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GETTING OUT OF THE DEBT TRAP

From the Parliament’s Budget LockupFinance Minister Bill English presents his Budget at Parliament

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Dev NaDkarNi from the Parliament’s Budget Lockup in Wellington

For an election year, Finance Min-ister Bill English’s third budget is certainly unusual in that it has been rather bold in cutting spending than what most observers might have ex-pected. Indeed, it is the first time in eighty years that a finance minister has cut spending in an election year.

Given the parlous state of the country’s finances, Mr English and his team had no option but to take whatever strong steps that were pos-sible to try to balance the books as early as possible. The task would cer-tainly have been made more difficult because of the November elections.

Measures proposed in Budget 2011 aim to bring down the govern-ment’s external borrowing from the whopping $380 million a week currently to a more bearable $100 million a week by next year. This could well pave the way for the gov-ernment books to score a surplus as early as 2015 – a year ahead of schedule, which is an extremely de-sirable outcome.

Mr English said Crown net debt would now be under 30% of GDP and that without the tight fiscal poli-cies proposed in this year’s budget it would have peaked closer to 35%. “These are changes that will have a long term effect,” he said.

But despite the cuts, the Finance Minister has managed to avoid criti-cism of being too harsh on any of the affected sectors. That is because any negative impact on these sectors has been kept to a minimum. The budget does not seem like a slash and burn exercise so much as mere tinkering at the edges.

Perhaps the only segment where the cuts seem drastic, if at all, is the state sector, where government de-partments and agencies will be given savings targets. Ending the funding of more than 100 state sector agen-cies’ employer contributions to Ki-wiSaver, the State Sector Retirement Savings Scheme and the Teacher Re-tirement Savings Scheme will save about $650 million. These agencies will be asked to meet these costs from their own funding, for the most part.

Other tweaking in this sector will save another $330 million, bringing savings from the sector close to $1 billion – which, indeed, is a substan-tial saving in tough economic times like these.

The state public sector has had runaway growth in the past decade both in terms of people employed and their annual salary increases, which have been at a faster rate than

people in the private sector, even in the toughest of economic times. The budget will need the sector to imple-ment some serious belt tightening.

Changes to KiwiSaver shifts the focus away from external debt to genuine internal savings. The gov-ernment will now have to borrow less externally to fund the KiwiSaver savings scheme.

The government’s annual $1.2 billion contribution by way of the $20 tax credit a week will be halved to $10 a week (thereby halving the employee tax credit to an annual cap of $521). The $1040 kick start, though, will continue without changes, to encourage people to start the savings habit.

Other significant changes to Ki-wiSaver include raising minimum contributions by employers and employees from 2% to 3% from the year 2013 and ending tax-free em-ployer contributions (they will now be taxed at the employees’ base tax rate). This will affect both higher income earners and their employers.

These changes to KiwiSaver are tipped to improve the rate of na-tional savings by about 2.2% of GDP a year. From the present $7.9 billion KiwiSaver funds are projected to rise to $25 billion in 2014-15 and a whop-ping $60 billion in 10 years.

Quite courageously for an elec-tion year, the Finance Minister has taken the scissors to the Working for Families scheme as well. Phased in lowering of abatement thresholds will bring in some savings, while

benefit payments to high earning families will be reduced, again pro-ducing savings.

The hand-out largesse wrought by previous government policies has led to more than 40% of New Zealanders receiving more from the state than they pay in tax, as last year’s Tax Working Group reported.

The budget has reallocated some of the savings from these cuts to the health sector, which will receive an extra $2.2 billion over the next four years, of which $585 million – made up of $420 million of new money, in addition to 165 million of savings.

This will help the healthcare system provide increased medical training and maternity initiatives, greater access to medicines and elec-tive surgery. It also increases funding for dementia care – a growing problem because of the country’s aging population – besides mental health, disability support services and GP visit subsidies.

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Fund is set to receive $5.5 billion over the next six years. Local infrastructure and state-owned asset rebuild will gain from this funding. Funds will also help provide welfare support, meet costs related to the immediate response to the emergency and government’s financial support package for AMI Insurance.

Communications gets a big fillip in the budget. As well as capital funding of $970 million to be provid-ed to Crown Fibre Holdings to invest

alongside private sector partners for the national broadband initiative, $28 million has been allocated for upgrading connectivity in schools – mainly providing last mile connec-tivity to the broadband network for the state school system.

Other infrastructure allocations include $338 million for rail and $109 million of capital funding for education sector.

Part of this will be funded by the government’s plan to sell stakes in four state-owned energy enter-prises while also reducing its major-ity shareholding in Air New Zealand to raise up to $7 billion in capital, of course if only the government is re-elected in the November elections.

The good news for business: an additional $24 million over 4 years has been added to last year’s impres-sive allocation of $234 million over 4 years for business research and development. The idea is also to help commercialise research and devel-opment project, addressing a lacuna New Zealand innovators have long faced: taking their bright ideas to the world marketplace.

Though measures to bring the government books back in shape by the end of 2015 look impressive, the exercise does come at a cost. Before external borrowing comes down to zero and the government of the day embarks on a repayment programme, the tax bill is tipped to increase. From $3.5 billion this year, it is tipped to rise to $6.3 billion by 2015.

Indian

Budget focuses on getting out of debt trap

Finance Minister Bill English presents his Budget at Parliament on May 19. Photo: Dev Nadkarni


Indian

Expert’s suggestions taken on board

In an article titled “It is pos-sible for NZ to save its way out of debt” in the April 15 issue of Indian Week-ender, financial

expert and writer Ajay Kumar had listed a number of options that the government could take.

Mr Kumar had also presented his suggestions to an august audi-ence that included Prime Minis-ter John Key at a dinner earlier in April.

With the announcement of the proposals in Budget 2011, we note that the National Party-led govern-ment has taken on board a number of those suggestions.

“The pre-budget announce-ment regarding changes in Ki-wiSaver and some of the actions the government has taken and is contemplating are very much the same as suggested in the presenta-tion on on April 1, which had been presented to the prime minister,” Mr Kumar told Indian Weekender.

“Our first suggestion was to stop the tax credit of $20 a week which comes to $1040 annually. It has now been halved to $521. But our idea has been widely accepted and appreciated by other leaders as well.

“The second suggestion was to further promote and increase con-tribution under KiwiSaver, which has also been given the green light

from Finance Minister Bill English as contributionsn will go up to 3% from 2013.

“We also suggested that these changes should be implemented from the year 2012, once the New Zealand economy starts recov-ering. We have prepared a chart where we have shown that the size of KiwiSaver could be around $500 billion in the next 20 years. In this chart, we also assumed an increase in contribution in KiwiSaver from the year 2012 – but in the budget, it happens a year later.

“In our presentation and in the article, we emphasised on the in-ternal savings/ borrowings rather than external borrowings from foreign lenders to reduce the pres-sure of foreign lenders on New Zea-land’s economy,” Mr Kumar said. “It is good to note that strategy is at the centre of this year’s budget.”

It is evident that since April 1, the government is borrowing more from within New Zealand rather than externally. There have been two big issues of government bonds locally and both have been over-subscribed, another instance of a suggestion that seems to have been taken aboard.

“I trust that other suggestions will also see the green light soon, as they are a practicable way for the country to come out of the debt trap while building savings,” Mr Kumar said.

-Indian Weekender news desk

Youth spirit focus of conferenceDynamic spirit of youth was the focus of a joint Hindu Youth NZ and NZ Hindu Students forum held in Auckland recently.

Said joint general secretary of the Hindu Coiuncil of New Zealand Pritika Sharma: “Youth are full of irresistible enthusiasm, enormous energy, boundless hope and dedi-cation. Youth is the life force of a nation, or society.

“Hindu Youth conferences are organised to unleash the poten-tial of the youth. The second New Zealand Hindu Youth Conference was successful in this endeavour.”

The conference was inaugurat-ed by opposition leader Phil Goff. He said, “Our young people are our future. We need to inspire them, give them hope and the confidence to know they can achieve whatever they set out to do. This forum gives young people an opportunity to make a positive difference in terms of their own lives and the lives of others in New Zealand.”

MPs Dr Rajen Prasad and Kan-waljit Singh Bakshi also attended the ceremony.

Nitika Sharma, the conference co-ordinator, and Som Sharma, president of New Zealand Hindu Students Forum welcomed the guests. Ms Sharma said that HYNZ and NZHSF were networks of young professionals and ter-tiary students, respectively. Young Hindu New Zealanders were proud of their Hindu as well as New

Zealand identities. In her keynote address, Ku-

muthini Selvaraj, co-ordinator of HYNZ Wellington team, pre-sented the significant contribution of Hindu Youth to New Zealand based on 2006 Statistics New Zealand data. She compared the age, education and employment status of Hindu community to the rest of New Zealand.

Young achievers of New Zealand shared their success stories at the conference. Speakers included Claire Szabo, the chief executive of English Language Partners New Zealand, who was recently recog-nised as the Young Executive of the Year 2010; Dr Divya Dhar, chief executive P3 Foundation, who was awarded inaugural 2010 Young New Zealander of the Year; J’aime Laurenson, the recipient of the inaugural 2010 Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards; and Vinny Jeet, chief executive of OneBeep and OneBuzz, winners of the Mi-crosoft Imagine Cup Challenge New Zealand, 2010 and 2011.

They inspired the audience by exemplifying how hard work, per-severance and dedication result in impressive achievements.

Nachiket Joshi, a young phar-macist from Hamilton, presented the work that he has been doing to spread education to underprivi-leged children in India and Nepal through the Ekal Vidyalaya (one teacher school) movement.

Ekal Vidyalaya is now one of the world’s fastest growing educational movement, and more informa-tion, including the contacts for the New Zealand chapter, are available through www.ekal.org.

A session on “Engaging youth on serving the community” was chaired Komal Shah. Youth from Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh; Inter-national Society for Krishna Con-sciousness and Yogi Divine Society shared their contributions to the community welfare.

Dijesh Patel of National Hindu Students Forum, United Kingdom, informed the audience on a model of community development where seva (service) activities from various Hindu community organ-isations in UK were coordinated.

A number of New Zealand gov-ernment agencies and institutes including Ministry of Youth De-velopment, New Zealand Police, Auckland Youth Advisory Panel and Auckland Ethnic Advisory Panel shared their vision for youth regionally and nationally.

Pritika Sharma, joint general secretary of Hindu Council of New Zealand, delivered the closing remarks at the conference com-mending the efforts of young students and professionals. She added, “the team had shown that youth from Hindu community have the capacity and capability to be leaders in the New Zealand Society.”

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Indian

Madhur Jaffrey in NZaNtoNia kokalova-Gray

The time-pressed gourmets among us, particularly those with a pen-chant for the delicious spiciness and diversity of Indian cuisines, are in for a treat this week as one of the most acclaimed Indian food writers in the world visits New Zealand.

Delhi-born, US-based Madhur Jaffrey has had decades of experi-ence researching, compiling and presenting mouthwatering curry recipes in books and on TV shows in the UK and US. She is renowned for having ingeniously adapted the complexities of Indian cuisines to our fast-paced age.

With support from the Asia:NZ culture programme, Madhur Jaffrey is in New Zealand this week to take part in the 2011 Auck-land Writers and Readers Festi-val (AWRF), which began on May 11. She will also speak at a dinner in her honour in Wellington on Thursday, May 19.

Ms Jaffrey’s naming had a symbolic, prescient connection to food (her chosen name, “Madhur” means sweet as honey in Sanskrit) and Madhur “was left with honey on my palate and my deepest soul,” as she tells in her 2006 memoir

Climbing the Mango Trees, one of over 15 popular books she has au-thored.

With 175 easy recipes, Ms Jaf-frey’s latest bestseller, Curry Easy, is a tantalising culinary journey across India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and allows foodies to recreate the tastes of South Asia with a minimum amount of work.

“Indian food isn’t always com-plicated to make, and you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen,” says Madhur Jaffrey. “With just a few very easy steps, you can get a Goan prawn curry or a Sri Lankan beef curry with coconut milk. That is what Curry Easy is going to show you how to do.”

At the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival on Friday May 13, Ms Jaffrey will talk about her fasci-nating life journey from the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi to Manhattan.

“The innocent Indian honey of my infancy is now mixed with the pungencies of Indian spices, the sour and bitter, the nutty and the tinglingly aromatic,” says Madhur Jaffrey in Climbing the Mango Trees.

“We are delighted to have been able to bring culinary legend Madhur Jaffrey to New Zealand,”

said Asia:NZ culture director Jen-nifer King.

“The vividness of her life story is suitably complemented by the richness of her recipes – and we’re glad New Zealanders will get a taste of both, through our coopera-tion with the AWRF in Auckland and the New Zealand Guild of Food Writers in Wellington, which made these events possible.”

On Sunday May 15, Madhur Jaffrey will be the guest pre-senter at a lunch in her honour at the Langham Hotel in Auckland, where the hotel’s Indian chefs will prepare an authentic Indian feast drawn from her cookbooks.

Wellingtonians will also be able to sample Madhur Jaffrey’s recipes and hear her talk at a degusta-tion dinner, organised by the New Zealand Guild of Food Writers, with support from Asia:NZ and the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancel-lor. The dinner is at 6pm on 19 May at the James Cook Hotel; tickets are $95 per person for a six-course menu including drinks and pre-dinner snacks.

Madhur Jaffrey’s latest cook-book Curry Easy is now available online and from bookshops in New Zealand.

- Asia-NZ Foundation

New guidelines for loan sharksNew Responsible Lending Guidelines have been put together by the Ministry of Social Development and the Financial Services Fed-eration. They educate people on what to expect when they apply for a loan.

Local MPs Dr Cam Calder and Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi have wel-comed the new Responsible Lending Guidelines for loan sharks.

“During the recession many Kiwis have fallen on hard times and borrowed money as a last resort. But high-interest loans often trap people in an increasing spiral of debt,” Dr Calder and Mr Bakshi have said in a joint news release.

The guidelines address fears of people in Manukau and else-where who are disturbed by the growing prevalence of loan sharks in our community.

“I have also spoken to constituents burdened with loans they are incapable of repaying. These loans should never have been granted,” the MPs say.

“They also call for better consideration of loan security, and more transparent interest rates. People should know exactly how much a loan will cost them. I have seen loan sharks offering an interest rate of 8% per week. Remember that can add up to over 2000% per annum.”

Loan sharks’ interest rates can be crippling, and there are usually better options available. The new guidelines encourage lenders to do the right thing, and borrowers to make better choices.

The Responsible Lending Guidelines can be found at www.fsf.org.nz.


Indian

Three A-grade Indian uni students win scholarshipsA-grade students from New Zealand universities have been presented with Freemasons scholarships totaling $220,000. Olympic athlete, Sir John Walker presented the awards at a ceremony at the University of Waikato. Three of these students were of Indian origin.

Shwetha George, University of WaikatoShwetha will this year complete a Bachelor of Science, majoring in biological sciences at University of Waikato. She was awarded a $6,000 Freemasons University Scholarship.

As well, Shwetha has been involved in a major study inves-tigating seizure effects. Shwetha has long desired to play a part in pharmaceutical developments in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. She hopes that involvement with the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland next year, as part of the biomedical Honours programme, will be a significant step towards fulfilling this dream.

Her long-term goal is to be in-volved with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Re-search in Melbourne while com-pleting her PhD in neuroscience at the University of Melbourne.

Shwetha is currently the secretarial officer for the Uni-versity of Waikato’s chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society. She is an active member of the Hamilton Malay-alee Association, an Indian as-sociation, where she participates and organises cultural events and performances to raise awareness for societal issues.

Last year Shwetha trained as a counsellor with LifeLine Waikato and is now an active vol-unteer telephone counsellor.

Sudhvir Singh, University of Auckland

Sudhvi r has planned his career path. He complemented his Univer-sity of Auckland medical training with an Honours degree in Public Health to pursue a career linking clinical medicine and public policy. Sudhvir’s aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of the popu-lation and reduce inequalities in society. His will be a name to watch in health policy and advocacy work.

After registering with the Medical Council, Sudhvir aims to study for a Masters in Public Health at an international uni-versity, before returning to New Zealand for vocational training as a General Practitioner and work

as a physician in the public health system.

Sudhvir co-founded and led Medical Student for Global Aware-ness, creating a network where students have exposure to hu-manitarian issues through events, campaigns community activities and international dialogue. The United Nations Youth Associa-tion of New Zealand, the Asia-Pacific Model United Nations, New Zealand Climate and Health and the Auckland University Medical Students Association are all organisations in which Sudhvir has an active involvement.

On a community level, he vol-unteers at North Shore Hospice and for the Make Poverty History campaign.

Left give way rule consultations begin

Public consultation is now under-way on the proposed changes to the give way rule.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce says changing the give way rules for turning vehicles is part of the Government’s 10-year Safer Jour-neys road safety strategy.

“Our current give way rules for turning vehicles are confusing and out of step with the rest of the world,” says Mr Joyce.“Research shows changing the rules could reduce relevant inter-section crashes by seven percent.”

Currently if you are turning left you have to give way to right turning traffic coming towards you. This change would reverse this so the left turning vehicle would have right of way in this situation.

Changes are also planned to the rule for T-intersections. This rule applies when there are conflicting right-turns at a T-intersection. Cur-rently, the right-turning vehicle on the terminating road (the base of the ‘T’) has priority over the right-turning vehicle on the through road (the top of the ‘T’). The change will require traffic from an uncontrolled terminating road to give way to traffic on a through road.

An extensive education campaign would be carried out to ensure drivers are aware of the new rules before any changes come into force.

The NZ Transport Agency is now consulting on proposals to amend the Land Transport Road User Rule which includes the changes to give way rules as well as changes that would clarify existing road rules and improve school bus safety. Any changes will come into force early next year.

For more information about the Rule or to make a submission go to the NZ Transport Agency website: www.nzta.govt.nz.

A neuroscientist in the making, Shwetha George of Hillcrest, Hamilton shows Freemasons Grande Master, Selwyn Cooper a model of a brain.

Kyle Kannan, Massey University It’s all in the family for Kyle Kannan of Rotorua, who is in the final year of a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at Massey University. Two years ago his brother qualified as a vet. Their mother was a vet when the family lived in India. Kyle is pic-tured receiving his $6,000 Freema-sons University Scholarship from Olympic athlete, Sir John Walker.

Kyle is looking forward to quali-fying and working in the Waikato in production animal medicine in the rural veterinary sector, where there is a shortage of veterinarians. Kyle enjoys the outdoors and prefers working with large stock animals.

Kyle plans to consolidate what he has learned, gain extensive practical experience and then head overseas

for a few years, bringing new and in-novative veterinary practice back to New Zealand.

Over the last few years Kyle has mentored a second-year student which he has found to be a fulfilling experience.

Badminton, rugby and hockey are his favoured sports. Kyle is also part of the music ministry at St Pat-rick’s in Palmerston North, where he plays the violin and leads a church youth group.

Over the past 33 years, Free-masons New Zealand has pro-vided scholarships of nearly $3.75 million to 954 students at Auck-land, Waikato, Massey, Victoria, Canterbury, Lincoln and Otago uni-versities, making The Freemasons Charity one of the country’s largest, privately-funded university scholar-ship programmes.

Sir John Walker said the presen-tation ceremony was a wonderful opportunity to meet so many high-achieving young people on the verge of great careers and set to improve the quality of life for people and the environment.

Freemasons Grand Master, Selwyn Cooper, made a plea that al-though the inevitable attraction for scholars was to extend their research overseas, he hoped they would never forget their homeland and that they return with their skills and talents honed by their overseas experience.

“The 32 successful scholars with whom we celebrate today are not only accomplished scholars whose dedication and perseverance merits recognition, but they also have an impressive record of community interest and involvement,” said Mr Cooper.

Sudhvir Singh of Torbay, Auckland is congratulated on his $6,000 Freemasons University Scholarship by Olympic athlete, Sir John Walker.


Dev NaDkarNiVisiting Indian Minister of Com-merce and Industry Anand Sharma has said India and New Zealand are in the process of nego-tiating a “comprehensive economic co-operation agreement in trade, investment and services” that will be “much more than just a Free Trade Agreement.”

Speaking to Indian Weekender, Mr Sharma said he hoped nego-tiations would proceed smoothly to have the FTA in place sometime in the first quarter of next year.

Mr Sharma was addressing a 250-strong group of business-people in Auckland yesterday (May 9). He invited New Zealand busi-nesses to participate in India’s unfolding success story that has seen the country grow at over 8% every year over much of the past decade.

He said bilat-eral trade between the two countries was expected to grow threefold from $1billion to $3billion by 2014, even as the FTA negotiations pro-gressed. Meanwhile, officials in the minister’s delegation will meet New Zealand trade officials for their fifth round of talks on the pro-posed FTA this week.

New Zealand exports about $750 million worth of coal, wood, dairy and other merchandise to India while importing about $250 million worth of small machinery parts, food products and a range of small goods. This trade imbalance needed to be corrected and there was ample scope for it, Mr Sharma said.

Outlining the opportuni-ties for New Zealand businesses, Mr Sharma said India’s agricul-ture sector was primed to receive foreign direct investment of a whopping $200 billion over the next five years.

India is the second largest pro-ducer of fruits, vegetables and grain, Mr Sharma revealed, but its largely underdeveloped agriculture sector struggled with post harvest storage, transportation and dis-tribution management, resulting

in preventable spoilage of perish-ables.

Investment in post harvest preservation technologies was par-ticularly important as the world’s climate change, food inflation and food security challenges continu-ally intensified. Better supply chain management in produce could sig-nificantly bring down hunger, Mr Sharma said.

The Indian government has earmarked 46 dedicated food parks that could receive up to 100% foreign direct investment for ap-provals through the “automatic route,” he said.

Though India was the world’s

largest producer of milk, there was much to learn from New Zealand, Mr Sharma said. He said the Indian government “deeply appreciated” New Zealanders for the assistance that had been offered to the Indian dairy industry over the years.

The minister invited New Zealand businesses to step up their engagement with Indian industry in the rapidly growing services sector, notably education, tourism films, animation, film post pro-duction and the IT and business process outsourcing (BPO).

The fact that India had made rapid strides in wine production and marketing it internationally was not widely known in this part of the world, Mr Sharma said. But rather than compete, New Zealand and India could work jointly in the wine industry, he said. “India has the land and the climate and it could lead to a successful partner-ship.”

What is also not widely known is the progress Indian companies have made in the drugs and phar-maceutical sector. Mr Sharma said that India now had 25% of the

world’s production of generic drugs and after US drug firms it was Indian firms that had the highest number of approvals from the US food and Drug Administration.

An opportunity to collaborate on leading edge development proj-ects in molecular biochemistry is growing by leaps and bounds and that is another area New Zealand could participate, Mr Sharma said.

India’s government has recently set up the “Innovation Council,” headed by the Prime Minister, who has named 2011-2020 the “decade of innovation.” New Zealand has been known for being a nation of innovators, Mr Sharma said, and

this was another op-portunity to work to-gether with India on a range of innovative technologies – from pharmaceuticals and agriculture to alterna-tive energy and green technologies.

In the past few years, India had signed trade deals with a number of emerging countries under what

the minister said was the govern-ment’s “Look East” policy. These included the Asean bloc, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Malaysia. “The emerging seven will soon overtake the G7,” Mr Sharma said. India was looking forward to the continuing trade negotiations with New Zealand and hoped these would be concluded soon, he said.

INZBC chairman Wenceslaus Anthony presented the welcome address while FICCI chairman Robin Banerjee and Glidepath chairman Sir Ken Stevens deliv-ered speeches. National Party Member of Parliament Kanwaljit Bakshi and India’s High Commis-sioner to New Zealand Admiral Sureesh Mehta were also present at the well-attended lunch meeting comprising officials and business-people from both countries.

The event was jointly organised by the India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) and the Federa-tion of Indian Chambers of Com-merce and Industry (FICCI) in as-sociation with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Auckland Council and was sponsored by ANZ Bank.

Indian

Mutual regard and great

camaraderie

“comprehensive economic co-operation agreement in trade, investment and

services” that will be “much more than just a Free Trade

Agreement.”

Dev NaDkarNiNew Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser and India’s visiting Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma share a great relationship, going by the comments and the fulsome praise they heaped on each other and their countries during their respective ad-dresses to businesspeople in Auckland.

Mr Groser praised his Indian counterpart’s contribution to the World Trade Organisa-tion (WTO) negotiations in his relatively short association with it while Mr Sharma said he had learned a lot about the WTO from Mr Groser, who is a world renowned and respected authority on the minefield that is the WTO.

He said he placed Mr Shar-ma’s visit “at the pinnacle of visits by dignitaries” as a mark of respect for India, which he said “not deserves – that’s not a good word – but commands in the international arena.”

Mr Groser also acknowledged the contribution the 100,000 “Kiwi Indians” were making to New Zealand and its economy. He said there always was an instinctive feeling of warmth between New Zealanders and Indians because of shared values.

New Zealand was just a tenth the size of India but India had a population more than 300 times New Zealand’s he said – but that was a measure of the potential that existed in India, he said.

Opportunities were available in plenty in the mining, natural resources, technology and a

whole range of services, Mr Groser said.

Commenting on the forth-coming FTA between the two countries, Mr Groser said though many people would instinctively accord greater importance to the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) over a free trade agreement with India, he would find it dif-ficult to choose.

The minister obviously recog-nises the emerging opportuni-ties in India to carry as much weight, if not more than what the TPP would offer.

Mr Sharma narrated how he had first met Mr Groser on a flight to a WTO meeting. They were in adjacent seats and although they had never met before, Mr Groser recognised Mr Sharma and introduced himself. The pair got talking and he was amazed at Mr Groser’s knowledge of WTO, Mr Sharma said.

He also spoke about New Zealand and India’s shared values in democratic and legal systems and of course the English language – and cricket. The two countries had a lot in common he said and encour-aged greater people to people contact in the coming years.

It is known that Mr Groser had a great relationship with Mr Sharma’s predecessor Kamal Nath and that was considered instrumental in getting the FTA negotiations off the ground, it is widely acknowledged. Mr Groser and Mr Sharma seem to have hit it off equally well and indications are that the negotiations will progress here on.

india hopeful of NZ Fta by next year


Indian

Swapping Indian professionals for dairy access?WELLINGTON: New Zealand is ready to open its doors wider for Indian professionals and service providers as part of the bilateral free trade agreement being negotiated, but the stress is going to be on level of skills, the country’s trade minister Tim Groser has said.

“We will definitely offer more access to Indian professionals, which is in fact going to go in our favour, but we have to take care of our sen-sitivities. We can’t allow unqualified people knocking our front doors and doing poor jobs,” Mr Groser told ET.

Professionals who could benefit include teachers, healthcare provid-ers, technicians, IT experts, architects and hospitality providers.The two countries have started discussing reciprocal recognition of some professional degrees outside the FTA, said commerce and in-dustry minister Anand Sharma. “We are discussing recognition of our degrees which could also happen outside the FTA, but there is definitely going to be a separate chapter on services in the FTA that would ensure greater access to both service providers and professionals,” Mr Sharma said.

India and New Zealand are also discussing a ‘working holiday scheme’ for young Indians, preferably graduates, that will allow

Indians to stay in New Zealand for a short period, say six months, and work to pay for their holiday. “It already has offered the scheme to 34 countries and it could also work for us,” Mr Sharma said.

New Zealand wants access to India’s dairy market in turn in the FTA. “We are absolutely aware of the sensitivities that you have in your agriculture sector. But there is scope to work around it,” Mr Groser said. New Zealand could export high-end dairy products and also share technology, he said.

India and New Zealand have concluded four rounds of negotiations and hope to conclude the FTA, which will include both goods and services, next year. The Indian minister met New Zealand Prime Min-ister John Key to discuss key bilateral issues including the FTA. The New Zealand PM will visit India in June with a business delegation.

“India is our number one priority in our foreign policy,” Mr Groser said. New Zealand has an FTA with China, which has increased bilat-eral trade to $10 billion. India-New Zealand trade is at just $1 billion. “We now want to focus our attention on India,” he said.

-Amiti Sen/ Economic Times

India-Australia to launch FTA talks next month

India and Australia will start free trade agreement (FTA) ne-gotiations next month follow-ing Indian Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma’s visit to Canberra last week, where he held bi-lateral talks with the Australian Trade Minister, Craig Emerson.

With the multilateral Doha round of free trade talks going on at a slow pace with possi-ble outcome in sight, the focus is now increasingly shifting to consolidating bilateral deals and the FTA is a result of that.

There is already a demand within Australia that the FTA negotiations should also include talks for sale of uranium to India, something which the Australian Govern-ment has been blocking de-manding that India should first become a signatory to the NPT. India is Australia’s third-largest export market. Australia is India’s 14th-largest market.

A feasibility study conduct-ed earlier this year by both the countries had found that there was a need for a wide and comprehensive trade agreement and engagement between the two countries and this should also include services, investment and goods.

``We are hopeful that trade and economics will get a big boost once the PTA comes into force. India is also negotiating a PTA with new Zealand and is in the process of initiating talks with half a dozen other nations. We want a wider eco-nomic engagement and give greater opportunity to our en-trepreneurs,’’ Mr. Sharma has said.

Anti-Asian leaflets condemnedAuckland: The Office of Ethnic Affairs has condemned the distri-bution of anti-Asian leaflets in Auck-land and Christchurch.

The Human Rights Commission says it has received a number of complaints about brochures that have been distributed by a small group called Right Wing Resis-tance, which state ‘Stop the Asian invasion, join the resistance.’

The Director of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, Mervin Singham said, “The distribution of such leaflets is scur-rilous and a clear attempt to cause fear among Asian people living peacefully in New Zealand.

New Zealanders should not fear ethnic diversity and instead rec-ognise all the benefits and oppor-tunities diversity offers this country. Immigrants bring vital skills, innova-tion and overseas network connec-tions when they come to live in New Zealand and are a vital key to this country’s continuing success.

The number of ethnically diverse people in New Zealand is in-

creasing and groups like this one should stop putting their own po-litical interests first and consider the needs of their neighbours and the whole of New Zealand society and economy.”

Mr Singham believes no one should shy away from debating the value of immigration and groups from all spectrums of the politi-cal landscape should be willing to seize opportunities to have an open and public discussion about New Zealand’s growing ethnic diversity.

Research by the Department of Labour about public opinion on immigration has found that 89 per cent of New Zealanders agree it is good for society to be made up of people from different ethnicities, re-ligions and cultures.

MPs condemn campaign“Kyle Chapman of the Right Wing Resistance Group and former Na-tional Front Member is up to his old tricks again, trying to drive a wedge between Asian communi-ties and other New Zealanders,” Labour’s Ethnic Affairs spokesper-

son, Dr Rajen Prasad and Chinese Community Affairs spokesperson, Raymond Huo said in a statement.“I dealt with a number of similar at-tempts by the National Front when I was Race Relations Conciliator and here he is again effectively painting the Asian and migrant communi-ties as unwanted in New Zealand,” Rajen Prasad said.

“Asian and migrant communities make a solid and positive econom-ic, social and cultural contribution to New Zealand.

“Many members of the Asian com-munity as well as other migrants will be seriously concerned about Chapman’s statements that can only be taken as racist. When he judges a group of people by their race or ethnic background nega-tively he is effectively being racist.

“While the right to free speech saves the Right Wing Resistance Group from prosecution, their brand of nationalism must be criti-cised by every fair thinking New Zealander. Asian New Zealanders as well as other migrant groups

have nothing to apologise for. They are highly valued New Zealand-ers and their contributions benefit society as a whole.

“New Zealand effectively has a passport to new trade, cultural and social relations with the countries of origin of our Asian and other migrants. New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreement with China would not have been possible without a sizable Asian presence in New Zealand. The same will be true when the FTA with India is signed in due course.” Rajen Prasad said.

Raymond Huo said: “New Zealand is the envy of many countries for our inclusive race relations record; I am distressed that the actions of a few people may mar that record.

“I have seen this type of attack on Asian migrants before and am concerned that some of them have received Chapman’s pamphlet,” Raymond Huo said. “My advice to them is to disregard it and to be satisfied that they are valued New Zealanders.



Indian

Hindi bid a step closerarviND kuMar

An Auckland group’s quest to have the Hindi language taught in New Zealand takes one small step closer to fruition recently.

The first Hindi class, comprising 10 students, was held at the Papatoetoe Intermediate School on Sunday May 8, and the organisers are excited that this could lead to a mainstream teaching of the vernacular subject.

The project is being driven by the Hindi Lan-guage and Culture Trust, headed by Auckland school teacher Satya Dutt.

And Mr Dutt and the trust’s efforts have been further bolstered by timely support from National Party’s Papatoetoe MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi.

Mr Dutt told the Indian Weekender that Mr Bakshi had lent his support “100 per cent” by sponsoring stationery supply to students valued at more than $200 every year.

“We are very grateful to Mr Bakshi for his ongoing support.”

Mr Dutt said he was working in collabora-tion with several other groups in other New Zealand cities in this project.

He said if some action was taken now to get things going on a bigger scale, the Hindi lan-guage in New Zealand could die out in time to come.

“I have national focus and we need to keep pushing for it.”

Mr Dutt said other vernacular langages such as Mandarin, Japanese and even Samoan were taught in New Zealand schools.

“So why not Hindi? Considering the close trade ties New Zealand has with India, it should be taught in NZ schools on a bigger scale and as part of the main curriculum.”

Mr Dutt welcomed support from any indi-

viduals or groups who wanted to support his trust in the project.

The Hindu Council of New Zealand said it was supportive of Mr Dutt’s efforts.

“But we would like to see it happen with a united national effort,” Council general secre-tary Dr Guna Magesan told the Indian Week-ender.

Dr Magesan said he had had talks with Mr Dutt and they were “waiting for the right time” to give the project a concerted push.

Auckland’s three radio stations, who all broadcast in the Hindi language, have held back from commenting on the issue and what they thought of the standards of Hindi language used on air in New Zealand, and about their roles in promotion of the language.

Radio Tarana and Apna 990 did not respond to emails, while Radio Humm’s Gaurav Gupta said they did not want to “politicise” the issue, and therefore were not comfortable comment-ing on the topic.

Here, Mr Dutt talks to Indian Weekender about the project:

you have been pushing for Hindi in NZ schools for a while; what is it that drove you towards this initiative?

Hindi is a universal language. There are so many languages taught in New Zealand in-cluding Pasifika languages (curriculum being made and published). There are government and community initiatives for the current lan-guages being taught here in schools even Asian languages such as Mandarin, Japanese, Urdu etc. There are about 100,000 Indians in New Zealand from Fiji, India, South Africa and other places.

are our young people not being exposed to enough proper Hindi language in the commu-

nity, on radio and in social gatherings?No, it is a trend nowadays that in social gather-ings more so over English medium is used. The radio stations have begun to use English as well.

are our young people in danger of forgetting their mother tongue because of the western in-fluence in New Zealand?Yes, there is a great danger beyond any reason-able doubt and in four to five decades our Indian community could be like South African Indians.

Which community groups are supporting you in your efforts?J.P.Maharaj-Brahiman Sabha of NZ, Manikan Pillay-TISI Sangam, Roopa, Waitakere Indian Association, Sunita Narayan - Wellington Hindi School, Harnam Singh Golian-Sikh Society, Shiva Charan Hindi School, Vishwa Shanti Hindi School, Blockhouse Bay Arya Samaj Hindi School, Hindi School running at Kaart Trust in East Tamaki. Pt Nitya Nand Sundar, Pt Sunil Sharda, Mahesh Bindra-Belmoral Mandir.

Who are your trustee members?Satya Dutt, Jagdish Chand, Ragini Lata Narayan, Dhirendra Nath, Satya Wati Kumar, Dinesh Chand, Vijendra Prasad, Prem Singh, Indra Deo. Satyanand Swami, Shanti Singh, Jagdish Prasad Maharaj, Radha Reddy, Shiu Ram, Mahesh Bindra

What do you think of the standards of the Hindi language being used on our three 24-hour radio stations? Mostly commercial based, entertainment, news and community messages. your thoughts for the future?To see that Hindi is being taught in schools as a language and be available to anyone wishing to learn.


Indian

MP clarifies stand on kashmir petition

Green MP Keith Locke has said that presenting a petition to Par-liament in his capacity as an MP does not mean he agrees with its contents.

Mr Locke told Indian Weekend-er that he was not flying a banner for Indian troops to leave Kashmir but merely conducting his duty as a Member of Parliament, who must present a petition when requested by either an individual or a group of persons.

The Green MP presented a pe-tition to the New Zealand Parlia-ment requesting that the House of Representatives urge the New Zealand government to call on the Indian government to withdraw its occupation of Kashmir and “stop the on going violence against Kash-miri civilians.”

He acknowledged the long-standing complexity of the prob-lems in Kashmir and categorically said that he did not agree with the

view that Indian troops must leave, given the law and order situation on the ground.

The petition had been referred to the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee for further action. In his concluding remarks to the pe-tition, Mr Locke has said that the concerned parties need to sort the matter among themselves and has proposed a referendum for the people of Kashmir about whether they would like to be a part of India, stay independent or join Pakistan.

Kashmir born New Zealander Veer Khar, who also met Mr Locke, says the referendum would be a fruitless exercise. Kashmir has had seven elections over the years and political parties that have contest-ed these have always been divided along the lines of whether to join India, stay independent or join Pakistan.

“In that sense, a referendum has been conducted in Kashmir seven times,” he said. “So it’s quite point-

less suggesting another one.” But Mr Locke said he believed there needed to be a referendum sepa-rate from the elections.

Speaking to Indian Weekender, Mr Khar said he was relieved to know that the MP who presented the petition did not support its con-tents.

“Asking the Indian law and order machinery to get out of Kashmir would cause havoc. It’s a bit like asking the coalition forces to leave Afghanistan or even the special police contingent which was rushed to Christchurch follow-ing the earthquake to leave sud-denly,” Mr Khar said.

The presence of troops helped maintain a semblance of normalcy in Kashmir, Mr Khar said. “But for them, extremist elements could well enforce their writ at gunpoint and enforce fundamentalist ideolo-gies, which would rob the people of whatever freedom now exists – girls won’t be able to go to school

and women won’t be able to work,” he added.

The dispute on Kashmir goes back more than 60 years, to a time when India and Pakistan became independent nations. The two neighbours have fought three wars over the dispute and had a number of talks to try to resolve the issue.

Pakistan has continued to inter-nationalise the Kashmir issue down the years. A news report published last week says the Pakistan govern-ment paid British Parliamentarian George Galloway 135,000 pounds from a secret fund for promoting its case on the Kashmir issue, ac-cording to information provided to a Parliamentary panel in Pakistan.

The Pakistan High Commis-sion in London paid the 135,000 pounds to Mr Galloway from the “Pakistan projection fund” but it was never credited to the gov-ernment account. However, the amount had since been refunded by Mr Galloway, report said.

Green MP Keith Locke at the Green Party office in Eden Terrace. Photo: Dev Nadkarni

‘Mesmeriser’ KK coming to Auckland

As a child he wanted to be a doctor. Destiny made him a singer instead. Krishna Kumar Kunnath better known as K K is on a high note in his singing career and today needs no introduction.

A commerce graduate from Delhi University, K K realised very late in life that he could make singing his career. A die-hard fan of Kishore Kumar, K K switched from Hindi to English songs during his teens. His versatile voice was soon tapped by various ad agencies in Delhi for jingles. He even formed a rock band with his friends and played drums for two other rock bands and did vocals.

After graduating, K K did a brief stint as a marketing ex-ecutive but after eight months gave up the job. Having married his childhood sweet-heart Jyothy in 1991, as des-tined for the big time K K arrived in Mumbai in 1994 finally. K K gave his demo tape to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Shiv Mathur and Leslie Lewis to get a break in the music scene.

In 1994, UTV gave him his first break in Mumbai and since then has never looked back. He worked with his mentor Leslie Lewis in his first jingle in Mumbai and success soon followed him. In a span of four years, he has to his credit more than 3500 jingles in 11 Indian languages. Vishal Bhardwaj, who noticed this new talent, gave him the much-needed break in Hindi cinema in Maachis.

“I was one of the playback singers in Gulzar’s hit number ‘Chodh aaye hum woh galiyan...’,” he says. Vishal Bhardwaj also gave him his first solo number in HUM PAANCHI EK DAAL KE. In 1999, K K bagged the prestigious Screen

Award as the Best Singer for his solo (non – filmy) album PAL under Sony Music & Star Screen Award 2008 as the Best Playback singer for khuda jaane (Film Bachna Ae Haseeno). He teamed up with his mentor Leslie Lewis for PAL.

K K surely has come a long way since ‘Chodh aaye hum who galiyan...’ and ‘Chappa chappa...’ (Maachis). In Sapnay, he gave a memorable song ‘Strawberry

ankhen...’ and worked with A. R. Rahman. With ‘Tadap tadap ke is dil se aah nikalti rahi...’ (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam), he registered himself as a singer to reckon with and shared a beautiful bonding with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ismail Darbar. He has given popular hits like ‘Mujhe kucch kehna hai...’, ‘Pyaar re...’ (Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai), ‘Aaja gufaon mein aa...’, ‘Bandaa yeh bindaas hai...’ (Aks), ‘Koi kahe kehta rahe...’ (Dil Chahta Hai), ‘Bardaasht nahin kar sakta...’ (Humraaz), ‘Sach Kah Raha Hai Deewana...’ (Rahna Hai Terre Dil Mein), ‘Chale Jaise Hawaey...’ (Main Hoon Na), ‘It’s time to Disco...’ (Kal Ho Na Ho), ‘Awaarapan...’ (Jism), ‘Sikh Dhum...’ (Dhoom), and some of the

latest hits are ‘Dus Bahane...’ (Dus), ‘Ashaye...’ (Iqbal), ‘Dil Samudra...’ (Garam masala), ‘Dil Nashi Dil Nashi...’ (Aashiq Banaya Aapne), Kyu Aaj Kal (Who Lamhe), Aakho Mein Teri Ajab Si (Om Shanti Om), Zara Sa (Jannat), Khuda Jaane (Bachna Hai Haseeno).

K K has worked with all the top most music directors like A R Rahman, Ismail Darbar, Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik, Shankar

Ehsaan & Loy, Himmesh Reshammiya, Sandesh, M M Kreem, Jatin-Lalit, Vishal Shekhar, Pritam and Saleem Suleman. K K has also lent his voice for most of the top stars in the industry from Amitabh Bachchan to Hrithik Roshan and Tusshar Kapoor to Akshaye Khanna. Down South, he has worked with well-known maestro Ilayaraj, Harris Jayraj, Deva, Vidyas-agar and Mani Sharma.

K K has sung some 500 songs in Hindi and more than 100 songs in Telugu, Tamil

and Kannada languages in a short span. He has perform for several corporate giants

He says, “I have been very for-tunate to have worked with all the best people in the industry. I prefer to spend some quality time with my family. I work less because I want to enjoy my work and life to my heart’s content.”

He concludes, “I least expected to be a playback singer in my life. Destiny surely shaped me up to be one and I have taken GOD’s choice in my stride with great humility.”Event details:KK Live in AucklandDate: 9th of July 2011 Venue: TelstraClear Pacific Event Centre, Great South Road, ManukauMore at: www.themesmerizer.com.

Interactive online workshop on MudrasLive audio-visual interactive online workshop on Science of hand postures is making a comeback.

E-gurukul.net is bringing an amazing opportunity for New Zealand and Global Internet Au-dience to learn about simple tips and techniques to improve one’s IQ and energy levels right from comfort of one’s home.

The techniques of hand pos-tures also known as Mudra Yoga developed in ancient India were based on science of neurons. The key to efficient working of entire human system is an efficient message communication system. The communication system is our nerves. Spread over the entire body, these nerves carry innumer-able and infinitely complex mes-sages without pause. According to research of ancient seers, the fingertips of every living being have many concentrated nerve root endings, which are free energy discharge points. By touching together of the tips of the fingers or the finger tips to other parts of the palms, the fingers form what is called a psycho-neural lock.

Mudra Yoga provides many simple tips and techniques to improve one’s IQ, including memory, concentration, self con-fidence, energy levels, vitality and much more. Hand postures are easy to learn and apply and helps one and all especially children and youth to develop in all levels of their being i.e Physical, Mental, Emo-tional and Social.

E-Gurukul.net – online educa-tional portal and virtual campus have taken a giant step forward. They have taken up a unique global intiative to promote art & science of Mudra practice for complete wellness among children

and youth, As a part of series of programmes They are organizing a web-based live audio-visual in-teractive Workshop on Simple Tips to Improve one’s IQ, Concentration & Energy Levels on May 22 -2011 6 am to 8 am IST -Indian Standard Time (12.30 pm to 2 :30pm NZST) with Mr Vijay Bansal, a well known International Speaker, Author & Mudra Therapist.

Learn & Understand the Deeper Mysteries of this Ancient Neural Science - Mudra Yoga by registering at http://globalmudras-cienceday.com

“In modern times, internet has made entire world a global village. Anyone from any part of the world can learn and gain insights from the comfort of their homes, Only pre-requisite is an internet connec-tion with headset and zeal to learn this practical scientific knowledge of Ancient India” Usha Koppaka says.

E-Gurukul.net, an online plat-form, is an endeavour to dis-seminate the practical knowledge and wisdom gifted by the great scientists, mathematicians, phi-losophers and sages of ancient India. It brings online courses in art, science, and holistic living. Of special note are courses for chil-dren conducted by experts. The sessions are free, all are welcome to participate.Next topic: Tips to Improve one’s IQ & Energy LevelsSpeaker: Mr Vijay Bansal (Live from India)Date: May 22 -2011 - Sunday - 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm NZST (6 am to 8 am IST)Mode: Live Audio visual Interac-tive web session - 100% Online Registration Link : http://global-mudrascienceday.com/contact-us


Indian

DJ NYK on exclusive NZ tourWellknown DJ, remixer and electro music producer from New Delhi, is coming toNew Zealand for the first time to give party goers something new and different.

NYK will be performing live in Auckland on May 28 at India Gate (formerly Chaska Punjab Da) – 380 Manukau Rd, Epsom.

Named the “King of Remixes” by the critics, NYK will be playing his highly admired remixes from many of the Bollywood films like Golmal 3, De Dana Dan, and Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani.

The 24-year-old DJ, is a sensation in Bollywood. His massive perfor-mances around the globe have received several reviews and made the brand name ‘NYK’ a synonym to ‘quality music’.

NYK, who is not only a Dj but a DVJ, is something many people would have never experienced before. He plays brilliantly with audio and video to create an atmosphere not to be missed.

A DVJ is a combination of audio and video creations. If you haven’t seen a grand night with mesmerising audio and visual pleasure for your music taste buds, then the NYK’s night will be an opportunity to witness something new.

Dj NYK’s official remix of Aey Khuda from the movie Paathshaala stayed at the No.1 position on the Charts for 14 weeks in a row. NYK’s mainstream Bollywood releases include Jai Veeru, Runway, Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani, De Dana Dan, Paathshaala and Golmaal 3.

For further information on the event and booking tickets contact Dave on 09 215 4874 / 027 200 7368 or email at [email protected] Or visit us at www.ajanachle.co.nz.

Indian sports and community awards announcedAuckland: Indo Kiwi Foundation (IKF), a recently formed charitable, voluntary and non-profitable trust to enhance community spirit and promote sports in the Indian com-munity has announced that it plans to recognise talent in the commu-nity with awards.

IKF’s mission is “Promot-ing community development and sports in the New Zealand Indian community”.

Vice-Chair of the foundation Shivani Arora says IKF will be filling a big gap in the community.

“The main objective of this trust is to promote community de-velopment and sports in the New Zealand Indian community.

“The annual Indian Sports and Community Awards is a way to achieve this objective. This initia-tive is supported by the two estab-lished names in the community –Indian Weekender and SPROUT,” Ms Arora said.

The trust is in the process of selecting an executive committee which will manage and implement the objectives of the trust -- mainly the Indian Sports and Community Awards (ISCA).

“This committee will consist of people with vast experience in Sports, health, volunteering and

community development -- who are the doers, the movers, shakers and budding organisers in the com-munity. IKF’s Indian Sports and Community Awards (ISCA) 2012 will have two categories of awards,” says the foundation’s news release.

“The Sports Awards is to foster, promote and encourage Indian sports people at a grassroots level in the pursuit of excellence in their chosen fields and to honour the outstanding sporting achievements attained by Indian.

“To bring out the best in the Indian community, the trust will also provide scholarships and op-portunities for training and par-ticipation in local, regional, na-tional and international events to amateur sportsperson of Indian origin and teams.

“Within in 5 years we plan to promote, establish, operate or maintain facilities for sports, pro-grammes, academy, skills and coaching training as may benefit the wider Indian community in New Zealand,” it says.

“The community Awards will ensure that ‘TRUE leaders’ are rec-ognized for their contribution to the wider Indian community and society,” confirms Ram Lingam General Secretary of IKF.

“Some people are always in the limelight -national and local figures whose opinion are sought and deeds emblazoned but it is our unsung “grassroots” heroes who are the real ‘doers’ and who bind the community together.

“These are the volunteers who don’t hanker forpage-3 of com-munity news but put others first without expecting any financial rewards. They are the ones who do things from their heart like helping the elderly and disadvantaged manage day to day task, deliver-ing meals, collecting for charities, fun raising for charitable organiza-tions, conducting weekly physical activity class despite their families with little children, lending their expertise and motivation others to better themselves, helping at-risk youth and generally giving selfless-ly.” Mr Lingam adds.

IKF plans to host the inaugu-ral Indian Sports & Community Awards ceremony in March 2012.

If you interested in contributing your skills or participate as an ex-ecutive committee member please e-mail your interest with informa-tion about your community partici-pation to: [email protected]



The 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was celebrated with great enthusiasm in Auckland under the aegis of New Zealand Indian Central Associa-tion (NZICA), hosted by Auckland Indian Association (AIA) at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre.

Guest Speaker Professor Sekhar Bandyopadhyay’s address was the day’s highlight. (A profile of Gurudev penned by Prof Bandyo-padhyay appears in this issue). He is the Deputy Dean of Humanities and Social Science faculty at the Victoria University of Wellington. Prof Ban-dyopadhyay outlined the great con-tributions that the great poet made to the literary and artistic world. A DVD familiarised the audience with Gurudev’s life and work.

Prithipal Singh, Paul Singh Bains President NZICA, Member of Parliament Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, and Harshad Patel Vice President NZICA, delivered welcome speech-es.

Dr. Cam Calder representing the National Government, Dr. Rajen Prasad representing the Labour Party, Kunal Roy representing Indian High Commission and Ataur Rahman, Honorary Consul Bangla-desh, also delivered speeches.

The ceremonial lamp in the pres-ence of Chotubhai Sima, Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, Kanwaljit Bakshi, Paul Singh Bains, Harshad Patel and Prithipal Singh.

A three-hour cultural pro-gramme wholly based on Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s works and poems put together by Bangladesh Association and Probasee Bengali Association regaled the audience. Raj Thandi proposed a vote of thanks.

The Indian High Commis-sion actively encouraged the event, which was planned and executed in association with several Indian or-ganisations including NZICA, AIA, Bangladesh Association and Pro-basee Bengali Association.

Elder citizen Chotubhai Sima, life member of AIA donated a por-trait of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on this occasion. Jeramb-hai Patel sketched and painted the beautiful portrait.

“Although we used to remember Rabindranath Tagore only while singing the National Anthems of India and Bangladesh we would not have dreamt of celebrating his 150th Birth Anniversary in New Zealand, I have to thank NZICA, it’s office bearers, executive members, affiliated branches & associations for taking up to organise this event and the memories of Gurudev will remain forever,” Mr Prakash Biradar, Festival secretary told Indian Weekender.


Indian

Vaisakhi in HamiltonNew Zealand Indian Association celebrated Vaisakhi on Saturday May 7 in Hamilton. The popular event was well attended and the audience was delighted by performances of local artistes who put on an engaging show of talent.

kiwi indians pay fitting tribute to Gurudev Rabindra-nath Tagore (1861-1941) – a poet of the world

SekHar BaNDyoPaDHyay

Rabindranath Tagore was born in a family that was at the centre of a cultural and intellectual efflo-rescence that India experienced in the nineteenth century. It was at this time that the Indians were rediscovering their ancient civili-zation and re-examining it in the light of modern reason. Rabindra-nath was the finest product of this nineteenth century renaissance from which was born modern India, as we know it today. His literary genius lifted Indian liter-ary tradition, particularly Bengali literature, to a new height. He wrote novels, plays, poems, songs, short stories, essays – in other words, his creative genius touched almost every genre of Bengali literature. In 1912 he went to England with the English trans-lation of a collection of his poems. The manuscript was published by Macmillan as Gitanjali (Song of-ferings), for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1913. He was the first Asian, indeed the first non-European, to receive the Nobel Prize.

Apart from creative writing, Tagore was also a self-taught mu-sician and at the very matured age of late sixties he had started paint-ing; his paintings have been exhib-ited all over the world. The man, who had rejected formal educa-tion in his own life, became one of the most innovative modern edu-cationists of India. He first started a school for children in Santinik-etan near Calcutta in 1901, and then in 1918 founded a new uni-versity. He called it Visva-Bharati, which was meant to impart a truly global humanistic education. He was also an environmentalist, and started his famous Sriniketan rural development project in 1921. And in between all these activities he travelled incessantly around the world, speaking and raising funds for his university.

Tagore was not just a Bengali poet. His involvement in national-ist politics and philosophical in-teractions with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru had a pro-found impact on the shaping of modern India. But his nationalism was universalistic. He had elevat-ed himself above narrow territo-riality, and established himself as a global humanist – a poet of the world. It is not surprising – though unprecedented - that two nation-states – India and Bangladesh – have chosen his songs as their national anthems. It is in this glo-balism lies his twenty-first century relevance.

Dignitaries lighting the ceremonial lamp at the beginning of the proceedings

The portrait of Gurudev specially painted for the occasion

Prof Shekhar Bandyopadhyay presenting his address

A section of the audience

A cultural performance


Parliament petitioned on kashmirEditor’s note: The letters published below had been received before Green Party MP Keith Locke’s clarification on his stand on the Kashmir petition, which appears in a news story in this issue. Mr Locke has categorically stated that he does not support the contents of the petition, while suggest-ing that a referendum be held.

Keith Locke should just look forward to his retirement rather than telling other countries what to do. I, like many other PIO’s in NZ, am very annoyed with Keith’s petition. There are two sides of the story. I call on all Indians to write to Keith and let him know our thoughts. How about looking at Tibet? They have been occupied – he dare not touch them.

– Concerned PIO in New Zealand

This is unbelievable. What the? When these guys have no idea about the Republic of India, why make such a petition. In fact Keith Locke should make a petition for New Zealand to be a Republic.

– A Khan

How about making a petition to give this country back to Maori people, Mr.Locke? Have you got the conscience and the guts to do this? Didn’t Keith’s forefathers occupy this land just by pointing the gun on the local Maori people...What happened to that occupation?

– Graham Pratt

Women take charge of Hindu fest

This is really inspiring. We have a long way to go before people can under-stand the true signficance of Diwali. It is no doubt a festival of lights but it is also a symbol of the victory of good people over evil forces. This Hindu festival (like Holi) is a celebration of the human spirit to achieve goodness. In today’s bleak economic climate, life is made bearable by such occasions. Not just Hindus, it is open to all communities. Hindus should show the world that there is a way out of misery.

– Sneha Joshi

Place of osama bin laden killing vindicates india

Pakistan has been well and truly been caught with its pants down. What a sham of a government it has. Pity the people who have to live under a mili-tary and a government that they have. It’s the pits really.

– Farhad Noshir Variavwala, USA

Very nicely articulated a sensitive issue as this. – Rashmi Kashi, New Jersey, USA

Dev’s assessment of the need to ensure political ‘stability’ (if such a thing is ever possible!) in Pakistan is spot on. It is hardly a coincidence that a few days prior to Osama’s killing, al Qaeda threatened to use pull a nuclear trigger if Osama was either captured or killed.

– Ram, Fiji

tablet wars: india’s adam takes a bite of apple’s iPadEditor’s note: We received a number of letters for and against India’s Adam tablet. Reproduced below is one of each. For more comments and views, please visit the page online.

Looking at the notion ink being very new at the market and lead by totally new admin, it is quiet amazing to see what they have achieved. It is only the up coming time will show when they launch some upgraded version of ADAM that how much Notion Ink have learned from the market where they are gonna stay. Since then good luck Notion Ink.

– Harpreet

The Adam is nice on paper, but poorly executed. Many have hardware issues due to the poor quaility of the parts and complete lack care in manufacturing. It has been one letdown after anouther. Notion Ink will not accept returns for faulty hardware or software. The May 7th update “that would solve all the hardware issues” was just pushed back to the 3rd week of May. I will not stop until I have a fully working tablet or an RMA number!

– Anonymous

Congratulations and greetings on indian Weekender’s second anniversaryCongratulations! And please keep up the good work!

– Roland MederCongratulations Team at Indian Weekender for your excellent work in the past and wish you all the very best for future progress.

– Subra M Subramaniam B.Com, FCMA, FCPA (Aust).May it expand further and further to serve the community at large.

– Hans RajWhen I picked the 6th May edition of Indian weekender last weekend, i saw that IW was celebrating its 2nd anniversary. Congratulations to your team. Wish you success in your venture of keeping the public aware and informed through Indian Weekender.

– Pritika Sharma

Please email original editorial contributions, community notices and pictures to [email protected]

views expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisheris not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication

Indian Weekender is published by Kiwi Media Group, 98 Great South Road, New Market and printed at APN Print, Ellerslie, Auckland Copyright 2010. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

indian Weekender volume 3 No. 3Publisher: Kiwi Media Group LimitedGroup editor-in-chief: Dev Nadkarni - [email protected] editor: Arvind Kumar - [email protected] technical officer: Rohan Desouza - rohan@ indianweekender.co.nzDesign: Emma Penrose - [email protected]: Giri Gupta - ph: 520 0922, mob: 021 221 1131, email: [email protected] Mehra - ph: 520 0922, mob: 021 1598 016, email: [email protected]

Letters

ten top stories on iwk.co.nz

1. India rolls out red carpet to NZ

business

2. Free musical night next week

3. Fiji-Tonga standoff escalates

4. Mutual regard and great

camaraderie

5. Parliament petitioned on Kashmir

6. Hindi bid a step closer

7. Indian sports and community

awards announced

8. McCully complaint on Fiji story

upheld

9. Anti-Asian leaflets condemned

10. On our second birthday…

From the Editor

largesse is never free – it’s payback timeThere always will be many perspectives and opin-ions on national budgets, just as there will always be winners and losers. No finance minister in any democracy can ever dream of universal approval, no matter how he or she tries to justify the budget proposals presented.

Finance Minister Bill English’s third and perhaps most difficult budget has been delivered in one of the worst economic situations New Zealand has ever faced. The debt has been at record levels, right up there with the likes of the PIIGS economies that is beginning to impact the very raison d’etre of European Union’s single economy.

A policy of largesse practiced by successive Labour governments over nine years has caused the debt to balloon to enormous proportions because of runaway increases in welfare pay-ments, which kept on inventing new schemes to pander to the electorate.

This policy also led to a bloated bureaucracy in Wellington, with salary increases that outpaced the private sector workforce. It also led to the creation of dozens of government funded programmes that were expensive and delivered little benefit by way of value to the economy of the wellbeing of the people.

Add to that the huge interest free student loans costing the exchequer billions of dollars, with little recourse for collection of the debt and scarcely an incentive for the borrowers – many of who left the country after finishing their education – to pay back the interest free loans.

There are no free lunches – it is a universal law. Any impression of a free lunch or a free ride has to come up with a large bill and pain at some stage, when corrections need to be made for the very sur-vival of the economy. This is such a time. It is indeed payback time for the lax policies of doling out lar-gesse of much of the past decade.

The unsustainably bloated welfare programme

had to be addressed sooner rather than later. Though this should have been done in the first year since to coming to power, the National government put it off until its third year, when it had no options but to wield the scissors.

Better late than never, nonetheless. This will certainly raise the hackles of those availing of the benefit system, particularly if they are higher income earners. The Tax Working Group’s find-ings last year were shocking and had some of these measures not been measured in Budget 2011, the country would well have been on the road to finan-cial ruin.

After the bold budget last year, which focused on growth, the government’s financial plans were hit severely by the unfortunate Canterbury earth-quakes, forcing it to make whatever course correc-tions necessary this year. And it has shown that it has guts, especially given that this is an election year.

This is the first budget that has slashed govern-ment spending in 80 years. This could be either as much a sign of courage as desperation. We like to think it is the former because the reasoning behind it seems sound.

The budget has got its priorities right. At the risk of courting unpopularity, given that 100,000 families are going to be affected by the changes to Working for Families and the discomfort of both employers and high earners for their larger Ki-wiSaver payouts as well as tertiary students more stringent loan terms, the government has chosen to soldier on.

Bringing back the books on balance in 2015, a year earlier than expected, is a great goal to pursue given the circumstances. And enduring a little pain after all those government sponsored good times of the past decade is not too much to ask.

– Dev Nadkarni


Amid incessant controversy that continues to riddle the Lokpal Bill significant questions on how to ensure downward accountability to eliminate vicious and rampant hold of corruption at the micro level – are still not being effectively raised or discussed. While macro level cor-ruptions, like a 2G scam, maybe har-rowing for the economy, it is micro level corruption that impairs lives of people directly. If India is serious about containing corruption it must not only concentrate at the macro level policy making process but also raise pertinent debate on the pro-cesses, structures and policies that need to be implemented at village level institutions to mitigate unbri-dled corruption that prevails there.

Without undermining the impor-tance of the Bill, the million dollar questions, waiting for a response therefore are, “Can an anti-corrup-tion Bill alone eliminate corruption across all echelons of democracy?” If not, “how must one tackle wide-spread grassroots level corruption affecting lives and livelihood of people?”

The answers maybe lying in successful initiatives like mobile-

aid-transfer in Kenya, (a system by which cash aid is delivered directly to beneficiaries via mobile phones) or social audits, in Afghanistan (where villagers trace the money trail of de-velopmental aid, detect corruption immediately and hold their leaders accountable for any misappropria-tion).

India with an integrity score of 3.3 (considered one of the “highly corrupt”) has admittedly a very tough challenge ahead. As per the Corruption Perception Index, CPI, 2010, issued by Transparency Inter-national, India is 87 out of 178 coun-tries, indicating a serious corruption problem. At the micro level endemic corruption puts a spanner in the development process itself, further aggravating the matter. “Of the Rupee spent for development pro-grammes in the rural areas, only 15 paisa reaches the beneficiary”, Rajiv Gandhi had once said. Today it would be even less, considering corruption in the form of bribery has increased exponentially in the last decade or so.

Marred with corruption, the gov-ernance system at Panchayat level in India is very dismal and crying for appropriate policies to ward off this scourge. A glimpse of the ground situation emerges from a recent government-sponsored study on the National Rural Employment Guar-antee Act (NREGA). It is the biggest poverty alleviation programme in the world, with a Central government outlay of 40,000 crore (US$8.88 billion) in FY 2010-11. The report has unearthed large-scale corruption and irregularities in the implementa-tion of the NREGA programme. In several states, authorities have been

found “misappropriating central funds and threatening workers to keep their mouth shut.”

If India needs any consolation, unstable governments like Afghani-stan with a legacy of conflict, con-tinue to dominate the bottom rungs of the CPI with a score of 1.1. That is precisely why it makes an interesting study to see how a war-torn nascent, democracy like Afghanistan has pro-actively introduced strong initiatives in tackling micro level corruption lately. Incidentally, Afghanistan im-ported the concept of social audit from no other country but India. This tool failed to culminate into a mass movement here, remaining largely localized in Rajasthan where it was introduced by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, MKSS. In Afghanistan, however, more than 900 such audits in 5 major provinces have created a national stir.

This remarkable initiative spear-headed by Aga Khan Foundation, AKF, is now being replicated coun-trywide at the behest of the World Bank and ministry of rural develop-ment. It has been hailed for the sig-nificant level of transparency it has achieved at the village level gover-nance, in a short a short span of time, and mandatory, for every village ac-cessing public fund. “Initiatives to strengthen local governance, such as the social audit program, will be key in helping to build a modern de-mocracy in Afghanistan”, says John Dempsey, a legal expert with the United States Institute of Peace, a think tank.

It is ironic to find an Indian expe-rience reaping such large-scale bene-fits in a remote country like Afghani-

stan. It is at the same time heartening to see serious Indian professionals contributing to the changing land-scape of Afghanistan. Sujeet Sarkar, regional advisor with AKF, instru-mental in introducing the concept of social audit in Afghanistan, claims that there is far less corruption in Afghanistan today compared to Pan-chayat in India.

While decentralization of power is essential in devolution of high-level corruption, it invariably leads to de-centralization of corruption as well, reminds Sarkar. The concept of social audit is an empowering and partici-patory process, whereby the power to hold the government accountable for vanishing development money lie with the aid beneficiaries themselves.

Citizens assemble in a common platform to scrutinize the perfor-mance of their immediate agencies (NGOs/Gram Panchayat) on wide range of issues - from the quality of development services extended to the benefits trickling to the commu-nity. “It fixes downward account-ability of local institution, elected by the community and goes a long way in contributing significantly towards promoting good governance,” says Sarkar.

Among all the people-centric tools available, social audits provide stakeholders an opportunity to raise common concerns and collectively look for solution. It is something India desperately needs to promote if India wants to make a difference in the life of the ordinary people. With the RTI constituted there is tremendous scope to advance social audit and other people-centered techniques to promote transparency

at the grassroots level. As recently as Jan 2011, in the MKSS program area, an embezzlement of Rs 56 lakh was exposed in a social audit of MGNREGA in Todgarh Panchayat, Ajmer district. Such excellent citi-zenry effort need to receive robust media support to galvanize them into mass movements, spurring a countrywide commitment to elimi-nate corruption. But rarely do they make it to the headlines.

With discussions rife on how to contain the corruption conundrum it is a perfect moment to assess grass-roots situations. Specific laws and policies at the macro level are es-sential in creating the right environ-ment for taking processes forward. A simultaneously effort in formulat-ing and implementing systems and mechanisms to fix downward ac-countability will ensure the issue of corruption is addressed and attacked from all sides.

Enabling institutions like nation-als bureaus to tackle corruption, strong measures against corrupt of-ficials, an efficient judicial system with speedy trial of corruption cases, tough policies and popularization of e-governance, all will contribute to preparing the perfect backdrop to corruption-free society. The final actors in containing corruption, ac-cording to Sarkar, must however be the people themselves. Such process which makes the local development agencies accountable to the common citizens will not only yield high gov-ernance dividend but also make the system corruption-free. Time the biggest democracy learnt a lesson or two from the youngest democracy, to take its crusade forward.

aMBreeN aGHa

Indian

Pakistan army’s complicity in terrorism gets harder to deny“I heard someone shouting ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ and then I heard a huge blast,” Ahmad Ali, a wounded Fron-tier Constabulary trooper reported, after two suicide bombers attacked a group of trainees on May 13, 2011, in the Shabqadar tehsil near Pesha-war, the capital city of Khyber Pak-htunkhwa Province, killing 73 per-sonnel and 17 civilians, and injuring another 140.

Soon after, claiming responsibil-ity for the attack, the Tehreek-e-Tal-iban Pakistan spokesman Ehsanul-lah Ehsan declared, “This was the first revenge for Osama’s martyr-dom. Wait for bigger attacks in Paki-stan and Afghanistan.” Significantly, confirming the death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, the TTP spokesman had threatened to attack security forces.

“Pakistan will be the prime target followed by United States. The US had been on a man-hunt for Osama and now Pakistani rulers are on our hit-list as we also killed Benazir Bhutto in a suicide attack,” the spokesman added in an audio message.

The bin Laden killing, however, is more a platform than cause or prov-ocation. The TTP has been executing a relentless stream of attacks against

Pakistani security forces from the moment of its formation in the wake of the Army’s Lal Masjid operation in 2007, after which suicide bombings targeting security forces increased dramatically.

Between 2001 and May 15, 2011, 423 at least 1,322 security personnel have been killed and another 2,582 injured. Overall fatalities including a range of other terrorist incidents stood at 3,631 over the same period.

Even more troubling is the fact that there appears to be a substan-tial extremist infiltration into the military, and vice versa. Covert state support has hardened and strength-ened extremist elements over the years.

More obviously, there is clear col-lusion between a range of Islamist terrorist formations and the army and intelligence establishment in Pakistan, even as the security forces struggle to contain ‘renegade’ groups that have escaped or rebelled against military-intelligence control.

The Osama killing itself, within the garrison town of Abbottabad and in close proximity to major military establishments, fairly clearly estab-lished the link between state security structures and the terrorist forces. Pakistan’s Army and military intel-

ligence apparatus has evident links with terrorist networks within the country. It is, indeed, the extremist-terrorist spaces created for state sup-ported groups that allow the anti-state groups to flourish as well, since all these are mobilised on a pan-Is-lamist ideology of jihad that makes clear distinctions between cadres of different groups impossible.

Crucially, it is continuing state support to Afghanistan and India di-rected terrorist groupings that pro-vides the context for domestic terror-ism. Indeed, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has repeatedly accused the ISI of having ties with the Afghan Taliban in the Northwest tribal belt, specifying, further, the links between the Pakistani military intel-ligence and the Haqqani network, an al Qaeda allied outfit run by Sirajud-din Haqqani and based in the North Waziristan District of FATA.

These links have further been confirmed by statements of Paki-stani detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, disclosed by WikiLeaks. Ac-cording to the testimony of one such detainee, Ziaul Shah, his direct su-pervisor in the Afghan Taliban was a man named Qari Saleem Ahmed, the ‘commander’ of the Punjab

Chapter of Taliban, who was report-edly arrested around 1999 for being a member of groups with “connec-tions to subversive elements of the ISI”.

In another revelation, on April 12, 2011, Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani and Pakistani-Canadian ter-rorist Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who allegedly planned and aided the attacks in Mumbai (November 26, 2008, also known as 26/11), impli-cated the Pakistani Government and the ISI in the attack.

In its second charge sheet in the 26/11 attacks, the US Government has named a serving ISI officer, Major Iqbal, as a key conspira-tor charged with providing funds to Headley. Major Iqbal, posted in Lahore during 2007 and 2008, was handling David Coleman Headley on behalf of the ISI. He provided US$ 25,000 and fake Indian cur-rency notes to Headley, to meet the latter’s expenses during surveillance operations in India. Headley provid-ed all his surveillance videos first to Major Iqbal and then to the LeT.

Such revelations only add to Pakistan’s culture of impunity, with terrorists often going scot-free. The SFs have, of course, launched wide-

spread campaigns against the TTP and some other renegade terrorist factions, including indiscriminate bombing and artillery barrages tar-geting civilian clusters across KP and FATA.

Indeed, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani, in his address at Kakul, the Military Academy at Abbottabad on April 23, 2011, had boasted, “The Army has broken the back of militants linked to al Qaeda and TTP and the nation will soon prevail over this menace.” The data on fatalities however, does not indicate any dramatic diminu-tion in the capabilities of anti-Islam-abad formations such as the TTP, even as state supported groupings such as the Taliban and the LeT, among others, continue to flourish with visible state support.

Despite the rising instability within, and the escalating interna-tional pressure on Islamabad, it is evident that the terrorist state remains alive and vibrant within Pakistan.

(The writer Ambreen Agha is Research Assistant with the Insti-tute for Conflict Management and the views expressed are the author’s own and not necessarily of his em-ployer or this publication)

How social audit can be a corruption slayerAmid the huge debate that the Lokpal Bill has stirred, in cre-ating an enabling environment to attack corruption, lessons from the youngest democracy, Afghanistan, which has taken a quantum leap in efforts at addressing corruption at the micro level, may offer valu-able direction to India at this juncture, says Jayalakshmi Sengupta.


Indian

Dawood in Pakistan: ChidambaramNew Delhi: Union Home Minis-ter P Chidambaram on Thursday said underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan.

“We think Dawood Ibrahim has a home in Karachi. Whether all the time he is in Karachi, I cannot say, but we have seen that most part of the year he is in Karachi or at another place in Pakistan,” C h i d a m -baram said at a press confer-ence.

His state-ment comes a day after union home ministry on Wednesday made public a list of 50 most wanted men hiding in Pakistan with Dawood and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed featur-ing it as some of the top terror-ists enjoying the protection of its neighbour.

Earlier also, he said India has often asked Pakistan for Da-wood’s extradition, but in vain.

“We have often asked Pakistan to extradite or transfer Dawood to us. I think we all know that Dawood Ibrahim lives in a house in Karachi. I think the broad co-ordinates of the location are also known. But the Pakistan flatly

denies that Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan,” Chidambaram told Times Now in an interview.

On Thursday, the Union Min-ister said the government is also pressurizing Pakistan for nail 26/11 attackers.

“The govern-ment is press-ing Pakistan as well as mobil-ising interna-tional opinion to press Pakistan to bring the real perpetrators of 26/11 attacks to justice,” he said.

He said India will also engage Pakistan on

issues like visa, fishermen, cross-border trade, exchange of prison-ers.

“Those are matters on which we are engaging Pakistan. I don’t think there is dichotomy or con-tradiction. This is the policy spelt out by the Prime Minister and I think, this is the right policy,” Chi-dambaram said.

In the worst terrorist attacks in India, Pakistani-trained gunmen laid siege on Mumbai since No-vember 26, 2008, killing over 166 people, including foreigners, in attacks on a railway station, luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, among other targets.

a thumbs down to corrupt politics

aPurv SHuklaThe results of the just conclud-ed assembly elections in four states of India have a common underlying theme: it sends a clear message that corruption in public life will not be tolerated by the voters, and the guilty con-victed or perceived corrupt will lose the battle of the ballot.

West Bengal gave a historical result in that the Left Front was voted out after being in power for 34 years. Trinamool Congress romped home in Alliance with the Congress Party to win a land-slide victory. From its humble beginnings in 1998 to the 2004 general election, where it was reduced to just one MP, it has been a triumphant victory for the party led by a lady known for her indomitable spirit and street fighting qualities – Mamata Ba-nerjee.

Since the past few years the people of West Bengal were yearning for change, and were waiting for a credible alterna-tive to emerge for the Left. It was being felt that the Left’s style of functioning had not changed with the times. India was pro-gressing at a faster rate than Bengal. The fruits of develop-ment were seem to be consigned with the cadres of the Left, with the common man feeling left out. Ms Banerjee has a huge task in front of her; not only does she have to come good on the ex-pectations people have from her,

she also has to ensure her debu-tant government hits the ground running, and does not get cor-rupted with the baubles of power.

Tamil Nadu the epicentre of the ongoing 2G spectrum scandal stayed true to history by again swinging against the ruling party the DMK. Jayala-lithaa after keeping a low media profile since the Lok Sabha elec-

tions two years ago came back to sweep the polls. Though a win for AIADMK was predicted, it is the scale of DMK’s defeat that showed this election being a de-finitive referendum against ve-nality of the ruling government. The government by all accounts did a decent job of administrat-ing the state, but was tainted by charges of corruption, nepotism and one bickering family out to dominate state polity by all means. Ms Jayalalithaa in her new innings will have to remem-ber her last stint in office was marred by charges of corrup-tion –and Indian polity has only evolved and grown more intoler-ant of deceitfulness since then.

Kerala once again changed hands amongst the two compet-ing alliances with the Congress

led Block just about edging out the Left Front led alliance. What was perceived to be an easy ride for the Congress turned out to be a cliff hanger? Left belied all ex-pectations to rally back strongly. Credit for that should be attrib-uted to the outgoing chief min-ister, V.S Achuthanandan. Here was an 87-year-old man with decades of untarnished public life behind him, and the people were ready to ready to give him another term in power but it was his own divided house which proved his undoing. Incoming Congress Government will have to keep its house in order, and scandal free to ensure a smooth run with a wafer thin majority.

Assam gave the Congress a third term in power. Riding on the back of significant devel-opment initiated by the Tarun Gogoi led government; the in-cumbent party got a comfort-able majority. Also the peace dialogue in the state with ULFA proved a major selling point for

the government. Two pointers for the evolving module of future successful governments; clean image and development orien-tated.

Electricity, roads and water are the basic wants of the elec-torate, but now the concept of achieving a continually better standard of life is also gaining traction. As India takes strides towards becoming a developed country the people have more expectations of a government. People today want the govern-ments to acts a felicitators in their journey and not deterrents out to milk the system dry. Gov-ernments will have to ensure efficient and clean administra-tions, or the electorate will give them a befitting reply the next time election season arrives.

Supporters celebrate the Trinamool win in West Bengal

What was perceived to be an easy ride for the Congress turned out to be a cliff hanger?


CBI to release Bofors documentsNew Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to release all documents pertaining to the two-decade-old Bofors payoff case, seized from an accused named Win Chadha on May 1, 1997.

“The CBI is directed to release the documents from its head-quarters,” said Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav.

The court’s order came after Chadha’s son Hersh Washesher filed a petition seeking the docu-ments as criminal proceedings were withdrawn after his father died on Oct 24, 2001.

“It is most respectfully prayed that this court may kindly be pleased to direct CBI to release the docu-ments/articles mentioned in the seizure memo dated May 1, 1997, to the applicant or the applicant’s authorized representative,” Hersh said in his application filed on April 7.

“The officials of CBI seized a

number of documents and ar-ticles from the office and resi-dence of late Washesher Nath Chadha May 1, 1997, by way of executing number of seizure memos in which the particulars of the documents/articles are described. These documents/ar-ticles belong to late Chadha and his other family members includ-ing the applicant, which have no concern with the case of CBI,” read his application.

On Mar 4, the court allowed the CBI to close case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattroc-chi in regard to the Bofors payoff scam.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav pronounced the judgement on a CBI appeal seeking withdrawal of the case against the 70-year-old Italian businessman Quattrocchi, who could not be made to appear to face any court of law in India.

“The application of the CBI is allowed. If the logical conclusion of a case is not possible then it

is better to leave the issue,” said Yadav.

The CBI had been telling the court since Oct 2009 to withdraw the case against Quattrocchi since it failed to get him extradited first from Malayasia in 2003 and then from Argentina in 2007.

Quattrocchi had been accused of receiving a payoff for brokering the Bofors gun deal in 1986.

The continuance of prosecution against Quattrocchi will be unjus-tified. It is considered expedient in the interest of justice that the pro-ceedings against him should not be continued and be withdrawn, CBI had said in the application seeking withdrawal of the case.

Advocate Ajay Agrawal, who has been moving the case in the Supreme Court and had ap-proached the trial court against CBI’s move to seek a closure of the case, said the government was trying to close the case despite having sufficient evi-dence against the foreigner.

Indian

law expert on rajaratnam convictionColumbia Law School Professor John Coffee, one of the leading experts on securities law and white-collar crime in the U.S. was interviewed extensively about the conviction Wednesday in New York of Raj Rajaratnam in the Galleon insider trading case.

Coffee told Fox Business Network that any basis for an appeal could hinge on whether the government used wiretaps proper-ly in order to gain evidence against Rajaratnam, whom he added, might seek to have his sentence reduced if he offers to cooperate against Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs director accused of passing information to Rajarat-

nam. So far, Gupta only faces civil proceedings, not criminal charges.

“Everyone cooperated against Rajaratnam. Why should he be the only standup guy?” Coffee told FBN.

In an interview with Bloom-berg, Coffee said “Quite frankly, professionals learn what is legal and illegal not by the law that is on the books but by who goes to prison and for what. And I think a genera-tion of traders, expert networks, securities analysts and others now recognize that participating in an insider trading network is danger-ous, because, if one of the partici-pants gets caught, our plea-bar-gaining system makes it likely he’ll

turn in his co-conspirators and all the financial dominoes will fall.”

Coffee said would-be insider traders will likely learn to stay away from phones and email to carry out their misdeeds. But, he noted, that would only take them so far. “If you leave a trail, sooner or later you’re going to get caught,” Coffee told Reuters Insider. “Insider trading is engaged in by networks and if one person in that network gets caught it’s in his in-terest to plea bargan and cooper-ate all the otghers rather than go to trial. Thus, if you join a network, you’re going to live and die by that network, because they all sink and swim together.”

Aaron KashyapBA, LLBBarrister and solicitorLevel 1, 351 Manukau Road, PO Box 26-596, DXCP 32513, Epsom, AucklandMobile: 0274 857 302 Phone: (09) 6238277 Fax: (09)6235177Email: [email protected]

For all your legal needs

Pakistan epicentre of terrorism: ParnaikSrinagar: Northern Army Com-mander Lieutenant General KT Parnaik said last Saturday that Pakistan is the epicentre of ter-rorism. He was speaking on the sidelines of an Army function at Old Air Field Srinagar on Satur-day.

“Pakistan is the epicentre of ter-rorism as terrorists are roaming freely in that country,” Parnaik said.

Replying to a question on Chi-na-Pakistan nexus, the Army Commander said that there are people in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Northern Areas who they claim to be en-gineers and other such work-force. “Whether they are Peo-ple’s Liberation Army we cannot comment.”

“It is widely known that China is helping Pakistan in building a road from the Khunjerab Pass to Gwadar Port besides other infra-structure projects like dams very close to the Line of Control (LoC). Pakistan and China also have a deep collaboration in weapon delivery and development,” he said.

He further said that the use of the word ‘intrusion’ is erroneous.

“They come to the area that they perceive as their own and we also do the same. These should be termed ‘transgressions’ and not ‘intrusions’,” said Parnaik.

“However, regular border meet-ings are conducted to ensure that no mishaps take place. As far as infrastructure is con-cerned, we are also making concerted efforts to improve our own as their infrastructure devel-opment does give them a certain military capability,” Parnaik said.

On the situation in Pakistan post the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, the Army Commander said, “Pakistan, to divert

media and world attention after the killing, may create mischief on the borders by increasing the number of people infiltrated, for which we are well prepared.”

‘Though al Qaeda is not known to exist in J&K, its affiliate terror-ist groups based in Pakistan like LeT and JuM are active here for whom Pakistan is the epicentre of support,” he said.

Welcoming the J&K Govern-ment’s policy to rehabilitate ter-rorists wanting to return from Pakistan, he said this would also expose Pakistan’s complicity in sponsoring terrorism and call its bluff of providing only moral and diplomatic support.

Commenting on the situation in J&K, the Army Commander said that the situation in the state has improved over the last fewyears.

“There are now approximately 450 to 500 residual terrorists in the state. However, this number is fluctuating and putting an exact figure is difficult. With the late melting of snow, there are unverified reports of infiltration along the traditional routes. It is expected that in the coming weeks, efforts at infiltration would increase, but we are prepared,” Parnaik said.

He further said that the last two years have seen a drastic reduc-tion as the Army readjusted its postures from Counter Infiltration to Counter Terrorism in keeping with the changing requirements of the situation.

While replying to a question of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Parnaik said, “As far as the Army’s stand on revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, we have recommended its continuation in view of the situa-tion in the state and the special requirements it entails.”

-Reporting by Neyaz Elahi


East Tamaki Healthcare is looking to expand.We are looking to expand our Clinical Family Navigator team. If you or

someone you know has the qualifications and skills listed below, please contact us.

• Overseas trained Registered Nurse or Doctor.• Recent experience in primary health care and patient education.

• Good level of spoken English and the ability to communicate in Hindi.• Knows how to use a computer.

• Able, and willing, to go into patients’ homes or community environments to educate and engage family in wellness, health promotion and understanding of life-

style choices.• Full NZ drivers licence.

• Own car with WOF, current registration and insurance.• Teamwork.

We are also looking to expand our Receptionist team. If you or someone you know has the qualifications and skills listed below, please contact us.

• Excellent verbal communication skills.• Good level of spoken English.• Knows how to use a computer.

• Ensures the reception area runs smoothly and that patients are happy and com-fortable.

• Maintains CONFIDENTIALITY of patient information and the details of the running of the practice.

• Answers general enquiries.If you or someone you know may be interested, please e-mail CV and cover letter

to [email protected], mail to

Gabriel Orendain, HR ManagerEast Tamaki HealthcarePO Box 61150, Otara,

Manukau 2159

Indian

The 150th birth anniversary of world poet Rabindranath Tagore was celebrated at the Jorasanko ancestral house of the bard in north Kolkata on Monday with songs, dance, recitation, drama, photo exhibition and prayers. Tagore followers from across West Bengal thronged the Jorasanko house, which now houses the Rabindra Bharati University, since morning.

Photos by Avishek Mitra

Remembering the Bard


Indian

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Kolkata, May 9 (IBNS): Only a genius like Rabindranath Tagore can take liberty in new musical cre-ations, feels Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

“Classical musicians were not very happy about Rabindra Sangeet, because he took liberties. But only a genius can take liberty. There is something new and something secret in his cre-ations,” Khan said here recently at an award func-tion that cel-ebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

Khan was here to receive a Life-time Achievement Award in music instituted by the famous pen brand Montblanc in a tribute to Tagore, the world poet and philosopher.

Montblanc honoured Nobel lau-reate and economist Amartya Sen, Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and painter Jogen Chowdhury, at the function.

The programme by Montblanc was in association with Ministry of Culture and music academy Dak-shinee as part of the 150th birth an-niversary of Tagore.

Painter Jogen Chowdhury said, “I am from Santiniketan. I still stay

there. Tagore is someone who has to be known from inside. He had a vision for Bengal. He wanted a society where everything is ideal.

“We just read Tagore, but we need to understand and feel him. He has talked about education, unity, freedom of women and man-wom-an relationship. He is the universal man.”

“Discussing Tagore’s writing cannot be com-mercial,” he said.

Speaking on this occasion, Dilip Doshi, CMD, Entrack Inter nat iona l

Private Ltd (Exclusive Distributors in India for Montblanc) , said, “When Dakshinee approached me with the year-long celebrations of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary, I personally felt it would be both a privilege and an honour for Montblanc to be closely involved with this very emotional and cultur-al journey. “Union Minister Saugata Roy, BJP leader Tathagata Roy and actor Bhisma Guha Thakurta were also present at the event.India Blooms News Service (IBNS)Feedback: [email protected]: (0091) 9830096463 sh/sd

Only Tagore can take musical liberty: Amjad

tagore on Braille for the blind Kolkata: Third Eye, an NGO working for the visually challenged, Sunday donated 15 titles, in both English and Bengali, to nine schools for blind in the vicinity of Kolkata.

On the occasion the first and second volumes of Rabindranath Tagore’s “Gitabitan” was also dis-tributed in Braille edition, in asso-ciation with National Association for the Blind.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Mahua Seth, Founder Trustee, The Third Eye Charitable Trust, said, “It is a small beginning. But we have great plans. Till now the visu-ally challenged kids had no access to story books. We plan to open up a world for them with Braille edi-tions of fictions, classics and non-fictions.”

She went on to add, “Till now they heard stories. Now they can touch and feel the words and in turn be touched by them. We have already acquired titles from publi-

cations like Penguin, Tulika, Scho-lastic and a few others and have published Braille books in Tamil, English, Hindi and Bengali. But we want to take it pan India.”

Dr Kanchan Gaba, Secretary, National Association for Blind, West Bengal, said, “Braille is still very rel-evant to a blind child. Nowadays when children learn hearing they develop weak spellings and have a poor sense of construction which proves to be a hurdle when they seek jobs. These Braille books will help them touch the words, know spellings and make them educated in true sense. It is a great venture and we are happy to be a part of it.”

Ms Vishnupriya of Third Eye in-formed that they planned to bring out an online newspaper and mag-azine for the visually impaired in near future.

Besides, books were also given to the Blind section of Calcutta Uni-versity.

Baramulla: A Kashmiri Pandit woman has been elected Sar-panch (chief) of a Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat.

52-year-old Asha, who works as a peon at Wussan village of Baramulla district, has been voted as the new Sarpanch of its Panchayat.

She defeated her competitor, a Muslim woman, by 11 votes.

“I have struggled a lot. It doesn’t matter if we are only five Kashmiri Pandits living amidst 100 Muslims in this village. All my villagers have supported me a lot and it’s time I do something for the development of our village,” said Asha.

A high turnout and peaceful balloting had marked the Pan-chayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Apr 13 held after nearly ten years.

People defied boycott calls by the separatist leaders like Syed Ali Geelani and voted in large number in eight blocks in the local boy polls held after 2001.

In some places the polling was as high as 77 percent.

The people of insurgency-hit Kashmir had exercised their democratic rights in large number in the 2008 assembly polls too.

Jammu & Kashmir gets woman Sarpanch


The story started years ago when I was around 4-5 years old. It was the baby shower for my youngest aunt (popularly known in Bengali as Saadh), and my mother, being the eldest bride of the house was en-trusted the responsibility of cooking the rice pudding (payesh). All was going on well when suddenly one of the ‘well wishing relatives’ (who in-cidentally happened to be a master degree holder and a communist party member) pointed out that my ma should not be allowed to cook this ceremonial dish as else my aunt might end up bearing a daughter like my mom.

The saga continued and a repeat happened in 2004. This time I was at the receiving end—I had just re-gained my consciousness post the caesarian operation and was dizzy half in pain and half in ecstasy of giving birth to a lovely child. I was happy to see all my loved ones close by and felt secure, loved and cared for. All was again going on well when one of my most favorite aunts (again very well educated, though not a party member!) blurted out “Are you sad that it is not a son? Don’t worry next time you will have one”. Now being the egoistic person I am, it hit hard. I had always tried hard to

be the best in every sphere where I participated and now I wondered if having a daughter made me a lesser achiever.

As years passed by I realized that even for the upwardly mobile class, or intellectual and educated class having a son meant all. It was a tradi-

tional mind set and despite all intel-lectual progressivism in Bengal this was a feeling that was deep rooted.

At this historic juncture I wonder will “Poribartan” happen in this mindset?

Change- as everyone will agree is always welcome – and it is hearten-ing to know the middle class Bengali has moved out of his/her secured cocoon and welcomed change by accepting a party that is non tradi-tional and albeit does not fall in line

with traditional Bengali intellectual sensibility.

What Mamata Banerjee delivers, whether she lives up to expectations or reverts back to her histrionics, or will she merely be a pawn in the hand of more powerful male members remains to be seen — at the moment however it cannot be denied that she, despite being a woman, as fought

back not only against the communist regime but against a strictly patri-archal communist regime. And that too in a country where a girl child is condemned to death even before she is born!

If we take a look at her we see that Mamata is the traditional bad girl who is every Bengali mother’s night mare. She does not comb her hair, she does not wear sthe right sober and pastel taant sarees, does not sit in the evening with harmonium (she sings late in night in her own created

tunes), has not married in the right age, and forget a son, she does not even have a daughter! Nonetheless this non stereotypical woman today has received the blessings of millions of women who wanted her to see in the bastion of power.

People might ridicule her for her not so chaste Tagore quotes, lack of sophistication, yet even her strongest

critics will admire her persistence and focus toward her goal. Mamta proves once again that a woman is equally capable as man —like every other woman success story her success screams out the anguish of millions of girl child killed in the womb “Give Us A Chance – We Would Prove It.”

Unfortunately, CPI (M) despite its progressive thoughts ignored a sig-nificant part of the voting populace – the women. Except for a handful, the core party is essentially patriarchal

and the lack of any strong woman leader in state makes one skeptical that the communists never believed in gender equality. Banerjee among many other issues, captured this hidden yet deep rooted resentment amongst the women masses and the results prove it all.

At this juncture as all of us look forward to “Poribartan” I wonder if the traditional Bengali mindset about a son would change. Would the Bengali mother be at peace to see her daughter pursuing doggedly her career goals and not fret to her about “ how everyone of your friends has got married and not you – when will you settle down?”

Or will the mom in law be at peace if the daughter in law is sin-gularly ambitious and despite being post 30 has yet postponed her de-cision to have a child this year as she is due for promotion? Will the expecting moms today in Bengal come out of the feeling “Ebare chele hok” (Let me have a son this time) to “Mamatar Moton Meye Hok!” (Let me have a daughter like Mamata.)

The winds of change are flowing across the state. At this juncture let there also be a ”poribartan” in how the intellectual Bengali middle class perceives its women folk.

Indian

Let Me Have A Daughter Like MamataThe historic win of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal prompts journalist Ritusmita Biswas to blurt out her strong opinion on gender equality

If we take a look at her we see that Mamata is the traditional bad girl who is every Bengali mother’s night mare.


Fiji’s political dialogue to begin next yearPolitical dialogue will begin in Fiji next year and this will be followed by the formulation of a new constitution in 2013.

Suva: Political dialogue will begin in Fiji next year and this will be fol-lowed by the formulation of a new constitution in 2013, website Fiji Village has reported.

Foreign Affairs Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola has presented this time-line to the Political Committee of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly in Budapest, according to the website. Ratu Inoke said elections will be held in Fiji in 2014 however the government will focus on institutional and socio-economic reforms until 2012.

He said this includes progress towards a race-free sustainable demo-cratic system, the removal of references to ethnicity in public institu-tions and the removal of institutionalized racial biases in government tendering processes.

Ratu Inoke also invited the ACP Parliamentary Assembly to send a mission to Fiji late next year or early 2013, when the political dialogue is underway, to see the progress being made on the ground.

Meanwhile, Fiji’s Public Emergency Regulation (PER) is extended to 06 June. President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau gazetted the extension accord-ing to the powers vested in him as the Head of State. The PER has been in place since April 2009.

LIC launches new micro-insurance policyLow-income earners in Fiji now have the opportunity to cope with financial emergencies and protect themselves against unexpected life events through a specially designed micro-insurance product.

Suva: Low-income earners in Fiji now have the opportunity to cope with financial emergencies and protect themselves against unex-pected life events through a spe-cially designed micro-insurance product.

Micro Life is an endowment-type micro-insurance product providing death, disability, acci-dent and funeral expense benefits to clients who purchase it. Since it is an endowment product, it also returns a large lump sum of cash to the client upon maturity thereby also acting as a tool to help people save money.

This is the first ever micro-insurance product like this in the Pacific and has been introduced in Fiji by the Life Insurance Corpora-tion of India (LICI). At the prod-uct’s launch in Suva last week, the Acting Governor of Reserve Bank of Fiji, Barry Whiteside welcomed the initiative. “The product aims to provide low cost life insurance solu-tions to the segments of society who have up to this point in time, been under served. The product clearly fits with the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s

picture of promoting greater finan-cial inclusion,” said Whiteside.

“If low income individuals decide to purchase the micro-in-surance product, it will certainly moderate the risks and provide the comfort or backing to be more optimistic in whatever they may be doing to pull themselves out of poverty. Micro-insurance is de-signed to help the low income in-dividual cope with financial emer-gencies.”

The product has been developed by the LICI’s Fiji branch but ben-efits from the company’s extensive experience with micro-insurance in India, and has also been sup-ported by technical assistance from the Pacific Financial Inclusion Pro-gramme (PFIP).

At the product launch PFIP further announced that it will be providing a small grant to LICI to help build awareness around the product. PFIP Pacific Finan-cial Inclusion Advisor and Project Manager, Tillman Bruett said the interest in microinsurance in the Pacific was generated after a work-shop held at the Pacific Microfi-

nance week in Nadi in 2009. “Following the microinsurance

workshop, potential partners ap-proached PFIP and we worked with a few from Fiji and Papua New Guinea,” Mr Bruett said. “We know from studies that families can and do work to lift themselves out of poverty over time. But all too often, the death of a family member can erase all of those gains and push them below the poverty line once again.

“Life insurance can help fami-lies avoid that. I hope that employ-ers take a look at this product, par-ticularly those who hire household or part time staff, and consider buying this product on behalf of their employees. It is a great benefit and at a reasonable cost.”

PFIP is a Pacific-wide pro-gramme helping provide sus-tainable financial services to low income households. It is funded by the United Nations Capital Devel-opment Fund (UNCDF), European Union, AusAID and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and operates from the UNDP Pacific Centre.

Indian


Operation Loloma helps beggars off the streets

Aims to identify root of problem, provide

assistanceSuva: The Fiji Ministry of Social Welfare’s ‘Operation Loloma’ is now in motion to help beggars get off the streets.

The Permanent Secretary for Social Welfare and Women, Govind Sami said the exercise aimed to identify why these indi-viduals were begging and how civil society groups and Govern-ment departments could help them.

He said the information collected was not for public consumption and the Ministry would work with its partners to ensure that each individual case was worked out.

“We don’t wish to traumatise or stigmatise these disadvan-taged people.”

Mr. Sami said the Ministry

would get other districts to do the same so that the welfare of these disadvantaged indi-viduals was cared for by the various networks we have in the country.

“Some of these beggars are on social welfare assistance. The Ministry will review each file to see if there is a need to provide some help to alleviate the difficulties these people face and provide an alternative means of living other than being on the streets as beggars.

“We will also link up with the families of these individuals in the review exercise,” Mr. Sami said.

Operation Loloma began last week.

-Losalini Rasoqosoqo/ Fiji Sun

Indian

Fiji-tonga standoff escalatesNew Zealand will not interfere in a mounting standoff between Fiji and Tonga, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said.

The standoff follows the Tongan Navy entering Fiji waters at the weekend to pick up Fiji Army’s former chief of staff Lieutenant-Colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara, who had been facing sedition charges last week.

Ratu Tevita, the youngest son of Fiji’s founding Prime Minister and former President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, had been released on bail.

Fiji Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama has declared Ratu Tevita a fugitive and accused the Royal Tongan Navy of illegally picking up Ratu Tevita in a patrol boat in Fijian waters last week.

Suva Magistrates Court yes-terday issued a bench warrant for Ratu Tevita, who breached his bail conditions after being charged with one count of uttering seditious com-ments.

The bench warrant means Fiji can proceed with an extradition ap-plication under the Extradition Act. Ratu Tevita, who has strong Tongan connections, was now reported to be under Tonga’s protection.

Meanwhile, Tongan Prime Min-ister Lord Tu’ivakano said the Fiji government will not face any ob-stacles from his government as they seek to extradite Mara.

Mr McCully said it was “hearten-ing” that the Tongan Prime Minis-ter had made assurances the courts would not be subjected to political

interference when considering the extradition.

Fiji today started the legal process to extradite Ratu Tevita.

Mr McCully said New Zealand was watching the issue closely, but would not intervene at this point because it was an issue between Fiji and Tonga.

He had not spoken to Tonga’s Prime Minister and said he had not sought any information on how Ratu Tevita had come to be picked by Tonga’s Navy.

Ratu Tevita has since released a You Tube video strongly criti-cal of Fiji’s attorney-general Aiyaz Khaiyum, and said Mr Bainima-rama “is no more than Aiyaz Khai-yum’s hand-puppet”.

In the You Tube video dated May 14 entitled “regime change should happen in Fiji soon”, Ratu Tevita said the plan to arrest him and Brig Gen Driti on what he said were “trumped-up” charges had been laid by Mr Khaiyum.

“For inexplicable reasons, Com-modore Bainimarama, weakened by ill health, morally and intellectu-ally bankrupt, is no more than Aiyaz Khaiyum’s hand-puppet,” Ratu Tevita said.

“His (Khaiyum’s) megalomania is inspired entirely by the self-im-portance of a lonely and inadequate man, endowed with no leadership qualities and incapable of under-standing the simplest principles of decency and respect.”

Ratu Tevita said that when Fiji’s dictatorship had ended, “all of us who once served it shall answer to the Fijian people for the part we played, and I shall gladly submit to their verdict”.

-Indian Weekender Online

Lieutenant-Colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara . . . fled Fiji and is now in Tonga.

What Went Wrong in FijiPaDMiNi GauNDer

May 14 marked the 132nd anni-versary of the first arrival of the Indian labourers in Fiji. The day also marked the 24th anniversary of the first military coup in the country, indeed, in the whole of the South Pacific. What really happened to the Indian migrants between May 14, 1879 and the same date in 1987?

Indians who were brought to Fiji were used as labourers for five years and after that allowed to go home at their own expense or to settle down in the colony as independent farmers. Most of them chose to acquire land of their own and con-tinue in Fiji as small farmers. The indenture system continued till 1920 when it was abolished after Rev. C. F. Andrews’ visit in 1916 and his scathing report.

Since the government did not provide schools for the Indian chil-dren, their parents had to send them to Christian Mission schools for edu-cation. Indians resented this as they were afraid of their children getting converted. So they brought teachers and religious leaders from India and established their own religious and cultural organisations.

The south Indians, who were a minority and were brought to Fiji only later in the indenture period (they arrived in Fiji only in the 1900s), started their own organisa-tion, the TISI Sangam (Then India Sanmarga Ikya Sangam), because

they wanted to retain their traditions and languages. Sadhu Kuppuswami who established the Sangam sought help from the Ramakrishna Mission in India and Swami Avinashananda was sent to help to organise it.

Help from the Ramakrishna Mission continued even after Swami Avinashananda returned after about a year as Swami Rudrananda arrived to guide the Sangam. Al-though the South Indians are only a minority among the Fiji Indians, Sangam has continued to this day as one of the most important non gov-ernment agencies, because of this early guidance from the Ramak-rishna Mission.

The Fiji Indians gave high prior-ity to education. They established schools and educated their sons (and daughters) as they did not want their children to be exploited by the colonials because of ignorance as they had been. Swami Rudrananda and Sangam were at the fore front of providing education including higher education for Indian chil-dren.

If the indenture system was over in 1920 the Indians were still not progressing much and lived in relative poverty because of the ex-ploitation of the Colonial Sugar Re-fining (CSR) Company. The Indian leader A.D. Patel along with Swami Rudrananda fought against this. With the help of Ratu Mara, the Prime Minister after independence,

Swamiji succeeded in improving the lot of the farmers.

With the establishment of the University of the South Pacific, uni-versity education became locally available from 1968. Meanwhile Fijian education had become a major problem in the last decades before Independence. The problem had started when the Methodists withdrew from the village schools handing the schools over to local committees. The Mission had wanted the government to take over the schools but the Director of Edu-cation at that time, James Russell, refused.

The 1969, Education Commis-sion had recommended special provisions for Fijian Education for a period of time and the Govern-ment had accepted the recommen-dation. The opposition National Federation Party had not objected to the proposal. But in 1976 the NFP made education an election issue and attacked the USP quota system for admission for Fijian students. The Indians supported the NFP as a block in the elections in 1977and caused the defeat of the multiracial Alliance government.

Rather than explaining to the Indians why such provisions were necessary to eliminate discrepan-cies in achievements and giving the example of India where such posi-tive discrimination was practised even after decades of Independence

(and it is still practised!) the opposi-tion made it an election issue and that marked the degeneration of the NFP from a multiracial party (at least in policies) to an Indian party. They failed to ask for a review of the special provisions for Fijian stu-dents after a period of time as the 1969 Education Commission had recommended which is what they should have done if they were genu-inely concerned about helping.

Indians in Fiji enjoyed equal-ity from 1970 to 1987. Though the Fijians were given preference in education the Indians still did better in every field. The Indian leaders, however, succeeded in creating a feeling in the Indian mind that they were treated as second-class citizens. It was the perception that made the Indians want to have an Indian dominated government so that they could feel equal.

The Indians were also made to believe that it was Ratu Mara who was the cause of all their problems and once he was gone they would have equality. It was, in fact, Ratu Mara out of all the chiefs who was prepared to give equal rights to the Indians. Ratu Mara had even sug-gested making Fijian the common name for all the citizens of Fiji but the others had rejected it. Unfortu-nately Indians of Fiji were convinced that Ratu Mara was their enemy.

Instead of working for inte-gration in education as the 1969

Education Commission had recom-mended and promoting the study of Fijian as a basic language course in primary schools the Indian leaders worked for the entrenchment of communalism. Indian leaders in Fiji failed to heed the prophetic warning of Fijian academic Dr. Tupeni Baba that the Fijian educational problem was a national problem and it was going to determine in a significant way how the people in Fiji were going to live together as a multieth-nic and multicultural society.

Since the Indian leaders did not act to ensure that Fiji remained a multicultural society rather than a communally divided country Indians in Fiji today do not feel safe anymore, especially since there is no democratic government. The situ-ation in Fiji where both Fijians and Indians have rights, reminds me of the story of Arjuna and Dhuryod-hana both going to see Sri Krishna before the Mahabharata war.

Sri Krishna was sleeping and they both waited. When he woke up Dhuryodhana said he was the first to come but Sri Krishna said he saw Arjuna first so both were first in dif-ferent ways and he had to help them both!

The problem for the Fiji Indians was that they lacked such a wise leader who could see from both sides and work to avoid communal-ism from settling in for the good of the country and all its people.

Fiji- viewpoint


The Virtue of PerseveranceaJai SaHNi

On April 23, 2011, Barely a week before Operation Geronimo, in which Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, had driven by this location to the Kakul Military Academy, just over half a kilometre away, to boast, in his address to cadets there, that “the terrorists’ back-bone has been broken” by his Forces. Over the past years, the Pakistan establishment, includ-ing two successive Presidents – General Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari – have actively spread a smokescreen over the al Qaeda leadership’s presence on Pakistani soil, repeatedly assert-ing that bin Laden, in particular, was either dead or holed up in some caves in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden was, however, living safely in the heart of an Army cantonment, in “an extraordinarily unique compound”, a three storey building constructed around 2005 on a one acre plot, sur-rounded by 12 to 18 foot security walls, topped with barbed wire. There was no telephone or inter-net connectivity and all external contact was managed through a tiny group of trusted couriers – the vulnerability that was finally breached by US intelligence.

The furnishing was rudimentary, suggesting that this may be one of many safe-houses between which he would have been shuf-fled about over the past years. Crucially, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, bin Laden was reportedly treated in a mili-tary hospital in Rawalpindi, and, in early 2002, had been sheltered in the Binori Masjid in Karachi, where he is said to have under-gone treatment for a shrapnel injury after his escape from the Tora Bora cave complex.

Since late 2002, however, he was pushed deep underground, most likely, given the circumstances of his eventual discovery, the near-impenetrable secrecy surround-ing his movements, and the per-sistent disinformation campaigns by state agencies and high offi-cials, by Pakistan’s military intel-ligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

Indeed, as John Brennan, Deputy National Security Advisor for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security noted, “We are looking right now at how he was able to hold out there (in Pakistan) for so long and whether or not there was any type of support system within Pakistan that allowed him to stay

there... There are a lot of people within the Pakistani Government, and I am not going to speculate about who or if any of them had fore-knowledge about bin Laden being in Abbottabad. But certain-ly his location there outside of the capital raises questions...”

Bin Laden’s death is, without doubt, a tremendous victory but it would be premature grounds for euphoria. It has though done little to damage al Qaeda’s operational

and organisational capabilities. Ayman al Zawahiri, his long-time associate and second-in-com-mand has, in any event, been in charge of ‘military operations’ for years, and will seamlessly assume preeminent command. A deep international religious, po-litical, strategic, military, financial, communications and organisa-tional structure has long been es-tablished, and has operated over the past years with no significant inputs from, or connection with, bin Laden, other than his occa-sional exhortatory messages. A second line of leadership, most prominently including Saif Saif al-Din al Ansari al Adel, the organ-isation’s present ‘military com-mander’, Amin al Haq Afghan, the ‘security coordinator’ and Suleiman Abu Ghaith, al Qaeda’s spokesman, remain at large, as does an elaborate network of second and third tier leaders.

Al Qaeda and its loose affiliates not only have a strong presence across Asia, they have estab-lished cells in almost every major country in Europe and have a sig-

nificant presence on American soil as well, though their opera-tional capabilities in these latter locations remain limited – or may, in some measure, be unknown. While the report lacks credibility, it is useful to note, in this context, that one of the Wikileaks expo-sures had disclosed that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the ‘master-mind’ of the 9/11 attacks now in US custody, had claimed during interrogation that al Qaeda had hidden a nuclear device in Europe

which would unleash a “nuclear hellstorm” if bin Laden was cap-tured or killed.

Nevertheless, even before bin Laden’s termination, al Qaeda had been immensely weakened by a relentless succession of arrests and killings of operational commanders and leaders over the years.

While apprehensions of al Qaeda reprisals in the wake of the bin Laden killing are justifiable, it is equally important to recognise that the organisation’s and its affil-iates’ capabilities are overwhelm-ingly located outside the West, in Muslim majority countries, most significantly including Pakistan-Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia, where retaliatory strikes would mainly kill Muslims – undermin-ing organisational legitimacy even further.

While residual risks of catastroph-ic attacks in the West cannot be ignored, the reality is, al Qaeda has failed to orchestrate any such strikes – beyond the soft target

train attack in Madrid in 2004, and the London Underground bombings in 2005, the latter with tenuous links to al Qaeda.

Crucially, bin Laden’s killing also comes at a time when extrem-ist Islamism and authoritarian regimes that have instrumental-ised Islam are being challenged across the Arab world, in some of the most dramatic cases, peace-fully, giving the lie to the ideology of violence and death that the al

Qaeda represents. The complex interface of continu-ous successes against al Qaeda and its affiliates – crowned by bin Laden’s death – and the rising revolt within Islam against the ex-tremist perversion of the Faith, will have necessary and long-term consequences that enormously favour the forces of freedom and undermine the terrorist enter-prise. This dynamic imposes tre-mendous pressure on al Qaeda’s successor leadership to dem-onstrate its capabilities through dramatic, potentially catastrophic, acts of terrorism, since these, alone, can possibly reverse what may appear, at present, to be an irreversible decline.

In all this, the political and military leadership in Pakistan is most manifestly caught in a cleft stick. The state will be forced to adopt a contradictory stance, on the one hand trying to project its ‘co-operation’ with US agencies as proof of the country’s continued commitment to the goals of the war on terror and, on the other, attempting to distance itself from

the actual operation in order to appease a radical domestic audi-ence.

There have also been vocifer-ous denials of any official role in protecting bin Laden over the past eight years and more; Paki-stan’s leaders will continue to sing the same old song about the country being the ‘principal victim of terrorism’, having lost the lives of ‘tens of thousands of civil-ians’ and ‘thousands’ of security forces personnel; but, as the cir-cumstances of bin Laden’s death crystallize further, this pretence will become progressively unsus-tainable.

Even if there is a passing mael-strom of reprisal attacks in areas where al Qaeda and its affiliates have sufficient surviving op-erational capacities, Bin Laden’s killing will certainly have a chilling effect in the medium term, as it demonstrates far greater will on the part of the US intelligence and political leadership than has been manifest in the ambivalent decla-rations on the war in Afghanistan.

Indeed, for years, Pakistanis and Afghans have scoffed at the US with the quip, “You have the watches, but we have the time.” Already, there are apprehensions that America will use the death of the al Qaeda leader as an excuse to speed up its withdrawal from Afghanistan; to ‘declare victory and run’. Hillary Clinton has now stated that the bin Laden killing demonstrates to the world that, “You cannot wait us out. You cannot defeat us.” It remains to be seen whether this resolve goes beyond the killing of individual ter-rorists.

The death of bin Laden is a major incident – but still, only a single incident – in the long war that Is-lamist extremists and their state sponsors have launched against the rest of the world. The pro-longed effort and operation that brought about this outcome dem-onstrates the virtue and necessity of sheer doggedness and persis-tence in the protracted contest in which civilisation is presently engaged. If the success at Ab-bottabad becomes the basis of even greater resolution in the war against terrorism, its outcome will inevitably strengthen the forces of freedom. If, on the other hand, it yields even the slightest moment of weakness, the price in terror will be unbearable.

The writer Ajai Sahni is Editor, SAIR; Executive Director, Institute for Conflict Management

Indian


Indian

The art and science of vastuMiCHael BorDeN

Many years ago I made my first trip to India after receiving per-mission from my Vastu mentor, Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati of Ma-habalipuram, to come and study. My wife, Karen, and I arrived in Chennai on a hot afternoon and made our way to a dusty hotel near the city centre. Little did I know of the heartwarming and intriguing experiences that lay before us in our many visits to that amazing land in the upcom-ing years.

That afternoon we visited our first ancient temple and felt for the first time the vibration of a Vastu structure. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time but I have come to know that Vastu energy as unique and enthralling. As I look back on that day, I am deeply thank-ful to my teacher for sharing the knowledge of how to design such structures, thus making it possi-ble for me to share this profound experience with others.

Once we began our studies with Sthapati, each day we would go to his office, located a couple of blocks from the sparkling Bay

of Bengal in Thiruvanmiyur, a suburb of Chennai. No matter what was happening that day in his office, Sthapati would stop what he was doing and patiently focus his attention on our Vastu studies. One question I asked Sthapati in those early days was, “What caused the whole process of expression of the universe?” His answer was to quote Khalil Gibran: “Life’s longing for Itself!”

Though we call it Vastu science for simplicity’s sake, Vastu knowledge encompasses sublime artistic principles as well as scientific principles. In fact, in this discipline no distinction exists between science and art: scien-tific observation of the natural world is experientially artistic, and vice versa. In the nervous system of an adept Vastu scientist/artist, the manifestations of the universe are experienced and understood fully as a function of his or her unified body-mind-heart. The adept then applies the appropri-ate principles of manifestation to the creation of new objects that will have the ability to vibrate in deep resonance with the matri-ces of cosmic energy.

In Vastu science, the orthog-onal Vastu Purusha Mandala describes the pattern of energy manifesting into substance at the most subtle level. The mandala expresses an order that is self-maintaining. This orthogonal pattern is the geometry at the core of all manifestations. It is the geometry of silence. At the centre of this geometry is a thread of light: the Brahma Sutra. This light is the Nataraja: the dancing form of Lord Shiva.

The simple truth of Vastu science is that it has conceived, understood, and applied the most basic formulas governing the ways in which primal sub-stance (the pure energy level of the universe) is made manifest as the vast and gross material universe. This science expands on the tenet that no substantial difference exists between subtle and gross forms of life. It is a sci-entific philosophy of unity of all life forms on all levels for all time.

Vastu structures are vibrant connections to a universal energy matrix. These structures reso-

nate with the most sublime and powerful forces or laws of nature, which are specified and gener-ated by space/time/light formulas that are the basis of the struc-ture, whether it be a temple or a humble home.

Vastuved International Ltd.

has established an office in Nelson, New Zealand. The firm offers custom home designs in the Vastu tradition. Assistance is also offered in Temple projects in a collaboration with traditional Temple architects in Tamil Nadu.

More at: www.vastu.co.nz


Indian

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Indian

anushka Sharma gives haircare tips

Mumbai: With summer just around the corner, so are hair care woes.

While many don’t realize it, scorching sun, harmful UV rays and high levels of humidity are the cause of serious hair damage. The excessive sweating, dirt and grime don’t help at all, making hair rough, dehydrated, and frizzy.

Actor Anushka Sharma shares some simple tips that will keep hair beautiful & bouncy just like her luscious locks, and let women have fun in the sun without stress-ing about their tresses.

“Oiling your hair with coconut oil (like Parachute Advanced) will condition and prevent your lus-cious locks from turning frizzy and brittle,” she says.

“Keep yourself well hydrat-ed by having lots of water and

fruits like melons, watermelons, oranges and squashes to maintain your moisture balance.”

She says: “Don’t wash your hair too often as that will dry it up. Also, make sure you oil your hair with coconut oil before washing to maintain its softness. Avoid using hair-dryers as they only damage your hair and leads to the develop-ment of split ends. Go for an air- dry instead.”

Anushka suggests covering head with a scarf on summer days to avoid direct exposure of hair to sunrays.

“Don’t use bands without metal closures, barrettes with smooth edges, etc. that would not damage or tear your hair leading to split ends. Before stepping out in the sun, cover your head with a scarf, umbrella, or hat,” she says.

Also, she advises to go for short hair on summer.

“Keeping your hair short at this time will help you enjoy summers better and might just give you the make-over you have been looking for,” she says.

“Opt for natural remedies to regain the shine and strength of your hair like:- Applying Coconut hair oil mixed with raw amla powder or with egg yolk and water, keeping it for 15 – 20 minutes on hair and rinse it off,” said Anushka.

Aishwarya walks Cannes Red Carpet

Cannes: Indian actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan walked the Cannes Red Carpet for cosmetic major L’Oréal Paris along with brand spokes-women – Aimee Mullins, Gong Li and Ines de la Fressange.

Aishwarya was sporting the L’Or L’Or L’Ormake up look that has been unveiled by L’Oréal Paris especially for Cannes.

Her ‘L’Or L’Or L’Or’ was created by renowned makeup artist and part of L’Oréal Paris first make up Dream Team - Karim Rahman.

Aishwaryas make up look:Gold+Black+Fuchsia: Applied in a sweep of solid, even color, gold eyeshadow meets and blends with fuchsia blush, which has been brushed diagonally from the hollow of the cheek to above the eyebrow. Deep black liner defines the lashes for unforgettably alluring eyes. Nude lipstick leaves the all the impact to the make-up on the eyes and cheeks.


the song Character dheela from ready is already rocking the charts. Whose brain is behind this song?

Character dheela was Asin’s idea. Since she is the heroine of the film, how can we say no to her!

that’s it?(Laughs) Generally we use

the term character dheela in a negative manner. But Aneesb-hai (Bazmee, director) wanted to make it positive. One day he said people always look at us and

say: Iska character dheela hai. But actually, woh log bhi yehi sab karta hai. So, if they do, it’s raas leela, and if we do, then character dheela! Not fair na!

you did gigs on raj kapoor, Dharmendra and Dilip kumar in the song. How was the experience?

There’s no way you can do justice to what they have done. The way Dharmji looked in Sholey nobody can even come near him, Raj Kapoorsaab is a legend, Yusuf-

saab (Dilip Kumar) is something else…from the first day of our industry till today, nobody could come one percent close to his per-formance. We just did this as a tribute.

How much do you relate the song to yourself?

Look, my character has never been dheela. I am 46 years old now and if you have seen my average (in love), it’s pathetic.

Do you think remakes are lucky for you (Both Wanted and ready are remakes of south indian films)?

Our (Bollywood) writers are actually writing…and how?…we take pegs from here and there…pick from a French film, take something from Ethiopian film or a Hollywood film or an old Bolly-wood film; unless he is a writer-di-rector, then only he can do justice to a script. The South writers also borrow heavily from old Hindi films. Like my father (Salim Khan) used to write-Haathi Mere Saathi, Deewar-they (South) have taken all that stuff. They have remade most of our films. Now it’s time to take at least one or two back. And it’s not that we lifted, we are not making blind remakes. The fact is, in the South, they work on heroism, while in Bollywood, there is n o heroism now. I want to see me as a hero on screen. That’s the reason I have started doing this kind of films. Be it heroism in comedy, action or drama, when you come out of the theatre, you want to be the hero (of the film)…that’s what I want.

then why don’t you do a super-hero film like Hrithik roshan and Shah rukh khan?

I don’t want to do any super-hero film. I don’t want to be bitten by a spider and turn Spiderman, I won’t want a red underwear outside to be Superman…I just want to be Sal-Man.

While shooting for Wanted, there was news that you had a hard time learning the steps from Prabhu Deva. Did you face a similar situa-tion in ready, since there are quite a number of twisters in it?

I didn’t have a hard time, but

Prabhu Deva had a tough time while choreographing me. When I copied Prabhu Deva’s steps, I knew I was doing better than him. But he kept saying ‘one more, one more’. But I was doing better! Hazam nehin hota. I never have difficulties with steps. I am a great dancer. Ask Boneyji (Kapoor, producer of Wanted)…retakes pe retakes. What is this politics! You make an actor damn tired so that he can’t deliver well.

How much did your chore-ographer tire you with steps for ready?

This time I took care of my steps…lots of care. My choreog-rapher Mudassar himself weighs 12 kilos. So he dared not mess up with me.

According to a latest Internet survey, you have been rated as No 1 bachelor of India. What’s your take on it?

I will change it soon. I will shift to -1 (minus one).

Indian

‘I am a great dancer’The original Prem of Bollywood is back. Salman Khan will be seen romancing Asin in Ready. The actor chats up with TWF correspondent Sreya Basu


“A critical search should be made to find out the nature of the accidents that are responsible for the present condition of India which once had the dangerous reputation of a fabulous wealth attracting round her treasure-house adventurers from distant shores.” - rabindranath tagore

India’s past is not dead. Its still operates in the present. But it seems fashionable to dismiss the historical past as ‘Jo hua so hua – what can we do now?’ In our vanity of being psychologi-cally advanced we tend to ignore history. This attitude is strange given that ‘we are what we are’ because of our historical past.

Indian history is not just about dates of kings and queens, ‘battle of Plassey and all that’. All our religions and religious practices are from the past. Even our names and family names are from the past. We know English because of the ‘angrezi’ occupa-tion of India that happened in the ‘past’. Someone is a Medical doctor because he/she studied medicine in the ‘past’. However this is no appeal to get stuck in a bygone era, but only to learn from it – to regard the past as a rear-view mirror, being in the present and looking at the future. No doubt the present determines the future but the present will also become past in the future. As it is said, today will be yesterday tomorrow as we are living in tomorrow’s past.

These days people are even getting regressed into their past lives as a therapy. There has been a paradigm shift in religious belief systems due to the overwhelming evidence in modern psychiatry about ‘past’ life regression. Promi-nent mainstream psychiatrists like Dr.Brian Weiss have healed people by exploring their ‘past’ lives. His many books like the ‘Many Lives Many Masters’ are just enough proof.

Alluding to the incredible lessons that past teaches us, the great American philosopher and historian Will Durant said “The past is not dead; it is the sum of the factors operating in the present. The present is the past rolled up into a moment for action; the past is the present unraveled in history for our un-derstanding. Therefore invite the great men of the past into your homes.”

Ancient Indian civilisation has some terrific life-lessons for the world as India in her zenith has practically ‘been there done that’ in areas – sacred and secular. The lessons from ancient India are more signifi-cant today than ever, especially when India and Indians out-landishly follow a lifestyle that is ‘Na ghar ka nag hat ka’ in an atmosphere of hurried moderni-sation. The ghar ka wisdom and the ancient eco-friendly life-style was solid in foundation, of course with some paint peel-offs

which got tended to. The glory got hidden when

India was pauperised only in the last 1000 years, in an era of calamitous political slavery. During this time, the glory of India was deliberately trodden, maligned and eventually went underground (some literally). Perhaps it was the price India paid for being nice to the ‘paschi-mi’ nomads, tradesmen and the illiterate Mughals (the Persian word for Mongol is ‘Mughal’).

In 1930, even an objective

and honest book like ‘The Case for India’ by Will Durant was banned by the ‘angrez’ in India because they feared the book would create an intellectual awakening instigating a journey back to freedom and richness. In 1931, Tagore mentions in his re-sponse to Durrant’s book: ‘The dark facts of our bankruptcy are evident to any casual visitor, but the truth which is permanent in the spirit of the people must be explored in the history of our past.”

Tagore advised “A critical search should be made to find out the nature of the accidents that are responsible for the present condition of the country which once had the dangerous reputation of a fabulous wealth attracting round her treasure-house adventurers from distant shores.” The loot that happened during the 1000 years – uska koi hisaab nahin.

Many such treasure-house adventurers were simply awe-struck with India’s wealth and

wisdom but very few had noble intentions. Even scheming Ori-entalists like Max Muller had to finally admit saying “If I am asked which nation had been ad-vanced in the ancient world in respect of education and culture then I would say it was – India”.

Of the travelers who visited India, Megasthenes (350 – 290 BCE) from Greece, Fa-Hein (337 – c. 422 CE) and Huan Tsang (c. 602 – 664 CE) from China, Alberuni (973 – 1048 CE) from Persia provide some fascinating accounts about India in their travelogues. They came with a quest to know India, as India was at the centre of much scien-tific and spiritual advancement being a seat of learning. Fa-Hein and Huan Tsang have given par-ticularly glowing accounts of the big universities of Nalanda and Taksasila where more than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.

The visitor’s travelogues offer plenty of insight about ancient Indian science, phi-losophy, justice and lifestyle. Besides these accounts there is plenty of empirical evidence for today’s scientific minded. Four-teen branches of learning called ‘Chaturdasa-vidya‘ were taught in India from the remote past until the inception of ‘angrez’ rule as confirmed in the copper-plate inscriptions dated 868 CE in Tamil Nadu.

Eminent historians, philolo-gists, archaeologists and even modern day scientists have been overtly explicit about India’s past glory in their writings. Grant Duff the British Historian of India confirms “Many of the advances in the sciences that we consider today to have been made in Europe were in fact made in India centuries ago”.

Mahatma Gandhi’s in 1908 said “I believe that the civilisa-tion India evolved is not to be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown by our ancestors, Rome went, Greece shared the same fate; the might of the Pharaohs was broken; Japan has become Westernized; of China nothing can be said; but India is still, somehow or other, sound at the foundation.”

If such was the glory of India, what now? Past can’t be recre-ated but the lessons and knowl-edge can certainly be helpful. The tribute now would be to blend the good Indian past into the present as Nehru observed about Swāmi Vivekānanda – “Rooted in the past, full of pride in India’s prestige and yet modern in the appro.

Indian

iNDia: BeeN tHere, DoNe tHat…raM liNGaM

India of the past was a world leader in both the sacred and the secular. Modern achievements seem to just exaggerate what India achieved before the invasions. India’s past points out the vast knowledge, experience and intelligence in all fields of hu-man endeavor. Indian history helps us find out who we are, how we got to where we are now and where we might be heading.

“I believe that the civilisation India evolved is not to be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown by our ancestors, Rome went, Greece shared the same fate; the might of the Pharaohs was broken; Japan has become Westernised; of China nothing can be said; but India is still, somehow or other, sound at the foundation.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

The ancient astronomical observatory, Jantar Mantar, in Jaipur


varSHa aSraNi

Give a great start to your dayEach morning, when you are racing against time, splitting it between dressing up, getting your kids ready, packing lunch boxes only to realise that you are running late to hit the road, there is a good chance that you are missing something that is essential for a great start to your day – The Breakfast!

Well, missing it could have a long lasting impact on your per-formance for the day and when this becomes a routine then a greater impact on your health for a life time.

Breakfast literally means – Breaking the fast. Generally most of us do not indulge in any eating after dinner or a late snack before sleeping, so breakfast is needed to provide the essen-tial fuel for our body.

Breakfast is an important meal of the day; it provides you the required energy needed to start a new day and is also linked to multiple health benefits, including weight control and improved performance. A nutritionally balanced breakfast is known to improve concentration level and performance throughout the day and improve your endurance level to engage in physical activities. This can be important for all age groups especially amongst children and adolescents.

In my previous articles, I have always emphasised on the im-portance of having a balanced diet, spread across the day, it is ideal to have between five to six small meals during the day with breakfast an essential start, as people who skip break-fast tend to end up eating more at mid day, at times making choices which may not be healthy.

It is essential that we make good choices; breakfast should be a healthy mix of carbohydrates like whole grain options, a protein option like yoghurt or egg, milk or some nuts. The right balance can keep away the hunger pangs till your next meal.

So the question then arises – what should I eat?

High energy dense options like muffins should be avoided, a large coffee and muffin can add as much as up to 350 or more calories, many of the advertised breakfast bars are ac-tually nothing but creepy content that may not be ideal to start your day, remember to read your labels.

Cereals that are available in the market can be high in sugars and low in fibre; it is better to keep these at an arm’s length. Ideally we should be eating foods like whole grain breads, cereals or rolled oats that are rich in fibre and low in sugars,

low fat dairy for protein or eggs.

If running out of time, make up a healthy smoothie with few fruits, yoghurt or milk and some oats which can be left in the fridge overnight, this can be better than picking up a muffin or a sweet pancake on your way to work

Having the same old breakfast each day can be boring, but with a bit of creativity you can make this very interesting, while maintaining its nutritional content.

Invest a little planning time to gain the big benefits of break-fast, Add breakfast items to your shopping list so your kitchen is well-stocked.

Have a great start each day!!!

This article is a general guideline only. Please see, a health professional for individual conditions and needs.

Varsha Asrani is a New Zealand Registered Dietitian. For per-sonal consultations or any questions, suggestions or views please email her on [email protected].

Indian

Headaches most common disorders but widely untreated: UNNew York: Headaches are the most common health disorders across the world, yet they remain neglected and under-treated, ac-cording to a United Nations study released on Tuesday, which calls for greater investment in health care to treat the problem effec-tively through better services and awareness.

In its Atlas of Headache Dis-orders and Resources in the World 2011, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) shows that headache disorders, includ-ing migraine and tension-type headaches, affected half to three quarters of adults between the ages of 18 and 65 last year.

Only a minority of people with headache disorders worldwide are professionally diagnosed, with the rate for migraine and tension-type headaches being about 40 per cent and 10 per cent for headaches related to medication overuse, according to the study.

Specialists reported using International Headache Society diagnostic criteria to support di-agnosis in 56 per cent of coun-tries that responded to the study questionnaire. Usage was lower in Africa, the Eastern Mediterra-nean and South-East Asia and very low in poorer countries gen-

erally.

Instruments to assess impact of headache are used routinely in only 24 per cent of countries that responded, and very little in lower middle- or low-income countries, the report shows.

Worldwide, about 50 per cent of people with headaches are estimated to primarily treat them-selves without contacting health professionals. Only about 10 per cent are seen by neurologists, with the rate even lower in Africa and South-East Asia.

Among specific anti-migraine drugs, ergotamine is more widely

available than triptans, although the latter is more effective and less toxic, but more expensive, according to the WHO study.

Countries in all income cat-egories identified non-availability of appropriate medication as a barrier to best headache man-agement, which probably refers to limited reimbursement by health insurers.

The study pointed out that financial costs of headaches to society through lost productivity are enormous – far greater than the health care expenditure on headaches in any country.

“Health care for headache must be improved, and educa-tion is required at multiple levels to achieve this,” WHO says in the study. “Most importantly, health-care providers need better knowledge of how to diagnose and treat the small number of headache disorders that con-tribute substantially to public ill-health.”

Given the very high indirect costs of headaches, greater investment in health care that treats headaches effectively, through well-organized health services and supported by edu-cation, may well be cost-saving overall, the study advises.

exercise is important for wellbeingAll work and no play make Jack a dull boy –it’s a saying that we all have heard while growing up. But its relevance never seemed more pertinent than in today’s world. In enacting our packed daily schedules we are running after achieving success and money to the extent that running on the treadmill seems to have fallen out of our list of things to do. This eliminates the possibility of achieving happiness of mind, which is a direct consequence of a fit body.

Lack of time and avenues is the most common excuse cited by people in ignoring physical activity. But it is all about finding time and making exercise an intrinsic part of our lives akin to eating or sleeping. New Zealand offers plenty of options to pick and choose from to have a healthy lifestyle. From the number of open spaces and parks available, to the local gyms offering a bouquet of activities like ultra-modern Gyms, to Zumba to swimming

there is no dearth of options. SPARC NZ also offers a range of sports and activities to get involved with. Also nearly all sports have a semi-professional/social league operating. It provides good opportunities to join one of these, to not only hone any dormant sporting talents, but also to know more people in the nearby community with common interests.

Being tired after a hard day at work is another excuse not to exercise. From my perspective, it is the lack of motiva-tion, and laziness that acts as a deterrent- the drive to the gym is often the difficult part. Really speaking, how many of us feel run down or tired after exercising? The answers in most cases are a resounding NO.

Medical science has proved that exercise is not only a great stress buster, but also it helps alleviate any negative thoughts and improve self-esteem. No wonder exercise

is the best weapon against the problem of obesity which is gaining epidemic and alarming proportions throughout the world.

Cost should also not be a deterrent when you consider the bigger picture: the benefits of having a sound body and a peaceful mind far outweigh any other costs like a gym membership or your gym gear. Remember a healthy body will house an active and peaceful mind. And as the old time tested saying goes Health is Wealth.

C’mon people let us all adopt a healthier and an active lifestyle and the advantages gained will not only benefit us but also our families and society .So let us make the most of this God given opportunity in this beautiful country with its clean air and pollution free atmosphere to better our lot and those around us thru Exercise and other physical activities.


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This is the dilemma many people face partic-ularly after the housing market began losing steam following the onset of financial crisis led by falling house prices in United States. You search on Google and you will find dif-ferent columnists with different views with some even suggesting that you should keep on renting forever.

House ownership has distinct advantages; you can make alterations which you cannot if you are renting. You are never afraid of your landlord giving you notice to vacate the house. Also house ownership gives you a sense of be-longing and pride.

But I am writing this article purely from the financial perspective and particularly for Auckland and may be other metropolitan cities in New Zealand. Also, these calculations are based on long term investment in housing.

The New Zealand house prices rose by 3% average (over and above inflation) between 1992 and 2002. I am not worried here about the rate of inflation during that time, as for the future, the Reserve Bank’s target is to keep inflation between 1 and 3% and I believe it will be able to keep it at that level.

If we look at the REINZ Prop-erty market report for last 10 years, Auckland median house prices have risen from $255000 to $455000. It translates into 6.65% year to year growth. Across New Zealand, the median price has gone up from $179000 to $372000, which is a growth rate of 7.75% a year. The point is that over the past 2 decades house prices have been on the rise. Though past performance does not guar-antee the future performance of any asset class, it is definitely a useful indicator.

Coming to rents, rents are on the rise particularly in Auckland. During the past one year, rents

have gone up by about 7% average. Keeping in mind the shortage of housing predicted by many experts in coming years, it looks as though that the upward pressure on rents will continue.

Also according to the data published by Crockers, the average annual rental increase in New Zealand had been around 2% between 2007 and 2010.

Let us make the comparisons now. You assume you are paying $450 per week now as rent for a house which you can purchase for $400,000, where you can put a deposit of $20,000 and borrow $385,000 (including any fees and charges).

Proposed rent payments over the next 30 years, based on annual rental inflation of 2% and 3% will be as under-

Remembering our Veterans

On Monday 25th April, I attended the Anzac Service in Papatoetoe. It was great to see so many veterans, families, and servicemen at the ceremony.

The Gallipoli campaign is a deeply signifi-cant part of our history. More than 2,700 New Zealanders lost their lives serving as part of the Australia New Zealand Army Corps that landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.

Anzac Day is a day to reflect on, and be grateful to, our Anzac veterans. We cannot begin to imagine the human suffering, hard-ships, and horrors they endured. We also re-membered those who have served in conflicts since that time, World War II, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the Balkans.

There are currently 1136 New Zealand Defence Force personnel deployed on 16 op-erations, UN missions and defence exercises around the world. While our forces today may serve our country in a very different way to the Anzacs at Gallipoli, they are upholding democracy, preserving peace, and providing aid around the world.

This year our armed forces also gave support on our own shores. When tragedy struck Christchurch on 22 February, our armed forces responded immediately.

HMNZS Canterbury was already in port at Lyttelton, and offered help right away. It also completed supply trips to the region. Our army dispatched troops to support Police maintaining cordons around the city and the Royal New Zealand Air Force flew in vital equipment and urban search and rescue teams.

During the past year we have faced losses to our defence force, both here and in Afghan-istan. These men were serving our country and safeguarding the freedom of people that needed our help. This is the same spirit in which our Anzac veterans served.

This year we have delivered on a pre-election promise to see our veterans recog-nised with the New Zealand Defence Service Medal. This medal recognises all Kiwis who have served in our defence force operation-ally, and in a wide range of vital support roles.

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp also an-nounced that the Defence Force will provide a $2000 per person grant through Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand to help our veterans to attend the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Crete in May this year.

These medals and grants are small ways for us to acknowledge what our veterans went through on our behalf.

kaNWalJit SiNGH BakSHi MP

Indian

is it better to buy a house or to keep renting?ravi MeHta

Now consider you buy a house of $400,000 with bor-rowing of $385,000. If the interest rate on an average is 7% over next 30 years (if inflation stays at 3%, 7% interest rate is a reasonable esti-mate), your yearly average property main-tenance, rates and insurance are $5000, in-flation rate stays at 3%, which means rates, insurance, maintenance charges will go up by 3%, every year, the figures will be as

below-So if the rents go up by average 3% on year to year basis, and house prices do not increase in value at all, it does not matter financially if you buy a house or keep on renting as the results are almost similar. But following will be value of house of $400,000 after 30 years, if these increase in value.

So, if inflation rate is 3%, house prices should go up by at least 3% a year. Even in that case, you will be benefited financially by buying rather than keep on renting, which should be evident from the above analysis.

Note: Though every care has been taken to ensure that all calculations are ac-curate, Indian Week-ender and the writer are not responsible if any one suffers a loss by acting on recom-mendations. Please consult your financial advisor to check the suitability for your own circumstances before acting on rec-

ommendations.

Ravi Mehta is an Auckland based Finan-cial Advisor and can be contacted on [email protected]. A disclosure statement under Securities Markets Act relating to his services is available on request and is free of charge.

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