Indian

Indian Log on to www.iwk.co.nz

July 9, 2010
Volume 2, No. 8
New Zealand’s first Indian weekend magazine
For free distribution

New Zealand | 2 Fiji | 13 Bolllywood | 21

Bank of Baroda begins Resumption of Umaesh Pherwani:
services in Auckland Auckland-Nausori Making people
service hailed laugh, is not a joke.

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Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz 1

Indian
New Zealand

Bank of Baroda begins services in Auckland

India’s leading public sector bank with presence
in over 5 continents, spanning across 25 coun-
tries has soft launched its services in the New
Zealand market.
With the opening of the first account, the
retail banking branch and the corporate office
was opened to the public at 114 Dominion Road
Auckland on Thursday, June 24.
This is a historic defining moment for every
Kiwi Indian to be proud of as this has set the
scene for the arrival of the Indian banking giant
on Kiwi soil.
Though there is no official press release yet,
the Indian Weekender team was privileged to
have an exclusive preview of this well-appointed
modern branch and as usual Indian Weekender
is the first to bring this news to the Indian Di-
aspora.
The interior of the branch has been done up
to a standard comparable to the best in the world
and this is a clear indication that the bank does
not want to play second fiddle to any of the exist-
ing Kiwi banks.
The vision and hard work of Shri S C
Vermani Managing Director of Bank of Baroda
New Zealand has borne fruit with this success- in 1908 in a small town - Baroda by the great rated on May 27, 2007. It is a registered bank
ful launch of the bank’s services. visionary, the Late Maharaja of Baroda – Sir since September 1, 2009 under the Reserve
The hi-tech computer system of the bank is Sayajirao Gaekwad III. Bank of New Zealand Act 1989. All liabilities of
linked directly to its Indian branches and any From its humble beginnings, the Bank has Bank of Baroda (New Zealand) Ltd are guaran-
money deposited in Auckland will be seam- grown over the years, to emerge as an Indian teed by its Parent Bank – Bank of Baroda.
lessly available in any Bank of Baroda branch Financial Powerhouse. It has a network of Indian Weekender understands that an offi-
in India and vice versa. This is the reason why over 3100 branches in India across the length cial launch will be held in August and the Indian
its leading personal remittance product - Rapid- and breadth of the country. It has 78 overseas Diaspora is welcome to visit the branch or call
funds2India has been very popular with the NRI branches/foreign offices in 25 countries across and talk to the friendly team on 09-6321020
community for its speed and ease. 5 continents serving a Global customer base of about all their personal banking needs.
As a background, Bank of Baroda has its over 39 million. More details can be had by visiting the
corporate Head Quarters in Mumbai. Present Bank of Baroda (New Zealand) Ltd (BOB) bank’s newly launched website http://www.
day Bank of Baroda is the successor of the erst- is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda barodanzltd.co.nz
while “The Bank of Baroda Limited”, founded - India’s International Bank. BOB was incorpo- -Indian Weekender news desk

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2 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
New Zealand

Trust me, trust my heart: Len Brown

With the elections for the Mayor of the Su-
percity approaching, the major contenders are
leaving no stone unturned to woo the various
communities that make the vibrant and mul-
ticultural city of Auckland. Len Brown the
Mayor of Manukau is the leading contender for
the race to become the first Mayor of the Auck-
land Supercity. He is considered to be a down
to earth and soft spoken person. He is well re-
garded within the community as he is a regular
visitor to most Indian, social and religious func-
tions.
Recently, Indian Weekender caught up with
Mayor Brown who at the invitation of Temple
President Roshan Nauhria participated in the
anniversary celebrations of Bharatiya Mandir
Balmoral. After a warm welcome accorded by
Mr. Nauhria and Dr. Kanti Patel – Mayor Brown
addressed the gathering and congratulated the
prosperous Hindu community on the occasion,
where he participated in the Havan ceremony PRAYING TOGETHER: Len Brown, Roshan Nauhria and Kanti Patel perform Aarti at Bhartiya Mandir, Balmoral
and the Aarti followed by a communal lunch. buses, trains and ferries. 2. Transform Auck- sonal commitment that as the Mayor of the Su- this outcome.
land from a gateway to a sought after tourist percity, I will be approachable, available and
Excerpts from the interview: destination. This will bring in much of the eco- accountable to all members of the Indian Com- Have you ever visited India?
nomic growth and development leading to a munity, and will remain a frequent and regular
How do you describe the Indian Community? prosperous city. 3. Be a uniting Mayor by bring- visitor to various Indian functions and events. Not yet – but it is high on my list. My main
ing together the various groups and communi- 3. Realising the potential of India as a massive priority will be to be a very focused Mayor of
Len Brown: Educated, hardworking, deeply ties that make Auckland global economic powerhouse, I will strive hard Auckland.
religious, highly ethical – great contributors to to drive linkages between Auckland businesses
our society and community. And what three things you will do, specifically and the opportunities India presents. With a 7% What is your message to the Indian Commu-
for the Indian Community? population of Auckland with Indian heritage nity and why should they vote for you?
What are the top three things you will do when – I will leverage this large population to open
you become the Mayor of Auckland Supercity. 1. Commit to a significant Indian representa- channels of growth and development for our My record as the Mayor of Manukau has been
tion in the new Supercity council in the shape businesses leading to more jobs. A possibility one of open hearted love for the community. I
1. Transform the transportation and infrastruc- of an Indian Advisory Council as strong links of economic and social links between Auck- respect and regard the Indian Community and
ture in Auckland with special focus and greater between the Indian Community and the new land and a suitable Indian city can also prove would request them to trust me and trust my
investment in public transportation involving council are absolutely essential. 2. Give a per- to be very beneficial and I will work towards heart.

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Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz 3

Indian
New Zealand

NZ Customs seizes pirated Raavan DVDs

Auckland: Attempts by a local Indian video hire
business to hijack the release of the much an-
ticipated Bollywood film Raavan were thwarted
recently when the New Zealand Customs inter-
cepted a shipment of over 1700 pirated copies of
the film.
Raavan opened worldwide to widespread
acclaim on June 18. The film, by critically ac-
claimed filmmaker Mani Ratnam, stars Abhishek
Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram in the lead
roles. The film’s score and soundtrack is com-
posed by Academy Award winner A.R. Rahman
of Slumdog Millionaire fame.
The lawyer acting for the film’s distributor
in New Zealand, Claire Tompkins of intellectual
property law firm James & Wells, said the inter-
ception of the DVDs showed the immense value
to be gained in obtaining protection for trade
marks and copyright via the filing of border pro-
tection notices with Customs.
Tompkins’ client received an anonymous
tip-off in relation to the shipment suspected to be There are as yet no officially released DVDs the trade in fake (or counterfeit) goods at 10% actions that a brand owner or distributor can take
arriving on a flight on the film’s opening weekend. of Raavan anywhere in the world, as the film has of total worldwide trade and that the number of to stop counterfeiters. Probably the most effective
This led to urgent instructions to file a Copyright only just been released theatrically and the offi- counterfeit goods available in New Zealand is on and cost-efficient is preparing and filing Border
Customs Notice on the preceding Friday and an cial DVD release will follow in due course. the increase. Protection/Customs Notices with Customs.
issue by Customs of a border alert to all frontline Says Denning, “the sale of pirated DVDs In the year to June 2009 Customs detained Jennifer Litchfield-Fernley, an Investigator
inspections officers to be on the lookout for copies impacts more individuals in society than most over 270,000 counterfeit items. Says Tompkins, with Customs in their Fraud and Prohibitions
of the film over the weekend. This resulted in the people would imagine. The urban myth is that “DVDs have been a problem at one time account- Unit assisted with the interception. She said “It
DVDs being located and detained that weekend, piracy only affects the film studios, movie stars ing for over 8% of all DVD movies sold in New was a great result. Without Customs Notices in
Ms Tompkins told Indian Weekender. and big business who are perceived to have plenty Zealand. More recently most movie piracy has place we are unable to detain pirated or counter-
Raavan is believed to have grossed $60,000 of money anyway. moved to the internet via peer-to-peer websites, feit copies, even if we becomes aware of them,
over its opening weekend in New Zealand, “In reality piracy affects everyone from so a large shipment of actual DVDs is unusual. which can be very frustrating. We often have
making it the 3rd highest grossing weekend for cinemas, legitimate DVD retailers, film distribu- But the discovery of this shipment shows that im- importers searching the Customs database to see
a Bollywood film in the last year. Greg Denning, tors and all of their respective staff from the clean- portations of the physical product are still occur- what Notices are lodged and then deliberately
General Manager of Icon Film Distributon said ers, couriers, and even the teenagers working ring and need to be protected against”. avoiding those items. Actually in this case the im-
that “If it was not for the quick action of the behind the candy bar. These businesses employ a Border control remains New Zealand’s most porter said he had done just that, but the Raavan
Customs officials in spreading the alert and ul- lot of people and the eradication of piracy would important weapon against counterfeit goods Notice was filed before the DVDs arrived in the
timately locating the pirated product I hate to arguably see even more jobs created as a result of because most counterfeit goods are not manufac- country so we were able to stop them.”
imagine what would have happened to the box the increased legitimate trade”. tured here and must enter the country from over-
office results.” Tompkins says that many recent estimates put seas. Tompkins says that “there are a number of - Indian Weekender news desk

4 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Shreya Ghoshal live
in Auckland
It’s official: Bollywood singing sensation and
seven-time Filmfare Award winner Shreya
Ghoshal will perform live in Auckland next
month in a concert titled Shreya Ghoshal Live
in Concert - Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai.
While Shreya, 26, is best known as a play-
back singer in Bollywood films, she has also
performed several songs for other Indian film
industries. Besides Hindi, she has sung songs
in Bengali , Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi,
Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
Most recently, she won Filmfare Awards in
2008 and 2009 for playback in films Guru and
Singh is King respectively.
In Auckland, Shreya will perform live at the
TelstraClear Pacific Event Centre, in Manukau,
on August 20, at 7.30pm. She will be accompa-
nied by Shiv Prasad, winner of Sa Re Ga Ma,
and mimicry by Nitin Bhandarkar, plus the best
of Bollywood musicians.
Tickets available at 0508 EVENTS or www.
tickewtdirect.co.nz.
Shreya’s career began when she won the
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest as an adult. Her Bol-
lywood playback singing career began with
the movie Devdas, for which she received both
the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback
Singer and theFilmfare RD Burman Award for
New Music Talent.
Since then, she has worked with prominent
Indian musicians in more than 140 films, and
several of her songs have achieved critical and
commercial success. Shreya is one of the most
awarded playback singers in recent times, with
four National Film Awards and four Filmfare
Awards to her credit.
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
New Zealand
Early years
Ghoshal was born to Bengali Hindu family in
Durgapur, West Bengal and grew up in Rawatb-
hata, a small town near Kota, Rajasthan. She
belongs to a highly academic family. Her father
works in Bhabha Atomic Research Center as a
nuclear power plant engineer for the Nuclear
Power Corporation of India while her mother is
a post-graduate literature student.
From the age of four, Ghoshal accompanied
her mother on the harmonium. Her parents
enrolled her for formal training in Hindustani
classical music in Kota with Maheshchandra
Sharma.
As a child she won the children’s special
episode of the Sa Re Ga Ma (now Sa Re Ga
Ma Pa) contest on Zee TV. Kalyanji who also
judged the competition, convinced her parents
to move to Mumbai. She trained with him for 18
months and continued her classical music train-
ing with Mukta Bhide in Mumbai.
She studied at Atomic Energy Central
Schools (AECS) at Rawatbhata and Anushak-
tinagar (Mumbai). For Graduation she had
enrolled herself at SIES College in their Arts
Stream.
Career
She is the great fan of shri Vani Jayaram. Shreya
caught the attention of film director Sanjay
Leela Bhansali when she participated in Sa Re
Ga Ma Pa for a second time, this time compet-
ing as an adult.
In 2000, he offered her the opportunity to
be the voice of Paro, the lead female charac-
ter of his film Devdas, who was portrayed by
Aishwarya Rai. Shreya sang five songs under
the music direction of Ismail Darbar in the
film. This song earned her the Filmfare Award
for Best Female Playback Singer, as well as
BUY NOW
Filmfare’s RD Burman Award for New Music
Talent, given to upcoming talents in music.
She also won a National Film Award for
the song “Bairi Piya”. Since Devdas, she went
on to sing for many other actresses under the
BEFORE
baton of various music directors, including Il-
ayaraja, A.R.Rahman, Anu Malik, Himesh
Reshammiya, Mani Sharma, MM Keeravani,
Nadeem-Shravan, Anand-Milind, Shantanu
Moitra, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Pritam, Vishal-
GST GOES UP
Shekhar, Hamsalekha, Mano Murthy, Guruki-
ran, Harikrishna, Yuvan Shankar Raja and
Harris Jayaraj.
She has won many awards both in north and
south film industries. Moviegoers from across
OR
the world heard Shreya’s singing voice pictured
on Aishwarya Rai, and in coming years she
quickly became one of the top female play-
LAY-BY
back singers in Bollywood, alongside Alka
Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, and Kavita
Krishnamurthy.
She enjoys symphony and instru-
mental in western music and her fa-
vourite groups are Dream theater,
Backstreet Boys and Boyzone. But
Indian music, according to her,
at your Favourite
is her soul. She won three more
Filmfare Awards, including one
for her performance in Pritam’s
Jewellery Store
song “Teri Ore” from Singh
is Kinng. She is only singer
to get four national awards at
the age of 26 in the Hindi film
industry.
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Indian
Dhoni ties the knot
with Sakshi
Dehradun: Stylist Indian cricket captain Ma-
hendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday night began a
new innings in his life as he tied the knot with
childhood friend and hotel management student
Sakshi Singh Rawat at a private ceremony in a
lush farmhouse, about 40 km from here.
The wedding was strictly a private affair
though hordes of mediapersons waited outside
the venue to capture the entry of visiting guests
and the mood. The ceremony was attended by
close friends and some teammates.
Dhoni was wearing a black sherwani,
reports said.
The engagement had taken place at
another venue in Dehradun on Saturday and
the wedding reception is slated for July 7 at
Mumbai, when Dhoni, popularly known by his
nickname Mahi, celebrates his 29th birthday.
The wedding though private affair had
it share of glitz and star power, with guests
ranging from Bollywood stars to cricketing
big-shots blessing the couple.
Dhoni’s close friend and actor John Abraham
attended the wedding.
The national cricket team’s captain’s team-
mates Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra had
arrived for the engagement itself, reports said.
Other teammates, including Suresh Raina and
RP Singh, were expected to attend the wedding
ceremony.
Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) president Shashank Manohar is also
on the guests’ list. However, Sachin Tendulkar,
Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, among
others, will not be able to attend the wedding.
Dhoni’s weddingt to 23-year-old Sakshi, a
hotel management student who was working
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in Kolkata’s Taj Bengal Hotel, was originally
scheduled for October. However, the busy
cricketing schedule for Dhoni led to prepone-
ment of the wedding date.
Dhoni, who hails from Ranchi, and his bride
Sakshi, a native of Aurangabad, were school
friends at DAV, Shamily in Ranchi.
Their fathers worked for the same company,
though Sakshi’s family moved to Dehradun
after her father’s retirement.
Dhoni’s family sources said it was an ar-
ranged marriage and though the couple had
known each other, there was no romantic link-
up.
Media reports said they fell in love in 2007.
Dhoni was earlier linked with several Bolly-
wood stars.
Dhoni had made his international debut
against Bangladesh in December 2004 and has
so far played 43 Tests, 166 ODIs and 25 T20s.
Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC
World Cup Twenty20, CB Series of 2007-08
and the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008.
He also captained Chennai Super Kings to
victory in this year’s Indian Premier League.
He is captain of the Indian team in all three
forms of the game – test, ODI and T20.
Under his leadership, India attained the
number one status in Test cricket and number
two this year in ODI rankings. He is also the re-
cipient of ICC ODI Player of the Year award in
2008 and 2009 (the first Indian to achieve this
feat). He was bestowed the Rajiv Gandhi Khel
Ratna award and the Padma Shri, India’s fourth
highest civilian honour in 2009.
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India rolls out first indigenous
naval light combat aircraft
Bangalore: India’s first indigenous naval Light
Combat Aircraft LCA (Navy) NP1 was rolled
out Tuesday from the Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) centre here by Navy Chief
Admiral Nirmal Verma and Defence Minister
A K Antony.
It is an important milestone for the presti-
gious Naval Program of Aeronautical Devel-
opment Agency (ADA), Bangalore.
The aircraft was brought out of the build
hangar (where the aircraft is actually assem-
bled part by part), for the phase of systems
integration tests leading to Ground runs, taxi
trials and flight.
Once the ground based tests are completed
, the NP1 is expected to fly by the end of this
year.
The NP2 is likely to fly by the end of 2011.
The aircraft, with state of the art technologies
and punch, is designed to operate from the
future Indigenous aircraft carriers the Navy
plans to acquire.
The LCA (Navy) programme was sanc-
Opposition shutdown
paralyses India
New Delhi: The Opposition-sponsored
Bharat Bandh (nationwide shutdown) against
hike in fuel prices halted normal life in most
parts of the country on Monday, affecting
rail, road and air services and shutting down
businesses and educational institutions.
 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and
other party leaders courted arrest across
the country, even as the ruling Congress
slammed the shutdown call as an ‘anti-peo-
ple’ measure.
The BJP and Left leaders, however,
termed the shutdown a success and said
sustained protests will be continued till the
government announces a roll-back in the
fuel prices.
 “The general strike called today is un-
precedented. There has not been any protest
action with such sweep. People’s anger
against price rise is showing,” Communist
Party of India (Marxist) general secretary
Prakash Karat said.
“I think the momentum of this strike and
bandh will have to be carried forward. It
affects all sections of the people,” he said.
Incidents of violence were reported from
various parts of the country, including Patna
and Lucknow, when strike enforces got into
feuds with security personnel.
 In the national capital New Delhi, the
strike failed to hit normal life though BJP
supporters blocked roads, railway and metro
services in some areas.
BJP national president Nitin Gadkari
courted arrest in New Delhi.
 Public transport and private vehicles
could be seen as usual on the roads.
Air services were also not hit to a large
extent. However, some f lights to Mumbai
were reportedly cancelled.
Mumbai was among the worst hit cities
by the shutdown, though Maharashtra is a
Congress-ruled state.
 Schools and colleges remained closed
and the city wore a deserted look.
 A large number of domestic f lights to
and from the city were affected. About 80
buses were also damaged by strike support-
ers, reports said. Though local train services
were not hit, the daily crowd was missing.
India
tioned by the Government in  2003. The first
stage of development includes design and
fabrication of one Trainer and one Fighter,
NP1 and NP2 respectively, along with a Shore
Based Test Facility (SBTF) at Goa.
The SBTF will be used to simulate carrier
take off and arrested landing. The LCA
(Navy) NP1 would be flying with the GE-F-
404-IN20 engine and is designed for ski jump
take off and arrested landing.
The only carrier borne aircraft in the light
category in the world, it will be operating
with a wide variety of operational weapons
and equipment like the Beyond Visual Range
(BVR) missile, Anti-ship Missiles, Conven-
tional bombs, Air Defence guns, CCM’s and
drop tanks.
The ADA is responsible for the design, de-
velopment, build, ground test and flight test of
both the Naval and Air Force versions of the
LCA. HAL is the Principal Partner of ADA
in this task.
 More than 1,000 persons have been taken
into preventive custody in India’s financial
capital.
 Kolkata wore a deserted look with train
services suspended during the strike hours.
 Public transport was virtually absent on
the roads.
 There have been isolated incidents of
strike-related violence in the city.
 All private airline operators reportedly
cancelled all f lights out of the city during
the strike hours.
Normal life was also affected in Tamil
Nadu capital Thiruvananthapuram, though
no untoward incident was reported.
“This kind of voluntary, natural bandh is
astounding. People are voluntarily support-
ing us. During the Vajpayee government the
price was under control completely. Even if
there was some inconvenience, people are
willingly bearing it,” said BJP leader Ravi
Shankar Prasad in Patna where he rode a
bicycle as a mark of protest. Prasad later
courted arrest.
 In Hyderabad, Telegu Desam Party
(TDP) leaders went out on the streets to
protest the fuel price hike. Several leaders
of the party including chief Chandrababu
Naidu courted arrest.
  “The government has to roll back the
prices, else we will only intensify our agita-
tion,” he told reporters here leading his sup-
porters in a protest march in the Congress-
ruled state.
 Train services in various parts of the
country were seriously hit as several pas-
senger trains, including Rajdhani Expresses,
were controlled, rescheduled or cancelled as
picketers blocked tracks.
  The Congress, however, slammed the
Opposition for calling the strike, terming it
‘unconstitutional’.
 “The word Bandh itself stand for obstruc-
tion, blockade. It is an anti-people measure,
which the Opposition is masquerading as
a pro-people one,” Congress spokesperson
Abhishek Singhvi said.
 The Congress-led United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) had earlier announced that
there would be no roll back in the fuel prices.
Indian

Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz 7

Indian
India

IAF mountaineers scale

I can be World No 1: Alaska’s highest peak
Saina Nehwal
Hyderabad: Returning to India to a rousing
welcome after her victory in the Indonesian
Open, badminton sensation Saina Nehwal
said last Tuesday she would work hard to be
World No 1.
“If I can be number three, I can be
number one,”  the proud
shuttler told a press con-
ference in her home town
on Tuesday where she “I want to stay
received a thumping re-
ception after arriving via
Chennai late last night.  focused and
She, however, said
she is more focused on
winning than thinking give my hundred
about her ranking.
“I want to stay focused
and give my hundred
percent,”
percent,” said Saina.
 “I want to work even
harder and win tourna-
ments,” she said.
 It was a proud moment for Indian sport
and badminton on Sunday when Saina
Nehwal beat Japan’s Sayaka Sato 21-19 13-21
21-11 to win the Indonesian Open Super
series title, her third in three weeks.   “At the age of 20 I am World No. 3. I still
She had won last year the same event,
thus defending her title.  peak scaled under IAF’s - Mission Seven
 “I am happy that I got three titles in a
row. I can be one of the best players of the
world,” said Saina who reached the World
No 3 position with her wins.
 “I owe it to Gopi Sir. I got amazing
training here. Gopi Sir really made me a
top player,” she said about
her coach Puella Gopichand
who  runs the Gopichand Bad-
minton Academy where Saina
trains.
Saina’s coach Gopichand
and Bhaskarbabu were present
in the press conference. 
 Saina said she is looking
forward to the Asian Games
and Commonwealth Games
during the year.
“My confidence level has
gone  up, but for me it is impor-
tant to stay focused,” she said.
 “I still have to improve to
be No 1,” she said, adding that her defence New Delhi: A six-member Indian Air Force the team included Wing Commander Jaikishan,
has improved. (IAF) Mountaineering Expedition team has Squadron Leader N Rawat, Squadron Leader
 “My fitness has improved. I can last long successfully summitted Mt. Denali Peak (6194 D Panda, Squadron Leader R Sagar and Junior
rallies,” she said. m), the highest peak of North American conti- Warrant Officer NR Choudhary. 
 It was a day when Saina was effusive. nent in Alaska ranges on Jun 20, said an official Mt. Denali peak is considered as one of the
statement on Wednesday. most difficult and trickiest one to climb in terms
cannot believe it,” she said.  The expedition was the fourth mountain of severity and unpredictable nature of weather.
The team has already scaled Mt Everest,
Summits, to scale the highest peaks of all conti- Mt Carstensz Pyramid, Mt Aconcagua and Mt
nents across the world.   Denali and would undertake the remaining ex-
The team led by Wing Commander RC peditions to Mt Elbrus (Europe), Mt Kilimanja-

Crompton Tripathi was flagged in today at Air HQ, New

Delhi by Air Officer in-Charge Administration,
Air Marshal JN Burma. The other members of
ro (South Africa) in Jul-Aug10, and Mt Vinson
Massif (Antarctica) in Dec10, to accomplish the
mission. 

Greaves
inaugurates
USA plant
Washington: Electrical equipment manufac-
turer Crompton Greaves Ltd. (CG), part of the
US$ 4 bn Avantha Group, has announced the
completion of its new transformer manufactur-
ing facility in Washington, Missouri, U.S.A.

India becomes member

through its subsidiary CG Power Systems USA
Inc.
The new plant is located on the newly

of Financial Action Task

named Avantha Drive.
Set up with an initial investment of US$ 20
mn, this high tech facility is expected to gener-

Milan Events ate close to 150 new jobs over the next three

years. 
Gautam Thapar, Chairman & CEO,
Weddings & Functions Avantha Group said, “This strategic invest-
ment will enhance CG’s product portfolio
globally and aggressively build up on the
We welcome enquiries for: Group’s growth plans.”
CG supplies the full scope of power trans-
Weddings & Receptions formers from 5 MVA through 750 MVA. This
Venue Hire expansion signifies another important step for
Mandap & Stage decorations CG Power Systems USA Inc in their quest to
Catering become a total solutions provider in the indus-
try.
And all your event requirements S.M. Trehan, Managing Director, Cromp-
ton Greaves Limited, said, “This investment
For enquiries please contact Sunita will help CG gain significant consolidation
0800 999 018 or 021 187 3391 in the engineering, procurement and mainte-
nance segment.”
CG Power Systems USA Inc is a leading
info@milanevents.co.nz
North American manufacturer of three phase
www.milanevents.co.nz distribution and small power transformers.
Auckland, New Zealand
Forceplant
New Delhi: India has become a full-fledged
member of Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), an inter-governmental body, respon-
sible for setting global standards on anti-money
laundering (AML) and combating the financing
of terrorism (CFT).  India in its quest to become a major player in
As a part of its Membership, a joint FATF
/ Asia Pacific Group Mutual Evaluation Team
visited India in November-December, 2009 for
on-site assessment of India’s compliance with
the 40+9 Recommendations of FATF.
Mutual Evaluation Report on India and the
India´s Membership issues were discussed in
the third meeting of FATF Plenary-XXI held in
Amsterdam, the Netherlands from 23rd to 25th
June, 2010. FATF Plenary adopted the Mutual
Evaluation Report on India on June 24 and 25
admitted India as 34th Country Member of
FATF.
Earlier, India had become Observer at FATF
in the year 2006. Since then, India has been
working towards full-fledged Membership of
FATF.
FATF membership is very important for
the International finance. It will help India to
build the capacity to fight terrorism and trace
terrorist money and to successfully investigate
and prosecute money laundering and terrorist
financing offences.
India will benefit in securing a more trans-
parent and stable financial system by ensuring
that financial institutions are not vulnerable to
infiltration or abuse by organized crime groups.
The FATF process will also help us in co-
ordination of AML/CFT efforts at the interna-
tional level.

8 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Indian company, US varsity South Asia facing severe
innovate clean energy terrorist problem: PC
Albany, New York: CG Power, a power trans-
mission and distribution division of the India
based $4 billion Avantha Group, and the College
of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE)
of the University at Albany has announced a
partnership that will enable nanotechnology in-
novations for smart grid solutions.
The partnership will establish a world-
class center at CNSE’s Albany NanoTech
Complex  and create over 100 high-tech jobs in
upstate New York and fueling development and
use of clean and renewable energy technolo-
gies.
Gautam Thapar, Chairman & CEO of
Avantha Group, said, “Through the Center for
Intelligent Power, CG Power and the UAlbany
NanoCollege have an exceptional opportunity
to develop clean energy technologies and to
deploy them as part of smart grid solutions.”
The $20 million CG Power Center for Intel-
ligent Power (CIP) will spur new opportunities
for advanced research and development, proto-
typing, and education and workforce training to
facilitate clean energy and smart grid technolo-
gies.
Research and development activities at the
CIP will harness the intellectual know-how
and technological capabilities of CNSE’s $5.5
billion Albany NanoTech Complex, one of the
most advanced research enterprise of its kind at
‘Education sector to
see steep growth’
Kolkata: With the Government’s thrust on
education for all and a corresponding Rs 3
trillion worth of projected investment on its
upgradation, the education sector in India is
expected to see a steep growth curve, said
Dr A S Kolaskar, Vice Chancellor, Kalinga
Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT)
University on Monday.
Noting that higher salary and performance
based incentive for the teachers cannot be the
only driving factors towards achievement of this
objective, he asserted that huge emphasis has
to be put in retaining, enhancing and upgrading
the available talent pool in academia.
Speaking at the Indian Chamber of Com-
merce’s (ICC) 4th annual Strategic Human
Resources (HR) Conference, he said that
due to these inducements the number of stu-
dents expected to opt for professional and
higher education will be enormous.
He said, that this has put immense pres-
sure on the education industry as a whole to
provide the requisite skill development and
training tailor-made for the industry.
Noting that higher salary and perfor-
mance based incentive for the teachers
cannot be the only driving factors towards
achievement of this objective, he asserted
that huge emphasis has to be put in retain-
ing, enhancing and upgrading the available
talent pool in academia.
He also said that there is a need for im-
parting constant training and skill develop-
ment to teachers and academicians to make
them conversant with the ever changing
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
any university in the world.
Dr Pradeep Haldar, Director of CNSE’s
Energy and Environmental Technology Appli-
cations Center (E2TAC), said, “Through the de-
velopment of advanced systems for monitoring
and evaluation of clean energy technologies, we
can further enhance our ability to build New
York’s green collar economy while reducing the
nation’s carbon footprint.”
More than 50 scientists, researchers and
engineers will be located at CNSE’s Albany
NanoTech Complex, and CG Power anticipates
adding another 50 high-paying consulting, en-
gineering and design jobs.
This is expected to generate more than $50
million in revenue and investments statewide
over the next five years – based on outcomes
from this collaboration with CNSE.
CG Power, a global leader in power trans-
mission and distribution, headquartered in
Belgium, has an impressive global footprint in
the design, manufacture and marketing of tech-
nologically advanced electric products and ser-
vices related to power generation, transmission
and distribution.
“It is a pleasure to welcome another leading
global high-tech company, CG Power, to the
Capital Region and New York State,” said U.S.
Representative Paul Tonko.
industry requirements, and that focus on
sustaining and upgrading the brand equity
of the academic setting should be accorded
top priority.
Asserting that the availability of poor
quality mid level managers in an organiza-
tion as the primary reason behind high at-
trition among immediate entrants, he under-
lined the prime importance of constant skill
development in the mid and upper manage-
ment level in organizations.
Dr Giri Dua, Chairman, TASMAC
(Training and Advanced Studies in Man-
agement & Communications), noted that
the global economic recovery process has
brought hiring trends back in the industry.
However unlike 2009, the current year
has witnessed a threatening increase in em-
ployee attrition which had peaked in 2007,
he said.
He said among the different sectors IT,
BPO and BFSI have witnessed the largest
attrition.
He said constant investment in talent
management, learning and skill develop-
ment, value creation, linking performance
with equity compensation and above all
building up an emotional connect with the
employee are crucial to employee retention.
Islamabad: Union Home Minister P Chid-
ambaram has said the South Asian Region is
facing severe terrorist problems, and urged all
the nations for ‘complete cooperation’ in fight-
ing the menace.
He was speaking at third SAARC (South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)
Interior/Home Ministers meeting recently held
here.
“We can all undoubtedly agree that the
South Asian region is faced with a serious se-
curity situation. The increasing threat of terror-
ism poses a major challenge to the maintenance
of peace and security and adversely affects eco-
nomic development in our region.” said Chid-
ambaram.
 “It is only with the fullest cooperation
among our countries that we will be in a posi-
tion to effectively tackle the grave threat of ter-
rorism in our region” he said.
Chidambaram asked other members of this
region for ‘complete sharing’ of terrorists and
planned terrorist activities.
“We also need to cooperate with each other
in sharing information on potential terrorists
and planned acts of terrorism, and all other
forms of criminal activity, in order to create a
more secure environment.” he said.
Mercedes-Benz launches
‘Proven Exclusivity’
New Delhi: Automobile giant Mercedes-
Benz on Monday launched its global pre-
owned car business for India-Proven Exclu-
sivity.  ity’.”
This program utilizes specific global
benchmarks for vehicle evaluation, quality
and warranty to offer Mercedes-Benz certi-
fied pre-owned cars to customers.
Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director and
CEO of Mercedes-Benz India elaborated:
“Comprehensive evaluation and refurbish-
ment criteria, scientific tools for audit and
inspection as well as manufacturer backed
warranty go into the making of a certified
‘Proven Exclusivity’ vehicle.
“The dream of owning a
Mercedes-Ben z
thus becomes
even more
achievable. At
the same time
customers
can also
drive in
India
He asked for implementation of a regional
convention for the sharing of evidence among
member states as well for confiscating funds
meant for criminal and terrorist act.
 
“The 16th Summit recognized the value
of the proposed UN Comprehensive Conven-
tion on International Terrorism and called for
its early conclusion.  I would urge all Member
States to work together to implement this direc-
tive by our Heads of State and Government to
ensure the early conclusion of the Convention
on International Terrorism.” said he.
PC further said: “India will be pleased
to host a meeting of the High Level Group of
Eminent Experts to Strengthen SAARC Anti-
Terrorism Mechanism as recommended in the
SAARC Ministerial Declaration on Coopera-
tion in Combating Terrorism. We propose to
hold this meeting in New Delhi in January
2011”.
Chidambaram also had a meeting with his
Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik at Islam-
abad.
Chidambaram is the first Indian Home min-
ister to visit Pakistan in three decades.
their existing vehicles and drive out with
their new Mercedes-Benz cars by utilizing
the trade-in route under ‘Proven Exclusiv-
The pre-owned cars will be offered for
sale through the authorized Mercedes-Benz
dealerships where the customer will receive
additional support in areas such as financ-
ing, documentation and delivery.
Mercedes-Benz Pre-owned cars program
has been in existence since 2009 and oper-
ates across 35 countries presently.
For over 15 years with its presence in
India, the company sold approx 30,000 ve-
hicles thereby creating a significant poten-
tial for the Mercedes-Benz pre-owned car
market in India.
The pre-owned car market in India is es-
timated at approx 10-15% of current new car
sales in 2010 and estimated to substantially
grow for the next couple of years.
9
Indian
India, Canada ink peaceful
nuclear agreement
Toronto: India  and Canada have signed a
nuclear agreement - India-Canada Agree-
ment for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nu-
clear-Energy- to cooperate in areas as design,
construction, maintenance and sharing  of
operating experience and decommissioning
of nuclear reactors.
The agreement signed on Sunday also
encompasses supply of uranium, projects in
third countries,
nuclear fuel cycle
and nuclear waste
management.   applications in the
“The Civil
Nuclear Coop-
eration Agree-
ment that we have
signed breaks
new ground in the
history of our co-
operation in this
sector. It reflects
the change in in-
ternational reali-
ties and will open new doors for mutually
beneficial cooperation in nuclear energy,”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
met his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper
on the sidelines of the ongoing G20 summit.
  “We have identified renewable energy,
clean technologies and energy efficiency
as other priority areas of cooperation. The
newly constituted Canada-India Energy
Sonia Gandhi lays
Rohtang Tunnel
foundation stone
New Delhi: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi
laid the foundation stone of the strategic 8.8 ki-
lometer long Rohtang Tunnel, to be built at an
altitude of over 3,000 meters in the Pir Panjal
range, in Manali on Monday.
The tunnel will enable an all-weather road
link across the snow-capped Rohtang Pass-
which has an altitude of 3,978 meters.
The tunnel will provide unhindered road
access to the remote regions of Lahaul-Spiti
and Pangi Valley throughout the year, besides
reducing the road distance by nearly 48 kilo-
meters, a travel time of about four hours.
Gandhi was accompanied by Union
Defence Minister, A K Antony, Union Steel
Minister, Vir Bhadra Singh, Himachal
Pradesh Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal,
Minister of State for Defence, Dr M M Pallam
Raju, Defence Secretary, Pradeep Kumar, DG
Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Lt. Gen. M
C Badhani and other officials from the State
and Ministry of Defence.
Addressing a public rally near Manali,
Gandhi reminisced that the project was the
dream of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
and expressed satisfaction that it was finally on
its way to being realised.
The tunnel, at an outlay of Rs 1,495 Cr is
expected to be completed by the Border Roads
Organisation (BRO) in February 2015.
The horse-shoe shaped tunnel will be a
two-way lane in a single tube, 11.25 meters
wide. The tunnel will give a boost to tourism
in the region, facilitate better access for
10
India
Forum has already begun its work and has
our full support. We have also decided to
focus on mining and agriculture as the other
priority areas of cooperation,” Singh said at
joint press conference with Harper.   
India also assured Canada that uranium
supplied by the latter would be used for only
safe purposes and not fall on wrong hands.  
The two countries may promote coop-
eration in the de-
velopment and use
of nuclear energy
fields of agriculture,
health care, industry
and environment;
and nuclear safety,
radiation safety and
environmental pro-
tection, the govern-
ment statement said
from Toronto.
 “India and
Canada are friendly
States with comprehensive capabilities in ad-
vanced nuclear technologies. They recognize
that nuclear energy is a safe, environment
friendly and sustainable source of energy,”
the media note said.
“Taking into account their respective
strengths with regard to Pressurized Heavy
Water Reactors (PHWRs) and CANDU Re-
actors, there is considerable scope for joint
work between the two countries,” it said.
medical treatment and provide more avenues
of employment to the youth, she said.
Simultaneously, drilling work also com-
menced at the northern portal (exit point),
joining the Manali-Sarchu road, over Chandra
river.
One of the unique features of the tunnel
being constructed at the rarefied altitudes in-
cludes incorporation of semi-transverse ven-
tilation system, where large fans would sepa-
rately circulate air, in and out throughout the
tunnel length and thus reduce vehicular fumes.
The tunnel will not only serve the purpose
of the people in the region but will also prove
vital for troops of the Armed Forces serving in
the Leh-Ladakh region, all-year round.
The tunnel is being constructed under
the aegis of BRO by Strabag-Afcons, a joint
venture between India’s Afcons Infrastructure
Ltd and Strabag SE of Austria, world’s fourth
largest construction company.
The work is expected to take 63 months for
completion.
The Rohtang tunnel alone may not be
enough to make the Manali-Keylong-Leh
highway an all-weather road due to two other
major snow-bound passes on way – Baralacha
La and Thaglang La.
To overcome this, the project also envis-
ages construction of 292 Kms long all-weather
road, Nimu-Padam-Darcha via Shinkunla
Pass, traversing the remote Zanskar region of
J&K, at an additional estimated cost of Rs 286
Cr.
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
Sports Minister inaugurates PM inaugurates new airport,
Cycling Velodrome stresses on PPP model
New Delhi: Union Minister for Youth Affairs
& Sports M. S. Gill on Tuesday inaugurated the
newly built Cycling Velodrome here in the pres-
ence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
The new velodrome is constructed at the
cost of Rs. 150 crore to suit the latest interna-
tional requirements of Track events for Com-
monwealth Games.  It is fully covered, air-con-
ditioned and has 250 m long Timber Track with
a seating capacity of 3800.
Speaking on the occasion , Gill compliment-
ed all officials and CPWD engineers  for com-
pleting the construction of Cycling Velodrome
in record 17 months.  Cycling Velodrome.
He further said that rest of the stadia will
also be delivered to the Organising Committee
in the next few days.  President, Mr. Ray Godkin said: “The Delhi
He said that now focus should shift from
construction of stadia to the actual conduct of
the games.  ably would only be surpassed by the Beijing
Gill also requested the Chairman, Organis-
ing Committee  to consider keeping a certain
number of  free tickets for students of Schools/
Universities of Delhi so that they can also watch
the Games and get motivated.  have integrated network for connecting various
 The new look Velodrome is the first of its
kind in the country, which has Timber Cycling
Tourism accounts for
11% Indian GDP
New Delhi: Minister of State for Tourism
Sultan Ahmed has said that tourism plays an
important role in most developing as well as
developed countries.
He said the sector accounts for 11% of the
GDP and 8% of employment globally.
 Leading Tourism Organizations, includ-
ing World Tourism Organization and World
Tourism and Travel Council, have declared
Indian tourism as the fastest growing at a
rate of about 8%.
He was speaking on Wednesday at a
function organized by PHD Chamber of
Commerce here for the presentation of
cheques to the two charity organizations-
Plan India and PHD Family Welfare Foun-
dation (PHDFWF).
Ahmed said India’s performance in
tourism sector has been quite impressive.
 During the period 2002 to 2009, India
witnessed as increase in the Foreign Tourist
Arrivals (FTAs) from 2.38 million to 5.11
million. Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs)
from tourism increased from 15,064 crore in
Thefts, drugging rise in trains
New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Rail-
ways, E. Ahamed, has expressed serious
concern over the increase in the instances of
thefts and drugging of passengers on trains
specially in the South bound trains.
Ahamed convened a high level meeting
of top level officials which included Chair-
man, Railway Board and Director General of
Railway Protection Force (RPF). He directed
the Railway Board to chalk out a strategy to
immediately arrest the recurrence of such in-
cidences causing loss and mental agony to the
passengers.
The meeting comes in the wake of an inci-
dent which took place last week at Nizamuddin
Railway Station when the luggages of a number
of passengers of Kerala bound train were stolen.
Ahamed also wrote a letter to Mullappally
Ramachandran, Union Minister of State for
Home Affairs about such incidences and sought
cooperation in tackling these matters.
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Track and meets all the international standards
including 2200 Lux Level Sports Lighting and
Public Address System with state of the art line
array speakers for concert level sound require-
ments.
 The entire stadium with its unique struc-
tural system, unique geometry of seating bowl,
state-of-the-art Electrical and Mechanical ser-
vices and marvelous architectural features, is
constructed in a record time of 17 months by
Central Public Works Department (CPWD). 
The Velodrome has been certified by UCI (In-
ternational Cycling federation) as Category 1
 In his communication to the Sports Au-
thority of India (SAI), UCI Honorary Vice
Velodrome is an absolutely marvelous facility
of the highest standard and on completion prob-
Olympic Velodrome.”
The entire stadium will be under electronic
surveillance through fixed and PTZ cameras
connected to central control room, which will
facilities, to meet the operational requirements
of various tournaments.
2002 to 54,960 crore in 2009.
The minister said, “Not only this, during
2009, the number of domestic tourist visits
to the States/ Union Territories was 650
million as compared to 563 million in 2008
and 527 millions in 2007.”
He said hotel and Hospitality sector plays
an important role in the growth and sustain-
ability of tourism sector in the country. Min-
istry of Tourism, Govt. of India is paying
special attention to this sector.
Ahmed said the Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved
broad basing hospitality education. Voca-
tional schools, polytechnics, universities
and colleges would be involved to meet the
growing demand of trained manpower in
hospitality sector. Revised guidelines for
the Scheme of Assistance to Institute of
Hotel Management and Food Craft Institutes
have also been issued. He said the Ministry
intends to set up 19 State IHMs and 25 State
FCIs in the 11th Plan Period.
 In the letter, Ahamed pointed out that secu-
rity even on Railway premises is controlled by
the State Police (Government Railway Police-
GRP), the Railway Protection Force having
only limited power for safeguarding Railway
property.
He requested the Home Ministry that clear
cut directives need to be reiterated to all con-
cerned to see that these instances of theft and
drugging of passengers are immediately put
down with a very heavy hand and confidence
restored among the travelling public.
It may be mentioned that on June 26, during
a brief power failure at Nizamuddin Railway
Station, some of the suitcases of passengers of
2284 Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Duronto Express
were stolen. DG. RPF has already taken up the
matter with the State Police Authority of Delhi,
Kerala and other parts of the country. One
person has been hooked and two suitcases have
been recovered from him.
New Delhi: Inaugurating India’s first world
class airport T3 here, Prime Minister Manmo-
han Singh said the Public Private Partnership
model is the right way of executing large infra-
structure projects.
“It proves the success of the Public Private
Partnership model in execution of large infra-
structure projects,” said the Prime Minister
said after inaugurating India’s new showpiece
airport, the Ter-
minal 3, or T3 as
the new building is
called.
T3 terminal, an
extension airport of
the existing Indira
Gandhi Interna-
tional Airport, is
the world’s fifth
largest airport
and most modern,
capable of handing
35 million passen-
gers annually.  ister said in a span
Congress president and UPA chairperson
Sonia Gandhi was present at the inauguration.
“This project gives us yet another reason for
satisfaction. It also proves our capacity to co-
ordinate across agencies and governments and
work as a united team,” said Singh.
“I am told that over 58 departments of gov-
ernment were involved in the construction of
this terminal, apart from other stakeholders
such as ground handling agencies and airlines,”
he said.
Lauding the new airport, he said: “An airport
is often the first introduction to a country. A
good airport would signal the arrival of new
India, committed to join the ranks of modern,
industrialized nations of the world.”
“We should have airports that are receptive
to the comfort of passengers even as they meet
MP CM ‘disappointed’ with
Centre’s Bhopal approach
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj
Singh Chouhan Wednesday expressed ‘disap-
pointed’ at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s
failure to discuss with US President Barack
Obama the matter of extradition of former Union
Carbine CEO Warren Anderson.
 “It was expected that the Prime Minis-
ter would discuss the Bhopal gas tragedy with
Obama but he did not do so,” Chouhan said here.
 Singh had met Obama on the sidelines of
the G-20 Summit at Toronto earlier this week,
but had not taken up the issue of the Bhopal gas
tragedy or Anderson’s extradition during their
discussions.
  Questioning the Centre’s sincerity in dealing
with the case, Chouhan said he was ‘extremely
disappointed’ with the approach of the Centre
India
the highest standards of efficiency and safety.
They should employ the most modern of tech-
nologies but also exude cultural warmth,” he
said.
 The airport will be opened to passengers
from July 16. 
“It is one of the top five in scale and size in
the world. This is not a big building designed
grand. It is a statement,” said Civil Aviation
Minister Praful
Patel. 
The airport
was completed in a
record 37 months. 
T3 will have 160
check in counters
and 90 immigra-
tion counters. The
airport also boasts
of 21,000 square
metres of shopping
space.
The Prime Min-
of a few years, India has become the 9th largest
aviation market in the world.
 “We now have 10 scheduled airlines operat-
ing in our country, compared to 2 in 1990. In the
same period, the scheduled aircraft deployed by
the Indian carriers has gone up four times, from
100 to about 400,” he said.
 “It is estimated that India’s aviation sector
has the potential to absorb up to US$ 120 billion
of investment by the year 2020,” he said.
 “Analysts predict that domestic traffic can
reach 160 to 180 million and international
traffic in excess of 50 million by the year 2020,”
he said.
 Commenting on the new airport, Delhi
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said: “It is a
dream come true.”
towards the tragedy.
 “I want to ask the Prime Minister who will
make these efforts, when they would be made
and what would be the process for them,” he said.
 Chouhan has already written a letter to
Singh on the purported discrepancies in the rec-
ommendations made by the Group of Ministers
(GoM) on the Bhopal gas tragedy.
 “It was not correct on the part of the GoM
to recommend compensation and relief for only
40,000 gas victims. The state government will
take all possible steps for getting the 20 wards
(in the city) declared as gas-hit besides ensuring
adequate compensation, relief, social, economic
and medical rehabilitation of the gas victims,”
Chouhan added.
11
Indian
India
Shoppers Stop to recycle salwar sets Kashmir after a number of civillians were killed in firing by law enforcement officials.
However, most pilgrims are undeterred and determined to to go through with the
 
Yatra. Close to 3,000 Border Security Force (BSF) troops have been airlifted to Kash-
Kolkata: Lifestyle brand
mir by special planes to protect the devotees and guard the route. Security forces
Shoppers Stop is organiz-
have said that different agencies are working together to ensure a smooth pilgrim-
ing ‘Salwar Kameez Dupatta
age. This year about 500,000 pilgrims are expected to undertake the Amarnath Yatra,
Exchange Offer’ (SKD), in
an annual pilgrimage to the 3,888 meter high Amarnath cave in south Kashmir from
association with its NGO
Baltal and Pahalgam that will conclude on August 25.
Partner GOONJ to recycle
old sets for new ones. “Dur-
ing this offer period, cus- Dino appointed Gitanjali ambassador
tomers are invited to donate  
their old wearable Salwar Mumbai: Model-turned-actor Dino Morea has been appointed the brand ambas-
Kameez Dupatta (SKD) sador of  Gitanjali Lifestyle’s Chronotech range of watches. Commenting on the
sets to enjoy discounts
on their new purchases of
SKD sets. All old wear-
able SKD sets collected
during the exchange offer
will be donated GOONJ,” said a
company spokesperson. In exchange of each old wearable SKD
set, customers will be offered a coupon and each coupon can be utilized for single
SKD purchase.

Honour killing: NRI ‘kills’ step-daughter

 
Amritsar: A Belgium-based Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Mehtab Singh, was arrested
for allegedly murdering his 17-year-old step-daughter, who was reportedly having
an affair with a lower caste youth, police said on Wednesday. The police said they
are suspecting it to be a case of honour killing where Singh poisoned his daughter
Amritpal Kaur earlier this month during their stay in Amritsar, after he came to know of
her affair with Lakhwinder Singh. “Acting on a tip off, we arrested Singh on Tuesday
late night. He had hurriedly brought his daughter to Amritsar after knowing about her
new association, Dino said, “With its combination of technical precision and style,
relationship with Lakhwinder in Belgium. When she died, Singh tried to bury the news
Chronotech offer’s everything that today’s modern Indian consumer is looking for in
and hurried the cremation, which is quite mysterious,” a senior police official said.
a watch. It makes a subtle fashion statement, yet offers sophistication and excellence
“We are investigating if it is a case of honour killing,” he added. However, Singh said
too. I am happy to be endorsing such a quality brand.” Dino also unveiled the new
the girl died of food poisoning.
Prism collection from Chornotech. Welcoming the new brand ambassador, Rahul
Vira, Head, Timepieces, Gitanjali Lifestyle said, “Chronotech watches exude effortless
style and luxury and no one else fits the brand connect as Dino Morea. We are proud
Special Marriage Act to be amended: Moily to bring him on board as our brand ambassador and are confident his association
with the brand will definitely be mutually beneficial”. Chronotech watches are retailed
Kolkata: Union Minister for Law and Justice M Veerappa Moily said the Special Mar- through Bezel, a multi-brand lifestyle watch store from Gitanjali Lifestyle.
riage Act will be amended to ban honour killings. “We have proposed an amendment
to Special Marriage Act where the period of notice in court marriages will be reduced
from 30 days to zero. There will be no notice period,” Moily said here. Earlier, on June

It is an awesome feeling: Paes

23, Moily had said the Union government is coming out with a law to ban honour
killings. The draft bill has already been prepared and it will see definite form soon,
Moily said in New Delhi. “The home ministry has already drafted a bill. It has been
vetted, and when implemented it will put an end to such kind of killings,” Moily said. Mixed
what partner Cara Black lifted the Wimbledon
The bill, which proposes to bring changes in all related laws, is expected to be tabled Wimbledon: “The rest is history”  is Doubles title by defea ting Wesl ey Moo die of
n tenni s star Lean der Paes said hour s after Unite d
in the Parliament in its next meeting. The rising instances of honour killing had drawn India Sout h Africa and Lisa Raym ond of the
on
the attention of the Supreme Court also, which has served notices to the Centre and winning the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title States in the final at the All England Club here.
ay.
several state governments, asking what it was doing to stop it. Sund While, Paes has lifted the trophy twice pre-
Paes said winning the title for the third time and
viously - with Martina Navratilova in 2003
is “awesome feeling”.
an
Lisa Raym ond in 1999 , Black won it by pairi ng
he
Speaking about his partner Cara Black, in 2004.
favou rite partn er, with his brother Wayne
Under heavy security, Amarnath Yatra begins adde d: “Car a is defin itely my
On Sunday, Leander Paes played his 23rd
she is one of the nicest human beings.” Grand Slam final.
.I
Jammu: Escorted by heavy security, the first batch of over 1,200 pilgrims on Wednes- “It is all for supporters that I keep going This is his sixth mixed doubles Grand Slam
le. It’s my job to work
love enter taining peop title.
day began the annual Amaranth Yatra from Jammu amidst continuing tension in the
hard,” Paes said.
an
Kashmir Valley. Many towns in the state have been put under curfew as for the past Leander Paes paired with his Zimbabwe
couple of days there has been mounting tension in several districts of Jammu and

For all your

legal needs
Aaron Kashyap
BA, LLB
Barrister and solicitor
Level 1, 351 Manukau Road, PO Box 26-596, DXCP 32513, Epsom, Auckland
Mobile: 0274 857 302 Phone: (09) 6238277 Fax: (09)6235177
Email: aaron@kashyaplaw.co.nz

12 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Resumption of Auckland-Nausori service hailed
Dev Nadkarni
The resumption of flights on the Auckland
Nausori sector has been widely welcomed in both
Fiji and New Zealand. The inaugural weekly
flight took off from Auckland on Monday (July
2) last week with fanfare and returned later the
same day with a full complement of passengers
in both directions.
While Auckland mayor and supercity
mayoral contender John Banks officially inau-
gurated the flight at the Auckland International
Airport, Fiji Prime Minister Commodore Frank
Bainimarama and Attorney General Aiyaz
Saiyed Khaiyum received the flight at Nausori
airport about three hours later.
Inaugurating the flight by cutting the cer-
emonial ribbon Mayor Banks said, “The Air
Pacific flights will help both countries, especial-
ly during the Rugby World Cup next year. People
Bula: (Above) Fiji Prime Minister Bainimarama shakes hands with Indian
Weekender editor Dev Nadkarni at Nausori as Dave Pf lieger looks on
in New Zealand wishing to take a break in Fiji
can fly Air Pacific, rest and be back in time for
the next match.
“We want to encourage families, business
and corporates to take advantage of the service.
I congratulate the Fiji people. There are no such
people on earth with good and caring spirits.”
Air Pacific Managing Director and Chief Ex-
ecutive Dave Pflieger, Auckland based regional
general manager George Dyer, airline officials,
New Zealand and Fiji media persons and passen-
gers attended the brief inauguration ceremony at
the gate 1 departure lounge of the airport.
Mr Dyer said the airline had been receiving
positive feedback on the service. “The flight
suits people heading for the northern side of
Fiji for holidays. With Air Pacific, people arrive
quicker to see their families without paying a lot
of money for travelling and accommodation,” he
said.
Speaking to Indian Weekender onboard the
inaugural flight, Mr Pflieger said a second Auck-
land Nausori weekly flight would be added in
August, possibly on flying Fridays. He said the
airline was already considering resuming its ser-
vices to Nausori from Australian cities as well.
“We want to connect to places where our
customers want to go, so rest assured, I will be
looking at that flights from Australia,” he said.
The airline is yet to decide on whether the flights
will be from Sydney or Brisbane. Mr Pflieger
spent most of the time speaking to passengers
throughout the flight.
Tourism Fiji chairman Patrick Wong con-
gratulated Air Pacific for the re-introduction of
its Nausori-Auckland flight. “We need to spread
the benefit of tourism throughout Fiji,” Mr Wong
said. “The direct service from Auckland will
bring about tourism development to the eastern
part of Viti Levu. It will complement what the
western division has to offer.”   business executive, attorney, and pilot. Before
The flight hovered over central Suva for
about ten minutes affording a clear view of the
downtown area to passengers before heading
northeast toward Nausori to land. Passengers
greeted the touchdown with a spontaneous round
of applause.
Prime Minister Commodore Bainimarama,
who met passengers from the flight at Nausori
Airport, said the flights would benefit tourism
and stimulate economic growth. He said Suva
City is an important link to international des-
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Fiji
tinations and it will open up opportunities and
give additional connections for tourists, business
people and the travelling public.
The new service will complement Air Pacif-
ic’s existing Nadi-Auckland schedule of up to 13
weekly flights, in addition to the weekly Nadi-
Christchurch flight.
Earlier, in May this year, Indian Weekender
had met Mr Pflieger in the first week of his new
role as Air Pacific MD and CEO at his office in
Nadi.
He had said then that his priority would be
working toward making Air Pacific the preferred
airline for connections to the Pacific Islands not
only from New Zealand and Australia but also
destinations in Asia and his home market of
North America.
Set for take off: Air Pacific Regional General Manager New Zealand,
George Dyer, Dave Pf lieger, MD & CEO of Air Pacific and Mayor of Auck-
He said the airline has a couple of the new
Boeing 787s on order and their arrival would land, John Banks.
Friendly smiles of the friendly isles: PM Bainimarama with At-
torney General Aiyaz Saiyed Khaiyum and Dave Pf lieger with the crew of
the inaugural service. n Rd
Dominio
Mt Eden Rd
Dave Pflieger with PM
Bainimarama
greatly enhance the airline’s capacity to add
connections around the Pacific. Meanwhile, he
would look closely at making the best use of the
existing fleet and consider adding inter island
Rd
connections with the airline’s turboprop fleet. Dominion
He was keen on promoting the islands as a
destination in his native United States, where
he said “the awareness of the islands as a great
tourist destination is relatively low.” It was
a huge market that could boost the region’s
economy greatly when travel begins to pick up
again as the world emerges from the economic
crisis, he added. Mt Eden Rd
Mr. Pflieger has been in the aviation industry
in the US for several years and was a Senior Vice
President with Virgin America, the leading low
cost carrier that has been named best domestic
airline in the US in two separate rating systems
for each of the two years it has been in existence.
The 47-year-old South Korea-born CEO has
25 years of aviation industry experience as a
joining Virgin America, he was the Vice Presi-
dent of Operations for Delta Air Lines’ low-cost
airline subsidiary.
– Additional reporting by Losalini Rasoqo-
soqo and Kailash Rao of the Fiji Sun
(Indian Weekender editor-in-chief Dev Nad-
karni travelled to Fiji on the inaugural flight as a
full fare-paying passenger)
- Photos: Samisoni Pareti
and Ronald Kumar
13
 Indian
Indian
Letters
Indian soccer
The writer has raised a very important issue
about a country that population of about
1.2 billion Indians in all parts of the world
From the Editor lagging behind in all forms of sports. The
white race once commented “they are good
not actually exist anywhere on this good
earth. Nor does Communism for that matter.
Both are just illusions that have never actu-
ally existed. Bainimarama may well have
already been corrupted by his power, but
I doubt to the degree that Rupert Murdoch

Has National’s slide begun? at singing in their language, which no other

race understands. Just see Olympics Games,
Commonwealth Games, Asia region games,
has been. It is a nonsense to describe any
News Corp paper as independent media (Mr
Pankhurst seems to have). They are exactly
As we have said before in these pages, July 1 may well have marked a turning point in the World Cup Games like Soccer, Rugby, the opposite of independent. ...
fortunes of the National led government. Cricket (no superiority) , Boxing, Tennis
Despite widespread opposition from all sectors, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and so on. The Seeker
has kicked in and it will primarily be the New Zealand taxpayer who will fund it by paying
more on virtually every commodity and service. According to government estimates, every
Vijay Singh
New Zealander will be paying about $3 more on an average every week.
Chocolate Cup Cakes
Power and fuel bills have already gone up and everyone knows these two affect almost
everything in the economy, which completely depends on manufacturing, processing and Quoting white racist views is itself a sign of Is there no baking powder in this dish or
the movement of goods and people from point A to point B. The cascading effect this will mental subjugation. Sporting success on the have you forgotten to write?
have on prices of almost goods and services is yet to happen but will soon be felt by Kiwi world stage comes with scientific attention
wallets across the country. to individual sports. That’s missing in India. Anjali
The kind of reception that Environment Minister Nick Smith received wherever he went India is much better off than the Europeans
to explain the ETS clearly shows people’s disbelief in the calculations that are based on the because while the west is declining, India This is ne of my special recipes where
illusory Carbon edifice that is built on shaky ground: shaky enough to have discouraged is rising. Like the author says, Indians are baking powder is not needed. May seem
every other country in the world to either junk or rethink their own schemes or, at best, to a sports crazy country. BTW, it was the strange to some but try it and kids will
plan and implement far more ‘lite’ versions. caste system that saved India from foreign love it. In my recipes, I try and keep it as
With the ETS the National led government has bamboozled unbelieving and unwilling chemical free as possible and this recipe is
religious conquests
New Zealanders down a path that will cost them dearly for reasons based on unproven
certainly one of them.
science, an outdated protocol like Kyoto (which every nation has wriggled itself out of
and is waiting for the next set of protocols, with Kyoto running out anyway in 2012) and as Alka Pande
complicated as it is unconvincing. Ruby Dhillon (IW cuisine columnist)
Few Kiwis would be interested in knowing how this complex system works or why, as While the article is commendable, there
the government would have them believe, it is good for them and the country. What ulti- are some factual errors – Hockey was not
mately matters to the common Kiwi is the cost of putting food on the table, which is being invented in India (though it was a power- Indo Pakistan relationship
affected on several fronts – the latest bugbear being the ETS. house for most of the 20th Century), it was a The Home Ministers meeting of both India
The mood of a nation is always built on perceived notions. The National government’s British import (like Cricket). It is fact that it and Pakistan had a good beginning as both
popularity ratings were sky high in the first 18 months because of a number of factors that has base in Bengal, Kerala, Goa, Manipur sides have come to appreciate the stand of
had to do with anti-incumbency against the long ruling Labour Party and its nanny state which has been the bane of Football’s each other. It is necessary to take this move
policies, the novelty factor and the prime minister’s smart new team that seemed to mean forward and arrive at a permanent under-
downfall. Despite having the third oldest
business.
tournament in the world, we have never standing to live as friendly neighbours. Both
That initial popularity remained intact and in fact grew by leaps and bounds. But that
is now set to change. The higher costs that Kiwis will now have to contend with in the really planned sporting success. Sport- should not allow the hawks in their coun-
course of their day to day lives because of new levies like the ETS, increased GST from ing success depends on lots of investment, tries to torpedo the peace move...
October 1 as well as others in what is still a depressed economic environment is bound to structure and dedication. Though we have
turn the tide. money, we sadly lack the motivation to excel M.K.B.Nambiar
These increased costs will all but negate the gains supposed to be made by tax cuts that as well as the vision to succeed! Maybe
will also kick in on October 1 – an overwhelming number of people believe this will be the things will change...
case (including opinion polls on iwk.co.nz). Our identity
Between now and October 1 there are three months – and three months is a very long Prashant Belwalkar I have done extensive research in this area,
time in politics. Between now – when the ETS has already kicked in – and October 1 when and continue to do so, this issue has been
the tax cuts become a reality there is every chance that the mood of the nation will worsen bothering me since I started high school in
as people begin to ‘ feel’ poorer spending more, earning the same or less and living in
Turban Row NZ. This is such a complex issue and there
continued depressed economic conditions.
The tax cuts, whenever they take effect, will hardly be noticed because they are unlikely Chak De Fatte. Kharag Singh ji. Turban is are many ways to look at it. In my book,
to make a difference. That discontent will level the playing field for National and Labour the Shan of Sikh and without Shan, What which I am currently writing I have tried
in the run up to next year’s election. is the Sikh? If required let us know, we will to deconstruct the myths surrounding the
The only factor in National’s favour is the complete disarray in Labour and the con- march on to such clubs to press the issue.... identity of Indians from fiji, who are based
tinued perception of the party being rudderless, meandering through the political morass in Auckland and aim to establish the unique
without convincing leadership at the helm and with neither ideology nor the one big idea Kuldeep Arora identity of ours, which people need to un-
that could have any appeal to the people at least as of now. derstand and appreciate. ...
Whether the prime minister’s timing in bringing up the credit card spending issue to the
fore had a plan and design to hack a few more spokes off Labour’s wheels is debatable but Democracy is a global illusion Krish
he and his team will need to draw quite a lot on Machiavelli and device new machinations
I would contend that Democracy (what do
to try to keep ahead as National finds its impressive lead over Labour narrowing in the
you specifically mean by Democracy ?) does
next few months.
Junking the ETS or replacing it with a low-level carbon tax might just do the trick.

– Dev Nadkarni
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14 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
Club vs Turban: Who’s talking through their hat?
Rakesh Krishnan simha
Labelling the Manurewa Cossie Club racist over its turban ban is nothing but misguided political correctness
I remember the first time I was denied entry into
a New Zealand nightclub. It was exactly three
years ago. I was with a Kiwi friend who wanted
to hit one last club on our pub-crawl. I’d been
in New Zealand only a few months and he was
giving me a guided tour of the nightlife across
Auckland.
After visiting three pubs around town he
drove me to a nightclub in Manukau City. A
huge outstretched arm barred my way at the
gate. The arm was attached to the body of a
Neanderthal bouncer who mumbled: “You’re
wearing a collarless T-shirt under your jacket,
it’s against club rules, mate.”
I didn’t exactly seek out the Human Rights
Commission. Neither did I lose any sleep over
the matter. However, my colleagues at Subur-
ban Newspapers had a lot of fun at my expense
– “They didn’t let you in a Manukau pub? It
doesn’t get worse than that in New Zealand!”
Private clubs have private rules – that’s a
fact guaranteed by the Constitution. To gripe at
not being allowed entry because of their dress
code is a bit childish. I live in a foreign country
and I enjoy many of the same rights that I had
back in India. However, before I venture out
with friends to a new place I make sure I’ll be
welcome there. I take the trouble to do that re-
search because I want to have positive feelings
towards New Zealand. I don’t want to go back
with stories that my innings in New Zealand
was marred by anti-Indian incidents.
So if a private club has a dress code, and I
want to join the fun inside, it doesn’t require
rocket science to figure out that I must dress
accordingly. Heck, I even keep a monster mask
in the boot of my car because Boogie Wonder-
land waves the $10 admission free if you wear
Continuing the series Government by greed
The Fiji Military - Origins
Subhash Appana
This series has contended throughout that the
2000 coup and subsequent developments in-
volving PM Qarase and his Gang were fuelled
by greed – hence the name Government by
Greed. Qarase’s cabal had its roots in the
Fiji civil service which since 1987 had been
called on to play a more prominent role in Fiji’s
politics. It was members of this cadre of civil
servants, a number of disgruntled ambitious
chiefs and members of the Methodist hierar-
chy who formed the platform on which Qarase
and his Gang plied their plunder under the all-
encompassing umbrella of “Fijian assistance”.
The obvious question that arises then is:
so where did the Fiji Military fall within this
scheme? This article develops a brief historical
outline of the evolution of the Fiji military and
the changing roles that it has played in Fiji’s
political landscape. The bulk of the focus (in
ensuing articles) must, of necessity, fall on the
role of the military in the 1987 and 2000 coups
before any meaningful discussion can follow
on the 2006 coup and Fiji’s present military-
supported government.
In 1874 when Governor Arthur Gordon
arrived, Fiji’s self-made “king”, Ratu Seru
Cakobau already had a Royal Army organised
with the assistance of white settlers who had
preceded colonization by Britain. In fact, Fiji’s
very first coup took place in Levuka just prior
to cession as Cakobau tried to organize a gov-
ernment that could levy taxes and control the
whole country from a central administrative
office.
At that time Bau’s hold on Fiji was pre-
carious even though its designs were clear.
Of particular concern was the non-acceptance
of Bau rule by westerners and the “savages”
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
a costume! or inferior to another. That is certainly not the
Which is why I can’t figure out the furore case at the Manurewa Cossie Club. Attacking
over the Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club’s the club as racist is, therefore, extremely puerile.
no-hats policy, because of which a turbaned Private clubs are there for a reason – to make
Sikh man was turned members and patrons
away from attending a feel they have come to
function there. As a writer I have been the right place. It’s a
Predictably, New place where they can
Zealand’s liberals are up to cossie clubs from unwind after a long
in arms. The club, which day on the corporate
frankly would like to Waiku to Orewa, including treadmill. Many people
be left alone in peace, who go to these “non-
is being portrayed as a South Auckland, and have trendy” clubs go there
racist outfit governed by for the safe, sedate, no-
prehistoric rules. seen people of all ethnic pressure environment.
Nothing could be Sikhs, like other
further away from the backgrounds mingle freely Indians, are model citi-
truth. As a writer I have zens. They are charita-
been to cossie clubs – shooting pool, downing a ble, hard working and
from Waiku to Orewa, make great friends.
including South Auck- few drinks after work, and They haven’t gone into
land, and have seen a big sulk – a sign of a
people of all ethnic generally having a good time. mature and confident
backgrounds mingle community.
freely – shooting pool, And yet the pashas
downing a few drinks after work, and generally of political correctness want to drag the matter
having a good time. out into a slanging match. Next, the courts will
Okay, perhaps I haven’t seen a turban be asked to intervene in this extremely divisive
wearing Sikh in a cossie club. But the first thing issue. That’s the last thing New Zealand needs
people prone to yelling “racism” at the drop of because it will surely lead to further ethnic po-
a hat – pun intended – should bear in mind is larisation.
that Sikhs are not a race. For that matter neither As a country, New Zealand demands very
are Hindus or Muslims. So the ban on entry little of foreigners. There is no flag kissing at
of people wearing turbans or scarves does not citizenship ceremonies. American-style jingo-
equate to racism. ism is virtually absent. If immigrants find this
Racism is the belief that there is a qualitative place tough, wonder how they will feel about
inequality between human beings on the basis France, which does not allow scarves or turbans
of race. Racists believe that one race is superior in school. In fact, Sikhs have started their own
from Colo and Navosa highlands. This was the is made of the resentment towards this overt
first target of Gordon’s army and the bloody threat that led to failed negotiations between
skirmishes that followed in the highlands is a Ratu Sukuna on behalf of government and
thing of legend. That’s where the derogatory cane leaders.
term “kai colo” comes from. Loosely trans- Later the December 1959 Oil and Allied
lated it means junglee or uncivilized. Workers strike led by Apisai Tora and James
Following these campaigns Gordon amal- Anthony invoked further threats of violent
gamated the Royal Army with the Fiji Con- suppression by government (Lal, 1992, pp.
stabulary (police) to form the Armed Native 165-169). Again little was made of the multi-
Constabulary as there was continuing need racial composition of that worker revolt as
to subjugate the warrior-like tendencies that the army gradually became an unarticulated
prevailed in pockets among the Fijian people. instrument to ensure that the Indo-Fijian
Furthermore, at the turn of the 19th century a population stayed in its undefined “place” and
third element began to become a national ir- “behaved”.
ritant – increasing demands for fairness and This has to be coupled with the fact that
political representation by the undefined, government in Fiji was predicated on the back
un-understood and un-inducted girmitiya or of a traditional system that was shaped, fos-
Indian labourers. silized and maintained by the colonial admin-
It was not long before the Armed Native istration. The chiefly system thus formed the
Constabulary was turned onto this distur- back of the liberal-democratic system that pre-
bance. A January 1920 strike by Indo-Fijian sented the “face” of government in Fiji after
workers of the Public Works Department that independence in 1970. It was therefore very
spread into a bigger confrontation was sup- important that the hierarchy seen at the back
pressed by force using 200 Fijians from Lau (ie. the chiefly structure) reflected that seen at
and a number of others co-opted from Rewa the front (ie. the government).
and Navua – one Indian died in that attack An elaborate link between government and
(Gillion, 1977). One year later, the 1921 cane the military was maintained through a system
strike was suppressed by 250 Fijian constables of recruitment and promotion that ensured that
from Bau commissioned through their chiefs. those with traditional status (ie. the chiefs)
Ongoing problems with atrocious working progressed through the ranks faster and held
conditions within the sugar industry meant positions of power within the military. A run
that rebellion was a constant threat. The forced through the list of commanders shows Briga-
suppression of 1921, where desperate workers dier D.J. Aitken, Colonel Paul Manueli (1974-
were beaten up and bundled into submission 79), Colonel Ian Thorpe (1979-82), Brigadier-
simply hardened resolve and a second cane General Ratu Epeli Nailatikau (1982-87),
strike in 1943 saw soldiers being prominently Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka (1987- 92),
posted around the western cane belt as part of Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau (1992-
an intimidation tactic during the strike. Little 99), and Commodore Frank Bainimarama
Comment
schools in France to privately educate their chil-
dren.
The other issue is reciprocity. If you enter a
Sikh temple, the priests and volunteers ask you
to cover your head with a towel. What if a New
Zealander insists on not covering his head?
Let’s face it, ethnic costumes sometimes
spook people. But at worst it is merely a sign of
xenophobia but xenophobia is only the “fear of
foreigners” and is certainly not racism, although
liberals and well-paid lawyers will convince you
otherwise.
Sikhs face no discrimination in India, which
is the world’s largest and most vibrant democ-
racy. So there’s no reason why they should be
denied entry anywhere in New Zealand, another
democratic nation.
The Manurewa Cossie Club should certainly
take a hard look at South Auckland’s chang-
ing demographic mosaic and amend its bylaws.
They should respect a 400-year-old religion and
understand that there is nothing terrifying about
a turban.
But if the over 300 members of the club wish
to keep it a hatless affair, we should respect their
views too.
Oh yes, there was another time I was denied
entry at a nightclub. That was last year, in the
CBD – I was wearing jandals!
- (Rakesh Krishnan Simha is a features
writer at Fairfax New Zealand. He has previ-
ously worked with Businessworld, India Today
and Hindustan Times, and was news editor with
the Financial Express.)
(1999 - ).
A closer scrutiny shows that Paul Manueli
became commander during the era of multi-ra-
cialism and at a time when there were virtually
no other local candidates. Rabuka on the other
hand, simply wrested the position through his
coup. Bainimarama appeared at a time when
there were no chiefly successors and common-
er senior officers had begun to agitate for the
position. The other 2 long-serving command-
ers of the RFMF were chiefs of very high rank.
Thus in the initial post-1970 scheme of
governance (and politics) in Fiji, the hierarchy
of the Royal Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) was
supposed to reflect that of national govern-
ment. And both were predicated on the chiefly
system - chiefs were expected to be at the fore-
front of power in Fiji. This was the intricate
link that guaranteed RFMF support for gov-
ernment.
The assumptions within this framework
were that: Fijians would always remain united
under the chiefly system, political opposition
would only come from the Indo-Fijian, the
RFMF would always be led by a chiefly or
chief-supported commander, the RFMF would
always support the Fijian establishment and
that Fijian chiefly rule would continue unbro-
ken. Each of these was to fall with time and
propel the country into coup-coup land. Stay
tuned.
- Subhash Appana is an academic and po-
litical commentator. The opinions contained
in this article are entirely his and not neces-
sarily shared by any organizations he may be
associated with both in Fiji and abroad. Email
subhasha@ais.ac.nz
15
Indian

16 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Australia inciting trouble, Fiji says
Fiji Prime Minister Commodore Frank Baini-
marama, has called on the Australian govern-
ment to refrain from interfering with the inter-
nal affairs of this country.
This follows a reported comment made by
an unnamed Australian Foreign Affairs of-
ficial who has made statements in the Rupert
Murdoch owned newspaper The Australian.
The Australian Foreign Affairs Official
was quoted as saying, “the people may have no
choice but to stand up to him (Bainimarama)
and his thugs.”   torted articles and news editors for publishing
This statement the Prime Minister said is
inciting the people of Fiji to rise against the gov-
ernment, and promoting further unrest. Com-
modore Bainimarama said calling government
ministers “thugs” is derogatory, mischievous
and portrays the condescending attitude of the
Australian Government.
Meanwhile, Fiji’s Minister for Foreign
Affairs, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola questioned
the Australia’s foreign policy on Fiji. He said
an article titled “Perfect one day, brutal the
next” with a map of Fiji’s premier tourism
sites was a clear indication of misleading and
confusing the Australians on what’s happening
in Fiji.
“I would like to question the motive of the
journalists who are writing these sort of dis-
them. The article reflects happenings in Fiji in
2006 which is now history and Fiji as a whole
has moved on”, Mr Kubuabola said.
“There is an Australian Embassy in Fiji and
I believe they continuously report on Fiji’s situ-
ation back to Australia. I do not understand why
Fiji
they have allowed this to happen.”
Distorted articles were hurting the tourism
industry and the thousands of ordinary Fijians
who relied on it, he said.
Over the past six months visitor arrivals
from Australia has continued to increase with
expectations of more than 300,000 Australians
visiting Fiji by December this year.
“While the Australian Foreign Affairs Min-
ister Mr. Stephen Smith is quick to condemn
Fiji on its Media Decree, he failed to recognise
that News Limited journalists are doing the
very thing which the Fiji government is trying
to correct through its new Media Decree for fair,
balanced and accurate reporting,” Mr Kubuab-
ola said.

Bainimarama to meet IMF

A special high-powered meeting between Prime
Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama
and top International Monetary Fund officials
is going to take place in Daejeon, South Korea.
Speaking to the Fiji Sun yesterday, Com-
modore Bainimarama revealed that this special
meeting is going to be held separately from the
Fund conference he would be attending.
“Yes I’ve accepted the invitation to attend
this high level International Monetary Fund
meeting in South Korea,” he said.
Commodore Bainimarama said he would
continue talks about a possible loan.
Fiji has asked the Fund for a yet-to-be agreed
loan to support its balance of payments to mini-
mise risks identified.
Government expressed interest for a pos-
sible balance of payment support from the Fund
through a request made in February 2010.
As a member, Fiji is entitled to seek support
from the Fund, which is available through a
Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).
Commodore Bainimarama said he would be
leaving the country, next week Monday.
The conference, which is hosted by the Fund
and the Republic of Korea’s government is to
examine Asia’s economic dynamism and evolv-
ing role in international policy making.
At the same time, the conference pursues
the theme of ‘Asia 21 leading the way forward,’
which is exemplified in Asia’s rapid recovery
from the global economic crisis.
The role of the Fund is central to this confer-
ence as it identifies her engagement with Asia
as well as her projected outlook on Asia as the
largest economic region, surpassing that of the
G7 over the next two decades.
There are four themes central to the purpose
of this conference;
Discuss how to build a shared vision to
support sustained economic growth in Asia,
while drawing lessons from the past in a candid
and constructive manner.
Showcase Asia’s success in economic man-
agement, and highlight lessons for other regions
Examine Asia’s growth model, its prospects
going forward, and the implications of change
for the global economy;
Discuss Asia’s role in the international com-
munity, including in the IMF.
The conference will be attended by foreign
government representatives, economic policy-
makers from the Asia and Pacific region, leaders
from the private sector, academics, and other
Asia experts, including from regional and inter-
national institutions.
It will be from July 12-13.

Fiji bets big on

surfing potential
The Fiji government has announced a new decree
aimed at making the country a hub for water and
marine activities while preserving its pristine envi-
ronment, according to a media release issued by the
government.
The decree, called Regulation of Surfing Areas
Decree 2010 includes the previously announced
Super Yacht Decree and ties in with the govern-
ment’s plans toward liberalisation of the coastal
trading licence regime, the reduction in duty rates
on marine vessels, yachts and jet skis.
The move is expected to create a job-generating
marine industry contributing to economic growth.
The surfing industry is a global US$10 billion busi-
ness and Fiji has long been known in surfing circles
as home to some world class breaks.
People in Fiji now get access to and the use of any
surfing area in the country by virtue of the decree.
Individuals or groups may now access and use any
surfing area in Fiji for the purposes of surfing or any
water sport, without having to obtain any permit or
approval from any person and without the payment
of any compensation to any person or agency.
It effectively prohibits the exclusive use of any
surfing area by any person or organisation.
Previously, several surfing areas in Fiji were
exclusively licensed to a couple of hotel operators,
which tended to deprive other tourists and Fijians
from accessing and using these surfing areas. There
have been numerous reports of tourists and Fijian
surfers being physically and violently harassed
and assaulted for surfing at these exclusive surfing
areas.
The free access and use of all surfing areas in
Fiji to all tourists and Fijians provides opportunities
for all Fijians including i taukei landowners in the
proximity of these surfing areas to profit directly
and indirectly by way of engaging in businesses
themselves – as opposed to relying on handouts
from hotel operators who charge premium rates.
Shi Vishnu En-
The government expects the move to bring in
terprise 1/4
20,000 additional tourists particularly to the outer
islands like Lau and Kadavu that are renowned for
their surf breaks. It opens opportunities for locals
to launch into business as surf-tour operators, life
savers, build and operate surfing-specialised hotels,
backpacker resorts, and home stays, the media
release says.
“The opening up of surfing areas aims at devel-
oping youth surfers to compete on the professional
world surfing (ASP) tour which comprises ten
events around the world,” Attorney General Aiyaz
Saiyed Khaiyum who is also Minister of Tourism
said. The Fiji government is supportive of interna-
tional tour events resuming in Fiji, through the Fiji
Surfing Association and its affiliates.
Through the decree, the government hopes to
encourage the private sector and microfinance in-
vestments in the country’s fledging surfing busi-
ness and realise its full potential that has hitherto
seen initiatives languish.
The decree comes into effect on July 9, after the
Presdient’s assent on July 2 and supersedes all ex-
isting licence or instruments of title issued in rela-
tion to any surfing area, vesting all powers in the
office of the Director of Lands.
- Indian Weekender news desk

Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz 17

Indian

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world, everyone
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18 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
Hindu Elders
celebrate Matariki
Hindu Elders Foundation, a division of Hindu
Council of New Zealand, celebrated Matariki
(Maori new year) 2010 at the Hindu Heritage
Centre, Auckland on June 27.
Almost 100 Hindu elders, guests and a
number of Maori elders (Kamatua) from various
Marae participated in this celebration. Maori
guests included Mr. Dennis Henson (Hoani
Waititi Marae), Mr. Harold Atkinson and Ms
Bubbles Munroe (Ngati Kahungunu).
The ceremony started with the traditional
Hindu way of lighting of the lamp by the invited
guests and members of Hindu Elders, fol-
lowed by a Hindu prayer to Lord Ganesha. Mr.
Dennis Henson and Ms Bubbles Munroe did the
karakia.
Young children and youth from a Samoan
Church group, who have regular services at
Hindu Heritage Centre, sang and performed a
drama depicting the love of God. Mr. Dennis
Henson recited a Maori prayer, which was re-
peated by the Hindu elders.
“During Matariki we celebrate our unique
place in the world. We give respect and admira-
tion to our mother earth Papatuanuku. Through-
out Matariki we learn about those who came
before us. Matariki signals growth. It is a time
of change. It is a time to prepare, and a time of
action. Matariki celebrates the diversity of life.
It is a celebration of culture, language, spirit and
people, Matariki is our Aotearoa Pacific New
Year”. This was what Mr Pravin Patel, Patron of
Hindu Elders Foundation, said while speaking
about Matariki in Maori language.
He also elaborated on similarities of the
beliefs of the Maori and the Hindu from the
social anthropology and sociology studies con-
ducted by a migrant, and comparison on Maori
and Hindu worship of God.
Naadbrahma delights a full house in Auckland and Hamilton
PRASHANT BELWALKAR
Migrant Heritage Charitable Trust Inc (regd)
aka MigHT-I’s annual jugalbandi fest ‘Naad-
brahma – Sounds from Heaven’ was played to a
full house in Auckland (June 26) and Hamilton
(July 4). The concert featuring both Hindustani
and Carnatic music has a good following and
appreciation amongst the crowd in Auckland.
MigHT-I plans to take this nationwide.
This year’s edition in Auckland featured
Dr Ashok Malur on violin, Raman Easwaran
on Mridangam, Lester Silver on Sitar, Satish
Sharma on Sarod and Manjit Singh on Tabla.
An addition to the team was Prof Diwakar who
played the Veena. Coming off a fantastic perfor-
mance in the previous year, this year the chal-
lenge was to give something new to the audi-
ence. As a part of this the theme was developed
on a single Raga, with a look at its rendition in
both forms of music – Hindustani and Carnatic.
The evening in Auckland started with the
soft and heavenly music of the Veena, the oldest
know instrument to every Indian. Vidwan Di-
wakarji, was at ease as he rendered more than 6
different compositions to get the audience into
the mood for the evening. He was ably assisted
by Raman on the Mridangam. It was then the
turn of Shri Satish Sharma to highlight the use
of Sarod in Indian music. He played raag ‘Cha-
rukeshi’ which itself has its origin in Carnatic
music and the credit for popularising it in Hin-
dustani goes to Pandit Ravi Shankar. He then
played a fast dhun to finish of his piece.
Manjit Singh and his students had the audi-
ence tapping to the bols of Tabla and he dem-
onstrated the popularity of this instrument as a
‘solo’ percussion instrument with great finesse.
His students were no less talented as they show-
cased a wide range of ‘Kaidas’ to match the
tempo set by their teacher. Manjit Singh’s wife,
Daljit Kaur, herself an accomplished musician
accompanied the group on Harmonium.
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Mr. Harold Atkinson spoke on the sig-
nificance of Matariki. For the Maori of New
Zealand, Matariki is the celestial signal of
an ending and a beginning. The New Year is
marked by the next moon after the appearance
Matariki. Matariki was also a time of ceremoni-
al offering to the land gods Rongo and Uenuku
in the hope of a good harvest in the New Year to
come. As Matariki appears in the middle of the
winter at a time when all crops have been har-
vested, it was an important signal to the Maori
people that they needed to be prepared with
sufficient preserved food stocks to last them
through to the next harvest.
A short documentary video on Matariki was
shown to give a better understanding of the stars
of Matariki.
Mr. Ramesh Patel led the people into laugh-
ter yoga and other yoga exercises. This was fol-
lowed by Garba where all participated and had
great fun.
A small group of people together with Maori
guests planted seedlings in the Winter Gardens,
an initiative by the Counties Manukau for the
Let’s Beat Diabetes project.
Aotearoa Research Organisation for Generic
Yoga and Ayurveda (AROGYA) announced the
commencement of Yoga classes at the Hindu
Heritage Centre. The announcement was made
at this occasion to get the blessings of both
Maori and Hindu Elders for the success of Yoga
classes.
A prayer before having a sumptuous lunch
was recited in Maori language and in Sanskrit.
Everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by
a team from the Hindu Niwas, a new initiative at
the Hindu Heritage Centre giving accommoda-
tion services for respite caregivers and others.
It was always going to be a challenge to
follow the pace set by the Tabla solo, but the
quartet led by Dr Malur (Violin), Lester Silver
(Sitar) and supported by Raman (Mridangam)
and Manjit (Tabla) were up to the task. They
showcased the use of Raag Kirwani which again
is a Carnatic music Raag, but popular in both
the formats.
Both Dr Malur and Lester were in their ele-
ments when the rendered a flawless execution of
this raag. The evening then lit up with the Ju-
galbandi between the percussions – Mridangam
and Tabla, which brought the floor down.
The evening ended with famous sufi music
“duma dum must kalandar”. Though the show
went on for more than 40 minutes beyond the
scheduled time of the evening, nobody in the
audience was complaining as they were treated
to some divine music – literally “sounds from
heaven”. The show was dedicated to the Sama-
vadini Maestro Shri Jayant Bhalodkarji, whom
we lost recently.
Hamilton, is always challenging for holding
classical concerts, though it boasts some of the
Indians and Maori –
a deepening bond
Padmini Gaunder
I first became aware of the Maori people’s in-
terest in things Indian a few years ago when I
used to go to the Auckland city library often.
In the weekends at the Aotea Square there used
to be this couple from Bangalore who used to
sell Masala Dosa. Soon this stall became very
popular and I was quite surprised to find young
Maori people queueing up. I know in Fiji roti
and curry are very popular with Fijian people
but the curry can be non-vegetarean. To find
Masala Dosa, a pure vegetarean dish, being
popular with the Maori people was a great sur-
prise to me.
We have been hearing about the Maori in
Rotorua joining in the celebrations of Hindu
festivals like Holi and Raksha Bandhan (in this
issue there is a report on joint participation of
Maori and Hindu community in celebrating
Matariki – editor).
In Fiji Diwali used to be celebrated by all
ethnic groups, especially the children who used
to have fireworks in their homes. I remember in
1989 when the Indians did not celebrate Diwali
to protest against the burning of Indian places of
worship by a Methodist youth group, there were
still some fireworks from non- Indian homes.
My daughter tells me that she often sees
Maori men at Hindu temples. I have earlier
written about the old Fijian religion and its
similarities to Hinduism (especially their belief
in Degei, the snake God which the Hindus con-
sider is Kaliyan). I have also talked about the
aborigines and how their boomerang is similat
to Sri Krishnan’s Sudarshana Chakram. The
Maori people also seem to have a great affinity
to Indian religions.
finest talents this country has seen. Raaga Music
Group, a local group dedicated to the cause of
Indian Classical Music were keen to host the
Naadbrahma in Hamilton for the first time and
MigHT-I and Raaga collaborated to take it to
Hamilton on 4th of July. A special feature of
the event was the inclusion of Vocals (Carnatic)
in the mix to move away from the classic Instru-
mental Jugalbandi.
Credit goes to the entire Raaga team led by
Tod Nachowitz, Nirmala, Malathi, Sudha who
got the buzz going in Hamilton about the show
and it was pre-booked to a full house, a first in
Hamilton.
The evening in Hamilton started with
Malathi Vasudevan on vocals, who rendered
some fine compositions and ended with the
bhajan by Soordas. She was accompanied by Dr
Somas on Violin. Dr Somas also explained to
the audience the difference between Hindustani
and Carnatic music and some finer highlights
of both. The large gathering was then treated to
some fine music on Sarod by Satish that left the
audience feeling ecstatic!
Community
When we went to see the Dalai Lama when
he visited Auckland at the end of last year there
was a welcome from the Maoris. The Dalai
Lama responded by rubbing his nose with the
Maori leader’s. When Ravi Shankar visited
Auckland in April again there was a Maori
welcome at Waitakere stadium. It was a pity that
the speech was not translated for the audience
but a Maori lady who was on stage seemed to
explain to what was happening. There are Maori
people, I believe, paying money and taking part
in the art of living courses.
It was, however, a very pleasant surprise
to see the Maori TV telecast the Maha Kumbh
Mela from Allahabad, India. Kumbh Mela,
which takes place once in twelve years, is a reli-
gious gathering of millions that lasts for several
weeks. But this year’s was Maha Kumbh Mela,
which is even rarer as the next one will be only
after more than a hundred years. So the people
who could not attend this year’s Mela are not
likely to have a chance to attend one as they are
not likely to be alive by the next one.
As one who could not attend the Maha
Kumbh Mela I feel very grateful to the Maori
TV station for bringing the Mela to our homes
and helping us share the wonder and excite-
ment of the great event. I was able to see how, in
spite of the millions gathered there, everything
proceeds smoothly, beginning with the early
morning bath in the confluence of the three
rivers, to the various activities throughout the
day, with whole families (sometimes three gen-
erations) coming and renting a tent and camping
there for weeks.  
Thank you once again Maori TV for en-
abling me and others like me to be part of the
Maha Kumbha Mela for at least a short time.
Manjit, this time performing as a solo artist,
regaled the audience with his mastery on the
Tabla.
The break was utilised to savour some tra-
ditional Indian food provided with the courtesy
of Sanjay Joshi another successful Hamiltonian.
The second half again saw the jugalbandi
between violin, sitar and Mridangam and Tabla.
Again the audiences were treated for a different
flavour of Kirwani, with more articulate notes
and renditions by both Dr Malur and Lester.
The highlight however, was the percussion Ju-
galbandi, which reached even greater heights
than Auckland.
The evening ended with sufi rendition and
the crowd gave a standing ovation to the artists.
The length of the ovation itself was a proof of
the success of the evening.
After these two full house performanc-
es, MigHT-I is preparing itself for the first
full length Hindustani Vocal concert in New
Zealand featuring the entire band from India, of
Pandit Ganapati Bhat in August. Keep a watch
for the details in future issues.
19
Indian
Group celebrates first milestone of musical journey
A new concept was conceived for Mother’s Day in
May 2009. It was meant to be a gift to all mothers
– a gift that enabled them to sing; to re-kindle their
desire to learn music and bring back singing into
their homes.
While some had learned to sing as a child others
didn’t even know they could sing until they tried,
encouraged by the Bhakti Sangeetha Group that
met, learned, practiced and finally gave concerts at
the Sandrigham Community Centre and elsewhere
over the past year. “In a sense, therefore, this is an
adult education programme of sorts,” says Vasantha
Kalbagal, who initiated and led the programme.
The group celebrated its first anniversary with a
Bhakti Sangeetha Annual Day on June 27.
The participants trained in workshops spread
across four Sundays, where they learned 25 songs
written by different composers in several languages
– all belonging to Carnatic classical music.
The Goshti Gayana group, as the group calls
itself, has been invited to perform on several dif-
ferent occasions, starting from the Janmashtmi
celebrations at Isckon last year. “They have learned
about 100 songs in a year, and are confident in per-
forming about 25 of them, which is an impressive
number,” Ms Kalbagal says.
The participants have displayed dedication and
devotion toward learning music. In spite of not
Guru Purnima celebrations
Mata Amritanandamayi Satsang Group Inc
performing Guru Purnima celebration 2010
on Sunday 25th  July 2010 between 10.30 am
– 1.00 pm at Montessori Primary School, 27
Glanville Terrace, Parnell, Auckland.  For
more details contact Chandra on 09-8281950
and Salyann Thomas Lane – 09-3543837 or
visit www.amma.org.nz
Junior fellowships in India
The Indian High Commission in Wellington
has announced a new academic initiative.
Under the Indian Council for Cultural Rela-
tions (ICCR) Junior Fellowship Programme,
20
having learnt the basics and understanding concepts
such as swara and laya, they are committed to it. It
stands as a testimony to the greatness of the com-
posers, whose compositions are able to reach out
to un-trained music appreciators. They have learnt
compositions of great composers like Thyagaraja,
Purandaradasa, GNB, Annamacharya, Badrachala
Ramadas, Sambashiva Iyer, Papanasham Shivan,
Mysore Vasudevacharya, Soordas as also those of
the new generation of composers.
On the occasion of its anniversary, the Goshti
Gayana Group gave a 35 minute musical presenta-
tion of a few compositions. Before they began, they
paid respects to the teachers who have contributed
indirectly to this workshop.
The programme was well attended and some
in the audience said that the highlight was Soor
Das’s “Darshana Do Ghana shyam,” and “Bandano
Manege Vittala” which brought tears to their eyes.
Speaking on the occasion chief guest, Dev Nad-
karni, the group editor in chief of the Indian Week-
ender recognised and appreciated the sustenance of
a project like this, which progressed consistently
for a year. Dr. Ashok Malur, the President of the
New Zealand Karnatic Music Society presiding
the function urged the participants to carry forward
music to the next generation.
it is inviting applications from New Zealand
scholars who would like to embark on field
work and research in India in connection to
their existing projects.
 
The PhD/Post Doctoral Research scholars
would be provided with $US1000 a month and
also be eligible for international economy class
airfares. This initiative is made possible with
the support of New Zealand’s Ministry of Edu-
cation.
Applications should be sent to the Indian
High Commission in Wellington. For more in-
formation contact hicomind@hicomind.org.nz
or (04) 473 63 90.
Vidya adds spice to ‘Curry Munchers’
Arvind Kumar
It’s not a blockbuster out of Bolly-
wood, but the experience of starring
in the locally made movie has made
a difference in the life of young Vidya
Venugopalan.
The 23-year-old South Indian
beauty, originally from Tamil Nadu,
is one of the leading female artistes
in the locally produced movie, “Curry
Munchers”, which is scheduled to hit
the big screen around October.
Working with the movie has made
her a more confident person, says Vidya,
who now lives in Sandringham, Auck-
land, after more than 10 years in the West.
In “Curry Munchers”, Vidya plays
Geeta, sister to lead character Siddarth
(Anand Naidu) and daughter to Leela
Patel (ex Shortland Street) and dad
Ajay Vashist.
Ben Mitchell (TK from Short-
land Street), Tarun Mohanbhai
and Raj Verma also feature
among the more prominent
star cast.
“The ‘Curry Munch-
ers’ experience has defi-
nitely given me more self
confidence,” says Vidya,
whose day-time job is
team leader of the Mental
Health unit at a Primary
Health Organisation
attached to the Wait-
emata District Health
Board.
“I cherish having
Be a part of MigHT-I’s
suspense thriller
MigHT-I theatre, which presented ‘Mrs
Maniben R Patel’ in January is now ready with
its next production a thriller. An adaptation of
the famous play ‘Twelve Angry Men’ by Regi-
nald Rose, this Hindi production will keep you
at the edge of your seats in the two acts aptly
titled “Ek Ruka Hua Faisla”. MigHT-I is keen to
further its interest in theatre world which is an
important part of our culture.
Currently there is a void in terms of Hindi
production and MigHT-I feels that there is an
opportunity for bringing to the audiences the
rich legacy of Hindi Drama in New Zealand.
It will also give an opportunity to upcoming
artists as well as those who are experience and
talent but have left it behind in India when they
migrated to New Zealand.
Synopsis of the play: A 19-year old man is on
trial for the murder of his father. The defendant
has a criminal record (and a lot of circumstan-
tial evidence piled against him). The defendant,
if found guilty, would receive a mandatory
death penalty.
The jury is sent to a hot, crowded room to
deliberate. Before any formal discussion, they
cast a vote. Eleven of the jurors vote “guilty.”
Only one juror votes “not guilty.” As the
tempers flare and the arguments begin, the au-
dience learns about each member of the jury.
What starts off as a minor doubt in one jury
member’s mind slowly develops into an intricate
and almost perpetually animated discussion
about the various possibilities and scenarios
COMMUNITY MESSAGE: Hello friend, We have lost few most valuable original certifi-
cates on 29th June. If you have found any original certificates with the name ‘Shilpa Mun-
nanuri’ on them, please return it to 1/334, Ellerslie-Panmure Highway. Your help would be
highly appreciated and rewarded.
worked alongside as an experienced cast and
crew. My family encourages me to pursue my
interests and expect that I outdo myself every
time in my endeavours.
“It’s important to have dreams, a higher
goal/ vision, and a plan to get there. I’m working
towards my vision with every step and feel
happy for the opportunities I’ve had in life.”
Working with the experienced actors gave
me motivation,” said Vidya.
“TK was very professional in his approach
and it was good to gauge oneself against that.
“Leela is so experienced, good to work with.
Anand was always so collected and calm and
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Community
where there could be even a shred of diver-
gence from the commonly perceived notions
and judgments of the jury members? There is
an adjudicator who is supposed to chair the jury
and make sure a final decision is reached. But
he is also a part of the vote and has to make up
his own mind along with making sure the pro-
ceedings are done without disruptions. Will the
others change their mind? Or will they vote the
young man guilty?
A not to be missed play!
Auditions for the play are currently on and
will be taking place on Sunday 27th June 2010
at 4.00 pm
AUDITION DETAILS:
Venue: Studio 4, Te Tuhi (the mark)
Address: 13 Reeves Road
Pakuranga, Manukau.
Time: 04.00 pm to 06.00 pm
Contact: Prashant Belwalkar
Email: info@might-i.org
Tel: (09) 534 8000 or 027 440 4440
Some male casting is still to be completed.
Those interested may get in touch with
Prashant Belwalkar on 09 534 8000 or 027
440 4440 or email : belwalkar@xtra.co.nz.
We are keen to hear from you. Kindly confirm
your attendance ASAP.
Personality
just kept going – just great.”
Although, starring in a movie was never
in Vidya’s “plan”: she stumbled upon the op-
portunity while doing a stint as a community
coach at Bollyworx, an initiative supported by
the WDHB primarily for South Asians to get
more physically active.
“It is basically grooving and working out to
Bollywood tunes. I am a ‘community coach’
there. I love dance, yoga, swimming and gym,
says Vidya who lived in the city of Trivandrum,
Kerala, where her training in Bharatya Natyam
began at age five.
The family moved to New Zealand when
Vidya was eight, high-schooled at Rutherford
College in Te Atatu.
Her mum works in a managerial role at the
University of Auckland and her dad was a bank
manager and later worked as an accountant. Al-
though he has now passed away, Vidya’s dad
continues to be a “role model” for the family.
Apart from her work with WDHB, Vidya is
also pursuing a post-graduate Business qualifi-
cation with the University of Auckland.
“I am very interested in health and work
full-time in this sector under Waitemata District
Health Board.”
For now, Vidya is confident of “Curry
Munchers” doing well locally and international-
ly as it is a lighthearted look at life of immigrant
families after moving to a new country.
So, does Vidya, who appears to have her feet
firmly on the ground, feel Bollywood calling:
“Maybe, but I am keen on character roles at the
moment.”
For now, Vidya is back to her day-time job.
Indian
“Making people
laugh, is not a joke”
Chaitanya Padukone
Popular international stand-up
comedian Umaesh Pherwani who
has returned after performing in
various foreign cities including
Dubai, New York, Los Angeles and
Amsterdam now has Auckland and
Sydney on his itinerary.
Notorious for his risqué double-
meaning punch-liners and witty
wisecracks, Umaesh managed to
first impress the Dutch club-pub-
hoppers in Amsterdam. “It was a
tough task as the foreigners are
very hard to pleasee.
You have to be damn good out
there to grab attention and ensure
that there are giggles galore.
One has to get a hang of the local
sensibilities, observe the ethnic
flavour and culture of that city be-
fore plunging into the hilari-
ous act.
Making people laugh
is not a joke any more,” shrugs
Pherwani who is “secretly thrilled”
that there are just two other ‘rival’
ace stand-up English comedians
Cyrus Broacha and Vir Das all
over India.
Wasn’t Umaesh facing a ‘zero-
cold-response’ situation at times
during his live shows, when his
jokes fall flat ?
Wearing a mock frown, he ad-
mits,“ Honestly, it happens when
a certain segment of audience
does not relate to my kind of crisp,
naughty repartees and there is a
scary silence. That’s where I have
to come up with an impromptu
alternative ‘Plan B’.
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Bollywood
And fortunately this has worked
10th Anniversary Special
like magic, everytime. Audiences
are aware that my jokes comprise
mainly of interactive ‘adult hu-
mour’ to be gulped with a gener-
ous dash of salt and pepper.
$
And I generally wait for the guests
to finish their initial rounds
of the spirited stuff, so that I
get a ‘high’ response,” chuck-
les Phaerwani who has a loyal
fan-following including ad and
theatre-guru Alyque Padamsee,
Sharon Prabhakar, business baron
Viren Shah, actress Tulip Joshi,
actor-models model Aryan Vaid,
Rakesh Paul, impresario Moham-
med Morani, Chef Max, actor Gary
Richards,actress-models Reshu
and Shifanjali , designer Rohit
Verma and the latest be-
ing the
installation *
this July 2010
‘Bigg Boss’ (Colors Launching Monthly
TV channel) winner Vindoo Dara 10 Premium Times Now Bollywood
Singh .
Channels and Zoom! Magazine
Meanwhile, whatever happened
to this realistic movie ‘Ek Cut-
ting Chai’ ( on the lines of ‘Slum-
Programs delayed
dog Millionaire’) which featured
Umaesh as the lead hero and was to match the
launched amidst media-hype last primetime of Zee Punjabi Multiple
year in April ? New Zealand! add-on channel connections
After a pause he reacts ,” “Eventu-
ally, it seems a nasty April Fool
joke of sorts where I unfortu-
nately became the ‘bakraa’(victim).
Because even after over a year
there is zero further action on that
stalled project, from the UK based
producer’s side. Its sad but true,
that this ‘cutting chai’ is just not *Conditions apply
my cup of tea, I consoled myself, “
he signs off.
All NZ: 0508 933 546
Auckland: 09 621 0520
www.visionasia.co.nz
21
Indian
Bollywood

Imran, Sonam go the Kiwi way

Mumbai: Mushy scenes and gorgeous scenery
for backdrops; wasn’t all that the ‘I Hate Luv
Storys’ (IHLS) gang were after while shoot-
ing in Queenstown, New Zealand.
The adventure capital of the world kept
them just as busy with all the adrenaline-
pumping activities like skydiving and jetboat-
ing; as did Queenstown’s pristine and sublime
scenery.
A romantic comedy, I Hate Luv Storys is
this year’s most anticipated release featuring
Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan for the first
time together on screen!  
Known to be adrenaline junkies, Sonam
and Imran’s dare-devil acts in Queen-
stown, New Zealand began with free-falling
thousands of feet at an awesome adrenalin
pumping 200 kilometers/h with the Nzone
Skydive. Located amidst the most breathtak-
ing scenery in the world, their flight to altitude
took them high above the alpine town, over
crystal clear lakes and snow-capped moun-
tains, making their skydiving experience all
the more worth it. 
 No visit to Queenstown remains complete
without experiencing the award winning Sho-
tover Jet boat ride. And our IHLS stars were
leaving no stone unturned when it came to
extreme sports.
The Shotover Jet boat ride, while speeding
in mere centimeters of water, whipped past
rocky outcrops, skims around crags and boul-
ders, and twisted through the narrow canyons
at breath taking speeds that gave Sonam and
Imran goose bumps and an adrenalin rush that the sheer chance to experience it first hand. We visited
was unforgettable!   excited at the sight beauty of this country. Queenstown is the Mount Cook, Christchurch, Auckland and
“Right since childhood, I have been fasci- of the surrounding clouds and mountain peaks; most breathtaking place I’ve been to in my Queenstown. During the process, I saw
nated with the open skies. And so skydiving in from up there it all looked truly amazing! I life. The landscape is spectacular and very glaciers, something that I had never seen
Queenstown, New Zealand was truly an expe- was euphoric! I’ve travelled the world but I’d diverse,” gushes Sonam Kapoor.  before! My Mount Cook experience was mind
rience out of my dreams. It was simply so fab- never been to New Zealand before. Every-  Actor Imran Khan says, “Queenstown blowing, as I saw the sky changing colours
ulous! From an altitude of 15,000 feet, I was body said you have to go to New Zealand for really is one of the most beautiful places that from blue to orange, it was spectacular! I also
I have been to. Absolutely, everywhere you sky dove and am tempted to go bungying- I’ve
go, the place is sparklingly clean, the wildlife done my fair share and I am definitely coming
nature is just completely untouched and it’s back to New Zealand!” 
really nice to see that people care that much Besides Sky diving and Jet-boating, Imran
GREENSTONE & PAUA FACTORY SHOP about their country. After filming continu- and Sonam along with the rest of the cast and
ously for a little over 2 weeks, we had two off crew of IHLS, were tempted to take a trip on
days to try out some tourism activities. I’m a the Dart River Safari. No surprises that they
bit of a speed freak, so the jet boat ride felt wanted to go for a second round of the fun-
amazing. Though it’s one of the coolest things filled trail.  

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JADE BEADS & CABS I have ever done, the highlight for me has
been skydiving. This is something that I have
MANY DISCOUNTED PAUA & JADE SOUVENIRS always wanted to do all my life!”  the world’s first and most famous of leaps,
Besides the hectic schedule that the cast
31 VERONICA STREET, NEW LYNN and crew had in Queenstown, almost every-
day was a party, says Director Punit Malhotra.
PH: (09) 827-1064  “Before arriving in New Zealand for the
OPEN MONDAY-FRIDAY 9AM TIL 4.30PM filming of I Hate Luv Storys and choosing
Queenstown as the final location, I scouted
SATURDAY 10AM TIL 4PM for locations around the country and got my
And here’s where the entire team of IHLS
ventures to be forthright bold: Home to
the Bunjy jump at the Kawarau Bridge may
have sent chills down their spines but from
43m above the Kawarau River and with 3-4
sec seconds of falling, it gave every member
of the IHLS cast and crew, friends and part-
ners included, a breathtaking ground rush like
no other.

22 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Boman Irani, Shankar
Mahadevan go high
Kolkata: Even the most discerning of the Kolkata
royalty hooted and went wild as actor Boman
Irani and musician Shankar Mahadevan brought
the house down with their jokes, gigs and songs
on Wednesday night at an exclusive evening or-
ganised at a city five star.
The audiences were pleasantly surprised as
Boman Irani turned a full fledged singer and did
a unique rendition of Give Me Some Sunshine
and We Are The World in multiple voices, and a
Anupam beco mes
Bollywood
Pratham’s ambassador
from her home and her mother prepared amazing
Golda Chingrir Malaikari and Ilish Bhape. Food
totally does it for me.”
Asked if he was nervous in hosting, and not
just singing, an entire evening, Mahadevan
replied, “Nervous? Yeah, a lot. But Boman’s fan-
tastic. Once I get up there on stage with him, it
just flows.”
He further said, “It was incredible learning
experience touring with Boman. He’s got super-

Mumbai: The Pratham Education Foun- gramme called “Angrezi OK Please.”

tal organ isatio n “I have always been drawn to the cause
dation, non gover nmen
of childr en’s education which is why I have
working to provide quality education to the
of India, recen tly found ed a School of Life Programme. I am
under privileged children
certai n a lot of synergy will be unleashed
appointed eminent actor Anupam Kher, as nted Goodwill Ambassador
r. in being appoi
their Goodwill Ambassado and in leveraging my media
for Prath am
“It is a pleasure to welcome Anupam ing Pratham’s public
Amba ssado r,” image . By becom
Kher as Pratham Goodwill to augm ent in its fund raising,
face, I hope
said Madhav Chavan, CEO Pratham Edu- cement and other initiatives
capac ity enhan
cation Foundation.
One of the greatest actors of contem- dedicated to the cause of children’s educa-
porar y cinema and recipi ent of the Padm a tion,” said Anupam.
Awar d, Anup am’s critica l and com- As Goodwill Ambassador, Anupam
Shri
100 plays and will under take a planned trip to the USA
mercial success runs over
later this year to meet with and encourage
almost 400 films.
plishm ents as suppo rters of the organisation in associa-
While Anupam’s accom
tion with Pratham’s USA chapter.
an actor are well known, it is his determi- Kher who runs Anupam Kher
to help India’ s Anup am
nation to use his eminence which was founded in April
Found ation,
children go to school and learn well, that a programme module called
t as a Prath am 2008, also has
hilarious stand up gig, at what was the fourth of talent. I’d be willing to do this for the next five has led to his appointmen Life” for educating the street
“Scho ol of
the five-city tour, Teacher’s Origin Highnights, years; definitely something long term.” Goodwill Ambassador. bai.
hostin g Prath am’s childr en in Mum
hosted by Beam Global Spirits and Wine. On being asked about work, he said, “All I can Anupam will also be
“I was a little apprehensive ‘cause I was told say right now is that we (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) informative and educational TV pro-
the Kolkata audience is a mature one and they are working on a new album and it’s going to be
wouldn’t laugh at just anything, but we did fine,” something different.”
Irani said after the show with a chuckle. Boman Irani, who also recently co-hosted
Apart from singing, Irani also shared with the the IIFA (International Indian Film Academy)
audience the story of how he came into showbiz; Awards in Colombo, said, “I find there’s no greater
“Up till the age of 32 I used to work at this wafer pleasure than making people laugh. I love what I
shop in Mumbai and then at a really terrible do. The reaction the applause, it’s very uplifting.”
holiday in Ooty I decided I had to something with Irani who is working on several projects in-
my life,” he said. cluding the sequels of Don and Dostana, said,
“The ‘something’ turned out to be photogra- “Don 2 is something totally new; It’s a completely
phy and then I met choreographer Shiamak Davar, new story, really excited about it.”
Alyque Padamsee and then eventually Raju Asked about working in Bengali cinema, the
Hirnai who gave me a break in his film Munnab- 53-year-old actor replied, “Oh yes, am open to ev-
hai M.B.B.S.” he added. erything; film cinema is the language and I do my
Mahadevan spoke on how songs originated work just for the experience.”

through brainstorming within his group Shankar,
Ehsaan and Loy and also performed his popular
numbers like Breathless and Maa.
“All that there is to music are the seven notes,
everything is created through these, mixed in
various proportions and intensity” he said.
The duo topped the evening with Irani singing
My Way and Mahadevan singing Kal Ho Naa Ho,
together.
After show, when asked about this trip to
Kolkata, Mahadevan said, “Seriously speaking,
one of the best things about this trip was the food;
Sayantani, a member of our team got us lunch
Amongst the audience were singer Usha
Uthup and musician Bikram Ghosh.
Ghosh, who’s new album releases a day later,
said, “I’ve known the duo for quite some time, I
did a tour with Shankar and worked on the score
of Irani’s movie, Little Zizou, they are superbly
talented, it was a a great evening.”
Uthup, who has known Irani since his young
days for she was friends with his sister, was all
praises for the duo; “They were amazing”, she
said.
- Photos Avishek Mitra / IBNS.

Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz 23

Indian
Shamir’s ‘Naman’ to India
Mumbai: When we think of patriotic songs,
a few numbers like, “Ae mere watan ke
logon” comes to our mind and we can im-
mediately recollect the incident when Late
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was in tears while
the nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar,
was singing it live.
“Sandese aate hain” from Border, “Mera
rang de basanti chola” from Legend of
Bhagat Singh, “Maa tujhe salaam” by A. R.
Rahman are few other songs, which defi-
nitely stir a plethora of patriotic emotions
in most Indians.
Now, music composer Shamir Tandon
has recorded a patriotic song “Naman Hai”
with the one of the best male playback
singers in Bollywood - Sonu Nigam.
It happened when Shamir was recording
the song “Naman Hai” for a multi lingual
film “Kandahar”, which is based on the in-
famous Kandahar hijack that happened in
1999.
The movie stars legends like Amitabh
Bachchan and Malayalam superstar Mohan
Lal.
The movie is being produced by Sunil
Nair from Saffron Advisor Productions is
directed by Major Ravi and currently being
shot at Dehradun.
Shamir says, “When I was given the
opportunity of recording a patriotic song,
only one name came to my mind – Sonu
Nigam. He is not only the best singer in the
industry, but he has this amazing voice that
enables him to hit the highest notes. We all
know that Sonu operates from the US these
days.
“ When I expressed a desire to record
‘Naman Hai’ to Sonu, he immediately said
‘yes’ and found time from his busy schedule
to come and record this song. ‘Naman Hai’
has some very high notes, and it was practi-
24
Bollywood
cally impossible for any singer to hit those
notes, without his voice cracking. Initially
I was a bit nervous, because it was a huge
task that I put forth to Sonu.”
“But hats off to Sonu! He practised for
a bit in the studio, and... His magical voice
made the impossible possible. Not only he
managed to hit those higher notes but he
sang them with such ease and such emo-
tions, that everyone in the recording studio
had tears in their eyes.
“No one else other than Sonu could have
done justice to the song. Sonu too was most
delighted and at the end of the recording he
hugged me and thanked me for giving him
this opportunity to explore his own hidden
talent of throatily hitting notes that glob-
ally very few singers can achieve without
shaking their voice,” he said.
He further said, “I am so glad that Sonu
has not only managed to live up to my ex-
pectations, but has surpassed them. Any
other singer in his place would have packed
his bags, because singing on such high notes
can also cause damage to the singer’s voice.
“But today, I can proudly say that our in-
dustry is blessed to have a talent like Sonu
Nigam. And this is our way to pay tribute to
our nation. We are eagerly waiting for the
music release of Kandahar. It is definitely
an album that is very close to my heart.” 
Shamir Tandon is known for his music
in films, including, Rakht, Page 3, Umar,
Corporate, Traffic Signal, Superstar, Acid
Factory and Jail.
His next projects include a nationwide
polio campaign with Mr. Amitabh Bach-
chan, ‘Uut Pataang’ starring Vinay Pathak,
Satish Kaushik’s ‘Hawai Dada’ starring
Anupam Kher, ‘Mumbai Chakachak’ star-
ring Rahul Bose, and Popcorn Films’ ‘Loot’.
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
Mugdha dons bikini
for Bobby
Mumbai: Model-turned-actor Mughda Godse
has gone in for an all new glam and sexy look
in her upcoming film ‘Help’, where she has
powered the film with some hot and sensuous
bikini scenes, flaunting her curvaceous body.
She will also be seen romancing on screen
with co-star Bobby Deol in one of the most un-
conventional pairings today.
  “Help was a big challenge for me as it is a
performance oriented role and on the other hand
I also had to look glamorous in accordance with
looking ghastly, so the efforts doubled up,” said
Mugdha.
“Well, for the bikini shots, I wasn’t conscious
much as I was in the character of Pia (That I play
in Help) and it was requirement for the script and
I am so happy that the result has been so good.
But I had to work real hard to maintain my body
in shape and happy that it shows in the photos,”
she added.
Directed by Debutant Director Rajeev Virani,
‘Help’ is a supernatural horror that draws upon
the story of a malevolent spirit that refuses to
leave the human world.  Protagonist Vic (Bobby
Deol) is a successful horror film director in Bol-
lywood and is married to Pia (Mugdha Godse).  reknowned for his makeup for films like 3 Idiots,
Pia and Vic are having marital problems and
in the midst of their troubled marriage, they have
to rush Mauritus to visit Pia’s ailing father.  Little
do they know that there’s something ancient and
dark that remains still, hidden and silent in the
old house where Pia grew up.  It can only wait,
having been concealed in the shadows for years
and all it wants to do is to strike again!  their wits.”
As the darkness spreads, things start to get
worse and the spirit tries to annihilate every-
thing.   Now Vic and Pia must race against time
to find out the secret which will save their lives. 
Bollywood
Will their love gather the strength to survive
the malevolent spirit or will they witness the
most horrifying truths of their lives in a doomed
attempt to save everything and everyone that
means anything to the both of them. 
“I have done glamorous roles as well as
de-glam roles in the past but with ‘Help’ you
will see me in a role which is much more acting
oriented It is the role of a lifetime and I had to
prepare really hard to inhabit the skin of the char-
acter I was to play,” Mugdha said.
She further said: “I am sure people will like
my sensuous side as well as my acting. My char-
acter had to be really authentic and I must admit
that it was a spooky experience too as the makeup
was such that it gave me the jitters.  The prosthet-
ic makeup for me and the other characters in the
film has been done by Vikram Gaikwad, who is
Kaminey, Ishqiya, and Delhi 6. 
“I am hoping that once the audience has
watched ‘HELP’ they will agree that it is as au-
thentic as can be and see that we have not com-
prised an iota when it comes to quality.  So I am
waiting for the release of our film and hope that
we are successful in scaring the audience out of
Produced by Rupali Aum entertainment Pvt.
Ltd., ‘Help’ is all set to release on August 13 all
over. 

Jay’s cold war with Manish

Mumbai: It’s common knowledge that telly
actor-host Jay Bhanushali, who grinned his
way into everyone’s heart in Seasons 1 & 2 of
Dance India Dance has not taken very kindly to
the fact that Zee TV opted for anchor Manish
Paul and not him to host the channel’s latest
reality show, DID Li’l Masters.
 And their cold vibes and hostility towards
each other were most evident at the recent Bo-
roplus Gold Awards.
As the host of the evening, Manish Paul
decided to have some light hearted fun with
the audience by presenting mock-awards in
the form of a “steel bucket” called the “Baalti”
awards to popular characters on TV who’ve
gone a little overboard with their peculiar styles
and mannerisms.
Having given away funny-looking steel
buckets to a couple of actresses for hamming in
every scene, Manish announced a special Baalti
award for “the one man who has shot to fame by
constantly ridiculing & humiliating himself on
television.”
At this point, Jay Bhanushali got up and
marched to the stage on his own saying, “Yes,
it’s ok. I know it’s me. You don’t even need to
announce my name”.
Not about to take Manish’s joke at his
expense lying low, Jay cleverly retorted, “But
trust me, Manish, the channel paid me more
because I agreed to let them poke fun at me” be your Akshara.”
What followed was a volley of snide jokes Even before Heena could bask in the glory of
and nasty leg-pulling between the two DID the award and enjoy her moment of recognition,
anchors that had to be cut short by Manish’s hostess for the evening, actor Kavita Kaushik
co-host for the evening, Kavita Kaushik before cattily remarked to her co-host Manish Paul,
things could take an ugly turn! “Manish, wasn’t this award supposed to be for
Meanwhile, gorgeous Heena Khan who healthy skin? I wonder why Heena thanked her
plays Akshara on Star Plus serial ‘Yeh Rishta producer and director for it. Or maybe they do
kya Kehlata Hai’ was delighted when she was have something to do with it!”
presented the “Healthy Skin Award” at the Completely shocked out of her wits, Heena
recent Boroplus Gold Awards. is said to have expressed complete disgust at
Blushing profusely as she went up on stage Kavita’s bitchy reaction. 
to clinch her trophy, Heena said, “I’d love to Kavita Kaushik, on the other hand, couldn’t
thank my producer and director for having so care less and was heard telling people that
much faith in me and giving me the chance to Heena needs to learn to take jokes!

Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz 25

Indian
Sameera excited about
Red Alert
Mumbai: Actor Sameera Reddy is back in news
for her upcoming flick ‘Red Alert-The War
Within’ where he is playing a Maoist.
Sameera plays a character named Lakshmi
in the film.
 “Director Anant Mahadevan had thought of
shooting this movie in the jungles of Telangana
in the first place. But the shooting was done in
the jungles of Lonavala and Khandala and all of
us know it’s quite difficult to shoot in jungles,”
said Sameera sounding excited about her new
film.
Asked if she was apprehensive about taking
up the role (something different from what she
has been doing so far), Sameera said: “Unlike
most films, ‘Red Alert’ is based on true inci-
26
dents; which is why I thought of acting in it.
When Anant narrated the script, I liked it very
much. According to me audience too will like
this movie as its story outlines how a farmer
is forced to pick-up weapons when he has no
options left. Even my role is very interesting.”
With a host of actors (including Vinod
Khanna and Seema Biswas) in the film, did
Sameera get a chance to show her actor side?
  “Yes, definitely everyone got to play how
much ever role he/she were outlined. I am quite
happy with the role I got to play. I also learned
a lot from my co-actors,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sameera has signed ‘Mahayod-
ha Ram’, ‘Race-2’ and an unnamed Tamil film.
‘Producers like my serious face’
Mumbai: After playing ‘Bandit Queen’,
actor Seema Biswas is all set to play a Naxalite
in ‘Red Alert-The War Within’.
“Being it a realistic movie the real problem
behind naxalism is shown very closely in it. It
showcases what all a farmer does to earn livli-
hood for himself and his family and ultimately
lands up becoming a Naxalwadi when he has no
options left,” said Seema
She plays the role of Sarala, a well-educated
women who in order to fight against the system
joins the Naxalwadi group.
But doesn’t it sound similar to ‘Bandit
Queen’?
“No, it is not at all similar, this film is purely
commercial,” said Seema.
But why is that Seema is always seen serious
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Bollywood
role?
 “May be the producers like my serious face,
I too want to make my viewers laugh,” the actor
said laughing out aloud.
  “But know what, filmmaker Shekhar
Kapoor selected me for his ‘Bandit Queen’ after
watching my comedy play. Never mind, I have
been promised by Sanjay Leela Bhansali that
he will be giving me a comic role in one of his
movies,” she said.
When asked to her favorite performance so
far, Seema said: “Actually all the roles which
I play are close to my heart. I enact it as if I’m
that person.  However, I loved acting in ‘BandIt
Queen’ and ‘Khamoshi’.”
The next projects in Seema’s pipeline are
‘Bhopal’ and ‘Society’.
Indian
Stars sizzle for
Mr Singh Mrs Mehta  
Mumbai: A special show of film ‘Mr. Singh
Mrs. Mehta’ was recently held in PVR Cinemas,
Juhu, Mumbai.
The film’s leading lady Aruna Shields
had specially flown back to India (as she was
abroad) for this special screening.
Aruna is already the talk of the town for her
controversial nude scenes in the film.
 First entries were made by the film’s direc-
tor, Pravesh Bhardwaj, Boney Kapoor, Ashwini
Chaudhary, Piyush Jha, Ramesh Sippy with
wife Kiran Juneja, Karan Oberoi, Satish
Kaushik, Rajesh Khattar with his soul-
The Japanese Wife  ‘Hip Hop’ Raas Leela
wins Star awards
Mumbai: Filmmaker Aparna Sen’s
latest flick ‘The Japanese Wife’ has
recently bagged three awards at Star
Entertainment Awards.
‘The Japanese Wife’ won the Best
Film Award, while Aparna Sen
bagged the Best Director Award and
Anay Goswamy received the Best
Cinematography Award.
On receiving the awards, Aparna
said “It’s the most lyrical and hu-
morous film I have made so far, an
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
mate, Anil Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor with wife.
Aruna Shields was the centre of attraction
wearing a black back-less gown. “I hope people
in India like my film,” she said.
The other guests who engraced the show
were producer Tutu Sharma with actress-wife
Padmini Kolhapure and sister-in-law Tejaswini
Kolhapure, actor Prashant Narayanan, Sudhir
Mishra, producer Manu Kumaran and Vashu
Bhagnani. The last entry was made by Poonam
Dhillon, who was looking beautiful in a light
green Anarkali dress.
Mumbai: Ever imagined how a Raas Leela would
play out in the year 2060? The latest episode of Zee
TV’s dance reality show DID Li’l Masters chal-
lenges its talented kids to let their imagination run
wild and present “futuristic” dance performances
that transport the audience to the year 2060!
Bringing alive a modern-age Vrindavan,
Dharmesh “Sir” is said to have choreographed a
spectacular Raas Leela act featuring li’l Ruturaj
and Vaishnavi as Krishna & Gopi.
Set to a hip, trendy remix of the classical tune
‘Kaahe Chhed Mohe’  from the film Devdas,
Dharmesh’s new-age interpretation of the Raas
Leela is infused with elements of Hip Hop.
improbable love story, which unfolds Giving this dance act a standing ovation,Master
through letters.. This film is different Remo D’souza, who appeared on the sets as a guest
judge, said: “Now, that’s what I call a performance!”
to the extent that such a film has not
Judge Farah Khan continued, “Capturing the
been attempted before. Any one who
innocence of the flirtation between Krishna & Gopi
has a heart, a sense of humor and with grace is no joke even for adult professional
an eye for beauty will respond to The dancers. And to think that Ruturaj and Vaishnavi
Japanese Wife.  These awards go to managed to pull off this feat mid-air hanging from
prove that the film has touched the a harness is just awe-inspiring!”
hearts of the viewers.” Another WOW moment in the episode was
when Dharmesh joined hands for the very first time
The film was released on April 9, fol- with his bow-idol Master Remo to the catchy ‘Dil
lowed by a special screening at Cra- Toh Bachcha Hai Ji’ track.
cow Festival, in Poland.   Meanwhile, with the kids shining like twin-
kling stars on every episode of DID Li’l Masters,
every parent is eager to ensure that their child has
a long innings on the show and continues to dazzle
Bollywood
his or her way right to the top! And Khushboo’s
mother is no exception.
After a minor fall dislocated li’l Khushboo’s
elbow recently, the girl has been advised complete
rest for 2 weeks.
With every single performance of Khushboo
meeting with grand applause from the judges and
audience alike, this unfortunate development is
said to have cast a shadow on her prospects in the
show.
Disheartened by the turn of events, Khush-
boo’s teary-eyed mother said, “My Khushboo is
extremely talented. I request the judges to allow her
to participate in the show. She’s quite fine now and
should not miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime op-
portunity.”
 Master Remo D’souza, the visiting judge on
DID Li’l Masters for the latest episode asked the
lady to calm down.
 He said, “M’am, I request you not to thrust your
own personal ambitions on Khushboo. She’s a gem
and without a doubt, she will go places. But there’s
a right time for everything. At DID, a child’s health
and well-being is of the highest priority. Khushboo
will dance only and only when the doctors certify
that there is no risk to her elbow in the longer run.”
  Having understood that the channel’s decision
is in the best interests of her daughter, Khushboo’s
mom got her act together and agreed to let her
daughter just stay on and enjoy the rest of the show
without any pressure.
27
Indian
A myth we have inherited
ram lingam
The Aryan theory of invasion gave us a false sense of history and identity, but modern historians and Indic scholars have completely
annulled and rejected this false theory.
Let’s take the history lesson most of us learnt in
our school days. Though we come to understand
that we have inherited a lot of good stuff from
our deep cultural heritage, there is however one
myth about the ‘Āryan’ theory of invasion into
India that has been shoved down our throats.
According to this theory, the so-called Āryans,
the original people behind the Vedas (the oldest
scriptures of Hinduism), were reinterpreted
not as sages and seers - the rishis and yogis
of Hindu historical tradition - but as primitive
plunderers. Naturally this cast a shadow on the
Hindu religion and culture as a whole.
We need to know more about this myth
as this comes in the way of who we really are
and the source of our deep culture. Due to this
myth perpetrated by colonial historians, it been
thrust on us we are ‘Dravidians’ subjugated
by the ‘Āryans’. Correcting this myth thereby
will alter the very fabric of how we interpret
ourselves and our ancient civilization. In fact
the word ‘Dravid’ refers to the geographical
‘Panch Dravida area’ extending from central
India down south i.e. Andhra, Tamil Nadu and
Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Konkan
and also Gujarat. So the term Dravid is used in
Indian literature to denote lands to the south of
Vindhya ranges.
The Deccan Herald on June 25, 2010 reports
that “The intelligentsia and even the politicians
were in for shock at the World Classical Tamil
Conference in Coimbatore, when a Finland-
based Indologist Prof Asko Parpola turned
the spotlight on a Dravidian-Āryan continuum
Heritage
while demolishing the Āryan-Dravidian divide idea. Dr.David Frawley a famed Vedic scholar egorically reject this invasion theory on various
as a myth”. who runs the American Institute of Vedic grounds and evidences in archeology, skeletal
Even the previous head pontiff of the Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico remarks that remains, geography, mathematics, astronomy,
Kanchi Kamakoti Math ~ Sri Chandrashekar- “one of the main ideas used to interpret and linguistics and so on that was given no credence
endra Saraswati Swamigal confirms that “It is generally devalue the ancient history of India by the proponents of the Āryan invasion.
wrong to classify the people of this land into is the theory of the Āryan invasion. Accord- From the works of modern Indic scholars
Āryan and Dravidian. In ing to this account, India authors like Subhash Kak, Dr.N.S.Rajaram and
Sanskrit, Ārya means, was invaded and con- George Feuerstein, we learn that there was no
worthy of respect, and From the works of modern Indic quered by nomadic light- such thing as an ‘Āryan invasion’ of India. Try
anaarya means, not skinned Indo-European googling these authors to read some of their
worthy of honour or scholars authors like Subhash tribes from Central Asia preliminary works. It’s really interesting, if not
worship. Whoever is around 1500-100 BC, simply enlightening.
worthy of respect or Kak, Dr.N.S.Rajaram and George who overthrew an earlier Āryan invasion theory is being now clas-
sified as a myth based upon a few idle conjec-
honour is Ārya, and
therefore, Āryans are
Feuerstein, we learn that there and more advanced dark-
skinned Dravidian civi- tures of German scholar Max Muller along with
not people belonging to was no such thing as an ‘Aryan lization from which they a couple of scraps of misinterpreted evidence,
any particular part of the took most of what later an ideology masquerading as historical ‘fact’
country”. He often used invasion’ of India. became Hindu culture.” because it fitted in so well with the Imperialist
to say that this Āryan- In his book ‘Demise ambitions of the West. This could be disturbing
Dravidian divide was a of the Āryan Invasion to those without tenable evidence or who lack
canard created by the erstwhile British rulers of Theory’ he mentions that “This idea totally the open-mindedness due to a colonial hang-
India in their continuing efforts to explore and foreign to the history of India, whether north or over of the Eurocentric historians and profes-
exploit all the avenues of continued differences south has become almost an unquestioned truth sors who are now struggling to explain new
between the people of India, so as to sustain in the interpretation of ancient history. Today, evidences with their outdated theories.
themselves in power. ‘Āryans’ does not refer to after nearly all the reasons for its supposed va- Today, there is no real evidence for any
a particular race but rather refer to character- lidity have been refuted, even major Western Āryan invasion – whether archeological, liter-
istics that are common to a broad set of people scholars are at last beginning to call it in ques- ary or linguistic and no honest scholar working
belonging to the Indian civilisation. ‘Āryan’, lit- tion.” in the field accepts this invasion. This so-called
erally, is nothing but an anglicised form of ad- But today, the Āryan invasion or migration invasion misrepresents Hindu-Vedic culture,
dressing the Ārya. The root word is only Ārya into India have been annulled and completely which has traditionally been peaceful. To quote
which means ‘noble’. rejected by modern historians and Indic schol- Swami Vivekananda: “There is not one word in
The Āryan invasion theory has been used ars, obviously based on evidence. Based on such our scriptures, not one, to prove that the Āryans
for political and religious advantage in a way new evidence an entire group of scholars has ever came from anywhere outside India.... The
that is perhaps unparalleled for any historical arisen from both India and the West who cat- whole of India is Āryan, nothing else.”

President General Secretary

Paul Singh Bains J.P. Rajeev (Raj) Singh Thandi J.P.
Phone: +64 21 167 3974 Phone: +64 21 333 604
Email: president@nzindians.org.nz Email: secretary@nzindians.org.nz

Vice President Harshadbhai Patel [027 447 5706] | Assistant Secretary Raj Bedi [021 241 1424] | Treasurer Manjit Singh [021 781 902]

Ten Reasons for Joining the Indian Association in your area

1. Link with your proud roots 7. Be responsible and participate in feedback process
for any legislation
2. Project Real Rich Indian Culture for your own self
esteem 8. Every increase in membership helps to bargain
benefits for the community
3. Give opportunity to your children to network within
their community 9. Opportunity to contribute towards India - New
Zealand friendship
4. Avenue for participation in association organized
events to nurture your own talent 10. Be part of the change that you want to see.

5. Be self respectful and voice your concerns about Please visit

any discrimination www.nzindians.org.nz
to find the details of the Indian Association in your area
6. Get support for immigration, superannuation,
trade, safety or any other related matter

Affiliated Branches Auckland | Bay of Plenty | Central Districts | Christchurch | Country Section | Manukau | Pukekohe | Taranaki | Waikato | Wellington
Associate Members NZ Punjabi Cultural Association Inc | New Zealand Kannada Koota Inc | Probasee Bengali Association of NZ Inc | Auckland Marathi Association Inc | New Zealand Telugu Association Inc
| Muth Tamil Sangam Inc
Probationary Associate Members Auckland Malayali Samajam www.nzindians.org.nz

28 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Mortgage interest rates reviewed
RAVI MEHTA
Existing home owners and prospective
buyers are always looking for an answer to
this question.
On July 2, the New Zealand Herald pub-
lished an opinion of Westpac Bank about
expected changes to New Zealand house
prices over coming few years. According to
Westpac, the house prices are only slightly
overvalued, the rents are expected to rise
and house prices to go down by around 2%
per year over next two-year period.
Other analysts are also of the view that
rents will rise over coming few months as
the properties will be returning less tax
benefits to landlords due to withdrawal of
depreciation deduction on buildings with
effect from April 1, 2011.
At present property investors can claim
depreciation on buildings at the rate of 2% or
3% of building value depending on straight
line or diminishing value method they
choose. Take an example here, on a house of
$400,000; if building is valued at $200,000
for an example (other $200,000 being land
value), the yearly depreciation is $6000, cal-
culated on 3% depreciation rate. Depending
on an investor’s marginal tax rate, his/her
tax benefits will be lowered by $1200-$2280
per year when depreciation is disallowed.
How much of this will be recovered from
tenants is difficult to answer. But even if
half of it is recovered from tenants in terms
of increased rents, the typical property in-
vestor’s cash inf low will be lower by $600 to
$1140 per year per property.
What will be the impact on house prices
WEEKENDCUISINE
Corn and pea
creamy soup
Recipe by Ruby Dhillon
INGREDIENTS:
• 3 cups of water ( 600ml ) • 1 cup green peas • 1 can of baby corns – cut in small pieces
• 1 small onion finely chopped • 1 tsp crushed garlic paste • 50ml cream
• 2 tsp butter or meadowlea spread • ½ cup – croutons ( bread crumb pieces )
• Salt to taste
METHOD:
• Take a pan and add the 3 cups of water along
with green peas, chopped baby corns, garlic,
onion and salt. Bring the water to a boil and
simmer till the ingredients are tender( usually
10 minutes).
• Cool and use a mixer/blender to make a
smooth puree’.
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
In Auckland, there is limited supply of new
houses. The new building activity is very
slow. The primary reason is lack of finance
opportunities available to builders and
developers. This situation may continue in near
term future. It will help stability in house prices.
of lost $600 to $1140 per year remains to be
seen. Is this amount that significant so as
to adversely impact property prices in a big
way?
In Auckland, there is limited supply of
new houses. The new building activity is
very slow. The primary reason is lack of
finance opportunities available to builders
and developers. This situation may continue
in near term future. It will help stability in
house prices.
There is uncertainty about pace of global
economic recovery. It has both positives
and negatives for New Zealand economy
and thus housing. Over the past few weeks,
due to worries about global recovery, in the
US, 30 year mortgage interest rate has gone
• Pour the puree’ back into the pan and bring it
to a boil and add cream just before serving. Add
croutons to garnish.
• Serve hot – will serve 3 persons.
down to levels not seen in last 50 years.
(source: www.cnbc.com). In New Zealand
also the banks have reduced fixed rates for
2 to 5 year maturity periods. It is due to the
fact that there is less likelihood that interest
rates in major economies will be increased
soon. Even Reserve bank in New Zealand
will pause to raise OCR if world economic
situation worsens.
If the interest rates stay low, it will help
stability in housing market. If the rents go up
and interest rates remain low, it will narrow
the gap between mortgage repayments and
rents, which will encourage more people to
buy houses who were renting otherwise.
It is not that easy to get a mortgage now
as was the case couple of years ago. If the
Columns
situation changes for the better, the banks
become more willing and relax their lending
policies, it will boost property prices
Over the past few weeks, though activity
in real estate is very low, the house prices
have been fairly stable. The reason is there
is no glut of properties available for sale and
the vendors, though have become realistic
in terms of their expectations about prices
they want, are not giving away easily and are
holding on to their prices.
So what is the good time to buy a house?
There is no good or bad time as such.
There are social and emotional consider-
ations involved in owning a house in addi-
tion to financial considerations. Remember,
one can sell at peak and buy at bottom only
by chance, as peaks and bottoms are impos-
sible to predict. The only mistake one should
avoid is taking too big mortgage whose ser-
vicing can be a problem at a later stage. One
should think carefully about how much loan
one should take. The factors like impact
on mortgage repayments of increase in in-
terest rates, risk of incomes being reduced
in future, etc., should be considered before
deciding on how much mortgage one should
take. Everyone should make a decision about
buying a house according to their own indi-
vidual circumstances.
- Ravi Mehta is an Auckland based
Financial Advisor and can be contacted on
ravi.mehta@pfsl.co.nz. A disclosure state-
ment as required under Securities Act 1988
is freely available on request.
29
Indian
New talk packs for India Focusing on Indian kiwis
and China from 2degrees
2degrees, New Zealand’s newest mobile
network company, today released two
new pre-pay international Talk Packs. The
India120 and China120 International Talk
Packs provide 120 minutes of calling time
to any mobile or landline in those coun-
tries for just $10.
The new Talk Packs, combined with the
recently released $10 Text Pack, the $6
50MB Data Pack and the Everyone100
Talk Pack, means that 2degrees pre-pay
customers can enjoy even better value on
the things they use the most.
According to Larrie Moore, chief market-
ing officer for 2degrees: “These new
calling packs are ideal for those people in
New Zealand who want to contact friends
and family back home in India, China and
Hong-Kong at fantastic prices.”
The India120 and China120 (which in-
cludes calls to Hong-Kong) provide great
calling rates – effectively 8.3c per minute
- to call countries that many new New
Zealand, students and visitors call on a
regular basis.
“At such a low rate, why would you deal
with complicated international calling
30
cards and risk poor call quality, when you
can call home whenever you want directly
from your mobile?” said Larrie.
How to Buy the New Packs
The new Packs are available for purchase
by texting a shortcode to 233.
• India120 – text ‘buy india120’ to 233
• China120 – text ‘buy china120’ to 233
The Packs are valid for 30 days, and can
be purchased multiple times each month.
More than 200,000 New Zealanders have
joined 2degrees since it launched in
August 2009 with the promise of bringing
better value to New Zealand mobile users.
More than 75,000 of these customers
have brought their number with them from
another mobile network.
For full terms and conditions visit:
www.2degreesmobile.co.nz
For further information contact
Bryony Hilless Head of Corporate Com-
munications – 2degrees
T: 09 919 7045
M: 022 288 8882 E: bryony.
hilless@2degreesmobile.co.nz
Hon Pansy Wong, Minister for Ethnic Affairs
For a very long time I have held, and
made public, the belief that ethnic New
Zealanders’ international linkages and
business skills have not been fully appreci-
ated beyond their own communities. For
this reason, the Office of Ethnic Affairs is
holding a series of business forums where
ethnic business people, mainstream busi-
nesses and government agencies can
come together to forge relationships and
exchange ideas. The series started with
Muslim, ASEAN and China focused forums;
the next one planned is on India. These
three forums have already generated much
interest and follow-up actions.
At the time that the Office of Ethnic Affairs
is powering full steam ahead in deliver-
ing one of its three priorities, to maximise
ethnic business peoples’ trans-national
and cultural skills for domestic and eco-
nomic gains, it was timely for me to host
in June, Mr Vayalar Ravi, India’s Minister
of Overseas Indian Affairs. Minister Ravi’s
government shares the value that the New
Zealand Government places on our ethnic
communities; in this case, Indian kiwis.
Over dinner, Minister Ravi, myself and
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi discussed a wide
range of issues affecting Indian communi-
ties here, including religion, immigration
and domestic issues.
Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz
Column
Minister Ravi was pleased to hear that
the Office of Ethnic Affairs’ next business
forum will have an Indian focus. Both of
us believe that Indian kiwis can and should
play a part in the free trade negotiations
between our two countries.
Our two countries have shared a warm
relationship for a long time because there
is much we have in common, for example:
we are both English speaking democracies
with a love of cricket. Our Indian kiwis have
surely played an important part as well.
My numerous interactions with Indian
communities have included attending
celebrations for Indian Republic Day, Diwali
and Vaisakhi. All of these have deepened
my knowledge of India and, as they are
frequently open to the public, no doubt
many other New Zealanders have gained a
similar appreciation.
I was impressed with Minister Ravi’s long
political history, my own 14 years in Parlia-
ment pale in comparison. Not to mention
that he has some 25 million overseas
Indians to reach with his portfolio.
Minister Ravi was passionate in his descrip-
tion of India and its various states and I
am looking forward to visiting with fellow
Indian kiwis to foster a closer relationship
between our two countries.
Indian
Column

What is Underwriting?
Oliver Pereira
When you apply for insurance with a Life In-
surance company your adviser and the Insur-
ance companies aim is to make the process as
simple as possible.
The insurance company reviews your appli-
cation to ensure that you are charged the correct
premium and that you qualify for the cover
you have applied for. The questions you have
answered in your application usually provide
the Underwriter with sufficient information
but sometimes they may need to obtain further
details.
In some instances this may require you to
either see your doctor, meet with one of the In-
surance Company’s nurses or provide addition-
al information by utilising their Telephone Un-
derwriting service. Additionally the Insurance
Company may write to your doctor to obtain
further medical history.
All this information helps the Insurance
Company to assess your application and deter-
mine the nature of the contract or policy that
they will offer you. It is extremely important
that the information you provide is truthful,
complete, correct and given in good faith. Once
all the information is made available to the In-
surance Company the process of Underwriting
starts.
Underwriting is the process used by insur-
ance companies to figure out how risky it is to
insure people and businesses. It also helps them
to decide how much to charge the customer and
Every insurance company has its own set of
underwriting guidelines to help it decide
whether to insure an applicant, to what extent
and at what cost. With life insurance, for example,
the underwriters use a combination of factors in
calculating the risk of death, and pricing the cover.
how much coverage they should receive.
Because not all risks are equal, some poli-
cies will be more expensive than others, and
may have conditions attached to them. An in-
surance company also needs to be confident
that it has enough money in its pool of funds to
pay out claims when they arise.
In short, underwriting is about fairness
between all parties and getting the balance right
between the risks, costs and likelihood of a
claim being made. Without this process, people
could be charged more than is fair for the cover
they need, or, in a worst-case scenario, an insur-
ance company might have insufficient funds to
pay legitimate claims.
Every insurance company has its own set
of underwriting guidelines to help it decide
whether to insure an applicant, to what extent
and at what cost. With life insurance, for
example, the underwriters use a combination
of factors in calculating the risk of death, and
pricing the cover. These include such things
as age, sex, weight, occupation, smoking and
drinking habits, hobbies and travel.
During the application process, the under-
writers may decide to make a counter-offer,
in which the premiums have been adjusted or
‘loaded’, or in which various exclusions have
been added, to ensure fairness in the event that
a claim needs to be paid.
When a counter-offer is made by an Insur-
ance Company take the time to understand the
reasons behind the special terms offered. It may
be that even though the exclusions are made on
your policy or your premiums loaded for addi-
tional risk, it may work towards your favour to
start of with and as your health improves these
exclusions & loadings could be reviewable.
Alternatively it may be prudent at times
to ensure that you have received a fair
special terms offer by benchmarking that
offer & comparing it to what other insurance
companies may provide. Talk to your adviser
to see how you can go about it.
The above information has been pro-
vided to serve only as a guideline to assist
in evaluating your insurance needs. You are
encouraged to do your own research before
arriving at any decisions.
- For further information,
please contact:
Oliver Pereira –
OPM Insurance Services Ltd.
Ph. 0800 66 77 92, Faxmail. 021 551
669, Mobile. 021 66 77 92
Email. oliver.pereira@xtra.co.nz

b.line tackles public transport disbelievers

 The Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) and bus op-
erator, NZ Bus, with the support of Auckland City Councils Trans-
port Committee, has officially launched b.line. b.line is the first
visually identifiable, simple to use, high frequency bus service for
Dominion and Mt Eden Roads. The b.line service includes b.line
branded buses, bus flags and bus stops. b.line buses are scheduled
to run a minimum of every fifteen minutes from 7am to 7pm every
week day. Over time, additional, high frequency b.line services
will be implemented throughout the region.
 ARTAs General Manager Customer Services, Mark Lambert
said, While public transport in Auckland has achieved very good
growth during the past five years we are now focused on public
transport making an even greater contribution to moving people
around Auckland. This requires a step change in public transport
planning and performance by ARTA as outlined in the recently re-
leased Auckland Regional Passenger Transport Plan 2010 (RPTP).
A huge potential target market for public transport exists in
Auckland. For many people their perception of public transport is
based on an experience from years ago. Although there is still work
to be done, a great deal has happened in respect of service levels
and infrastructure development during that time which many
Aucklanders simply arent aware of.
High frequency bus corridors represent a good starting point
for us in our drive to encourage even more people back to public
transport. ARTA has identified twenty plus such corridors in the
region which will over time and working with our bus operators
in the region, be developed to meet the fifteen minutes or less fre-
quency and branded b.line services.
Mr Lambert said, Research on bus travel conducted in late
2009 by Colmar Brunton using 504 respondents, both public trans-
port and non public transport users, showed  there were a set of key
indicators when making a choice, or not, to use public transport.   tive to car use.
In order to make public transport a viable choice, respondents
wanted to be able to clearly identify the bus stops, shelters and
timetables of high frequency bus services. They also wanted high
frequency services to run a minimum of every fifteen minutes and
to have real time bus arrival information which we are delivering
via web, text messaging and, where available a real time sign at
bus stops. Respondents also wanted a percentage of the route to be
a bus priority lane at peak times. Simplification of bus routes was
also key as many people found the system overly complex.
Following on from the Colmar Brunton research, ARTA de-
veloped the b.line concept working with NZ Bus and tested the
concept with a panel of Aucklanders.  Fifty nine per cent of respon-
dents said if we satisfied the indicators identified in the research
they were likely to increase their public transport usage. Sixty
two per cent found the images we proposed using, cheerful, fresh,
lively, friendly and fun, making using the service much more ap-
pealing.
While fifteen minute or less service frequency already exists
on Dominion and Mt Eden Roads and patronage is very good at
peak times, we want to up the ante and encourage those who havent
considered using public transport before and who might well use
services outside of peak times, such as students and families, to
realise that, increasingly, public transport is a very viable alterna-
Chief Executive of NZ Bus, Bruce Emson said, b.line repre-
sents a significant step forward for our customers who tell us that
one of the biggest barriers to catching a bus in Auckland is the com-
plexity of the public transport system.  b.line simplifies the experi-
ence and we are confident that Aucklanders will embrace it and our
investment in new buses on the b. line, which are now on the road.

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32 Indian Weekender | July 9, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz