of Kli would not be that different, as she is declared in the sacred literature, as the manifestation of the terrible function of nature. It is like coming face to face with a tsunami from the very same ocean that was gentle a minute ago, lashing smoothly onto the beaches. Thats the Kali experience according to the scriptures. Yet, in India, this form doesnt scare anyone as she is understood to be the destructive power of the unmanifest. Kli in the sourcebooks... The modern mind starts scoffing at such imagery but it never bothers to go through the very sourcebook where Kli is mentioned. After all spiritual things must only be understood spiritually not scientifically. Just like we understand the behaviour of a freakish looking nebulae in the text
FEATURES
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EDUCATION
The students set to work creating the dough and (top right) one of the end products - a caterpillars paradise.
ast weeks international tutorial explored the medium of playdough as a tool for teaching young children. The lesson began with a presentation on the experiences with playdoughteachers can use to advance social and emotional development, language acquisition, literacy, numeracy, science and fine motor skills. Then it was time for some handson experimenting with playdough. Mixing together flour, salt, cream
of tartar, oil and food colouring, the students kneaded the dough into a good consistency for moulding. As they shaped the dough into different characters, they discussed stories they could tell, and described the vocabulary they could introduce to children such askneading, rolling, punching, squeezing and flattening. I wanted to show how playdough
Method Mix all ingredients together then add boiling water. Stir well. Once cool, knead until a pliable dough is formed. - For more information on studying one of our specialist early childhood programs please call us on (09) 520 4000 or email international@nztertiarycollege. ac.nz.
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ENTERTAINMENT
e was truly what legends are made of a natural talent and a thorough professional with a versatility. Bollywoods most loved villain Pran left for his heavenly abode on Friday, July 12. He was 93. Born as Pran Kishan Sikand, he was popular as Pran, and many, out of the respect the legend commanded, addressed him as Pran sahib. Pran breathed his last at the Lilavati Hospital following prolonged illness. In a career of over six decades, the veteran actor had an exhaustive and impressive filmography of over 400 movies, each beating the other. And so, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who worked with Pran in over 10 films, including Zanjeer and Don, tweeted: Another magnificent pillar of the film industry falls. Pran may have been loved as the rough and tough man on screen, but in real life, he was a gentleman, most collaborative colleague, a senior of immense distinction and a true disciplined professional, wrote Big B. The actor was chosen for the 44th Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement, an honour which his family as well as colleagues
from Bollywood felt came a little late in the day. The actor started his career as a photographer in 1940, but it was a chance meeting with a film producer that landed him his debut role in a film called Yamla Jat. Later, when he moved from Lahore to Bombay (now Mumbai), with the help of renowned writer Saadat Hasan Manto and actor Shyam, Pran got a break in Bombay Talkies film Ziddi, in which Dev Anand played the lead role. That set the momentum for the versatile talent, who brought new mannerisms and style and lent new dimensions to negative characters. If he played a villain convincingly in films like Madhumati, Ziddi and Ram Aur Shyam, with the same ease he slipped into character roles like the lovable Malang Chacha in Upkar or a loyal friend Sher Khan in Zanjeer. Among his memorable movies are Azaad, Madhumati, Devdas, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram Aur Shyam, Aadmi, Ziddi, Munimji, Amardeep, Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai, Chori Chori, and Chhalia. - IWK Bureau
ranian actress Mandana Karimi is all set to debut in Bollywood with filmmaker Vikram Bhatts Bhaag Johnny. She will be playing a lead in the film alongside Kunal Khemu and Zoa Morani. Born to an Indian father and an Iranian mother, Mandana grew up in Tehran, before globetrotting and landing in India and being discovered by Vikram Bhatt. I dont want to be known just for my looks, said Mandana. Im ready to experiment with roles from everything clich to bizarre. My aim is to enact varied characters with all kinds of shades, she said. Asked about her role in Bhaag
ENTERTAINMENT
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Shri Krishna
Date: Saturday 20th July, 2013
Time: 6pm Venue: Dorothy Winston Theatre Auckland Girls Grammar School Tickets: $25 & $20 For tickets contact Anuradha 09 827 4117, 021 155 0714
HD Video & Cinematographic Production www.lionbeats.co.nz
FOTOGRAPHICS
FOTOGRAPHICS
FOTOGRAPHICS
www.creativeeye.co.nz
GOPAL SREENIVASAN
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ENTERTAINMENT
WHATSOn
Bollywood dance class
class/concession for full-time students, beneficiaries and pensioners:$10.00. 10 classes:$95.00. 10 classes/ concession for students, beneficiaries and pensioners:$75.00
Artrageous
North Shore secondary school students compete for awards with their work in a wide variety of media. This is a great opportunity to see the artistic energy and innovation of our aspiring young artists. All work has been produced during class time in accordance with the NZ curriculum. The purpose of the exhibition is to encourage young students of all artistic media by giving them the opportunity to experience having their work on display.
When: Starts on Feb 25, 5.30pm to 6.30pm Where: Ram Krishna Mandir, 3/4 Onslow
Avenue, Papatoetoe
Weblinks: www.bollywoodparty.co.nz
For more info, mail at anju.mayastudio@gmail. com or call on 0211537969
Take your kids off into space with the planetarium show Astronaut in Stardomes 360-degree theatre. The show will be followed by face painting and a hands-on session where you can make your very own astronaut gear to take home.
When: Till July 26, 10am to 1pm Where: Stardome Observatory and
When: Every Mondays and Wednesdays till July 31, 7pm to 8.15pm Where: Birkdale Intermediate, 200 Birkdale Road, Auckland Admission: Casual classes:$12.00. Casual
(opposite Northcote Library), Ernie Mays Street, Northcote. For any further info, call on (09) 4868635
Planetarium, 670 Manukau Road, One Tree Hill. Admission: Children $10, adults $8. Bookings essential. Call on 09 624 1246 orbook online. Weblinks: www.stardome.org.nz
ENTERTAINMENT
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story The Last Leaf. However, Motwanes artistic touch remains restricted to splendid visuals and soothing music. As opposed to his first film Udaan, which triumphed mainly for its stark content and characterisation, Lootera manifests an evident lack of depth in these departments. Despite a strong tragic undertone, the film fails to move you. Motwane kindles a romance, which flickers before you can invest in it. Despite potential chemistry between the lead pair, you miss the quintessential passion of turbulent love. Having said that, this is indeed Sonakshis
best film so far. She is terrific in her portrayal of the ailing Pakhi, who is waiting to die in order to get freedom from her uncontrolled yearning for love. Your heart goes out to her every time she asks Varun, Did you ever love me, strangely the same question resonating in your head as a viewer. While Sonakshi gives it all to her character, Ranveer is too restrained for his own good. He is almost absent in this eponymous romance, making Sonakshi fitter for the title role. Lootera successfully creates the old world charm. The story moves at a snails pace. Yet, many sequences seem hurried,
without much justification. There is one scene where Varun joins Pakhi as she is reciting a poem to her father. Impressed by Varuns knowledge of literature, the zamindar instantly asks Varun about his accommodation and we see Varun shifting in his haveli in the next scene. Moments like these make you cringe in a film which is otherwise dealt with a certain creative delicateness. O. Henry must have felt short changed too with the poor imitation of his story in the second half. Although Lootera leaves a lot to be asked for, its a veritable treat for fans of Sonakshi.
FREE!
OF THE WEEK
* $9 mOvIE
FAMILY PASS
2 Adults + 2 Kids OR 1 Adult + 3 Kids
NOW SHOWING
COMING SOON
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RECIPE
RECIPE
Rubys Kitchen
By Ruby Dhillon
Method In a food processor blend bread, green chillies, eggs, black pepper, salt and flour. Keep it in a bowl. Clean and wash the chicken. Heat oil over medium heat. Dip chicken drum stick into a flour batter and deep fry one by one. Drain on kitchen paper. Serve hot with mint chutney.
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ENTERTAINMENT