IndianWeekender #57

Indian July 22, 2011 Volume 3, No. 7

For Free distributioN

www.iwk.co.nz

Community | 11Fiji to try new

approach to tourism

Bollywood | 22Fiji | 21

New Zealand’s first Indian weekend magazine

The Pulse of Kiwi Indians

DIPLOMA IN BEAUTY SERVICESPATHWAY TO SKILLED EMPLOYMENTINTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

+64 9 309 0689www.cutabove.ac.nz

ENROL NOW

Yogathan in New Zealand

from every Kiwi Indian Family will create sufficient funds for a Fully Equipped Ambulancewww.indianweekender.co.nz

Community’s heart-warming gesture to

takes Auckland

The 20 billion Indian gym for the mind

Hrithik's Agneepath Look revealed

Pg 2

Pg 5

Pg 17

2 Indian Weekender | July 22, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian

Community’s heart-warming gesture to Sir Anand

The New Zealand Indian Central Association along with the Pukekohe Indian Association hosted a heartwarming function to felicitate Governor General of New Zealand Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, at the end of his role as the Queen’s nineteenth representative of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Hundreds from the community gathered at the well-appointed venue in Pukekohe on the evening of July 9 to accord the well-loved Governor General and his wife Lady Susan Satyanand a fond farewell to remember.

New Zealand’s first Governor General of Indian and Pacific heritage was born and raised in Auckland. His father Mutyala Saty-anand, a medical doctor, and mother Tara mi-grated here from Fiji in 1911. Sir Anand was born on July 22, 1944. It is fitting that this tribute appears in the Indian Weekender issue that coincides with his birthday.

Initially, he tried to follow his father’s

vocation enrolling at Otago’s medical school but soon gave up, deciding to pursue instead a career in law back in the city of his birth, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Auckland in 1970.

He worked as a lawyer for the next 12 years, initially at a law firm and then as a bar-rister for the Crown Law Office. He served on the Council of the Auckland District Law Society from 1979 until his appointment as a judge of the District Court of New Zealand in 1982. In 1995 he was appointed an ombuds-man and he served two five-year terms.

Sir Anand assumed the office of the Gov-ernor General on August 23, 2006. Following the changes to the honours system announced by Prime Minister John Key on 8 March 2009, the Queen approved Sir Anand’s redesigna-tion from a PCNZM (Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) to a GNZM (Knight Grand Companion) on March 27, 2009.

New Zealand

Remembering a dear mate…Nagin Lala went to school with Sir Anand

in Ponsonby. He said he never thought his

classmate would one day be the Governor

General. Mr Lala remembered Sir Anand’s

father, known popularly as Dr Saty, who

ran a surgery in Ponsonby.

Sir Anand’s mother Taraben was a very

traditional Indian lady, though his father

and the Sir Anand himself “were very kiwi”,

Mr Lala said.He remembered Sir Anand as a placid

boy, not much into sports but bright in his

studies.

New Zealand’s first Governor General of Indian and Pacific heritage was born and raised in Auckland. His father Mutyala Satyanand, a medical doctor, and mother Tara migrated here from Fiji in 1911. Sir Anand was born on July 22, 1944.

Speaking at the event in Pukekohe, Sir Anand acknowledged many from the Indian community with whom his paths had crossed during his eventful career as successful lawyer, judge, ombudsman, Governor General and above all, as a community leader – a well-loved man of the people.

Among those present were a number of people who have been closely associated with Sir Anand for decades, some of them even from his primary school days. For many of the guests, the occasion was a long, nostalgic walk down memory lane.

He personally acknowledged his family’s long term friendships the Indian community: he mentioned the Giridhars, Bhakta Das and Saroj Prasad among many others, narrating little incidents that seemed deeply embedded in his memory in a fond way.

Two of these were about how Pukekohe-grown garlic found their way to Nausori in Fiji as part of a passenger’s baggage and about guessing games that were played about the colour of the turban that long time associate Ganges Singh would wear to an occasion.

He said that connections with the Indian

community went back all those decades and those were reaffirmed when he was accorded an emotional felicitation on his appointment as Governor General. “India as part of my heri-tage was cemented on my first day as Gover-nor General with garlands and a tilak from the Indian community,” he said.

Over the 200 years that Indian have been living in New Zealand, the community had made many contributions, Sir Anand said. He recalled his trip with former NZICA President Ratilal Champaneri to the small town of Milton in Otago to commemorate the 150th anniver-sary of the discovery of gold in New Zealand, at which a statue of discoverer Gabriel Reed’s statue was unveiled.

Though it was Reed who discovered the ore, it was an Indian, Edward Peters by name, who had pointed it to him, Sir Anand said. Peters had come to New Zealand under what could politely be termed as “informal immi-gration”, he said to laughter from the audience. A museum in Lawrence in central Otago had an “Edward Peters Corner”, he added.

The Indian community had “flowered and matured” over the years, he said. “In the 1970s

Dev NaDkarNI

Professional Financial Solutions Ltd40 A Fowlds Ave, Sandringham, AucklandPh: 09 846 9934 Email: [email protected]

FEATURES SERVICES

- Upto 95% Home Loans

- Business Loans

- Life/Trauma/Medical Insurance

- Redundancy/Mortgage Protection Insurance

- KiwiSaver/Retirement Saving Scheme

- Rental Property Returns/LTC setup

- Small Business Tax Returns

- Information on Wills and Trusts

CALL US TODAY TO DISCUSS YOUR FINANCIAL NEEDS

Ravi Mehta021 181 0076

Rohit Takyar021 172 8962

Accredited member of

Mortgage Brokers | Insurance Brokers | Financial Advisers | Tax Consultants

Professional Financial Solutions provides the best advice on all financial matters

“We not only provide great home loans but also advise you on how to repay them faster”

A disclosure statement as required under Securities Act 1988 is freely available on request

Ravi Mehta is an Authorised Financial Adviser who can offer you Financial Planning Services

Indian New Zealand

A moving, personal tributeLong time associate, friend and legal luminary Thakorbhai Parbhu spoke engagingly about Sir Anand at the evening, peppering his address with little known anecdotes that revealed many biographical and personal facets of the Governor General. Excerpts:

“Your connection with the Indian community goes back to your late Father – Dr Sati as he was affectionately called. He practised at 201 Ponsonby Road. He originally came from Fiji and on completion of his medical degree was supported by the Indian Association for residency in New Zealand. He was one of our first Indian doctors in New Zealand.”

“You are the by-product of a good family. Your late father and your mother Taraben were respected stalwarts and great supporters of the Indian community. You married a lovely girl – Lady Susan, a Legal Executive from the law firm of Cairns Slane & Co. and you both raised your lovely family.”

“My personal reflections over all these years are the dinner parties at our place, your place and your parents’ place; too many to mention. You and Lady Susan attended by grand-daughter Shaila’s first birthday at May Road Hall.”

“The hockey game you organised with the Justice Department and my tea, our frequent meetings in the Law Library and the dinner at your unit in Freeman’s Bay with David Lange who lived around the corner in Wellington Street are still fresh in my mind.”

“I try to keep in touch with your movements at the local gymnasium which you attend with our mutual friend Norman Elliott.”

“Your nature, disposition and character, your amiable attitude, your ability to relate to all ethnicity, your friendship and contact with people and organisations has made you a likeable and acceptable person in fitting with your high office. You have been a great bridge builder in New Zealand with the various communities.”

“Your dignity in difficult circumstances has stood you well. In the position that you have attained you have brought honour and respect to the Indian community not only in New Zealand but throughout the world.”

“You have walked into the pages of New Zealand history.”

Remembering a dear mate…

there were fewer than 10000, now there are more than 100,000 making Indians the second largest ethnic Asian group. The participation of Indians is huge. When I joined law, Indian lawyers could be counted on one hand now there is a whole roomful and more,” he added.

While being Governor General, he had the occasion to attend several functions with “an Indian dimension” throughout the country, he said. Among these he recalled Diwali in many parts of the country, the diamond jubilee of the Wellington Indian Sports Club, the 85th anniversary of NZICA in Palm-erston North and the NZICA Womens Conference in Wel-lington in 2008 that Lady Susan inaugu-rated.

Touching upon relations between Indian and New Zealand, Sir Anand acknowledged the current negotiations on the free trade agreement and the commitment of Prime Ministers John Key and Manmohan Singh. He said there was “real substance” in the negotia-tions and that the relationship between the two countries “ was becoming closer in a substan-tive way”.

Sir Anand described the Pravasi Bharatiya Award that was presented to him at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi was one of his most cher-ished. While it made him proud of his Indian heritage, it also reflected the greatness of a

country like New Zealand where it was possi-ble for a person of Indian, whose grandparents and parents were migrants, could stand proud with achievements as lawyer, judge, ombuds-man and finally as Governor General.

He said he looked forward to “restore the spontaneity and relative anonymity that comes out of stepping down from office.” He was car-rying a multitude of memories with him, he added, many of these were shared closely with

the Indian community.NZICA General

Secretary Raj Thandi said, “Sir Anand is a great New Zealander and distinguished com-munity leader. He is a fine example of a New Zealander who made good through hard work and a commitment to realising high goals.

“The Association was very proud to honour Sir Anand and his wife, Lady Susan. A special plaque, designed by myself was presented to Sir Anand that symbolised the respect that he deserves.”

About 200 members and guests, including representatives of the New Zealand Govern-ment attended the function. Sir William Birch, a former New Zealand Minister of Finance, Ramesh Patel, a New Zealand Olympian, Judge Ajit Singh, Auckland City Councillor Des Morrison and Member of Parliament Kan-waljit Singh Bakshi also attended the event among several other community luminaries.

Indian

Available In All Leading Indian Outlets,

Foodtown, Countdown & Pak n SaveChai vending machine is also available for purchase or rentIdeal for Restaurant, Takeaway, Offices, School, Institutes, Workshop, Community center, Shopping Mall, Food court

For further queries contact:Ph: 021 255 0438, [email protected], www.chaigold.co.nz

Packing for Chai GoldPacking for Chai Gold Lemon Tea Sweetened & Lite Lemon Tea Sweetened & Lite

I n s t a n t P r e - M i xI n s t a n t P r e - M i xEasy to make, Instant – JUST ADD 200 ml HOT WATEREasy to make, Instant – JUST ADD 200 ml HOT WATER

Sweetened & Unsweetened

Tea Available in Masala, Ginger, Cardamom &

New Lemon Tea & Masala Coffee

100% NATURAL, NO ADDED PRESERVATIVES

1. Western Union also makes money from currency exchange. Subject to applicable taxes, if any. 2. Funds may be delayed or services unavailable based on certain transaction conditions, including amount sent, destination country, currency availability, regulatory and foreign exchange issues, required receiver action(s), identification requirements, Agent location hours, differences in time zones, or selection of delayed options. Additional Restrictions may apply. See Send form for details. 3. Network data as of 31 March 2011.

Send money from $151, and rely on it arriving within minutes2 - at any one of 71,0003 locations throughout India.

Money Transfer fees1 to India

Amount (NZD) Fees1 (NZD)

$0 - $500 $15

$500.01 - $1,000 $17.50

$1,000.01 + $20 westernunion.co.nz

WES

2247

/IW

1

WES 2247 India Pricing Print Ad_IW.indd 1 7/06/11 5:29 PM

The Department of Labour is reminding employers that the law now requires them to keep signed written employment agreements for all their staff.

Since 1 July all employers are required to keep signed copies of employment agree-ments or current terms and conditions for all employees, or they may face a penalty.

“Employment agreements are required for all employees no matter when they started work,” says Annie Newman, the De-partment’s Acting Chief Adviser of Employ-ment Relations.

“This affects all employees including those hired on a verbal agreement or employ-ees who do not have current written agree-ments in place,” says Ms Newman.

“Having a clearly written employment agreement helps reduce the risk of misun-derstandings and there are some provisions that must be included in employment agree-ments,’’ she says.

They must include the name of the em-

ployer and employee, a description of the work to be performed, the place of employ-ment, times the employee is to work, the wages or salary, and an explanation of ser-vices available for solving problems.

“It’s the employer’s responsibility to maintain and keep an up to date copy of each employee’s agreement and provide a copy of the agreement if an employee requests it,” Ms Newman says.

The Department of Labour has developed an Employment Agreement Builder to help employers through this process.

Failure to ensure an employment agree-ment is in place for all employees may result in a labour inspector taking a penalty action against an employer.

This involves a seven-day notice period to rectify the breach and if this isn’t com-plied with then penalties may be sought in the Employment Relations Authority of up to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for companies.

Employers must keep staff

Aucklanders and visitors will soon be able to enjoy enhanced and expanded Wi-Fi services, offering more wireless coverage and faster access to the internet across central Auckland and its fringes.

Auckland Council has entered a partner-ship with Tomizone, Australasia’s largest Wi-Fi services provider, which will see network expansion start immediately.

The expansion will offer economic devel-opment benefits to the region and provide an important service to visitors to Rugby World Cup and beyond.

“With 85,000 visitors expected during Rugby World Cup and more than 200,000 ex-pected from next year’s cruise season alone, visitors to Auckland will be able to step off their plane or ship and immediately access information about Auckland. For Auckland-ers, it means more and better wireless inter-net access for portable devices such as iPads,” says Len Brown.

The Wi-Fi zone will expand into areas such as Kingsland, the entire length of Queen

Street, Britomart and Queens Wharf, lower Parnell, northern Ponsonby Road, Mt Eden Village, Onehunga, key rugby training areas and selected transport hubs around Auckland.

The network will remain in place follow-ing Rugby World Cup and continue to expand to other parts of Auckland with re-investment of profits from the service.

“Auckland Council will retain control of the content, which gives it a flexible platform for the future,” says the Mayor.

Service will be offered at a guaranteed dis-count to benchmarked market rates, with free access provided to a number of websites offer-ing information about public services, RWC activities, tourism and transport services.

“This enhanced network coverage will be attractive to residents and our international visitors who want to use their Wi-Fi gadgets to roam around the city,” says Tomizone Ex-ecutive Director Steve Simms. “Many of our visitors will want to use their roaming account from providers such as Skype, iPass and Boingo which they can do on this network.”

Wi-Fi expansion for Auckland

New Zealand

Diversity forum will focus on mediaA multi-media study about Paul Henry and Hone Harawira is being presented by Wellington’s Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research at next month’s 2011 New Zealand Diversity forum jointly hosted by the Human Rights Commission and the Hamilton Multicultural Services Trust.

Its work examines the intense public ar-guments around comments made by promi-nent media figures in 2010, such as Henry’s deliberate mispronunciation of an interna-tional dignitary’s name and then repeatedly laughing about it, and Harawira’s alleged racist comments about Pakeha. The forum will also include activities that tackle race

relations priorities identified in this year’s Race Relations Report, and feature the pre-sentation of the Annual Diversity awards. A parallel youth forum is being held at the same time.

The New Zealand Diversity Forum 2011 is being held at Hamilton on 21-22 August Also on the programme on Sunday at 3.30-5.00 pm is a forum on “Community Media and Diversity” hosted by the Community Access Radio Waikato Trust.

Attendance on Sunday and for individ-ual forums is free. If you are attending for half a day or more on the Monday the regis-tration fee is $50.

Indian New Zealand

Employers must keep staff

Popular Bollywood songster KK stayed true to the well-earned ap-pellation of Mesmeriser when he cast a veritable spell on the delirious audience at Manukau’s Telstraclear Events Centre on the evening of July 9. “Before the show, the audience had no clue what was coming. At the end of it, they found that they were part of a history, which they will talk about for years to come,” said Sudeshna Chatterjee, director of Sangeet Limited, the organisers of the successful show.

KK singlehandedly mes-merised the audience for more than 3 hours, unlike other similar big-ticket artistes’ performances that are often interspersed by side-shows of accompanying talents or local artistes.

KK’s ability to instantaneously connect with his audience and

his seemingly boundless energy typified by the springy feet with which he traversed all corners of the performing stage was a great hit with the predomi-nantly young audience – young in age and young at heart.

The audience sang with him, danced to his singing and seemed to enjoy every moment of his renditions, his nuances, his antics and his jokes.

The start itself was a fairly fast number, “Tere Pyar mein,” the title song from his album “Bas Ek

Pal”. He maintained this clip-ping-paced tempo throughout the concert. The audience could be forgiven for wondering where his unending energy was coming from.

KK, who has always chosen to maintain a somewhat lower profile than his Bollywood singing start compatriots, has sung so many hits but many of them are not immedi-ately associated with his name by listeners.

So when he sung them, a common refrain that ran through the audience which knew the song but were not quite sure who sang it was, “Hey, I didn’t know that was a KK song!”

The singer’s displayed his ver-satility in the sheer breadth of his repertoire. From the contempla-

tive “Awaarapan Banjaaraapan” through the foot-tapping peppiness of “It’s the time to disco” to the emotional “Alvida”, KK covered the gamut of genres, pleasing his fans to bits.

For much of the second half, the audience was on its feet, often surging toward the stage to be close to the star performer in true rock concert style. Those scenes will undoubtedly be imprinted in the minds of the audience just as

the music will ring in its ears for a long time.

In his twenty-fourth number of the performance, KK asked the audience to turn on their mobile phones and hold them in air with a swinging motion in accompa-niment to the rhythm of the hit “Pal rahe ya na rahe pal” from his popular “Pyaar Ke Pal” album. It was a rare sight – like a thousand fireflies swaying rhythmically in the supercharged air of the venue.

The romance and pain that KK brought out in the beginning of the second half through his song “Tadap tadap ke” from the film “Hum dil de chuke sanam”, singing with only the piano for ac-companiment, was memorable.

Expectedly, the show conclud-ed with the song “Alvida”. KK and his impressive band carried the au-dience every minute of the show in what will undoubtedly be a memo-rable evening for many.

KK takes Auckland by stormDev NaDkarNI

New Zealand

Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 10.00am - 5.00pm • Sat: 10.00am - 4.00pm

Sun:11.00am - 4.00pm

3/875 Dominion Rd, Aucklandwww.sonasansaar.co.nz

Ph: 09 629 3333

RamadhanMomino Ko Mubarak

New Designs Now Available for EidWe provides FREE services

for Zakat calculations

HOP. YOUR TICKET TO AUCKLANDFIND OUT HOW TO GET A HOP AT MYHOP.CO.NZ

Thousands of Aucklandersare hopping around the city… Are you?

HOP helps you get around Auckland quickly and easily. And with savings o� your cash bus fare, isn’t it about time you started hopping?

*HOP is available on all North Star, Go West, Waka Pacifi c, Metrolink and Link bus services. SNAPPER provides the payment and ticketing service for HOP on NZ Bus services. HOP cards with the SNAPPER logo can be used to pay for everyday items and can be topped up wherever you see a HOP or SNAPPER sign (some stores are ‘pay only’, e.g. SUBWAY® Restaurants). E-money top up charges in retail cost 25 cents. Refunds will not be available on card purchase or card top-up. Visit MYHOP.CO.NZ to view HOP retailers and to fi nd out when di� erent operators will start to accept HOP on board.

Indian

Creative Communities Scheme funding is now openFunding can support projects that:• enable and encourage young people to engage with and

actively participate in the arts• support the diverse arts and cultural traditions of local

communities, enriching and promoting their uniqueness and cultural diversity

• create opportunities for local communities to engage with and participate in arts activities

These could be projects in performance, music, visual arts, applied arts, digital arts, moving image and many other art forms.

To find out where information sessions and application workshops are being held in your local area for July and August, visit:www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/funding or phone 09 3010101

AppliCAtionS CloSe 26 AuguSt

AC

0074_IW D

K070711CD

AD

COST EFFECTIVETRANSPORT?

LANDFILL?REDUCING

HOUSING?AFFORDABLE

We want your feedback on the draft local board plan for your neighbourhood. It’s been put together by your local board to re ect the interests and concerns of your community. Please read the plan and if you would like to send in a submission with your views. The submission period runs from 8 July to 8 August. For more information call 09 301 0101 or visit www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/haveyoursay

Bank of Baroda New Zealand’s first Managing Director Satish Vermani is due to return to India at the end of this month. Navin Upreti, who has just arrived from India will succeed him.

The Indian community has ac-knowledged Mr Vermani’s contri-bution to the community in having established the bank’s presence in New Zealand from scratch to a cli-entele of more than 1500 in a short span of just 20 months.

In the past year, the bank has already accumulated deposits of $20 million and advanced loans of about $10 million. The bank’s highly popular zero-fee remittance service to India has surpassed Rs 30 crores.

In the course of its function to honour its sponsors and volunteers earlier this week, the Auckland Indian Association farewelled Mr Vermani and welcomed Mr Upreti at its Mahatma Gandhi Centre premises. The Association thanked Bank of Baroda for its continued support to the Association and its services to the Indian community all over the world.

Both Mr Vermani and Mr Upreti were upbeat about the emerging Free Trade Agreement between India and New Zealand and said that

Change of guard at Bank of Baroda

Dev NaDkarNI

Satish Vermani Navin Upreti

New Zealand

the bank would rise to the occasion to facilitate better trade and serve businesses in the two countries. During his visit to formally inau-gurate the bank earlier this year, Chairman and Managing Director M D Mallya had told Indian Week-ender that the Indian management was highly impressed by the bank’s progress in New Zealand and would be happy to support its growth in time to come.

Commenting on his departure, Mr Vermani told Indian Weekender it was a bitter-sweet experience. While he was looking forward to going back to his home country

after a long stint overseas, he would miss all the friends in the Indian community in New Zealand he said.

“Mr Vermani will be a tough act to follow,” Mr Upreti told Indian Weekender. But Mr Vermani com-plemented his successor, saying he was greatly experienced with a long and successful service record with the bank. He expressed confidence that Mr Upreti would be successful in taking the bank to greater heights in New Zealand.

The bank is already in the process of opening two new branch-es – one in South Auckland and the other in Wellington.

Auckland is the last pit stop in a journey up the length of New Zealand to give Kiwis a taste of the excitement of Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011).

The RWC 2011 Roadshow kicked-off in Bluff on 4 July and will have already visited more than 20 New Zealand towns and cities by the time it hits four locations across Auckland from 24 to 31 July.

Designed to give New Zealand-ers a sample of excitement before the Tournament, the Roadshow is free to enter and travels in a cus-tom-designed truck, which opens into a 72sq metre venue.

Auckland fans will be able to have their photo taken with the Webb Ellis Cup, enjoy a taste of REAL New Zealand Festival events, win or buy RWC 2011 tickets, and find out how they can be part of the Tournament.

Fans are encouraged to dress up in support of one of the partici-pating countries to be in to win to tickets to an Auckland match.

Visitors will also meet local players, take part in interactive displays and watch videos about the history and legends of Rugby World Cup 2011, and experience a huge taste of entertainment from cultural performances to DJs, bands and classical music, to

clowns, stilt walkers and fire jug-glers.

TV One Breakfast weatherman Tamati Coffey will also be broad-casting live from Otara and Orewa.

The action-packed RWC 2011 Roadshow will be in the Auckland region on the following dates:

The action-packed RWC 2011 Roadshow will be in the Auckland region on the following dates:

24 July: North Harbour Stadium car park, Albany, 10am to 1pm

25 July: Otara Music and Arts Centre (OMAC) car park, Otara, 6.30am to 9.30am

26 July: Orewa Beach car park, Orewa, 6.30am to 9.30am

31 July: Eastern Viaduct car park, Viaduct Harbour, 10am to 2pm.

For further information and location details, check out www.rugbyworldcup.com/roadshow or www.auckland2011.com.

RWC Roadshow coming to Auckland

Indian Weekender | July 22, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 7

Indian

INDIANWEEKENDER SPECIALuNtIL 31 AuGuSt 2011

mENtIoN thIS AD to GEt 15% of youR fIRSt vISIt AS AN ENRoLLED PAtIENtENRoL NoW

LEvEL 2 280 quEEN StREEt AuCKLAND CIty

NExt toLoRNE StREEtESquIRES CAfE

with Dr Sajid Din

Auckland City DoctorsNewNew

convenient location on queen st.convenient location on queen st.immigration nz building

family doctorsimmigration medicalsimmigration medicalsxray+ labtestspharmacy+opticianspharmacy+opticians

www.280medical.co.nzPh

New Zealand-India

New Zealand has a broad

range of technologies,

products, and services that can

provide niche solutions to the

robust and expanding Indian

market. The Indian market

presents enormous opportuni-

ties but equally daunting chal-

lenges. Some of the critical el-

ements of a successful strategy

include long-term commitment,

being open minded, having a

strong value proposition, and

willingness to establish local

partnerships and joint ventures. Clearly,

having an FTA in place will better define

market opportunities and increase the proba-

bility of success. The State visit

of the PM has greatly bolstered

the prospects for such FTA

being achieved. For LanzaTech

to be invited to accompany the

PM as a member of his busi-

ness delegation was a genuine

privilege and accelerated the

movement certain business op-

portunities that we were already

engaged in. Clearly institution-

alizing annual visits at least at

the Trade minister level will

enhance both the FTA formal-

ization trajectory and business prospects for

New Zealand firms. So this is something that

I would recommend strongly.

Prabhakar Nair - Vice President, Business Development, LanzaTech

Continuing our series of impressions of delegates who accompanied Prime Minister John Key on the trade mission to India between June 30 and July1.

Delegates Speak… The Indian aviation market is growing

rapidly. Currently the 9th largest civil aviation market in the world it is expected to be 3rd largest by 2020, pas-senger traffic is forecast to grow 14% to 15% per year in the next 20 years, around 1150 new aircraft and 500 helicopters will be needed between 2010 and 2030, 15,000 new fixed wing pilots will be needed by 2025, and NZ$3.6b will be spent on airport infra-structure in the five years to 2015. New Zealand is participating in this growth. Aircraft engines are serviced in New Zealand, airport fit-outs contain New Zealand products and services (food-courts and baggage handling systems) and some aviation services are provided direct to customers in India. Over the three years

to December 2010, 346 Indian nationals received their commercial pilot li-cences in New Zealand. In 2010, Indians also gained helicopter pilot licenses. We could do more. Making a long term commitment to market engagement is criti-cally important. The focus should be on building long term relationships with potential customers; and working collaboratively in New Zealand to demystify the market, share learning and present critical mass. Aviation NZ, through the India Aviation Strategy, is encouraging long term think-ing and collaborative action, both between New Zealand companies and with Gov-ernment agencies. Working together, New Zealand can become a much more signifi-cant aviation partner for India.

John Nicholson - Director, Aviation NZ


Indian

Manukau Indian Association opens new premisesManukau Indian Association will formally inaugurate its new premises this weekend. The association, which has been serving the Indian com-munity for the past more than three decades, proudly sees this new devel-

opment as a major achievement.The spacious premises at 57,

Hillside Road, Papatoetoe, is large enough to accommodate 200 persons. Its hall will be available for hire to all community members for their personal functions and for organisa-tions to conduct their activities such as yoga and cultural classes, exercise programmes and the like.

“The inauguration of the new premise is a milestone in the history of the association,” said Association President Ranjna Patel.

To mark the occasion, the As-sociation has chalked out a half-day programme on Saturday, July 23. This will include Multi cultural/re-ligious blessings that will start 2pm; the official opening between 4-5pm and cultural programmes at 5 pm followed by refreshments. The As-sociation has invited all community members to attend.

In the 1970s, the Indian commu-nity scattered around the suburbs of Mangere, Papatoetoe, Otahuhu, Ma-nurewa, Papakura and other localities mainly in South Auckland felt the need to come together to hold social

and community occasions. Activi-ties began with culture and heritage classes for children and slowly meet-ings began becoming more frequent.

This set in motion the events that lead in 1980 to the formation

of a group styled “South Auckland Indian Cultural Society Incorporat-ed”. This name because back then, Manukau was not quite well known as it is today. Officially, however, the incorporated society was registered in 1981 as “South Auckland Indian Cultural Society”. The present name, “Manukau Indian Association”, came into being in 1997.

Back in 1980, the community raised donations and a freehold prop-erty was purchased at 25, Tui Road, Papatoetoe– a venue which still con-tinues to be the Association’s head-quarters for all activities.

The main activities of the society were to celebrate Indian festivals such as Navratri, Janmashtmi, Ram-Navmi, Holi, Diwali and India’s In-dependence Day-15 August – some-thing that continues to this day.

Gujarati, Hindi and Punjabi classes were held regularly for a number of years at this centre. These classes are still operating.

Every year, during the Diwali period, cultural and entertainment concerts were held and members attended these functions in large

numbers. When the Diwali shows were held at various school halls, such as at Otahuhu, Papatoetoe and Town hall, it caught the attention of local Kiwi people who over time got hooked on to the colours, flavours and the multifaceted traditions of India. A large number of Kiwis and non Indians still throng all Indian fes-tivals in Manukau today.

The Manukau Indian Association is affiliated to New Zealand Central Indian Association, the oldest Indian organisation in New Zealand. The Association has recently amended its constitution so that wider commu-nity groups such as Punjabi, Bengali,

Marathi, Kannada associations besides others can be represented on its executive committee, without the groups losing their identities.

Today, the executive committee reflects members from most states of INDIA, such as Punjab, Delhi, MP, UP, South India and of course form Gujarat. It is a true reflection of India and the values we have as Indians. With the added strengths of these affiliated groups, Manukau Indian Association has been staging grand Diwali celebrations at venues such as Telstra-Pacific Centre.

The Mayor of Auckland the council support Manukau Indian Association in all activities, and has been instrumental in making avail-able the new premises. The Asso-ciation thanks the community for the support and inolvement it has re-ceived down the years.

Indian Weekender wishes the Manukau Indian Association every success in its endeavour to serve the community and congratulates the Association on the occasion of the opening of its new premises tomor-row.

dev nadkarni

The new premises

The Waikato Punjabi Ladies Cul-tural Committee recently celebrated their annual Tian da Mela/Festival for Daughters, in Hamilton.

This year WPLCC focused on their pioneer mothers and grand-mothers. Six Waikato seniors were honoured for their dedication to the Punjabi community, over the years. They were each presented with the WPLCC: Honours award 2011; an engraved kettle with their name on it – Bakhshish Kaur Randhawa, Tej Kaur, Avtar Kaur, Harbans Kaur Bindra, Joginder Kaur Bindra and Bibi Mohinder Kaur.

After the initial introduction by senior member Mindy Singh, these seniors were asked questions about their pioneering days, they happily answered and shared their early ven-tures with the splendid audience.

“For some it was an eyeopener to hear of the hardships of those early years,” Mindy said.

“All in all it sure made people aware, how these earlier pioneers held, and preserved the Punjabi culture over the years, to this day.”

Mindy said now it is up to the present generation to carry on that wonderful legacy, “to preserve and enjoy best of both worlds in this wonderful country we call our home, New Zealand”.

Our other honoured guests were Sandra Mckenzie from the De-partment of Internal Affairs, and Acting Sergeant Mandeep Kaur, from the Mangere Neiughbourhood Policing Team. Mandeep Kaur is

the first Punjabi Police woman in New Zealand. She inspired many a women that night to join the Police Force.

As usual the evening began with dinner [Jaipur walla], a mix and mingle and then the presentations with cultural items being the high-light for the evening, ending with Gidha and Bhangra late into the night. Raffles were also drawn.

WPLCC wishes to thank all the performers: Jatyia Murabyia Walyia, The Sandhu Group, WPLCC Gidha/Bhangra Academy, Jagmohan & Jeet Kaur, Subsanjh Group, Gagan & Children, Sophie & Kiran, Jas-winder Kaur, Rajni Group and the Comedy Act. You were all superb.

Thank you also MCs Jagdeep and Babbu for your tactful way to keep the audience alive. And a huge thank you to the Audience who had travelled from near and afar, for coming, participating in this cul-tural festival..A special thank you to the sponsors: ASB Bank Morrins-ville, Kevin Deane Harcourts Ltd Morrinsville, Fonterra, Indo Spice, Little India and all the ladies who donated so generously.

WPLCC is a proud sponsor of the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foun-dation, once again a $1per ticket sold was donated to them.

The WPLCC committee members: Mindy Singh, Raj Mundi, Jaswinder Dhaliwal, Brinder Saraan, Balbinder Sharma look forward to bringing to the public tian festival in 2012.

Waikato ladies celebrate Tian da Mela

Office bearers of the Manukau Indian Association have reason to be proud on the occasion of the opening of the new premises.

Community

Indian

Visit anyPostShop

Freetext your nameand address to 3676

Visit our websiteelections.org.nz

Freephone 0800 36 76 56

EE

C 0

038_

IND

ENROL TO VOTE NOW.

To have your say in this year’s General Election and Referendum, you need to be enrolled to vote. Enrol now. It’s easy.

To get an enrolment form:

Ventura Securities Limitedwww.ventura1.com

Corporate member of BSE & NSEOfficial Knowledge Partner for investments with

l User Friendly Software “POINTER” for Online Investment in Stock Markets

l Online Mutual Fund investment platform

l Regular research updates on Equities & Mutual Funds

l Internet access to customers for digital contracts, portfolio reports etc.

l Tax Reports for investments bought & sold


Corporate member of BSE & NSE

Official Knowledge Partner for investments with

For NRI Related Services

Offers services to NRIs/PIOs for investments in Indian markets

Equity and Mutual Funds

User Friendly Software “POINTER” for Online Investment in Stock Markets

Online Mutual Fund investment platform

Regular research updates on Equities & Mutual Funds

Internet access to customers for digital contracts, portfolio reports etc.

Tax Reports for investments bought & sold

for more information contact : Sanjay Bhatia 021 586 352

Email [email protected]


Corporate member of BSE & NSE

Official Knowledge Partner for investments with

For NRI Related Services

Offers services to NRIs/PIOs for investments in Indian markets


User Friendly Software “POINTER” for Online Investment in Stock Markets

Online Mutual Fund investment platform

Regular research updates on Equities & Mutual Funds

Internet access to customers for digital contracts, portfolio reports etc.

Tax Reports for investments bought & sold

for more information contact : Sanjay Bhatia 021 586 352

Email [email protected]

For NRI Related ServicesOffers services to NRIs/PIOs for investments in Indian markets


For more information contact: Sanjay BhatiaM: 021 586 352 E: [email protected]

The Labour party has selected Sunny Kaushal as its candidate for the Pakuranga Con-stituency in East Auckland.

Mr Kaushal would be the “First candidate of Indian origin in New Zealand” to contest a parliamentary electorate for Labour Party, says a party media release.

Labour Party President Moira Coatsworth said, “Labour is committed to ensuring that its candidates are representative of the diverse cultures in New Zealand and Sunny Kaushal with his multilingual and cosmopolitan background is an important part of this”.

Mr. Kaushal said, “I am excited to be the electorate candidate for Labour party in the Pakuranga constituency. I will promote and advance Labour party policies among the people”.

Labour announces Indian candidate

Waikato ladies celebrate Tian da Mela

Community

IndianIndian Community

Settlement Support New Zealand (SSNZ) is a national initiative funded by the Department of Labour to help you settle in your new community by providing information about living in New Zealand.

Settlement Support Waitakere is a service from the Auckland Council, for newcomers from West Auckland to access FREE confidential consultation. Just visit our office at

New to New ZealandWelcome to WeSt AUcKlAND

8, Ratanui Street, Henderson (opposite to UNITEC)(9:30 am– 4:00 pm Mon to Thurs) or make an appointment with your Settlement Support

Coordinator in West Auckland call 09 8374273 oremail [email protected]

http://waitakere.govt.nz/ourpar/settlementsupport.aspwww.ssnz.govt.nz

Gents & Boys Haircuts and Trimming etc.Cuts Only (Flat rate $10 )

Senior citizen and under 12 kids $7No Appointment Necessary

Call Hassan Bhai : 09 278559960 St.George Street, Old Papatoetoe Auckland

SOUTH CITY BARBERS

ONE STOP SHOP TO YOUR QUERIESDiscover yourself and live your life to full potential with Spiritual Awareness through

scientific application of Vedic Astrology and other Occult Sciences. If you need help with

l Positive Direction to Life l Personal Image & Self Analysisl Money & Finance Matters l Medical Astrology & Specific Health Issues l Education and Potential l Love, Romance and Relationships l Marriage and couple compatibility l Career Planning l Business issues l Legal problems l Past Life/Karmic Astrology l Appropriate Astrological remedies to solve specific problems and much more.....

Contact for confidential reading:

RAVINDER GROVER(Jyotish Vachaspati, Gold Medalist)

Tel/Fax: +64 9 815 1670Mob: +64 21 774 724Email: [email protected]

ClASSifiEdS

10% discount to Full time students per lesson!

6th Lesson Free to Adults & Students!

Ph: 022 059 2646 or 021 156 8346Twenty10 Driver Training Ltd

NEED DRIVING LESSON?

Shirdi Saibaba Temple of NZ Inc celebrated Guru Poornima with four Baba aarthis, on Saturday, July 9, at Mahatma Gandhi Centre, Eden Terrace, Auckland.

The day’s programme started with Kakad aarthi at 7am followed by pran pratishta by Pandit Chandru (of Papakura Ganesh temple) for 2.5 feet Baba’s new marble statue from Shirdi.

This statue was purchased in the holy land of Shirdi, taken into Baba’s Samadhi mandir, then panditji performed small pooja and was kept at Baba’s feet, before arriving to Auck-land.

Pandit Chandru made 30 familes to perform Satyanarayana pooja. Pattabhishek was done for Baba murthi, first time in New Zealand and was attended by hall full of devo-tees, with devotion and bhakthi.

The feature event of the day was Baba’s new statue from Shirdi and Rathotsav, initial-ly by kids and then by other devotees, flowed by Madhyan aarthi and maha prasad.

The evening programme started with Dhoop aarthi. Chavdi was well decorated along with Dhuni and Baba under Neem family tree (neem tree is not available in New Zealand).

Paalki seva procession was taken to Radha Krishna Mandir. Saibaba temple singer’s team sang melodious bhajans followed by Shej aarthi and maha prasad.

Around 1000 devotees attend the whole day event. Baba made the devotees to donate approximately $12,000.

For more details about temple activities and events, contact Ravi on 09 845-3239 or [email protected]

Devotees mark Guru Poornima

The Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust, which has been working together as a socio-cultural body for the Indian community for years, is going to present an implausible Indian experi-ence and mark the 65th Independence Day of India on Sunday, August 14, at the prestigious ASB theatre, Aotea Centre, in Auckland.

The super event shall be organised in part-nership with various organisations from India and neighbouring countries

The celebration shall begin with the flag hoisting at 10.30am followed by a cultural programme from 11am until 3pm.

“True to its identity and philosophy of ‘Unity Amidst Diversity’, the Indian Inde-pendence Day will showcase the variety in culture, dance forms, music, art and cuisine,” samaj vice-chairperson Roopa Suchdev said.

“India being the largest democracy in the world with a civilisation more than 5000 years old boasts of multiple cultural origins,” Roopa said.

“The event promises a foretaste of this di-versity and multiculturalism that is also an in-herent character of any Indian living in New Zealand.”

Chairman Jeet Suchdev said that “while we are keen to share our big day with the people of New Zealand, we would also like to make the next generation aware of their roots which have strong and rich cultural inheri-tance and acquaint them with this event from a historical perspective.”

“The event will be graced by many digni-taries from New Zealand and India and once again hope to get the best support possible through a positive approach,” Jeet Suchdev said.

Memorable I-Day celebrations planned

KINGSLAND SKATE OUTLET

500 New North road, Kingsland(Upstairs next to Neighbourhood Bar)

Hours: Tues = Sat 10am - 5pmSunday - 10am - 4pm

Monday -- Closed

Liquidation Stock, Clearance, end of Lines Samples

Leading Brands - From $50 per pair of shoes

New Stock Arrives twice per week

*Bring this advert and get a further Discount of 10% of any stock

Community

Auckland: Yogathon New Zealand, a division of the Hindu Council of New Zealand, is launching a na-tionwide ‘Health for Humanity’ Yo-gathon 2011, which aims to create awareness about the art and science of yoga and its advantages in achiev-ing a healthy body, mind, and spirit.

The Yogathon launch event will take place simultaneously at 10am on Saturday, August 13, in Auck-land, Hamilton and Wellington. This is the first of its kind Yoga initiative for collective practise of Sun Saluta-tions across New Zealand.

During the two-week ‘Health for Humanity’ Yogathon from 13 to 27 August 2011, Yogathon New Zealand and participating organisa-tions will encourage their members and others across the country to col-lectively perform 100,000 ‘Surya Namaskar’, a sequence of simple yoga postures.

Surya Namaskar integrates simple yoga postures of well-bal-anced movements linked with easy breathing technique, and provides immense health benefits to both body and mind.

Yogathon aims to promote yoga widely in a scientific perspective of health, to make it a part of the school curriculum in future, encourage healthy living and connect all yoga schools and practitioners in New Zealand through participation on this planned annual event.

“This programme is open to people of all ages, gender, and races. It is quite heartening to have dedi-

cated coordinators from different organisations like Bikram School of Yoga, Art of Living New Zealand, New Zealand Hindu Temple Society and many more for this event,” said Venkat Koppaka, National Co-ordi-nator, Yogathon New Zealand.

The Yogathon organising com-mittee invites various yoga centres, schools and tertiary institutes, social, cultural, and spiritual and community organisations, regard-less of individual faiths and beliefs, to register in this ‘Health for Hu-manity’ Yogathon, and continue practicing Surya Namaskar beyond the Yogathon.

To register for this unique nation-wide event go to http://yogathon-nz.

org/registrationAbout Surya Namaskar (Sun

Salutations)Surya Namaskar is a Sun Saluta-

tion that is traditionally performed at dawn facing the rising sun. Its roots can be found in the yoga phi-losophy of Vedic traditions. The routine helps develop all five person-ality levels, namely physical, prana, mental, intellectual, and spiritual. This helps individuals to lead a very healthy lifestyle with a profound sense of wellbeing.

More information at: http://yogathon-nz.org/researchhttp://yogathon-nz.org/health-for-humanity-yogathon

Yogathon in New Zealand Benefits of Surya NamaskarSurya Namaskar in a set of ten yoga postures provides good exercise to the whole body, calms the mind, and sharpens the intellect.l Surya Namaskar energises the entire neuroglandular and

neuromuscular system of the body and its regular practice ensures a balanced supply of oxygenated blood and perfect harmony to all the systems of the body thus involves the entire psychosomatic system of human constitution.

l Surya Namaskar is a complete exercise to all the muscles and joints of the body. It tones all the muscles of the body and helps reduce fat thereby helping to control obesity and metabolism of the body..

l It strengthens the spine and abdominal muscle to control nervous system and activity of the internal organs.

l It expands the rib-cage, increases the capacity of lungs making the breath smooth and easy.

l It activates the glands and regulates the hormone.l It encourages the lymph drainage thereby increasing the

immunity and resistance of the body.l It increases the circulation of whole body thereby acting as

an excellent cardiac workout to enhance the blood circulation and warming up the body.

l It increases concentration, memory, learning and focusing ability and vigilance.

l It is relaxing and rejuvenating, and tension, stress and anxiety melt away as you perform Surya Namaskar.

l Surya Namaskar practice stimulates and conditions virtually every system in the body. It is good for the heart and stimulates the cardiovascular system. It oxygenates the blood and helps strengthen the heart. Surya Namaskar is good for the digestive system and the nervous system. It stimulates the lymphatic system and supports respiratory system health, as well.

l Surya Namaskar is an excellent alternative to caffeine and other stimulants. If you suffer from insomnia or sleep disturbances, you will find practicing Surya Namaskar aids in helping you fall asleep without the need for depressants.

Indian

Devotees mark Guru Poornima


Indian

President for tough stand on black money

New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil on Friday said that it imperative to take stern action action against tax evaders and the war on illicit funds had to fought both domestically and abroad.

Addressing the concluding cer-emony of celebrations for 150 years of the Income Tax Department, the President stressed on the need of widening cooperation between countries to crack down on tax evaders and illicit money.

“The war against black money has to be addressed both domesti-cally and through cross border mea-

sures,” she said.“There has to be continued (co-

operation) through appropriate agreement on tax information ex-change, and on mutual cooperation between countries to track down evaders taking shelter in other juris-dictions”, she said.

Speaking on domestic measures, she said, “Fostering of an environ-ment of voluntary compliance will help. There is also need for putting in place measures, through laws and procedures, to ensure that re-calcitrant tax evaders are brought to book”.

Bhakra Nangal dam on LeT target listNew Delhi: The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has warned that one of India’s biggest dam- Bhakra Nangal dam- near the border between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, is on the target list of terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD).

According to reports, the IB has sounded an alert that LeT and JuD are training their members for an attack on Bhakra Nangal dam.

Pertinently, in Feb 2010, JuD commander Abdur Rehman Makki had threatened bloodshed over water-sharing between India and Pakistan.

“Heed this India- the Pakistan of jihadis... the Pakistan of Kashmiris vow.. if you steal our water... Rivers of blood will flow,” Makki had said at a rally in Pakistan.

The Bhakra Nangal dam, located at a gorge near the (now submerged)

upstream Bhakra village in Bilas-pur district of Himachal Pradesh, is Asia’s second highest at 225.55 m (740 ft) high next to the 261m Tehri Dam also in India.

The length of the dam (measured from the road above it) is 518.25 m; it is 9.1 m broad.

Its reservoir, known as the “Gobind Sagar”, stores up to 9340 million cu m of water, enough to drain the whole of Chandigarh, parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi.

The 90 km long reservoir created by the Bhakra Dam is spread over an area of 168.35 km.

In terms of storage of water, it withholds the second largest reser-voir in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh with capacity of 12.22 billion cu m.

India

Tata to launch affordable housesNew Delhi: Leading business house Tata Group will be launching af-fordable houses for the rural market by 2012, said a top official here on Saturday.

After its Rs 1 lakh Nano car, this will be a major step by Tatas to offer houses priced Rs 32,000 each to rural people.

“It’s a quick fit pilot built in 7 days. Essence is you should have a land. Pricing is based on a 20 sq mtr area with a flat root which comes for around 500 Euros. There is an upgraded model also which is 30 sq mtr which is under Indira Awaas Yojana and all which comes for 700

Euros,” said Tata Steel Group chief, global research, Sumitesh Das.

The company will provide roof, doors and windows to be assembled in a pre-fabricated format. A house will have a life span of 20 years.

“Similarly there are other models which may come with a solar panel on the roof of the house,” Das said.

“The main challenge it may face is supply chain management due to shortage of production of panels.

“In the first pilot project, we saw the interest of people in veran-dah which we have incorporated, though it was not there earlier. We thought if we incorporate verandah,

the buying will be much higher. We need feedback from Panchayats, who are our final customers,” he said.

There is a rural housing shortage of 1.48 crore, as per Census 2001.

KITE: The Pride of Your Belonging to New Zealand

Our offer to students is:• A pathway towards career goals plus new friendships and the confidence-building to

highlight the journey.• As well as NZQA-Certificated education, our entreaty includes:

Entertainment sessions driven by fellow learners. The quiz and partying routines can

be either educative or for pure leisure. Either way, your participation is vital.

Interactive sociability with faculty on site, as well as guest speakers prominent within

NZ business houses.

Affirmativeness counsel, both to help young adults take charge of their lives and

equally to align with Kiwi work culture.• Supporting students’ choice of study, students are invited into interludes of career

development and New Zealand’s diverse heritage.

KITE sits aloft in an elegant airy setting, overlooking the Auckland cityscape. This is an institute

bonded to the Code of Practice for Pastoral Care of International Students, administered by the New Zealand Ministry of Education.

• Like its high vantage over ‘heartland’ Queen Street, KITE is about leadership through

education, plus the social grace to help guide students there.

If you care about your future, and you want to share that journey with others with goals similar to yours, KITE will welcome your enquiry.

Level 1, 441 Queen Street, AucklandContact: +64 9 3771786

www.kite.ac.nz

Contact: Rakhi Sharma +64-9-3771786 Mobile: 21-02518339 E-mail: [email protected] 1, 441 Queen Street, Auckland (Above Columbus Café)

www.kite.ac.nz

Special Introductory offer for evening classes

Get Massive DISCOUNTS on regular fees FOR AUGUST 2011 INTAKE. Only one time offer… Admissions have already started. Enrol today!!

NZIM Diploma in Management (Level 5)l Accredited by NZQA

l Located in central Auckland

l Creates a supportive environment for future education

l No fees for visa application

l Help with student visa application and extension

l Provide pick-up service from airport(International Students)

l Help with accommodation (International Students)

l Provide regular seminars that enhance student efficiency for job

l Have appropriate number of students in each class for teaching and learning efficiency

*Conditions Apply

International

student’s

enquiries are

welcome


Indian

It wasn’t the forts, temples, palaces, culture or nature that attracted him to India. It was sheer practi-cal reason that made the Egyptian book his ticket to Kolkata. His sole purpose - getting a knee replace-ment at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, reveals Suvro Banerjee, an interventional cardiologist at-tached to the hospital. But not only patients, many NRI doctors are also coming back to settle down in the home country. This endorses the fact that the medical scenario of the country is changing and it’s changing for the better.

Banerjee, a graduate from Cal-cutta Medical College, went to UK in 1994 for further studies and also to practice medicine. A couple of years down the line, he came back to India to be with his ailing parents and subsequently found that a lot has changed since he left the country. “Lots of good work is going on here now and also there has been an exponential rise in both quality and quantity of amenities and infrastructure. Earlier, trained doctors didn’t get the chance to put their skills into practice. The hope of being able to execute my train-ing made me decide to settle down here. Many doctors are doing the same thing,” says Banerjee.

The combination of expert care and state-of-the art infrastructure have helped medical tourism India to boom ahead. Leading doctors of the country opine that medical care facilities in the country is on par with those in the western countries. Patients from Middle East, Mau-

ritius, US, UK, Maldives, Bangla-desh, Burma, Nigeria, Seychelles etc who need surgical procedures like heart surgeries, orthopedic surgeries (joint replacements), advanced laparoscopic surger-ies, cosmetic surgery etc. are eyeing India as their destination for medical treatment. Cities like Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyder-abad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Coim-batore are gradually emerging as hot spots of medical tourism.

The other reason for the booming industry is the cost factor. A complex transplant or bypass procedure can be done for a tiny fraction of the cost here as com-pared to countries in the West. This includes significantly longer post-operative care in the hospital itself. Travel agencies like Easy Tours has working relationships with Escorts Group Hospitals and Research Centers and Apollo Group Hos-pitals and Research Centers. This ranges from relationships with the top doctors and nurse practitioners to the board members and adminis-trators of the institutions.

“This allows us to facilitate the highest levels of service com-bined with the very best medical treatment possible,” says Shantanu Basu, specializing in Internal Med-icine, Endocrinology and Clinical Cardiology. Another of the doctors heading home, he is presently at-tached to a few leading hospitals in Bangalore.

Says he : “Indian corporate hospitals excel in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, joint re-

placement, orthopedic surgery, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, transplants and urology to name a few. This acts as an incentive for the NRI docs to come back home.”

Basu adds that things are changing rapidly for the better in high-value private health care in India while for the worse for doctors in general in the US and in particular in UK. As the economy booms, corporate hospitals are mushrooming all over the country. “As a result, they are bringing the latest equipment and their practic-es and standards are increasingly conforming to globally accepted levels, driven partly by the desire to attract medical tourism,” he says.

Changes are observed in all spheres in the medical world. The

concept of Health Insurance, be-lieves Banerjee, is becoming very popular and will become a neces-sity in the next five years. He sees a distinct change in the way health care is being delivered these days.

Another fast growing trend is to go for institutional help rather than individual ones. Many patients now prefer a one- stop healthcare system than hopping from one doctor to another. Last but not the least, even doctors now look for holistic health care rather than focused treatment. The new mantra is ‘Health Care with a Smile’.

There is another side of the story too and these are areas which need to be addressed. According to Pal, India is going to face an acute shortage of proven good quality specialty and super spe-

cialty doctors in the coming two decades. Over the past 30-40 years, a tremendous amount of private money has been spent on creating mushrooming medical colleges with no quality control. But there are hardly enough places to train the students in high-end medical care.

“India by now should have had at least two to three AIIMS (counterpart of IIT/IIM) in each state for producing doctors to fill up the top of the pyramid. This would have created enough man-power base to not only cater to our population but also interna-tional medical tourists.”

The only solution, Pal feels, is to forge strong public-private partnership and use private high quality hospitals as training grounds. “The other important area that needs urgent attention is to create an effective, active health care quality watchdog.

The perception outside India is, and it’s true to a great extent, that excellence and ordinary to substandard coexist so closely and comfortably that it’s difficult for an uninformed client to select quality out of the mass.”

Banerjee feels that the training of the nursing staff and the fourth class staff in most of the hospitals of the country are not up to the mark. There is a need for proper training of these people including the sense of hygiene as most of these people belong to the lower middle class and therefore have a very poor sense of hygiene.

Combined domestic demand as well as international demand for quality medical care at reasonable cost is set to boost the field further, experts feel, but the loopholes have to be plugged to make India the leader in the field.

MEDICARE sector booming in India

India

The huge improvement in services available in the India’s healthcare and affordable cost for foreigners has led to a booming medical care sector. But there are also loopholes that need to be plugged, reports Baishali Mukherjee

Indian corporate hospitals excel in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, joint replacement, orthopedic surgery, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, transplants and urology to name a few. This acts as an incentive for the NRI docs to come back home.

80% people have complications from Diabetes: StudyBangalore: The study conducted across 28 countries including India reveals that 80% of people suffering from Type II Diabetes have compli-cations of serious nature. Up to 75% of participants had cardiovascular disease. Up to 84% had other diabe-tes complications including kidney disease, eye problems, foot ulcers and neuropathy.

According to a new data pub-lished on Friday, it show that too high blood sugar levels, delay in be-ginning of insulin and a high level

of diabetes-related complications remain common place for many people with type II diabetes across the world.

Baseline data from A1chieve, a type 2 diabetes study with 66,726 people from 28 countries across the world including over 20,000 from India, were presented at the 71st American Diabetes Association Congress.

Data captured from people before any study insulins were begun showed that over all diabetes

control was poor with an average blood sugar level (HbA1c) of 9.5 %,1 which is above the internationally recognised target of 7 %.

Up to 75% of participants had cardiovascular disease. Up to 84% had other diabetes complications including kidney disease, eye prob-lems, foot ulcers and neuropathy2. This data however also differs between the regions.

At the time of entering the study around 9% of patients had not re-ceived any glucose-lowering medi-

cation despite having their mean Hba1c level above 10%1.

Those who had received oral glucose-lowering medication before entering the study had a duration of diabetes of between 5.9 in south Asia and 10.4 years in Latin America suggesting a significant delay in be-ginning of insulin therapy. Patients who had been previously started on insulin were given low doses and the dose was not increased over time as often is required due to disease pro-gression.

Commenting on the data, Philip Home, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at Newcastle University, England said: “This data highlights the constant need to improve the management of type 2 diabetes pa-tients globally.

It is clear from the data that be-ginning and optimisation of insulin therapy is often delayed, resulting in poor glycaemic control leading to diabetes complications.”

Indian

Sai Baba’s ‘mahasamadhi’ open for visitors

Puttaparthi (Andhra Pradesh): Indian spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba’s memorial was unveiled and opened for visitors at the Prasan-thi Nilayam ashram in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh last Friday.

The ‘mahasamadhi’, a rectangu-lar, white marble edifice - 9 ft long, 6 ft wide and 2 ft 2 inches high, is located in the 10,000-capacity Sai Kulwant Hall, the largest of hall of the World’s biggest ashram, where Baba used to give darshan to his followers.A large number of devo-tees gathered outside the ashram once again to catch a glimpse of the

memorial, which is placed exactly over the spot where the spiritual guru is buried.

Sai Baba had died on April 24 from cardio-respiratory failure after spending nearly four weeks in a hos-pital run by his own trust.

He was buried inside the Sai Kulwant Hall in a private ceremony on Apr 27, open to key relatives and members of his trust, while thou-sands of devotees watched it live on the screens put up outside the ashram, waiting with bated breath for the gates to be thrown open again.

The hall was where Baba sat, gave discourses and blessed people. Many years ago, he had apparently expressed desire to be buried within the hall itself.

As devotees watched on, Baba’s body was lowered in a seven feet-deep pit in the hall, which was then then filled with ‘Kuruskshetra matti’ (soil), salt, silver, gold and navaratnas (nine jewels).

He was the incarnation of god for his countless followers worldwide and after he died Indian cricket stars Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, yoga guru Ramdev, Union min-isters Praful Patel and Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh were among

those who touched down on the tiny village to catch a last glimpse of Sai Baba.The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment had constituted a five-member committee headed by Finance Sec-retary L V Subramanyam to look the affairs of Sai Baba’s charitable trust, the Sathya Sai Central Trust, which is believed to control assets of over Rs 40,000 crore. Born on Nov. 23, 1926, in Puttaparti, Sai Baba was followed by an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide after claiming to be a reincarnation of spiritual guru Sai Baba of Shirdi at the age of 14.

India

Srilankan and Kerala Products also avialable here

Ready to Eat3 for $4.99

SPEND $50 AT KHYBER SPICE INVADER & GET 1 DVD FREE

Baba RAMDEV’S Medicine Also Available Here / Special Discounts for Students

Dubai: England Test captain Andrew Strauss on this week’s ICC Cricket World audio show has said that he believes Sachin Tendulkar is the best Test cricketer of all time.

Australia all-rounder Shane Watson, Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd and Indian legend Sourav Ganguly join ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat on this week’s show which is a special celebration of the 2000th Test match.

Looking ahead to the England-India series, which begins at Lord’s on Thursday, July 21, Strauss ad-mitted he is excited about the chal-lenge of taking on India, the world’s number one team.

“I think it will be special - any series against India is special anyway. It is going to be a chal-lenge, because India is a very confi-dent side. They have got every right to feel confident about their ability. On the other hand we are playing at home. It has all the makings of a classic series,” said Strauss.

Talking of the greatest Test player of all time Strauss said: “I think I would probably say it is Sachin Tendulkar, who has been the

best Test cricketer of all time. For him to go on for so long and main-tain his incredibly high standards is a great testament of the man and the desire of his outrageous talent as well.’

The England captain also re-called the moment that first got him interested in Test match cricket and revealed what he believes is the greatest match of all time.

“The moment that ignited my interest in Test cricket was England winning the 1986-87 Ashes Test series under Mike Gatting,” said Strauss.

“The Test match that springs out for me as the best is the Edgbaston match in the 2005 Ashes series, which we won by two runs.”

ICC Cricket Committee chair-man and former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd also shares his thoughts in the show on why Test cricket is the ultimate challenge for interna-tional players.

“Twenty20 is an exhibition, but Test cricket is an examination in all aspects of your game. When any player retires from the game, he wants to be known as a Test player, as someone who has battled his way through,” says Lloyd.

Tendulkar the best Test cricketer: Strauss

Indian Fiji

India has thousands of temples, thronged by millions of people. If there is anything great and concrete that has survived the rigours and ravages of time in India, then it is surely the ancient temples. Of the thousands, there are many ancient temples that have a deep history, fas-cinating legends and where famous saints have gotten their Darshan (ultimate insight) of the ‘Absolute Truth’. The word Mandir comes from Sanskrit root Mandaté, which means to be filled with transcendent emotion, to delight, to shine.

India has also many spectacu-lar temples that have found a place in the World Heritage list. These include the Sun Temple at Konārk in Odisha (previously known as Orissa), Khajurāho Temples in Madhya Pradesh, Ajantā cave temples and Kailāshnath temple in Ellora, Mahārāshtra, Brihadeswara Temple in Tanjavuur and Sānchi Stupa in Bhopal.

Every ancient temple in India gives a glimpse of the continuous Indian civilisation and speaks of a golden time when India was at the vanguard of civilisation. They were such great storehouses of wealth that barbarous invaders like Mahmud of

Ghazni invaded the Somnath temple in Gujarat 17 times only to loot the temple’s wealth every time. It is said Mahmud’s loot was worth some 20-million Dinars (1200 years ago). It is well known that the Portuguese traveler Vasco Da Gama also looted from India’s temples and sailed back with ships full of gold.

The Shree Padmanābhaswāmy temple caught our attention not because of its heritage but due to the hidden wealth (more than Rs.1,00,000 crores i.e. over $20 billion) which incidentally is more than India's annual education budget. Overnight this temple is touted as the richest temple in India, if not in the world. It was this temple that gave its name to Kerala’s state capital Thiruvananthapuram (mis-pronounced as Trivandrum) which is made up of 3 words – ‘Thiru’ + ‘Anantha’ + ‘Puram’ meaning “Sacred Abode of Lord Anantha Padmanābha” who is the main deity of the temple.

It is generally observed that many ancient and big temples had three types of wealth – (1) the deity (2) the cultural assets like art and architec-ture etc and (3) material wealth that belongs to the temple like land, gold,

money, etc. The temple primarily exists

because of the deity. Normally the history of the temple (found in its sthala purāna) explains why the temple exits in the first place. The ‘deity’ and the ‘cultural assets’ pass from generation to generation and these two types of wealth are consid-ered much more valuable and mys-tical than the material wealth ($20 billion!) belonging to the deity.

The greatest wealth of any temple is the “deity” who is invoked and worshipped by devotees as the manifestation of the one Supreme God. In Vedic tradition, there is no greater wealth than God. Hence God is addressed as ‘Bhagavān’ meaning one who has infinite ‘bhaga’ i.e. ‘opulence’. Bhagavān is one who has all the 6 kinds of opulences that of richness, fame, strength, influence, beauty and wisdom. Pretty much all wealth is covered including material wealth.

The name of the deity speaks volumes of the eternal nature of Godhead. In the Shree Padmanābhaswāmy temple, the deity is Lord Vishnu. ‘Vishnu’ is derived from the root word ‘Viś’ meaning "presence everywhere" (as

God pervades everything i.e. vevesti, he is called Vishnu). The root ‘Vis’ also means to enter. Masters have explained that “That which pervades everything is Vishnu” just like Gold pervades all gold ornaments. Lord Vishnu is personified in a unique symbology called ‘Padmanabha’ meaning ‘Lotus-navelled’ which has deep and esoteric meaning.

The deity being central, the temple complex and design, its art and Vedic architecture form the second type of wealth i.e. the temple’s cultural assets. This also includes the esoteric traditions, the mystical diagrams, installed yantras which function as revelatory con-duits of cosmic truths, the secrets and life lessons hidden in the sculp-tures, the legends, the miracles, the traditions, the spiritual iconography, the gopuram with all the symbolic carvings etc. These symbolic and metaphorical arts bring to light the universal meanings of truth beneath the archaic exterior, which is ex-tolled to be much more enduring that material wealth. These are the real subtle wealth that temples provide free of charge to devotees.

Thus ancient Indian temples were not only places of invocation

and worship but also art which was considered as expression of the divine. The major temples in ancient India were more known for their encouragement of arts and learning than just places of worship. Hence, in old Indian temples, all the ame-nities were available like hall, per-formance areas, pond within the complex, art work, dorms and the architects & sculptors made sure the public ultimately noticed the hidden messages in rocks.

Thus the spectrum of wealth originates from the sanctum sanc-torum (Garba Graha) right to the exterior art on the outer boundar-ies of the temple. From the temple’s peripheral wall to the deity’s central sanctorum is the invitation for the mind to take flight from the gross to the subtlest. Art is the methodology used in this mandir for spiritual de-velopment.

The mystical knowledge that the temple deity and the exterior art present is the real wealth that seems to miss our attention. No govern-ment, trust board or king can claim this. It is available ‘free’ for anybody who is interested in the timeless essence. No lawsuit is necessary to claim this.

The $20 billion Indian gym for the mind

Heritage

ram lINgam

More than $20 billion worth of wealth in a temple? That’s the account of hidden wealth in the 8th century Shree Padmanābhaswāmy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, kerala. But this abundance of wealth has not been unusual in the history of some indian temples. While ancient indian temples were built as spiritual gymnasiums for the mind, they also had enormous wealth to consistently provide that opportunity for spiritual development. But there are other types of wealth in the ancient Indian temples that are much more valuable than its material wealth. What’s that?


IndianTime to outgrow frog-in-the-well Kiwi mindsetKiwis are the best people in world, but why is NZ not doing so well economically? This is because Kiwis take too long to change their mind set with the every day fast changes on the world platform. I think the Prime Minister should always travel in the Royal New Zealand Air Force plane except local travel. We are a small country but to compete with large economies we have to make them feel that we are not paupers with a poor prime minister of NZ travelling like an ordinary passenger while on state visit.

– Kuldeep Arora

Nine-yard Seduction: the saree in BollywoodThis brings back some fond memories. There is none other more alluring than a woman in a saree and no body does it better in modern Bollywood than Vidya Balan. She is the classic Indian beauty, not a mish mash of a gori chori.”

– Nalinesh Arun

A little-known Maori philosophyWrong to say that "ancient" Judaic "higher" philosophical concepts existed – actually these were the concepts that were supplanted on colonised Maori by philosophically unethical means. Rightly pointed out that the tradition and philosophy of Maoris was supplanted/ distorted to a great extent by euro translators, which they have done in most places they colonised. There is a bit of error in this article though, when Judaism is men-tioned as the source of "higher" philosophical concepts. Philosophy in Europe started during renaissance period when they went back to truly ancient Greek and Roman think-ers, getting rid of Judaic pseudo-religious philosophical structures of enslavement.

– Proud Pagan

I disagree. Both the Torah and the practise of Kaballah show high philosophy. The Judaic concepts we find as part of the Old Testament are watered down version that were chosen for convenience. Only what fulfilled the aims of those in power were selected from Judaism. Their high philosophy is still available to the seeker. And if we were to equate 'philosophy' only to European thought of the Rennaisance, then every bit of the above article is degraded to paganism, isn't it?

– Nalinesh Arun

21 dead, many hurt in Mumbai blastsCore problem must be solved to get rid of such things. People who indulged in these attacks are misguided youth, they should be brought into the mainstream. It must be re-membered that Islam is a religion of peace. Terrorists are not true Muslims. In Kuran or in Bible, nowhere it has been mentioned to conduct bomb attacks. By bringing misguided youth to true religion and explaining true Kuranic or Biblical concepts of not using bombs, they will become productive citizens. Also, give reservation to them.

– Sheep of Shepherd

There are plenty of misguided youth, what spurs these misguided youths to kill is a matter of concern and quite precisely what we all need to find out. Why do adherents of only one major religion predominantly indulge in these acts why not followers of other religions? I'd love to be enlightened.

– Shridhar

Fiji needs support, say academicsMany commentators have been calling for engagement with Fiji to facilitate a peace-ful transition to democracy. It's quite clear from the story that the USP academics are responding to two recent developments that could lead to violence - Ratu Tevita Mara's defection and the proposed changes to the national pension funds. Azad needs to under-stand the meaning and significance of context. Wakey, wakey – things haven't stood still in Fiji since the coup!

– Charles Singh

From the Editor

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

Indian Weekender Volume 3 No. 7

Publisher: Kiwi Media Group Limited

Group editor-in-chief: Dev Nadkarni [email protected]

Online editor: Arvind Kumar [email protected]

Chief Technical Officer: Rohan Desouza rohan@ indianweekender.co.nz

Design: Sonata Design Ltd - [email protected]

Advertising: Giri Gupta - Ph: 520 0922, Mob: 021 221 1131. Email - [email protected]

Tanya Mehra - Ph 520 0922 Mob: 021 1598 016 Email: [email protected]

Accounts & Admin: Farah - Email: [email protected]

Please email original editorial contributions, community notices and pictures to [email protected] expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisheris not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication

Letters

Ten top stories on iwk.co.nz1. AIA helps community keep fighting fit2. Devotees mark Guru Poornima 3. A little-known Maori philosophy4. Quality of FTA paramount, says PM 5. Delegates Speak… 6. At home with the classes and the masses7. INZBC says India visit a success8. Time to outgrow frog-in-the-well Kiwi mindset9. Pepper negotiations with soft power10. Fiji Foreign Reserves reaches its highest to date

The upshot of the Labour Party’s go for broke game plan to bring New Zealand’s longtime political hot potato – the capital gains tax – to centre stage is that it has brought the fiercely debated tax into the realm of serious public discourse, strongly enough to become a central election issue.

Trailing light years behind National in the popularity stakes polls and recent poles showing support at an all time low, Labour had nothing to lose when it decided to bring back a tax that it had avoided all along when it was in power. In fact all its policies steered clear of any such possibility despite its socialistic ideology.

But that was when it was in power. It’s different now. And with the polls showing popularity that doesn’t seem to be creeping up from rock bottom, this was the best that its think tank could come up with to stay in the fray with any sort of programme that could at least generate a debate and keep Labour’s political pot simmering in the run up to the November elections.

A well thought out capital gains tax regime is something that most OECD countries and a number of developing nations’ governments have evolved into an efficient mecha-nism to mop up revenue. There has all along been a strong argument for implementing such a tax in New Zealand but no political party has had the gumption to introduce it while in power.

With severely limited avenues for investment in the country, housing and property have over the years emerged into the most popular investment options. Easy credit availabil-ity in the years before the global financial crisis fuelled the property market into a huge bubble here in New Zealand as elsewhere in the world. Valuations went through the roof, feeding New Zealanders’ notorious collective financial imprudence of borrowing beyond means.

It was on Labour’s watch that the property bubble grew to monstrous proportions and it knew very well then that any move to introduce a capital gains tax during that time would most certainly result in political hara-kiri. So the issue was never in the reckoning. In any case, the government had neither the imagination nor the political will to intervene in the runaway ballooning of the property bubble.

Now, with all options run out and nothing to lose, Labour has exhumed the idea of a tax that had long been buried. And it has succeeded in not only gaining attention but also capturing the imagination of a substantial number of thinking New Zealanders. It has been hugely successful in making it potentially an election issue and forced National into doing something about it. In that sense it has proved to be a masterstroke.

But its position lacks credibility because two reasons: its past stand – or the lack of it – on the issue and the complexity of implementing the tax that it has proposed. Riddled with exceptions and contradictions it would be a compliance nightmare that could only be profitable for tax advisers, accountants and lawyers.

Moreover, the real benefits to the economy will not be immediate, kicking in years later, to speak nothing of the effects it would have on the property market – especially spiraling rentals.

Having dragged a dead horse on to centre stage and flogged it enough to cause it to stir, the ruling National led government cannot help but take notice. Neither can it debunk in an outright manner the idea of a capital gains tax. It will have to take a stand and come up with its own credible proposals.

Most agree that a sensible, pragmatic, well thought out capital gains tax would benefit the country. It will be interesting to see the debate between good sense and political expe-diency in the run up to November.

- Dev Nadkarni

CGT may well be central poll issue


Indian

“We are sitting ducks”, insisted the celebrity author, Shobha De on news channels, following the latest terror attack in Mumbai. If there is one de-velopment that has positively taken place since the latest terror incident in Mumbai, it is the acceptance by one and all that the words “resilient Mum-baikars” and “spirit of Mumbai” have become taboo forever. Mumbaikars have had enough of this undeserved praise for doing what we all have had to after the previous blasts – to get back with our livelihoods, simply because, we have no other choice! That’s not speaking too well about us, is it?

Thankfully, the media persons and their select invitee personas have sensed the mood of the city dwellers this time around and have avoided this oft-repeated cliché, which fol-lowed blasts, like thunder follows lightning - and with annoying regu-larity. It had been haunting us with every attack – in fact it was a blow that would hit us after the blasts did – and the blasts happened at the free will of the terrorists. This time around, several citizens like Hemant Mehta,

other witnesses at the blast site and Shobha De effectively conveyed the anger amongst the common people arising out of the inactions resulting in the failure of the counter-terrorism measures promised to us since the au-dacious attacks of 26/11.

Had there been an instrument to measure the anger of people, it would’ve certainly tripped! And if there had been an inverter-like pow-er-converting device to convert anger into electricity, we could have lit up all the remote villages of our country for the next 5 years! Sadly, there aren’t such devices or instruments. More saddening is the fact that we have yet to learn how to convert our anger into constructive nation-building ac-tivities, let alone electricity! If we had learnt this, the anger we all felt when scam after scam rocked our country would have resulted in some scam-preventing mechanism, which would go off the moment scheming scam-sters began looting the exchequer. We always learn about scams much after they happen – in fact so late, that the money looted has already left the shores and have even come back

into our shores in a different avatar – thanks to the loopholes like Participa-tory Notes, that have been intention-ally designed and provided for such purposes.

So even our getting angry is nothing new, just in case you thought that our high-intensity anger would change things this time around and think that we shall see quick action to ensure that counter-terrorism efforts will be hastened to quell the seething public. Relax – no such thing is likely to happen, folks! After the next blast, it will be the politicians’ turn to tell us – don’t tell us we are angry, we know! Didn’t you hear why the much-needed equipment like CCTV cameras have not been procured? There is now the fear of ‘allegation of corruption’ in the tendering processes! So all that anger

and cynicism of corrupt procurement has hit us back like a boomerang, has it? Or are they saying that unless we stop picking holes in every public procurement and our media turns its cameras away and let them loot the kitty, we wont buy anything that we are in dire need of?

I am not sure if the cynicism ex-pressed by us would stir the folks that run our government or not – just to prove us wrong, if nothing else – but what I am sure about is that we are sitting Mumbai ducks – helplessly awaiting the next jolt that would hit us. We don’t even know whether it will be a bomb blast, an accident, or a master con job cheating the taxpayer of his hard-earned money?

And on a day that goes by without being hit by a blast, we may assume

that Rahul Gandhi’s men must have foiled someone’s nasty bid on our lives. How else could we justify his claim of 99% success in foiling ter-rorism attacks? But if that 1% that remains uncovered means that we shall continue to suffer attacks on in-nocent city dwellers now and then, chances are that we shall accept this new reality as our “new normal” – a recently invented term to deal with deteriorating quality of our lives.

In days to come, we may not watch post-blast news analysis or read such blogposts, having taken it in our stride as we do our corruption, insen-sitivity, inaction and the apathy of the authorities serving in public offices.

Maybe we would hurt the perpe-trators with our indifference. Huh?

Jai ho!

Comment

gopINatH mavINkurve

Bomb blasts and Mumbai ducksAnguished Mumbai citizen and writer Gopinath Mavinkurve writes of the frustrations of living and working in India’s commercial capital, that the authorities have no clue how to keep safe.

Pondering on an idyllic prelude for this article, I remembered my English literature classes back at high school and studying the drama ‘Hamlet’ – legend of a prince who at one stage of his life is in great dilemma. He contemplates over sur-viving the harshness of the living world contrary to the peacefulness of death. Similarly, we all face this ‘to be or not to be’ decision in secondary school; or should I say ‘to do or not to do’ decision when it comes to choos-ing our subject combinations. Just like Hamlet found it hard to capitu-late to death as he would be termed frail, many students find it difficult to opt for ‘agriculture’ with the trepi-dation of being labelled ‘taking the easy way out’ or ‘a future farmer’ – trust me, I was. Agriculture seems to be a harsh pill to swallow for many students.

In Fiji’s contextual scenario, this age old mindset of youths is a result of dire experiences they typically encounter at home and at school. While the national priority is to achieve certain degree of self-suf-ficiency in staple produce and live-stock, agriculture and particularly

agricultural studies is not receiving similar lime-light; the response to which I discovered in this motivat-ing quote: “farmers are getting older while farms are getting larger and more industrialized – the economy continues to stumble. What can we do to keep agriculture sustainable? The most valuable crop we can grow is the next generation”...

However, there are two com-monplace phenomenons that keep youths in a lumber whether to take up agricultural studies and develop it into a career. First being the ‘family expectations’ and secondly, the ‘ex-periences at school’.

In my opinion, the family unit is extremely influential in how a person’s career takes shape. In that perspective, it is common knowl-edge that parents with certain expec-tations from their children always prefer them pursuing white collar jobs; a total disregard for agricul-tural studies and related careers. This viewpoint is due to the fact that farming has been a tough ask for them (especially with the inden-tured ‘Girmit’ system in the colonial era and the lack of farm mechaniza-

tion/ technology in previous years). Majority perceive their children will go through the same ordeal without realizing agriculture/farming has modernised in various ways and with scientific knowledge, innova-tive ideas and effective organization, they can be entrepreneurs of highly profitable farm businesses or take-up well-off professions.

A survey by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Land Re-sources Division which is entailed in the ‘Youth and Agriculture Strategy 2011 – 2015’ states that young people identified the importance of family support as central to their engage-ment in agricultural activities and enterprises. At the same time, these young people expressed the desire to be acknowledged, emotionally and financially, for such contribu-tions and for the supporting role they played within their families. If young people are to be encouraged to develop into successful agricultural entrepreneurs their families must recognise that they must be facilitat-ed in accessing land and finance and in controlling the financial returns from their activities. These activities

though, must be separate from their contributions to family or commu-nity agriculture.

Furthermore in my observation, an issue which is not much deliberat-ed about and goes unchallenged is the discouragement students receive in school when it comes to agricultural studies. This is more or less a conse-quence of pre-conceived ideas they acquire at home or the ones imposed on them by peers and teachers alike. While conversing with several sec-ondary school students in the quest for factual accounts, I recognized that it is in the understanding of many young people that agriculture is any ‘easy’ subject, not attractive and for average students. They also deem that agricultural studies do not lead to noble professions; providing evidence of their slender outlook of the diverse agricultural field and serious lack of career advice. Stu-dents can also develop this negative attitude if teachers impress upon them that agriculture is a less worth-while subject to pursue then others and use agriculture as a means of discipline or punishment.

I have felt the brunt of this harsh

reality first hand. When asked about my subject combinations at school or bachelors programme at university, a reply of agricultural science always attracted reactions of “oh ok”, “oh”, or “why not something else” with sarcastic grins on peoples’ faces. Such discrepancies will continue to undermine the efforts of any form of awareness if the grassroots issues are not addressed.

Ignoring agriculture and its studies would be an act of foolish-ness so as to think we do not need food production anymore. Some-times, it is not about what you farm (either perishables or livestock); it is how you go about executing it. Making resources available, under-standing the weather, utilizing in-novations (especially ICTs), manipu-lating cropping patterns, integration and efficient management just may be the key ingredients. Young minds have the capacity to absorb and the capability to perform this.

However, unless we alter atti-tudes at home and actions in school, a ‘Hamlet’ will continue to dwell in every student wanting to pursue ag-ricultural studies and career.

rIteN CHaND gosaI

TO BE OR NOT TO BE: A Hamlet in Every Agricultural Student

Young, award-winning agriculture student from Fiji, riten Chand Gosai, urges young people to consider agriculture as a potentially successful career, while dispelling the myths surrounding this important but much neglected occupation


Indian

Under the agreement, Asco Motors will provide Government with 132 vehicles.

Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the new vehicles would allow Government to fully

equip its officers with the resources needed to extend services, especial-ly to the rural areas.

“The Ministry of Health will get a healthy chunk, that’s why we are saying it is important to get these

Vehicle lease deal to boost servicesGovernment’s rural outreach services have been boosted with a $10 million vehicle lease three-party agreement signed by Asco Motors and the Bank of the South Pacific.

Fiji-Vehicle lease deal-AG seals teh deal with Asco Motors CEO Abdul Hafiz, BSP general manager Kevin McCarthy

Fiji

Fiji’s booth at the International Tourism Exposition (ITE) 2011 picked up two major awards at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibi-tion Centre.

Fiji’s presentation won first prize in a competition organised by U-Magazine, which was calculated ac-cording to the most liked presenta-tion through the social networking website, Facebook.

Visitors to ITE 2011 were invited to click ‘like’ on which presenta-tion they enjoyed the most on the exhibition’s facebook page with Fiji topping the poll when all ‘likes’ were tallied.

The Fiji booth also scooped the ‘Most Impromptu Tour’ title, the award also based on online voting.

Feedback received from judges awarding the decision indicated they had been overly impressed with the destination’s portrayal of several of its key attractions and in particular, it’s beautiful beaches and ocean ac-tivities with shark diving at Beqa Lagoon getting a special mention.

Fiji’s presentation was jointly mounted by Tourism Fiji, Air Pacific and industry partners including Rosie Holidays, Nukubati Private Island, The Pearl South Pacific Resort and Sheraton Fiji Resort.

vehicles on the road as soon as pos-sible,” he said. “Because you know for example in the outreach, medical facilities we want to provide in the rural areas and for agricultural out-reach programmes, you need vehi-cles to go out and service these areas

As lease facility financiers, BSP Bank general manager Kevin Mc-Carthy said the bank’s Pacific spirit and confidence in Fiji encouraged them to partner with the Govern-ment.

“We finance the purchase of the vehicles and receive from Govern-ment a monthly lease rental that includes all the costs of the vehicle – the insurance, the servicing and all the purchase costs,” he said.

“BSP prides itself on being a really Pacific bank – when we were approached about this proposal – this is something that other banks in Fiji wouldn’t look at, we had a long term view about Fiji and a Pacific view about Fiji – so we are happy to step in and assist Government with this facility that will bring Govern-ment, modern vehicles and a very competitive financing position for it.”

The leasing arrangement is a more modern approach to deal with resource constraints.

In this way, not only does Gov-ernment address the issue of vehicle shortages, the challenges associated with maintaining and repairing ve-hicles are covered as well.

“We found that previously, when vehicles were purchased, if there was an accident, it would sit with the ministry in a garage or yard waiting funding to fix the bumper, and in that time the vehicles would get vandilised and parts would go missing. So, in terms of efficiency, it wasn’t there but under the leasing ar-rangement Asco Motors will ensure vehicles are serviced on time.

At the macro level, the lease ar-rangement assists the apprenticeship scheme with mechanics employed, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

“By having a fleet of vehicles that will be well maintained over four years – these vehicles will be sold on the open market – ordinary Fijians can access and buy vehicles after four years and Government also has the option to buy if it wants to,” he said.

“It does put less demand on foreign reserves and at the same time it assists with the apprentice-ship scheme.”

Fiji union unrest has spread here with its New Zealand unions vowing full support to their Fijian counterparts in the face restrictions being imposed by the Fijian regime.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions says it’ll step up action in support of Fiji unions if leaders like Felix Anthony are further victimised by the Fiji regime. Fifteen unions met the senior Fiji Trades Union Con-gress official in New Zealand on Monday.

He told them of increased intimidation of union workers by the Fiji military and in-creasing curbs on union activity.

The secretary of the New Zealand Council Peter Conway said unions representing maritime and airline workers may place bans or boycotts on services to Fiji and any action may be brought forward if Mr Antho-ny’s targeted when he returns home.

“We’re not ruling action out or in. Our preference would be that there is action but we’re a democratic movement and that has to be discussed with members and we’re also aware that when you take action of this sort you need to have broad public support.”

Mr Conway says he’ll seek support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enable Mr Anthony to return home safely.

Fiji’s interim attorney-general has hit out at union leaders who he says are promoting sanctions which will hurt the grassroots of Fiji.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum told Radio Fiji that union leaders were portraying a false picture of the ground realities in Fiji and said they

were out for their own self-preservation. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said leaders like

Mr Anthony had used unions for their own benefit, initially supporting the interim gov-ernment to further their careers.

Meanwhile, Fiji's President is receiving letters from pensioners, employers and em-ployees calling on him to appoint a Commis-sion of Enquiry into the country's pension fund.

Earlier this year, the financially troubled Fiji National Provident Fund put forward a plan that would see old age pensions cut by up to 64 per cent.

The planned cut has angered pension-ers, who have launched legal action in Fiji's High Court in an attempt to stop the FNPF from going ahead with it. On Monday afternoon, the High Court post-poned its ruling

on legal action taken by the government and the pension fund to strike out the pensioners' challenge.

Over the weekend, the FNPF paid for newspaper advertisements claiming those opposing the cuts were a few self-interested individuals who are deliberately spreading false rumours.

The FNPF said the pension cuts would go ahead on September 1, with those below the Basic Needs Poverty line exempt. Employers, pensioners and members of the FNPF have turned to President Epeli Nailatikau, calling on him to establish an Independent Commis-sion of Inquiry into Fund mismanagement.

Fiji union unrest gains ground

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum told Radio Fiji that union leaders were portraying a false picture of the ground realities

in Fiji and said they were out for their own self-preservation.


Indian Fiji

The different policies and decrees that have been endorsed by Cabinet is part of the new holistic approach taken by government towards tourism says the Attorney General and Minister for Tourism Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

Tourism is the single biggest revenue earner for Fiji and it is there-fore prudent to take steps that not only benefits government coffers but also satisfies the tourists who come to Fiji to relax and enjoy the world famous Fijian hospitality.

Over the past few years, tourist numbers have be increasing rapidly showing signs of confidence from visitors to come to Fiji.

“Tourism is not just about filling the hotel rooms which the approach was taken previously,” he said.

“Tourism is about extracting the tourism spends in the different ser-

vices. That is very very important.”Mr Sayed-Kahiyum said the

practice done previously went

through an overhaul and the new products now are very competitive.

“Previously it was about filling

up the hotel rooms. Tourism is not about filling up the hotel room but how much money they spend in the local economy – through handi-crafts, rental cars, and visiting vil-lages.”

Tourism Fiji Chief executive officer Josefa Tuamoto says increase tourist numbers were a sign that products such as the Fiji Me, Kava Me, Romance Me, Pamper Me, Dive Me, and Cruise Me among the many others were hitting the tourists.

This is all paying dividends to the marketing strategy by Govern-ment though Tourism Fiji which oversees the whole tourism industry and the Ministry of Tourism.

“I think with the increase in tourists numbers is a result of the products that we (Fiji) are offering and is finally reaping the rewards,” he said.

The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has elected Fiji’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Peter Thomson, as its President for the ISA’s annual session currently underway in Kingston, Jamaica.

The Assembly is the supreme body of the ISA, consisting of del-egations from 161 member states.

Following in the footsteps of former Fiji Ambassador and ISA Secretary-General, Satya Nandan, Fiji has played a prominent role at the ISA since its inception.

ISA was established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and Fiji was the first signatory to the Convention on 10th December, 1982.

The International Seabed Au-thority is an autonomous interna-tional organization, to which state parties to the Convention are given the responsibility of organising, controlling and administering the resources of the international seabed beyond the limits of national EEZs.

The executive body of ISA is the council made up of 36 member states elected by the assembly. In 2010, Fiji was re-elected to the Council to serve during the 2011-2014 term. Fiji is also currently represented on the ISA’s Legal and Technical Commis-sion which meets before the session in order to advise the Council.

The main work before the ISA Assembly in the 11th -22nd July session is the consideration of the Secretary-General’s annual report, the election of the Finance Commit-tee, and consideration and approval of the Council’s recommendations.

During this session, the Council will deliberate on the draft regula-tions on exploration for cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts of the inter-national seabed, and will consider the Legal and Technical Commis-sion’s recommendations regarding

four applications made to ISA for approval to explore specific areas of the international seabed.

These applications have been made by China, Russia, Tonga and Nauru. In the case of Nauru and Tonga, both applications relate to plans of work for exploration for polymetallic nodules in the Clari-on-Clipperton Zone on the interna-tional seabed of the mid-east Pacific Ocean.

The Council will also consider implications of the advisory opinion handed down by the Seabed Dis-putes Chamber in Hamburg on 1st February, 2011.

Last year the ISA Council re-quested the Chamber to give an advisory opinion on the legal re-sponsibilities and obligations of State Parties to the Convention with respect to sponsorship of seabed ex-ploration and mining activities.

As further evidence to its ongoing commitment to a respon-sible and precautionary approach to seabed mining, the Government of Fiji made an oral presentation to the Chamber in Hamburg in 2010 in the course of the Chamber’s hearings on this case.

During the 2011 session, the Council will elect members for the Legal and Technical Commission’s 2012-2016 term, for which Fiji has a

Fiji ambassador elected world body president

Fiji to try new approach to tourism

FRCA chief executive officer, Mr Jitoko Tikolevu said the total collections up to June had exceed-ed the forecast of the authority by $30.3 million.

Mr Tikolevu said the perfor-mance reflected FRCA’s continued effort to improve revenue collec-tions through robust compliance and enforcement initiatives.

“Total revenue collections of over $722 million were recorded as at June 2011 against the corre-sponding forecast of $692 million. This is an increase of 25 per cent for the same period last year where FRCA collected $577 million,” he said.

“The improved 2011 collections were largely accrued to remarkable

revenue performances on VAT, Income Tax, Departure Tax and Water Resource Tax.”

Collections from these revenue streams were significant and ex-ceeded forecasts and Mr Tikolevu added the improved revenue col-lections were also a reflection of sound business performances over the first half of 2011.

Mr Tikolevu added that al-though the corporate tax rates were reduced in 2011, total corporate tax collection remained buoyant.

The solid collection was also assisted by improvements in eco-nomic growth, particularly the enhanced performances from Fiji’s real economic sectors.

This massive growth rate also

resembles the successful imple-mentation of various government policies such as the Capital Gains Tax, Water Resource Tax and the increase in the VAT rate from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent.

Mr Tikolevu said that huge challenges remained for the next six months. “The recovery of out-standing taxes remains a challenge to FRCA.” The Tax Administration Decree (TAD) that was introduced last year has provided FRCA with additional instruments to counter tax evasion in Fiji.

“FRCA, however remains steadfast in ensuring that uncol-lected taxes are realised.”

Revenue, Customs mop up $700 millionMore than $700million in outstanding revenue was collected by the Fiji revenue and Customs Authority (FrCA) for the first six months in 2011.

The Foundation for the Needy Chil-dren (FENC) in Fiji, a non-political, non-profit voluntary organisation re-ceived another donation of $10,000 from J. Santa Ram (Stores) Ltd in Suva last week.

The trading company made its first donation of $10,000 to FENC last year after the official launch by the Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama.

The donation is in support of a call by the Prime Minister for individuals and business houses to pledge towards FENC charitable trust.FENC coordi-nator Mr Irshad Ali commended the generosity of Mr Jay Santa Ram and his company for their second contri-bution of $10,000. “We have some-body who has been generous to the organisation and values children very much, particularly the poorest of the poor children,” Mr Ali said.

“Mr Santa Ram and his company have always been supportive of our aim and this year again contributed another $10,000 towards the work of the foundation.”

Government has approved that in-dividuals and business organisations making any cash donations to FENC Fiji of an aggregate amount up to $100,000 can claim this as a deduct-ible expense.

Managing director Mr Jay Santa Ram said they were committed to the good course of educating the poorest children in our society.

“My company, my family and my friends are all committed to FENC and I urge more people to come on board to support this very good initia-tive,” Mr Santa Ram said.

FENC chairwoman Mrs Teresa Apted said the work done by FENC was in line with the recommendation of the Peoples Charter for Change and Progress.

“When the charter was put up, Government saw one way of alleviat-ing poverty is to get every child in Fiji educated and we supported that and this how the foundation was formed so that we ensure every poorest of the poor child gets educated,” Mrs Apted said.

Business contributes to needy Fiji kids Suva: The University of the South Pacific has signed

a memorandum of understanding with Fiji Television Limited on the collaboration for the teaching and deliv-ery of the television journalism course.

The official signing was done by the Vice-chan-cellor of USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra, and Fiji TV group chief ex-ecutive at USP’s Laucala Campus earlier this month.

The MOU will see USP’s journalism stu-dents that are registered for the 200 level television jour-nalism course, learn at Fiji TV’s headquarters at Gorrie Street from July 25 until September 16 this year.

Prof Chandra said the university acknowledged Fiji TV’s support and commitment towards journalism and the media in the region.

“We here at USP appreciate the opportunity, through such collaboration, to co-teach the journalism televi-sion course which we believe will significantly contrib-ute towards improving communications through the

media,” he said.“As a result of this partnership, the journalism stu-

dents will have an opportunity to learn from the media experts at Fiji TV.

“And they will experience the most advanced media techniques using the latest technologies and other facil-

ities provided by the training department at Fiji Television Limited,” he said.

USP broad-cast journalism lecturer Nash Sorariba said there were more than 20 televi-sion students registered on USP’s regional television pro-gramme.

“Students will get an excellent chance to not only see professionals at work but learn from them in areas of theory work, camera work, editing and voice-overs and other things,” he said.

He said in the past there used to be the same number of students but the equipment and computers were not enough to cater for large number of students.

– Arin Kumar

USP, Fiji TV in media student deal

“I think with the

increase in tour-

ists numbers is a

result of the prod-

ucts that we (Fiji)

are offering and is

finally reaping the

rewards,Isa has elected Fiji’s

permanent represen-

tative to the united

Nations, ambassador

peter thomson, as

its president for the

Isa’s annual session

students will get an excellent chance to not only see professionals at work but learn from them in areas of theory work, camera work, editing and voice-

overs and other things


Indian

Hrithik confirms to star in Agneepath in 5 minMumbai: Over 6 feet tall, deep voice, perfectionists, excellent actors in their respective genre of acting… and that’s where the similarities end. Being offered a role previ-ously acted by Amitabh Bachchan, a legend of Indian cinema, is surely a scary experience. Anyone would be doubtful to take it up. Hrithik Roshan is no exception. Like the rest of us, Hrithik grew up watching Amitabh act in different roles.

Acting in the remake of his film, with a comparison bound to occur, can be a strong motivation to say ‘NO’. And that’s what he said to Karan Johar, the producer of ‘Agneepath’ when it was first offered to him. But Karan Johar did not give up to Hrithik’s denial, asked him to ‘At least hear it’.

Karan Malhotra, the direc-tor, was asked to go to Spain and narrate the script to him, with a

belief that Hrithik wouldn’t refuse after hearing about it. Hrithik, the ever considerate and a person who hates waste of time felt guilty about his denial for a movie to his friend Karan and with the director, travel-ling all the way to Spain for a three hour talk.

As Karan Malhotra started nar-rating the story, it started drawing Hrithik into its charm. An actor who is known to demand a retake of the

shoot if it is not up to his satisfac-tion, who constantly while on break during shoot continues to rehearse the scenes in mind, had no trouble in imagining this as a future hit.

A story inspired by a real in-dividual and geographical basis (Mandva) and same names, after all, who can ever forget ‘Vijay Dinanath Chauhan’ and ‘Kancha’?

The change in Vijay’s journey and his completely different char-

acter treatment, made Hrithik attract to enact in the story com-pletely. Adding his personal touch and the instincts which have made him a super star, it just took Hrithik precisely 5 minutes to say a ‘YES’ to act in the movie. A challenge is now what is before Hrithik Roshan… and so let’s wait for Hrithik Roshan to come on screen with his Vijay Di-nanath Chauhan persona, for the year’s most awaited ‘Agneepath’.

Mumbai: Though the most awaited film of this year is going to release next year, the look is out already and has created madness. We’re talking about Dharma Production’s upcoming film, Agneepath. Karan Johar announced late last night that the release date for the remake of Dharma’s cult film, Agneepath, would be a couple of days after Duggu’s birthday, on 13th January 2012.

Though fans were a little disappoint-ed with the delay in release, Karan being Karan, knew how to bring the glory back. A few minutes after tweeting the release date, Karan tweeted a link that was to reveal Hrithik’s look in Agnee-path, humbly asking for a feedback on the same.

In no time did the fans start flooding to the link, the official facebook page of the film - Agneepath, where Hrithik’s look was exclusively revealed. ‘the hulk’, ‘fiery’ ‘very macho’, ‘awesome body’ & ‘can’t wait to see more of him’ were the kind of comments that flooded on the page. There is unbelievable sudden buzz on the official facebook page of the film now.

By the look of it, Hrithik is smoking hot and the film is still one of the most awaited film this year. In fact, after yes-terday’s look release, more so. You can see for yourself, why so!

Mumbai: Bollywood filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar broke his silence over the anguish of discover-ing a pregnant Aishwarya Rai after starting the shooting of his most ambitious project “Heroine” and claimed that the actor had hidden the news of her pregnancy.

The project has been halted after Ash’s father-in-law Amitabh Bach-chan tweeted last month that she is expecting to be a mother.

Madhur said that he was ‘shocked’ to know that Ash was ex-pecting a baby.

“I am still reeling in a state of shock. But still chose to remain silent all these days; but was coerced into breaking my silence as I real-ized that truth deserved to be told,” he wrote.

Ash was all set to play the lead role in the film and announcements about it were made in the Cannes festival this year.

“Today I am sitting alone in my office after the plugs being pulled off from my film Heroine. My con-science stands clear as I have been honest to my craft irrespective of the repercussions. No which way would I have trampled my dream project on which I have given my

sweat and blood for almost 1 and 1/2 years. This was going to be my most ambitious project of my career, “ he blogged breaking his silence.

“My inherent belief is that moth-erhood is pious and I am humbled by it. I must also add that I salute every woman who chooses to work in this extremely delicate state... In fact my wife, when she was carrying my daughter, worked through her pregnancy, but in the same breath I would like to say that I will never knowingly put a woman in harm’s way knowing the delicate nature of her health.

“My entire career stands on the strong pillars of women oriented films. This stems from the fact that I am sensitive to the entire aura and mystique of a woman and woman-hood,” he wrote.

“On one of the days, amongst the only 8 days shoot we did, one of my associate directors while re-hearsing for the actress tripped and had a bad fall injuring himself. The terrain we were shooting was rocky. Today when I know the condition of my then lead actress and I shudder at the thought what if instead of my associate, she would have been the one to be injured; I would have suf-

fered a major guilt throughout my life if anything were to happen to her on my guard and direction,” he expressed in his blog.

“The film was announced in Cannes on 13th May while we com-menced shooting on 7th June. There was a gap of 24 days even if we had known the truth behind the maternal state of the actress things could have been reworked keeping the state of matters in mind accordingly and this crisis could have been averted.”

“The entire crisis would have taken a humungous shape had the truth not being unveiled when it was. With 65 days of shooting remaining. It would make the concerned actress 6-7 months pregnant. Cinema is a visual medium and keeping in mind the physical state of the actress, the total interpretation of the character of a diva and the story would land up in major jeopardy post 65 days of her pregnancy.”

“This decision of pulling the plug had a devastating effect on me. It was like an avalanche collapsing on me, I was in a state of total shock and depression.

“I have been working on the script for almost a year and a half. I could not come to the office for

almost 8 days for the fear of facing those people whose bread and butter depend-ed upon the film because in true sense these people were the worst affected by the turn of

events,”he wrote. “It was a collective decision of

the Producers of the film to pull off the plug on the current assembled project. It takes a heart of steel to take such a hard decision and it cannot be done on mere whims but stoic and solid reasoning,” he mentioned. Earlier, It was reported that B-town actor Tabu had visited Madhur Bhandarkar’s house recent-ly and consoled him in this difficult situation in life.

Tabu had worked with the ace director in the film ‘Chandni Bar’ in 2001.

It was after ten years that she was spotted visiting Madhur Bhan-darkar’s Kakkad Enclave residence in Khar.

Ash hid pregnancy reports: Madhur

Bollywood


Indian

Call Shell 021 297 3259 Zulfi 021 915 329

* Taxes may vary for different cities and are subject to FX variation and seat availablity + other terms and conditions apply (travel

Unit O, 8 Bishop Lenihan Place, East Tamaki

Ph: 09 272 3522 or 272 3544Fax: 09 272 3577

Email: [email protected] www.travelshopnz.co.nz

From Auckland to Indian Subcontinent

2011 Early bird Special Air fares SALE ends soon

Hurry before it’s

too lateFares starting from:

Inclusive of taxes

taxes may vary for different cities and are subject to FX variation+other terms and conditions apply (travel dates, etc)

1749*

*

Fares from $1779*

Sales until 11th August 2011

From Auckland to Indian Subcontinent

2011 Early bird Special Air fares SALE ends soon

Hurry before it’s

too lateFares starting from:

Inclusive of taxes

taxes may vary for different cities and are subject to FX variation+other terms and conditions apply (travel dates, etc)

1749*

*

Bollywood

Mumbai: The man with a charm in the voice-Lucky Ali-is back and this time with his new album ‘Raasta-Man’.

“Raasta-Man is dedicated to all my fans who have greatly support-ed me all through my career and have displayed their love for my music,” Lucky said at the launch of the album here on Thursday.

“Raasta-Man’s music takes you on a soothing journey, which inspires one to live every moment to the fullest. Life is a journey and not a destination and this album personifies that sentiment. I would like to thank Ovations for giving me the opportunity to showcase my music,”Lucky said.

To promote the album, road shows are being organized from the first weekend of September with concerts in various cities. It will continue non-stop for three months ending in November.

All songs of Raasta-Man have been recorded at Sterling Studio in New York.

While the album will be popu-larized through the grand multi-city concerts, Lucky Ali has ap-pointed media house UTV as the official music partner to make the album available across various mediums.

Through this partnership with UTV, the album will be accessible on radio, television, Voice and other digital platforms.

Ovations India is the produc-er of the album and host to the concerts and road shows, while Buenos Entertainment has been chosen to support Ovations on Sales, Marketing, Event Manage-ment, Logistics Management, Ticketing, Travel Management, Event Production& Backstage Management. Zubair Ali is the Tour Manager.

Lucky back with ‘Raasta Man’

Mumbai: Umbrellas are up, sky is dim & streets are clogged with water. While India is already cel-ebrating monsoon now, looks like film lovers might have to wait for a while for John’s upcoming, Force, the movie.

The film starring John Abraham and Genelia D’Souza, remake of a Tamil hit film, is supposed to be an action thriller directed by Nishikant Kamat. This is the same movie that got Genelia & John married accidently at the set during the shoot of their marriage scene in the film. News was that the priest

was chasing the producer saying John & Genelia can’t marry any-one else now.

Though the film was supposed to be competing with Pankaj Ka-poor’s Mausam, looks like Force is not going to release before May next year.

There is no official comment on this yet but the film posters are saying ‘THIS SUMMER’.

So, are they all buying time to file the divorce papers for John & Genelia? We wonder how Ritesh Deshmukh & Priya Marwah are re-acting to this?

Force is under confusion

New Delhi: B-town perfection-ist Aamir Khan faced some tough moments as two Delhi-based con-temporary artists alleged ‘copy-right infringement’ over the title of the track ‘Bhaag DK Bose’ from the film ‘Delhi Belly’ because they claimed it was alike to their art project designs titled ‘BoseDK’.

The Contemporary artist duo, Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, have made those series of oil on canvas paintings designs in 2003.

Meanwhile in a press conference in New Delhi on Monday afternoon the two artists and Aamir Khan himself interacted over this issue and announced that the differences

have been sorted out.“I was sent a notice by Thukral

and Dagra telling me I was doing something wrong. I was surprised,” Aamir said.

“We met in Bombay in our home, we spent a lot of time to-gether and finally understood their concern,” Khan said. Meanwhile, Jiten Thukral said that they were surprised to see the use of the term ‘DK Bose’ in the song.

“We were taken aback when we saw the terminology used in the song. We really felt it important to stand by out work,” Thukral said.

Aamir said that he was able to understand that the artists were not

there to attack him.“It has become a trend that every

producer gets three to four notices. We thought it will be one of those.

But once I met with both these boys I realized that they have no intention to harm me,” Khan, who produced the movie, said.

He also said humorously that it for this incident that he was able to meet the original ‘BoseDK’.

The urban centric comedy ‘Delhi Belly’ was released at the big screen on July 1 and has already made good market at the box office.

The song ‘Bhaag DK Bose’ is considered to be one of the most popular numbers of the year.

Aamir solves ‘Bose DK’ controversy


Indian Bollywood

What is Mausam all about?Mausam is about seasons of love. It is about the different emotions and situations that the two principal characters –Harinder Singh (me) and Aayat (Sonam Kapoor)- undergo…what seasons of love they go is the theme of the film.

Is it true that you did not take up any new project till shooting for Mausam was over?Yes. It was wonderful that I could go through the entire process. Dad had written this film about three years back. He was pretty clear right at the beginning that whenever we do this film, I should not take up any other projects because the script requires certain graft as it is spread over certain period of time. The film required certain amount of authen-ticity and he wanted me to be com-pletely in the film form. That’s why I took off everything else to have that time to go and do some research on being an aircraft officer.

What research did you do for your role?I visited a few airforce bases, met a few airforce officers, sat in the aircraft, put on the jets suit, follow how they walk with a helmet…all that which actually gives you some perspective to what it is to be repre-senting the country and to be part of armed forces and to be an airforce pilot.

And what did you learn?It will be very interesting for you to know that the value of an air-

force pilot is Rs 300 crores on an average…that’s the amount of money invested in each airforce officer over a period of time. I used to think that we heroes get all the good things, but our airforce offi-cers are taken extremely good care of. They used to look at me and say: ‘Haan yaar, tut oh hero hai…thi hai. They all have this attitude that is awesome because they are the real heroes. That was an enriching expe-rience. I have changed as a person, as an actor as I have learnt to respect a lot of things that I used to take for granted so far.

You are spotting a moustache in the film…

We started shooting this film two years back and dad (Pankaj Kapur) had told me to grow a moustache. I told him: ‘Dad, yesteryear actors

who used to grow moustaches. This style is not for me.’ But in these two years, I saw many of our present day heroes spotted moustaches. So now it feels nice that so many people thought about it in and around the same time.

What was the most memorable experience you had while shoot-ing the film?I flew an F-16 (fighter aircraft)…I don’t know of any other actor in the world who has flown an F-16. Tom Cruise too flew a fighter aircraft in Top Gun, but I think, that was an F-15. So, I am really fortunate to get that opportunity.Item songs have become almost indispensable in films. Do we see you groove in Mausam?I tried very hard to request dad that as an airforce officer of the Indian Army, I should be doing an item song where I expose my body and we should shoot it in and around an aircraft. But dad said he would not like to do anything like that in this film.

Tell us about your chemistry with Sonam.We love and hate each other. And that is how we are. Sonam has very high fashion standards. She doesn’t entertain people whose fashion stan-dards don’t match hers. Therefore, when you are shooting with her, you have to dress and look a certain way and get an approval of that from her. Fortunately throughout the making of this film, I tried to educate myself in all that.

‘Sonam has very high fashion standards’

Mumbai: Mahesh Bhatt’s upcom-ing film Murder 2, the sequel to Murder, is studded with lot of fresh things.

Right from the thrilling script to hottest pairing of Emraan Hashmi & Jacqueline, it has it all. But what caught our attention is Bhatts’ new find - the very beautiful Sul-agna, who makes her debut with Murder 2.

Unlike other debutants, who have less scope to show their bit with the first film itself, Sulagna has a much significant role in director Mohit Suri’s sequel.

The delicate looking lady will be seen doing some danger-

ous stunts. However, she never showed a sign of panic and with full gusto performed the daredevil stunts. Everyone from theMurder 2 team swears for her bravery. After all, the pretty petite, Sulagna comes from a very disciplined army family background and well acquainted to deal with it.

Even Sulagna feels the reason behind her bold and fearless atti-tude comes from the fact that she has been brought up in the army environment.

Says Sulagna, “Yes, I think somewhere my exposure to army world proved very helpful to per-form the stunts with much ease.”

Sulagna turns daredevil in Murder 2

‘Fed up of serial kisser image’

emraan Hashmi is back to his serial kisser avatar in Murder 2 where he romances Sri Lankan beauty Jacque-line Fernandez. The actor chats up Sreya Basu in Mumbai

What made you go for a sequel of Murder?Murder was one of my bonafide suc-cessful films. It was a bold film with very clear components-sensuality, eroticism, murder mystery-which was quite shocking for the audience as well as critics at that time. But still it was one of the biggest hits of 2004. We thought of taking the theme-driven franchise forward. However, Murder 2 is not a sequel to Murder, but it belongs to a series of films. It’s a new story with new characters. It’s based on the relation-ship of friends of benefits. These two characters-Arjun and Priya (Emraan and Jacqueline) are in a non-commit-ted relationship, who are unapologetic about the intimacy between them.

Which one do you find better-Murder or Murder 2?I find Murder 2 much, much superior to Murder in many ways…it’s more thrill-ing, more unpredictable, more sensu-ous, more bold. We worked harder on the script because today we have really smart audience who just after a few scenes know in which direction the film is heading and what the climax is going to be. So we made sure that this film keeps you on your toes and keep you guessing at interval and pre-climax points. There is more fancy in my char-acter that I have played so far.

How was it working with Jacque-line?You can’t work on chemistry. As actors you work hard on your role, but not on chemistry with your co-actor. But going by the feedback from the audi-ence after they saw the song promos, it seems they are liking Jacqueline and my chemistry very much. She has done

a very, very good job in the film.Why will Murder 2 be a memo-rable film for you?The film will be a really memorable one for me. One of the reasons is, Mohit (Suri, director) generally makes us work 12 hours a day. But for this film, he made us work 17-18 hours a day in Goa. (Smiles)

You have always gone for grey characters…I have never played a chocolate hero, but a dark hero. In Murder 2 also there are grey shades in my character. Now-a-days the dividing line between hero and villain has been erased in our Hindi films. Today, a villain’s viewpoint is no longer unidimensional; people under-stand him.

Do you feel bad with the serial kisser tag?I don’t feel bad. It’s just I am fed up being called a serial kisser. I hope the media finds something fine and more innovative, or doesn’t call me anything at all. I will be happy with that.

Ever tried to break out of it?After Murder, my image (as serial kisser) was set. If I would have some-thing else, my career would have taken another path. But Murder being my first bona fide hit, it affected my career too much that time. The film was bold and sensuous, so people didn’t notice other things. That somewhere rubs of and you get similar kind of films and that becomes a forte of you as an actor. But time and again, consciously I tried to break out of that image and do dif-ferent kind of role, at the same time keeping this (image) as a strong point in my career.

Shahid Kapoor is flying high…literally. After all, he is playing an Indian Army pilot in his father Pankaj Kapur’s directorial debut film Mausam. The actor chats up Correspondent Sreya Basu after releasing the first look of the film in Mumbai

What made you visit Save the Children NGO?There are so many hearing, speech or intellectually impaired children in India who are studying hard with hearing aids and other devices. So it (Save The Children India) is giving hope and a life which a lot of us can only dream to do. But they actually do it. We are really privileged that we were allowed to spend some time with the kids.

What is the most memorable part of your visit to the NGO?I have made lots of lovely boy-friends (the kids at the NGO), who have been extremely affectionate. Don’t miss this part. They just all clung to me. (Laughs)

Is it mandatory for I Am She fi-nalists to do charity works?

It was important for us as all our three winners (of I Am She) work on different causes. Last year also, they achieved a lot of targets, we raised funds for our organizations. I am happy that this year too my girls are getting chance to interact with people and contribute towards the society.

When they will win (the crown) this year, then for the next one year, they will have a target to raise up to Rs 10 lakh each fro corporates and events so that the money can go to an organization through I Am Foundation. So every year we do our homework to find out which organization is really working well in our country; who will actually spend the money on the welfare of the society.

We are teaching the finalists of I Am She that you can’t live alone in

this world. You have to see everything in a big canvas so that they can realize that they are a small member of such a big country and a bigger world. So unless you make a difference in the world, you won’t be a produc-tive citizen of a country or world.

Do you remember the first time you visited an NGO?Seventeen years back when for the first time I came to such an orga-nization was in South America…in Colombia. There the children couldn’t speak my language and nor I could speak their lingo. But still I made so many friends there that even today, though the kids have grown up now, they remember me as ‘Sush’. So I believe that once

you make an impression in some-one’s life, it lasts a long way.

You are also associated with Salman Khan’s NGO Being Human…I have a long relationship with Being Human, not just because it’s Salman Khan’s organization (as you have seen, we have always been part of any fund-raising events organized by it). But for me, it’s anybody who does good work, I will support them and would like to do through I Am Foundation.

You seem to go along with kids really well…Children are the loveliest gifts of nature. We always complain that we don’t have this or don’t have that, but special children teach us either you mourn your defects and what’s lacking or celebrate the gifts that God has bestowed upon you.

As for me, I am used to carry-ing two babies on my lap. Aadat par jati hai. For any mother, carrying a kid on her lap is a natural and most beautiful posture.

Indian Bollywood

Sushmita Sen loves children. The actor, along with the finalists of I Am She beauty pageant, was recently seen having a good time with the kids of Sunil and Mana Shetty’s NGO Save The Children India at Bandra in Mumbai. Sreya Basu catches up with the ex-Miss Universe

‘Children are loveliest gifts of nature’

2 0 1 1

ANNUAL

BOLLYWOODHIGH SCHOOL

DANCECOMPETITION

13TH

A DESI INTERNATIONAL SHOWBIZ PRESENTATION

Binesh Sumer

SATURDAY 27st AUGUST 2011 LOGAN CAMPBELL CENTRE AT 7.30 pm

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL MAJOR INDIAN OUTLETS & PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

* Conditions Apply

TICKETFOR ALL

AGES

For Further details contact Binesh 021 496 321, A/H 828 0150 or visit www.desiinternationalshowbiz.co.nz

$25

AUCKLANDINDIAN SWEETS

SMOKE FREE NEW LYNN COMPLIANCE LTDINDIA GATEINDIAN RESTAURANT

ROSEHILL COLLEGE • AVONDALE COLLEGE • AUCKLAND GIRLS GRAMMER • MT ALBERT GRAMMER • ALFRISTON COLLEGE • BOTANY DOWNS COLLEGE PAPATOETOE HIGH • BARADENE COLLEGE • EDGEWATER COLLEGE • JAMES COOK HIGH • KELSTON GIRLS • GLENFIELD COLLEGE • MANUREWA HIGH

ONEHUNGA HIGH • KELSTON BOYS HIGH • WAITAKERE COLLEGE • OTAHUHU COLLEGE • DE LA SALLE • PAKURANGA COLLEGE • MT ROSKILL GRAMMERTAKAPUNA GRAMMER • WESTLAKE GIRLS • RUTHERFORD COLLEGE

LIVE ON STAGE SEE ANDRE VEGAS CUT A WOMAN INTO TWO HALVES AND DISAPPEAR WITH HORROR, BLOOD AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Added

Attaction

KIRAT SINGH (JAY)- Manager09 277 4852 / 021 209 4807

Door Sale $30

ST LUKES


Indian

In the issue dated 17th June, I dis-cussed the things you should know before you start a business and also if you are thinking about buying a business which is in rundown con-dition.

Coming to buying a business that is running well, there are various advantages and disadvan-tages you should keep in mind before buying it.

So before you finalize your pur-chase of business, you must look into the following-

1. Is the business of a type where the customers may be attached to a particular owner? Examples are trades people like plumbers, electri-cians and professionals like accoun-tants, doctors, architects etc.

2. Go through Income, Expenses, margins of business of preceding few months/years. Note down trends and try to understand any abnor-mal trend. If sales and profitability has gone up few months prior to the business put to market for sale, make

thorough enquiries. Discuss the figures with an accountant and seek the expert opinion.

3. When will there be any re-placement of assets required? How much will be capital outlay required? Will you have enough resources for it? Keeping in mind proposed expenditure; consider the price you are paying for busi-ness is justified.

4. See if there is any upside po-tential to the business. If there is not, it means there is only down-side risk, then the Goodwill you are paying needs to be recon-sidered. This is very important as sometimes first time buyers of business are thrilled to learn about the fact that the business is running at 100% capacity, failing to understand the downside risks involved.

5. See that there is good poten-tial for business for years to come and how the business is positioned to cope with any challenges like

new technology, competition, ex-change rate fluctuations, imports, any potential legislative changes etc.

6. It is always best to use the ser-vices of professionals, use solicitor to go through legal documents like leases, trademarks, employment contracts of employees, use accoun-tant to go through financial state-ments and other financial informa-tion. 7. Have a suitable business structure keeping in mind short and long term prospects. Understand fully advan-tages/disadvantages of different structures like sole proprietorship, partnership, trading trust, limited li-ability Company etc.

If you are buying a Business Franchise, keep few additional things in mind.

Though Franchise opportunities have many advantages like supply of knowhow, equipment, promotional material etc. by franchisor, also ease of building customer base due to brand name, still there are few issues which may be of concern to you and these are-

1. It involves cost. You may be re-

quired to pay a percentage of profits or percentage of sales to franchisor for as long as you are using the name of franchisor.

2. There may be restrictions imposed by franchisor in terms of area you can operate in, employment related matters, advertising etc. Nor-mally overhead costs are higher in franchise business.

3. Sometimes franchise busi-nesses may not be financially very sound. The fortunes of your busi-ness will also be tied to fortune of franchisor. So if you decide to go for franchise business, go for reputed and financially sound companies.

Ravi Mehta is an Auckland based Authorised Financial Advisor (AFA) and can be con-tacted on [email protected]. A disclosure statement under Securities Markets Act relating to his services is avail-able on request and is free of charge.

Things you should know while starting or buying a business (Part 2)

ravI meHta

The AdVANTAgES:- Existing customer base- Existing processes, suppliers chain- Existing assets base- income from day 1

The diSAdVANTAgES: - Higher initial cost

being cost of goodwill- Sometimes customers

are loyal only to particular owners and may leave and go elsewhere once the business is taken over by new owners.

40 Lincoln Road, Henderson, AucklandP: 09 908 2440 / 021 256 8484www.shahnaz.co.nz * Conditions apply

Cherish a World Class Treatment and an hygiene environment in one of the

Finest Beauty Clinic of New Zealand

Running a business is never easy.There are so many things to consider, and chances are you’re working long hours to make sure your business is a success and keep your customers coming back.

Naturally you will appreciate the need to manage the risks you face every day. Chances are that you insure your premises, company ve-hicles, equipment and stock against fire, flood and theft. But have you stopped to think what would happen if you were to lose one of your most valuable assets: the people who make your business the success it is – and that includes you.

When you’ve worked closely with a colleague for many years building a business, it’s easy to take for granted the essential and valuable part they play and to assume they’ll always be

there. But what happens if they get sick, injured or even die? How would your business cope?

Research has for some time shown that New Zealanders are under insured, but what is not so well known is that our business are even less protected. What’s more, the con-sequences can also be greater than in the case with personal insurance. If something happens to key person/business owner, the impact can be disastrous. Not only can a business collapse, homes can be lost and, of course, employees lose their jobs.

ACC research suggests 67% of businesses are forced to close owing to injury to a key person. (June 2006)

Did you know that every business has three areas of vulnerability?1. Business debt

Nothing can cripple, or even sink, a business faster than the inability to pay loan instalments, tax bills, rent, salaries and suppliers.How would your business cope if key owners or employees were perma-nently out of the picture?Consider your financial obligations to: Financiers, IRD, Landlord, Staff, Creditors, Suppliers, Personal Guar-antees2. Business ContinuityProductivity can be seriously dis-rupted when a key person becomes seriously ill, has an accident or dies.You need to think about:Buying in employeesReplacing ProfitHolding Market shareContractual CommitmentsCustomer confidenceSupplier Confidence

3. Business OwnersDeath or disability can force change on your ownership structure, making it necessary to draw down on cash reserves and assets. It is vital to for-malise any shareholder/partnership cover through a buy/sell agreement to ensure capital is distributed as agreed.

How would you eliminate owner-ship issues?Use cashSell some assetsGet a loan from the bankPre-arrange funding

So while you may have a great many balls to juggle, and be working extremely long hours, you still need to take time with your adviser to make sure you are prepared for any-thing.

Otherwise your business and your dreams could literally disappear.

The above information has been provided to serve only as a guideline to assist in evaluating your insurance needs. You are encouraged to do your own research or consult with your adviser before arriving at any deci-sions.

Oliver Pereira is an Auckland based Insurance Advisor contact details are below.A disclosure statement as required under Financial Advisers (Disclo-sure) Regulation 2010 is freely avail-able on request.Oliver Pereira – OPM insurance Services ltd.Ph. 0800 66 77 92 faxmail. 021 551 669 Mobile. 021 66 77 92 Email. [email protected]

Are you protecting the Goose or the Golden egg?olIver pereIra

Column


Indian Fashion & Beauty

B e a u t y t i p s

QUALIFICATIONS OFFERED

BEAUTy ThERApy National Certificate in Beauty Services

(Beautician) Level 4 National Certificate in Beauty Services

(Nail Technology) Level 4 National Certificate in Beauty Services

(Electrology) Level 5 National Certificate in Beauty Services

(Body Therapy) Level 5 Diploma in Beauty Therapy Level 5 ITEC, CIDESCO International

examinations

hAIRDRESSINg Certificate in Hairdressing Level 3 Certificate in Hairdressing Level 4

MAkEUp ARTISTRy Certificate in Makeup Level 4 Diploma in Production Design Level 5

Following on from Cats and 42nd St in 2010, this year’s class recently completed the three-week season of Miss Saigon at the Civic Theatre – and they go into pre-production in August for the Amici production of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes – again at the Civic.

Those of us who were around in the 1970s will remember the heart-breaking images of babies fathered by American GIs, abandoned when the men were repatriated home. It was one of these images - the photo of a Vietnamese mother leaving her baby at the departure gate at Tan Son Nhut Airbase to give the child the chance of a better life with his ex-GI father in America –which inspired the partnership behind

Les Miserables to create Miss Saigon. Based on Puccini’s opera Madam Butterfly, it relates the tragedy of an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover, who sacrifices her beloved son - and ultimately her own life- to ensure his future. Updated from 19th century Japan to the closing years of the Vietnam War, the ill-fated romance of Puc-cini’s American Lieutenant and Japanese Geisha is replaced by the doomed love affair of an American GI and a Vietnamese bar-girl, but the central idea of both tales is self-sacrifice.

All this visual virtuosity pre-

sented a challenge for the students to match. In preparation, they re-searched the musical’s history, studied other productions on the internet, attended pre-production meetings with the cast and direc-

tor, and produced storyboards of make-up designs for the pro-

duction designer’s approv-al. Led by their tutor,

students provided hair and makeup services for publicity shoots and television inter-views, and make-up application, hairstyl-ing, and dressing as-

sistance over the full three-week season.As a result of this

continuing professional in-duction, and its huge network of industry contacts, the Cut Above graduates are out there in force, carving out stellar careers in top salons, makeup companies, and beauty spas – or working as free-lance artists on a variety of TV, film, and fashion productions. One of the Miss Saigon team has been offered an interview with Shortland Street, previous graduates are working on Spartacus, for Weta Workshop, for TVNZ, or running their own pro-duction design businesses.

Backstage at Miss Saigon by

Cut Above Students in the Diploma in Makeup work as backstage crew for Amici Productions on at least two shows a year.

Again, this is one of the most common skin disorder seen in New Zealand.

What is Skin Pigmentation? – Skin Pigmentation is a variation in skin colour which appears as dark patches on the skin surface.

CAuSeSkin Pigmentation is due to the amount of melanin de-posits in the skin, resulting in a diffused or circumscribed staining of the skin, which may show up as a dark patch on the skin surface.The root cause of this can be internal – due to internal imbalances – which causes the increase in production of Melanin in the body.Exposure to the sun also adds to the increase of pro-duction of melanin in human body thus resulting dark patches on the skin surfaces which is called as Skin Pigmentation.

Skin Pigmentation

For more advice on the treatment or products offered by Shahnaz Husain NZ, Contact

BINDu (CIBTAC, International Qualified Beauty Therapist and Diploma in Shahnaz Husain, India)

Shahnaz HusainThe Ayurvedic Beauty Clinic 40 Lincoln Road, Henderson, Auckland. P : 09 9082440 E : [email protected]

l Centrally located in Auckland CBDl NZQA Accredited and Internationally Recognized

Qualificationsl Multi-skills for Workplace with the diversity of

qualificationsl Resources and Student Support are unparalleled

meeting the various industry needsl Hands on Practical Experience in clinics and salons

ONCE OFF OPPORTUNITY. PRICES SLASHEDFor International Students

ENQUIRE NOW. PLACES FILLING FASTwww.cutabove.ac.nz Ph:+64 9 3090689

Why Cut Above Academy?

DIPLOMA IN BEAUTY SERVICES

PATHWAY TO SKILLED EMPLOYMENT

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS+64 9 309 0689

www.cutabove.ac.nz

ENROL NOW

For Dry Skin

Morning: 1. Apply Shadew as a Cleanser. 2. Apply Shawhite 3. Cover face with Shabase / Shaglow.

Night : 1. Apply Shadew as a cleanser. 2. Massage with Shalife and Wipe off. 3. Tone skin with Sharose 4. Apply Shablem on patches and leave on.

Afternoon : Home Pack: 3 tsp Shaface, 2 tsp Shafresh, 2 drops Shableach, 1 Egg Yolk, 1 tsp Honey, 2 tsp curd. Make into a paste and apply. Wash off when dry.

Note: You can refrigerate any remainder of this paste for next day. If it gets dry, add milk or curd and use. Wash face and apply Shasilk / Shabase.

TreATMeNTSClinical and professional treatment on weekly sessions is advised depending on the degree of the dis-order.To get your face evenly toned glowing, Bindu (The Shahnaz Husain’s expert) recommends a special treatments she offers at her Ayurvedic Beauty Clinic in Henderson along with home treatment products as suggested:

For Oily Skin

Morning: 1. Wash face with Shazema 2. Mix Shagrain with Sharose and rub gently. Wash off.

3. Apply Shawhite on patches and cover with Shabase/Shasilk.

Night: 1. Wash face with Shazema 2. Dab Sharose 3. Moisture skin with Shasilk. 4. Apply Shablem on patches and leave on.

Afternoon : Home Pack: 3 tsp Shaface, 2 tsp Shafresh, 2 drops Shableach, 1 Egg White, 1 tsp Honey, 2 tsp curd. Make into a paste and apply. Wash off when dry.

Note: You can refrigerate any remainder of this paste for next day. If it gets dry, add milk or curd and use. Wash face and apply Shasilk / Shabase.

DIPLOMA IN BEAUTY SERVICES

PATHWAY TO SKILLED EMPLOYMENT

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS+64 9 309 0689

www.cutabove.ac.nz

ENROL NOW


IndianIndian Column

If the gut is healthy, so is the rest of the body. Generally, people un-derstand that diet has an impact on their gut. However what we don’t realise is that our lifestyle can have an impact on the digestive health too!

In the human body, a healthy gut has primarily three functions - digestion of the food, absorption & distribution of nutrients and pre-vention of toxins from entering the body.

Many of us suffer from gut problems like indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, gastric reflux, stomach upsets, constipation, di-arrhoea, and excess wind or flatu-lence etc. Most times we ignore the symptoms and pass this off stating “this is normal” or “will pass away”, however to understand and address this we need to look at our digestion process.

The process of digestion begins in the mouth, where our teeth and tongue grind the food, enzymes in saliva help to chemically break it down, food then travels down a tube called the oesophagus or food pipe, it then enters the stomach, where it is mixed with gastric juices

that contain enzymes and acid, the acid kills bacteria, and helps the enzymes to break down the food this then passes into the small in-testine, where it is broken down into nutrients small enough to be absorbed into the body. Absorption takes place along the inner surface of the small intestine, which serve to increase the surface area across where the nutrients can be ab-sorbed.

What causes the imbalance?The reasons for a disturbed

gut could be varied - Stress, drugs (antibiotics), excessive alcohol, un-healthy diets or even natural ageing process, the reason could be many causing gut discomfort.

Eating the right foods can help to keep the digestive system in good working order and prevent any digestive disorders.

So what are the right foods?Include whole grain varieties of

staple foods (rice, pasta, bread and cereals) in your daily diet; a mix of soluble and insoluble fibre helps the food transit through the diges-tive system more easily. It is good to start your day with wholegrain flakes or grainy muesli or even por-

ridge, use wholemeal / whole grain bread and wholemeal rice or pasta for meals.

Beans, lentils or split peas are other food groups that benefit the

gut, add these regularly in salads, meat dishes, or in casseroles. Add barley to homemade soups and stews. Fruits and vegetables consist of both soluble and insoluble fibre,

Five plus a day is ideal and where possible eat them raw or with skin on.

Dairy foods like yoghurt are beneficial to the gut and also add protein and calcium to your daily diet.

Remember the gut works 24 hour - round the clock, as long as the system is running smoothly...All is well. A well functioning gut helps us to resist disease and infection as this strengthens our immune system that is stimulated by intestinal bacteria.

So take notice of your ‘Gut Feeling’... Eat Right and Feel Great....till next time take care, be healthy and active.

This article is a general guide-line ONLY, if you have any medical condition and for individual condi-tions you should consult a health professional or your medical prac-titioner immediately.

Varsha Asrani is a New Zealand Registered Dietitian. For personal consultation or any ques-tion, suggestion or views please email her on [email protected].

What’s your ‘Gut’ Feeling? varsHa asraNI

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine has stated that “All disease begin in the Gut”.

METHODPre heat oven to 180c Gas mark 3.Grease 25cm x 30cm (10inch x 12inch) swiss roll pan, line base and sides with baking paper.Sieve flour and cocoa powder together and keep aside.Beat the eggs and sugar together with electric mixer until mixture is very thick and creamy.Mix gently the flour/cocoa with the egg/sugar mixture with a plastic spatula then add the 1 tbsp boiling water. Do not mix using an electric mixer or do not mix vigorously.Pour and spread the mixture evenly into the prepared swiss roll pan.Bake for 8-10 minutes, taking it out as soon as the center of the sponge springs back when pressed lightly with a finger.Quickly loosen the sponge cake from the sides of the pan, and turn it out on to a clean piece of fine muslin cloth that has been wetted, then wrung out as dry as possible .Lift the baking paper off the sponge and roll up the sponge cake and cloth together, lightly but firmly.

Stand the roll still in the cloth on a rack until cold.

For Filling:Whip the cream with the electric mixer in a bowl until it starts to thicken then gradually beat in the icing sugar and vanilla essence until the mixture begins to hold its shape. Add Rum essence to 2tbsp of Cherrie syrup. Remove seeds from the cherries and keep aside. Then unroll the sponge carefully and soak it evenly with cherry syrup, spread the surface with the fresh whipped cream and spread some de-seeded cherries, roll up again without the cloth.Cover the roll completely with the whipped cream on all the sides and the top.Make swirls with the cream in a line on top of the roll as shown in the picture and place a cherry on each swirl. With the help of a Potato- peeler, start peeling the back side of the chocolate on to a plate and lovely flakes will be ready.Put chocolate flakes on the side and around.

BLACK FOREST ROLL

reCIpe By Ruby Dhillon

Tip: The recipe is of a reduced fat cake as it does not use butter and such sponge cakes should not be stored and hence consumed within a day or two for best taste and texture.

INGREDIENTS½ cup- caster sugar3- Eggs½ cup- plain flour2tbsp- cocoa powder1tbsp- boiling water1- dark milk chocolate½ cup-cherries ¼ tsp- rum essence2tbsp- cherry syrup

For Filling:2 ½ cup- Cream 2tbsp- icing sugar½ tsp vanilla essence


Indian

Documents

IndianWeekender #57