Volume 1 Issue 22

1Indian Weekender | January 29, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

IndianIndian January 29, 2010Volume 1, No. 22

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At a glance

$15 minimum wage suicidalMost businesses feel that any argument for increasing the minimum wage to $15 and hour is untenable. Law abiding businesses are concerned that more employers will pay employees lower wages, cash under the table and not deduct PAYE, says an eminent accountant.Page 5

Why Gandhi was Mahatma

Some Indians now feel that some of the problems there today (like Kashmir, for instance) are the legacy left behind by Gandhi. But are these criticisms justifiable? Remembering Gandhiji on his 62nd anniversary, which falls on January 30.Page 8

Bollywood | 20 Heritage | 24When a cat crossesyour path

Jacqueline Fernandes

Christmas in the Big Apple

Travel | 24

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2 Indian Weekender | January 29, 2010 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian New Zealand

High Commissioner Mehta urges Indian community to work togetherNewly appointed High Commissioner of India to New Zealand Admiral (retd) Sureesh Mehta has urged the Indian community to eschew fissiparous tendencies and work to-gether for the common good and present a united face

He was speaking at his first public en-gagement in Auckland – a luncheon hosted by Indian Weekender where Kiwi Indian businesspeople, technocrats and profession-als were invited to meet and interact with the High Commissioner.

Mr Mehta said it pained him to see multi-ple celebrations of even national days within the comparatively small Indian community in New Zealand and hoped that it would change in the coming years. He said other commu-nities such as the Chinese had just one big celebration of their festivals in which every-one worked together. A divided community is easily taken advantage of, Mr Mehta said, pointing to instances in India’s history.

“It’s not possible for everyone to be a leader. Everyone can, however, be a facilita-tor and all can work together to make things happen,” he said.

Assuring businesspeople and industrial-ists that he would do everything possible to enhance business and trade acitivities between New Zealand and India, he urged the business community to come forth with con-cerns and let the High Commission know how it could be of assistance in helping realise their goals of developing and taking business ties with India to a higher level.

Painting a poignant thumbnail of how India had progressed politically and econom-ically in recent years and the huge potential of its fast growing middle class, Mr Mehta said that there were big opportunities for partnerships to be developed between Indian

businesses and the Indian diaspora across the world.

India’s economy had performed well even as the world went through a recession, growing at almost 7% and the average growth rate for the decade could well be 9% he said.

Mr Mehta answered questions from those present and interacted with several guests in-dividually over lunch.

Earlier, Indian Weekender publisher Giri Gupta welcomed the High Commissioner and the guests. Director Bhav Dhillon introduced the Indian Weekender team: designer Tanmay Desai, Chief Technical Officer Rohan DeSouza, Online Editor Arvind Kumar and Editor-in-Chief Dev Nadkarni. Mr Nadkarni then formally introduced Mr Mehta.

The team presented the High Commis-sioner with a memento comprising a framed copy of the cover of the last issue of Indian Weekender, which had an extensive interview and profile of Mr Mehta.

Invited guests made use of the opportu-nity to engage with Mr Mehta on on a range of topics that concerned them. The High Commissioner asked the community to keep communication channels open and work to-gether on the mission of taking trade and cul-tural ties between New Zealand and India to a higher level.

While in Auckland Mr Mehta also attend-ed other social engagements and hoisted the Indian national f lag at the diamond jubilee celebrations of India’s Republic Day organ-ised by United Indianz at the ASB Theatre at Aotea Centre (see separate report and pic-tures) on January 24.

H.e. AdmIrAL sureesH meHtA Addresses tHe

guests At tHe LuNcH Hosted by INdIAN

WeekeNder

INdIAN WeekeNder teAm PreseNts A memeNto to tHe HIgH commssIoNer

Watch the video online at www.iwk.co.nz


Indian New Zealand

Community meets High Commissioner on deportation issueThe New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA) facilitated a meeting between and Ranvir Singh Lali and Indian High Commission-er to New Zealand Admiral Sureesh Mehta in Auckland on the morning of January 23, NZICA General Secretary Veer Khar told Indian Week-ender (view video of the interview on www.iwk.co.nz).

Mr Singh’s wife Shubhneet Kaur and two year old son Bachint Singh, both New Zealand citizens, were deported from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport upon their arrival there from New Zealand last week, as reported earlier on Indian Weekender website.

Indian Weekender spoke to both Mr Khar and Mr Singh after their brief meeting with the High Commissioner. Mr Singh said the High Com-missioner told him that he was not aware of any reason why the mother and son were deported and assured him that he was seized of the matter and was in the process of finding out the details from India (Mr Singh’s video interview can also be viewed on www.iwk.co.nz).

The High Commissioner also assured the group that there was no deliberate malice in the action and that his office was following up on the actual reasons from the authorities in New Delhi, Mr Singh said.

Mr Singh confirmed he had hired a legal firm at the advice of friends and community leaders. Though he was personally not interested in the compensation, he said it was only fair that his wife and son were compensated for the incon-venience, emotional stress and financial loss caused to his wife as a result of the deportation and their questioning by New Zealand Customs staff at Auckland Airport upon their return from New Delhi.

Mr Singh and other community leaders that accompanied him including NZ Sikh Society spokesman Avtar Singh said they were satis-fied with the High Commissioner’s response and were looking forward to knowing the real reasons behind the deportation.

Asked whether there was a black list, Mr Singh said there was, but claimed no knowledge of why his wife and son would be on it, if at all they were, especially since they had visited India in the past few years. He said he was puzzled

how his wife and son were given a visa by the High Commission in Wellington if they were on any black list.

Mr Singh said although the community was “angry”, he felt relieved after a personal meeting with High Commissioner and said there were no plans to stage any protests. However, if the com-munity felt at a later stage that justice was not being done, they would have to think in terms of some form of protest so that no one else would have to face such humiliation, Mr Singh said.

Mr Khar expressed satisfaction at the meeting with the High Commissioner and said that an earlier response from Wellington would have put the community at rest sooner.

- Indian Weekender news desk

Dual citizenship is now open to former Fiji citizens – but it comes at a cost - $3000.

Interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama made the announcement through the Citizenship Decree 2010 while delivering his 2009 national Budget address recently.

The decision was welcomed by some and criticized by many on various websites and blogs.

Mr Bainimarama said: “They and their spouses and immediate descendants would automatically be entitled to an indefinite per-manent residency status at a cost of $3000 per person.

“Such permanent residency will give them almost all the rights and privileges of Fiji citi-zens, including the right to invest and work,” Mr Bainimarama added.

Said Krish on Fijilive.com: “What a joke ... Any person (s) born in Fiji has a “natural” permanent residency or citizenship. So why pay $3000?”

Katalina Balawanilotu: “I will pay the $3K after Fiji returns to parliamentary democracy. It’s a good idea but I don’t want to get this

kind of benefit under the gun. That would be wrong no matter how much I like to personally benefit from the move.”

Joe: “$3000 is discouraging; perhaps a time frame of a year to acquire Fijian citizen-ship after which the 3K applies may be a better option. The acquisition to be made in person only at the relevant govt dept in Fiji will attract a huge influx and the tourist dollars will make up for the 3K or thereabouts.”

The interim Fiji Government has also setup the Foreign Currency Account Scheme, which will attract non-residents, including former Fiji citizens, to send their funds through the banking system to deposit in local bank ac-counts.

“For foreign currency accounts, any amount maybe placed in fixed deposit but in-terest income for deposits above the equivalent of $300,000.00 will be exempt from local tax. This scheme is expected to impact positively on our foreign reserves and will be operational from January 1, 2010.”

- Indian Weekender news desk

Dual citizenship... ...at a cost

NZTA moves forward with Waterview Connection The New Zealand Transport Agency is moving forward with the next steps on the Waterview Connection on the SH20 Western Ring Route following confirmation of a revised alignment and tunnelling options in December 2009.

The NZTA is now carrying out geotechnical studies and continuing with design work on the project, and expects to lodge an application with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) by June this year to advance the project by using the new national consenting process of the Re-source Management Act, introduced by Govern-ment last year to streamline the decision-mak-ing process on matters of national significance.

Using the new national consenting process for the project would replace the usual two-step process of a council hearing followed by an En-vironment Court hearing with either a single hearing before a board of inquiry, or a direct re-ferral to the Environment Court.

NZTA Regional Director for Auckland and Northland Wayne McDonald says completing the Western Ring Route is crucial for New Zea-land’s economic development.

“The Waterview Connection is the final missing link to unlock its full benefits. We believe the revised alignment announced last December provides the best balance between the need to complete the Western Ring Route in an affordable way as soon as possible and ad-dressing needs of the communities the road will pass through.”

Mr McDonald said that while completing the Western Ring Route was crucial for the region’s economic development, at a local level there was no easy way to achieve it.

“Any major infrastructure project built in suburban Auckland will always be challenging

and this one is especially so because the route to connect the highway network has never been clearly defined.”

Mr McDonald said that the use of the new national consenting process would not affect the NZTA’s approach to consultation with those af-fected by the project.

In December 2009 the NZTA Board an-nounced that design improvements for the Wa-terview Connection will require fewer houses and significantly reduce disruption to residents and commuters on Great North Road.

This alignment for SH20 from Mt Roskill to the Northwestern Motorway will reduce the number of houses affected to 205 compared to the estimate of 365 when the combined surface tunnel option was announced in May 2009.

The revised alignment allows the SH20 route to be shortened while making the tunnelled section deeper and longer. This refinement to the combined surface-tunnel route means the tunnels will be continuous from where they go underground in Alan Wood Reserve to where they rise to the surface to meet SH16 at Water-view Park. It will eliminate the previous gap between the two tunnelled sections.

Mr McDonald said building the tunnels further east without a gap between them was the most cost effective option for constructing this section while also responding well to commu-nity concerns with the previous proposal.

Keeping the tunnels deeper meant they could be extended further north, which significantly reduces disruption on Great North Rd.

Construction on the project is likely to start in mid to late 2011 with an anticipated comple-tion date in the 2015/16 financial year.

sHubHNeet kAur ANd bAcHINt sINgH (toP) ANd tHe deLegAtIoN tHAt met WItH INdIAN HIgH commIssIoNer. rANvIr sINgH LALI Is At LeFt.


Indian New Zealand

Train row derails shooting of Bollywood movie in Queenstown

Something for all at Botanic Garden Festival

Looking for expressive Manukau teensA legal dispute over the Kingston Flyer steam train has resulted in disruptions for a major Bol-lywood movie being shot in picturesque Queen-stown.

Dharma Productions’ I Hate Luv Stories, starring Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan, began shooting in Queenstown on Thursday.

Financial difficulties stopped the steam train from running last April, and the company that owns it, Kingston Acquisitions Ltd, was placed into receivership in November, owing $4.7 million plus interest, TV3 reported.

Phil Kerr, who used to run the train as a tourist attraction, was served with a trespass notice last month, preventing him from using the train.

The receivership has thrown a spanner into the works for plans by Dharma Productions to shoot a scene in front of the train on Wednesday, the Southland Times reported.

The train was sitting in a yard less than 50m from Kingston station, where it needed to be dragged to shoot the film scene, the TV3 report said.

The only company with a licence to tow it into place was MR Kerr’s Kingston Flyer Steamtrain Ltd, which was also barred from touching it.

Christchurch-based line producer Uma Singh said losing the location was a “nightmare”, and could damage New Zealand’s reputation as a film destination within Bollywood.

It was the first time Dharma Productions had come to New Zealand, hosted by Tourism New Zealand, and its producer was “very upset” about losing the train scene.

Up to 12 film crews had visited the Kingston Flyer in past years to shoot for films and com-mercials aired around the world.

- Indian Weekender Online

Manukau City Council will bring a bigger, better and brighter Botanic Garden Festival to the city for the second year.

To be held on 13-14 February, at the Auck-land Botanic Gardens in Manurewa, the event includes a wide range of fun activities for all age-groups. There will be some fantastic speak-ers such as New Zealand’s most famous bug man, Rudd Kleinpaste, children’s activities, outdoor entertainment, orienteering with the Counties Manukau Orienteering club, as well as an opportunity to see the best of the best at the Auckland Begonia Circle Annual show.

Events Manager Barbara Cox says the event is tailored towards families having a fun weekend and enjoying summer at the gorgeous Auckland Botanic Gardens.

“We had a fantastic response last year to

the first festival, so this year we’ve decided to build on our success and include a world record attempt and expand the entertainment that’s on offer. We’re encouraging families to come along have fun with nature and learn to enjoy your garden with the family.”

Other fun activities will include kite making, gumboot throwing as well as a gardener’s market and family sculpture making.

“We’ve got something for everyone with this free event. On Sunday 14 February, we need at least 5000 people to break the balloon hat world record, we want as many as possible to come and help put Manukau on the map.”

The event is in partnership with the Auckland Regional Council’s Auckland Botanic Gardens and Manukau Beautification Charitable Trust.

Manukau youth are invited to submit entries in Manukau Libraries’ Express Yourself Youth Art and Photographic Competition.

Youth are encouraged to produce artwork or take photos that represent what it is like to be a teenager in Manukau.

Learning and Literacy Coordinator Jolene West is hoping the artwork and images teens enter will reflect the positive, dynamic side of life in Manukau.

“Manukau is a great place to live and this is a chance for young people to express how proud they are of their city and what they love about it.”

Entries will be judged by Ema Tavola, Pacific Arts Coordinator for Manukau City Council. “This competition will give people

an insight into the lives and experiences of the young people of Manukau, so I would encourage aspiring artists to show us what they love, what they’re proud of and what they’d like the world to know about our city,” says Ms Tavola.

The top prize for the best artwork or photo-graph is the latest video iPod nano and there will be a people’s choice award with a digital camera as first prize.

Chosen semi-finalist artwork and photo-graphs will be displayed at various Manukau libraries as well as the libraries’ website, and the public will be asked to vote for their favourite.

The competition is open to Manukau Librar-ies’ members aged between 12 and 18 years and entries are limited to 5 per person. Entries close on February 5, 2010.

The Kingston Flyer steam train at the centre of the dispute.

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Indian New Zealand

$15 minimum wage is suicidal say Indian business leaders

Airport investment positive for Auckland economyManukau City Council, which has a 10.05 per cent shareholding in Auckland Airport, sees the company’s investment in North Queensland Airports as a positive move for Auckland’s future development.

Mayor Len Brown says the Auckland Air-port’s decision to invest in North Queensland Airports supports Manukau’s, and the region’s, aim to encourage new initiatives that will strengthen and grow Auckland’s economy.

“The Manukau community has given us a very clear message that it values our investment in Auckland Airport and as a strategic asset for Auckland and New Zealand. As a shareholder, the council supports the strategy for the airport to grow its core business, and therefore increase

returns to investors,” Mr Brown says.Above that is the potential for Auckland as

a whole.“This acquisition will assist Auckland, and

New Zealand, in generating a greater share in trade and the tourism industry that underpin our economy.

“Auckland has around 21 million visitors every year, with 12 million coming through the Auckland airport. The airport makes a huge contribution to the local economy – 25 per cent to the regional GDP. It’s a major employer for Manukau and Auckland as a whole and holds an important place in helping drive Auckland’s progress as an international city and region.”

In the run up to the annual review of the minimum wage, which about 100,000 New Zealand workers receive, the New Zealand Herald reported that of the 2300 people it surveyed about the issue, 3.5% of respon-dents said the minimum should be lower than the current $12.50 an hour; 30.5% thought it should remain unchanged; 61% thought it should go up and 5% did not have an opinion.

While the clamour from political parties like the Maori Party, Labour and the Greens is for the minimum wage to be revised to $ 15 an hour, it was always unlikely the govern-ment would agree to such a steep rise. It has now revised the minimum wage to $12.75 an hour, announced this week.

Earlier, speaking to NewstalkZB Prime Minister John Key had said, “I think it’s im-portant they [workers] are able to make ends meet as best possible, but also there’s got to be a recognition that where there are increas-es in wages that they have to be paid for – we don’t want to be threatening people’s jobs so there’s a balancing act here and that’s what the Cabinet will consider.”

Most businesses feel that any argument for increasing the minimum wage to $15 and hour is untenable. In the wake of the re-cession, New Zealand business had lobbied against the increase.

Indian Weekender spoke to two prominent members of the Indian community engaged in running businesses for their comments a few days before the announcement of the revised minimum wage of $12.75.

“Why do we need to stop the minimum wages at $15 an hour, why not $20 if that is the easiest way to make ends meet for 100,000 people? By increasing the minimum wage year after year we are only making the survival for businesses harder and harder,” says Ram Rai who owns and runs the popular Jewel of India restaurant in Auckland’s Mission Bay.

“By bringing in planeloads of students from Asia and South America we are giving the unscrupulous among employers the chance to employ these students at half the minimum wages. There is a thriving parallel black economy here in New Zealand. How do you expect employers to pay legitimately and compete against their counterparts who have unfair advantage?” Mr Rai asks.

“Increase of minimum wages from $12.50 to $15 per hour should not be looked at in isolation,” says Kanu Patel a professional ac-countant and business adviser at Auckland-based Patel Pike and Associates. “In addition to the wages they also have to budget for four weeks holidays, 10 – 11 days statutory holidays, 5 days sick pay that is accumulated if not used, 1 – 2 days compassionate leave, Accident Compensation levies, Kiwi saver contributions, Double time and day in lieu if the employees work on a public holiday. In addition employees get three months paid pa-rental leave and the employers have to keep

the job open for twelve months.”Mr Patel says many business owners have

expressed alarm at such a move without con-sidering other factors. “I was speaking to the owner of a chain of five hair salons that employs 70 staff. He was very concerned and said his strategy would be to eliminate ap-prentices, reduce employee hours of work and stop employing anyone untrained and in-experienced. He would change his policy and employ adults over 25 years of age.”

Mr Rai said things had progressively gotten harder over the years.

“My wife and I ran a business for 9 years and employed 25 staff. Most of the jobs in our business required minimum skills. As law-abiding citizens we employed only NZ residents and paid minimum wages or a $1 over the minimum wage,” he said.

“As the government kept increasing wages year after year we could not keep up with additional $1 over the minimum wage. When we bought the business the minimum wage was $7.70 and in 9 years it went up by a whopping 66%. In the meantime, our com-petitors and customers made sure that our product price remained the same or lower than what it was 9 years ago. Our competi-tors could hire students or people on bene-fits. We could have done it too if we wanted. But we did not.”

Mr Patel agreed with Mr Rai in saying that law abiding business were concerned that more employers will pay employees lower wages, cash under the table and not deduct PAYE, thus making law abiding busi-ness uncompetitive in the market.

A disappointed Mr Rai said, “The end result of our honesty and staying clean was throwing away the business for practically

nothing. We had to sell our home to pay the creditors. Eighteen staff lost their jobs. I had a job with a five-figure salary and a mort-gage free home 9 years ago when I bought the business. My wife and I worked 16 hours a day to only pay others not ourselves. Do not come with a survey and say that 61% of the people support the minimum wage to go to $15. Go and do a survey of those families who run legitimate businesses and ask them how they feel. Are they even getting paid, leave alone the minimum wage?”

But Mr Rai added that he is not against

minimum wage revision or rewarding em-ployees for the hard work they do. “If we want to implement minimum wages and comply with all the rules and regulations learn to enforce those rules. Go after those employers who bend the rules. If we continue to punish the legitimate businesses we will not have many small and medium businesses left in this country. I have met employers who have exited from businesses saying they would rather go on unemployment benefit than running a business,” he said.

Mr Patel said small businesses were fragile. “Sales have been declining or have remained static. Their gross margin is under severe, stress and with rising costs their profits are declining or in some cases disap-pearing,” he said.

Mr Rai was unsparing in his criticism: “We as nation are hell bent on punishing the very backbone of our economy. When the sun shines everyone wants to hold umbrella for you, but when it rains there is none. Given an opportunity majority of the small business operators would like to exit and move. They are there because all their life savings and the family home is on the line.

“How come countries like USA and Sin-gapore implement minimum wage? In a free economy wage should adjust according to supply and demand. If an employer is not willing to pay the right wage, he or she will not attract the required staff.”

“The country would be better served by focusing on economic growth, reducing un-employment and giving businesses oppor-tunity to strengthen their financial position before any additional burden is placed on them,” Mr Patel said.

dev NAdkArNI

restAurAteur rAm rAI ANd AccouNtANt kANu PAteL


Indian India

Headley and Rana indicted

ISO certification for Ganesh Temple

Punjab CM seeks Indian PM’s intervention

LeT operative held in Hyderabad

New Delhi: Even as the Ajmal Kasab the lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai terror attacks, denies all knowledge of the incident, a US court has released details of the involvement of David Headley and Tahawwur Rana in planning the entire attack.

A US federal grand jury in its 12-count in-dictment against terror suspects Tahawwur Hussein Rana and David Coleman Headley gave extensive details of the planning of the Mumbai attack and how Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders guided their men during the four-day siege beginning November 26, 2008.

Pakistani-origin Chicago resident Rana was indicted by the jury here along with American citizen Headley on charges of preparing the groundwork and providing material support for the LeT to carry out the Mumbai terror attack.

Reports also say that the Pakistani handlers of the LeT men wanted to obtain the release of

Ajmal Kasab, in exchange of hostages held by the gunmen.

According to the chargesheet the 10 young Pakistani men were given extensive training by LeT, in July-August 2008.

The terrorists were given training in various skills including combat tactics, room entry, hostage rescue, nautical training and swimming. The attacks on multiple installations killed 166 people including six American nationals.

Meanwhile Ajmal Kasab continues to deny any knowledge of the attacks and told a special court hearing 26/11 terror case that he was not aware of the 2008 dastardly attacks at Hotel Taj, Hotel Oberoi, Nariman House and Leopold Cafe here. “I also do not know the people who had fired and exploded bombs at these places on No-vember 26, 2008,” Kasab said in reply to ques-tions put to him by Judge Tahiliyani on evidence adduced by the prosecution against him.

Coimbatore: It seems now the gods need quality certification too. The coveted ISO 9001-2008 quality management system put in place by industries and service organisation has now been con-ferred on a Ganesh temple in Coim-batore.

Mr.Valarmathi, a trustee of the Shri Siddhi Vinayaka Temple, said at a press conference that the certificate of reg-istration was presented by Moody In-ternational Certification Ltd, the firm

that had assessed the temple’s quality management systema and found to be compliant with ISO 9001-2008 require-ments.

The certificate, issued on January 7 this year, is valid till January 6, 2013, he said.

The organisation has granted approv-al for registration on the proviso that the certification rules and conditions would be observed at all times.

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today sought Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh’s intervention to ensure safety of religious places and Indian community in Australia.

Following a string of attacks on Indians and the recent incident when an under-construction gurdwara in Melbourne was torched, Badal shot off a letter to the prime minister in which he expressed serious concern over “racial discrimination against members of Punjabi community in Australia.”

A partially-built gurdwara was damaged in a blaze on Wednesday and police is probing the possibility of arsonists using Molotov cocktails in the incident.

Nearly 100 cases of attacks on Indians were reported in Australia in 2009 as against 17 inci-dents of assaults in 2008.

The Indian government has conveyed its “ab-solute displeasure and concern” to Australia over unabated attacks on Indians there and asked that their government to ‘get its act together” to bring the perpetrators of the assaults to book.

Terming the latest attack on a cab driver there and the incident of fire in a Gurudwara as un-fortunate, Minister of State for External Affairs Praneet Kaur said “I think almost on a daily basis the situation is being monitored.”

Kaur said the Government was trying to get details of the attack on a Gurudwara in Mel-bourne. Asked if Government was planning to any steps to discourage students from going there, Kaur said the External Affairs Ministry had already issued an advisory on the issue.

Hyderabad: Sheikh Abdul Khwaja, the chief of Bangladesh-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami’s (HuJI) India operations arrested on Monday by Hyderabad police, has allegedly re-vealed that he was taking orders from Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

Khwaja is alleged to have been involved in at least four major terrorist attacks across India, including the May 2007 blast in Mecca mosque in Hyderabad. He has named a senior ISI officer from Pakistan as his handler and the person who was instructing and coordinating the activities of Khwaja and other operatives of the HuJI group.

Khwaja also revealed that he has been working with the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-

Tayeba and how his handlers had instructed him to make Colombo an alternate operational hub, instead of Dhaka.

Interrogations have revealed that Khwaja had several meetings in Dhaka and Karachi with Amir Reza Khan, the chief of the Indian Mu-jahideen (IM). The IM is held responsible for several of the blasts across the country-- Jaipur (May 2008), Bangalore (July 2008), Ahmedabad (July 2008) and Delhi (September 2008). Secu-rity officials said that Khwaja will be interro-gated further to find his and his group’s role in these activities.


Indian India

Rahul Gandhi’s poser to students

IPL snubs Pakistani players Mumbai to host India’s largest cycling event ever

Kumbh Mela begins

Jyoti Basu passes away

New Delhi: That cricketing ties between India and Pakistan have been frosty for some time is well known and continues to be so. At the India Premier League (IPL) III, auction none of the 11 Pakistani players were sold.

While IPL chairman Lalit Modi refused to read too much into the incident saying players from other countries too were not picked up by the franchisees.

Team owners Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta said “We were looking for players who would be available for the whole tournament. It is not that we specifically didn’t want Pakistani players.”

Surprisingly players almost unknown to India have fetched record prices, but there were no takers for the current world Twenty20 cham-pions Pakistan.

The franchisees’ cold shoulder to the Pakistan

players has evoked sharp reactions from all quar-ters in Pakistan. Chief of Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt said ““It’s not only shocking, but dis-appointing as well. We were hoping that things would be all right and they had also confirmed that most of our players would be considered.”

All rounder Shahid Afridi, who was billed as one of the major attractions in the auction said that he was disappointed and upset. “ The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of us and our country by treating us this way” he added. The same “insult” sentiment has been echoed by other players in the bid too.

Pakistan Sports Minister Ejaz Jhakhrani meanwhile telephoned his Indian counterpart to lodge a protest but was informed that the govern-ment did not have a say in the matter.

Mumbai: Sport18, the sports marketing division of the Network18 group and ID Sports – a sports man-agement company – have joined hands with TI Cycles and Being Human – the Salman Khan Foundation to launch India’s first ever international cycling event, “Mumbai Cyclothon – Tour De Mumbai” to be held at Bandra Reclamation on February 21.

The event will coincide with the Mumbai chapter of the BSA Hercules India Cyclothon – “Mumbai 2010” a community ride “to promote the practice of cycling in the city.” The ride will have participants from all walks of life including amateur cyclists, enthusiasts, working professionals, housewives and school children. The event will be marked by the presence of a host of celebrities.

The cyclothon will have multiple categories – the Amateur ride of 24 km, the corporate/group ride of 24km, the Green ride of 12 km and the kids ride for youngsters between the ages of 8 and 13 spanning 2 km.

Being Human, the Salman Khan Foundation would be the principal partner of Mumbai Cy-clothon. Being Human has two main focus areas ed-ucation and healthcare. Various activities are being planned to raise charity and the presence of Being Human would make the event even bigger in the global scenario.

Having mobilized the approval of the Interna-tional Cycling Union (UCI) the international race will be listed under the category 1.2 of the Asia Tour.

The current leg is endorsed by the cycling legend, Eddy Merckx, a five-time Tour De France winner and recipient of the highest honors in cycling. This event will be guided under the medical vigilance of John Gloster, ex-physio Indian cricket team and the current physio of the Rajasthan Royals and Victor Popov, five-time official physio of Tour De France and consultant physio to the Australian Cricket Team.

The race will see the top 13 professional cycling teams in the world compete with each other. Some of the biggest names from the world of cycling like Stuart O’ Grady, Brad McGee, Baden Cooke, Scott McGory and Jan Kirsipu will be competing for top honours. The Indian national cycling team partici-pating in the Commonwealth Games will be the 14th team. The race would be governed by UCI regula-tions.

The national race would be of 50 km with 22 state teams. The best riders from all teams will qualify to be trained to participate with International riders.

Further to the success of the Bengaluru Cy-clothon, TI Cycles in the 60th year of their operations in India are carrying forward their association with the event as the principal partner for India Cyclothon – Mumbai 2010. “We aim to help put Mumbai on the international cycling map as well as contribute to a healthier and greener environment through the BSA Hercules India Cyclothon, Mumbai-2010.” said Dr. Raghuram, President, TI Cycles.

New Delhi: “Do I look corrupt or a politician with no values?” Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi sought to know while interacting with students of a private college.

The 39-year-old Lok Sabha MP called upon the students to join politics and contribute to nation building. Apparently not enthused by the youth icon’s call, the students bemoaned that there were no moral standards or values left in politics and good people were now shunning the field.

“Do I look corrup’t or a politician with no values?” Gandhi asked as the 500-odd students of Saint Aloysius College burst into peals of laughter. He agreed with the students’ stand-

point that there were some corrupt politicians, musclemen and people with vested interests in politics.

The Congress MP, who is on a two-day tour of Madhya Pradesh, noted that reforms were needed to improve the present political system.

The students said even student union elec-tions in the colleges often led to violence in the campus and good students do not contest out of fear, as in the case of Indian politics.

To this, Gandhi, who is in-charge of the Youth Congress and the party’s student wing NSUI, maintained that good students should come forward and join politics to serve the country.

Haridwar: The three month long Ardh Kumbh got off to a quiet start on Thursday, 14 January amid thousands of devotees taking the holy dip in the chilly waters of the Ganga at Haridwar. The Ardh Kumbh is held once in six years and the Maha Kumbh once in twelve years.

Amid tight security cover the first day saw a 10 lakh crowd take a holy dip. The Kumbh draws a sizeable foreign tourists crowd mainly due to the sheer crowd and the participation of the various ‘sadhus from the akharas’.

Considering the mela to be a soft target

for any terrorist attack extra precautions have been taken with special bomb disposal squads posted there.

The origin of the Kumbh dates back to the time when the Kumbh (pot of nectar of im-mortality) was recovered during the Samu-dramanthan ( churning of the ocean). A battle ensued between the Devas (Gods) and the Asuras (Demons) over the pot and drops of it fell at the four places, Haridwar, Prayag, Ujjain and Nashik, where the festival is held. Bathing in the river during the festival is a pilgrimage.

Kolkata: Veteran communist leader Jyoti Basu, who could have become the world’s first demo-cratically elected Marxist prime minister, died at a Kolkota hospital on Sunday. He was 95.

Basu had been ailing since January 1 when he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Soon his health started deteriorating and he died of multiple organ failure.

Basu holds the record for serving as the longest serving chief minister of a state, 23 years when he headed the Left Front government in West Bengal from 1977 to 2000.

Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh while con-doling the death of the leader said ‘marks the end of an era in Indian politics’ adding that he was the best prime minister that the country never

had, referring to the episode in 1996. Basu never forgot the ‘historic blunder’ made by his party when they refused to make him the prime minis-ter of the United Front Government at the centre.

“We communists say that one should serve the people till one dies. Now I find that one can still serve the people even after he is no more. This is a rare opportunity and no one should let it go.” Jyoti Basu had said in 2008 while pledg-ing his eyes and body. Accordingly doctors from the Sushrut Eye Hospital removed the corneas of the leader and will be transplanted to a patient by Monday.

His body will be donated to the government run SSKM Hospital for scientific research on Tuesday.

maha statistics of the kumbh 2010Pilgrims expected : 5-6 croreNo. of ghats for bathing : 300total mela area : 130 sq kmPolice presence : 34 police station, with approx 20,000 personneltemporary Fire station : 36cc tvs : 120temporary Parking : 301 hectaretemporary toilets : 10,000total budget : rs.546 crore


Indian

Why Gandhi was a MahatmaRemembering Gandhiji on his 62nd anniversary, which falls on January 30.

A few years ago, when I was at the University of Waikato, a visiting German student asked me what I thought of Gandhi. I said I considered him great. A young Indian student who was with us respectfully – he had respect for my grey hair – begged to differ. Though he was very respectful he was quite firm in his conviction that Gandhi was not great. It again reminded me of how the people’s perception of Gandhi in India has changed.

Indians now feel that some of the problems there today (like Kashmir for instance) are the legacy left behind by Gandhi. If Gandhi had not backed Nehru to the leadership of the new nation over the firmer and more decisive Sardar Patel there would also not have been a dynastic rule there is what many of the younger generation contend (though it must be said that the descen-dants of Nehru have always been elected by the people).

With the advantage of hindsight even if one admits that Gandhi was wrong in some of the decisions he made for the new nation, it perhaps only proves that he was a poor politician. There are other achievements that made him a Mahatma still. What I am going to highlight today are some of these other achievements.

Apart from fighting against the might of the British Empire (the sun literally never set on the British Empire in those days. When it was setting in England it was rising in Fiji, through which ran the International Dateline!). He also fought against the evils that he noticed in India. One of the greatest evils was untouchability. This was a direct result of the caste system in India.

The caste system originated with people being grouped together according to their abili-

ties and inclinations. So people who were inter-ested in intellectual pursuits and had spiritual inclinations became the Brahmins, the highest caste. This indicates the importance Indians gave from time immemorial to spirituality over everything else. The physically strong people who were good at fighting became the ruling class, the Kshatriyas. The third group comprised the Vaishyas or the business people while the agriculturalists became the fourth group, the Sudras. Those who did not fit into any of these categories became the last group or the Pan-chamas (meaning the fifth) and they did all the menial work for the others.

Over a time these castes became hereditary and the Panchamas were treated as inferior by all others. They were discriminated against in many ways and they came to be treated as less than human. They were considered untouchable until Mahatma Gandhi came on the scene and worked to elevate them from their lowly position. He gave them a new name which itself gave them a new status, ‘Harijans’, which meant ‘people of God’. Gandhi worked throughout to eliminate casteism and he was able to inspire a whole gen-eration of people to join him in his struggle for a new India.

The segregation practised against the Hari-jans (who used to be known as the pariahs) also forbade them to enter Hindu temples for worship. The credit for emancipating them by changing these inhuman practices goes to Gandhiji. Today, more than sixty years after Gandhiji’s death, ves-tiges of this segregation still persists so one can imagine the great struggle that he had to wage to bring about changes in the Indian society.

Gandhiji gave self-respect not only to the

Harijans but to all the Indians who after decades of colonial rule looked upon everything foreign as superior. This was a deliberate plot by the English to subdue the Indians as Lord Macualay had realised that that was the only way to subju-

gate them: “ … if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation” (Address to the British Parliament, 2 February, 1835).

This was done in many ways. There used to be stories of how the British cut off the thumbs of the muslin weavers of north India who wove finer clothes than that produced by the mills in Lan-cashire. Gandhiji taught his followers to boycott foreign clothes and weave their own cloth. This is why he is always shown with a Charka, the wheel for spinning. This led to the popularity of the khadi, the hand woven material. Even today in India you will find some old people who only wear khadi because they became so used to this coarse, thick material that anything else now seems too flimsy for them.

After Independence the government of India promoted homemade goods by banning foreign goods. Later this led to a craze for everything foreign. But it also encouraged Indian handi-crafts and manufacturing industries. Over the years Indian goods improved in quality and with the easing of restrictions on foreign exchange when Indians were again able to buy foreign goods easily they realized that their home made products are as good as the rest if not better.

So today Indians do not look up to everything foreign as superior but are able to appreciate the greatness of their own heritage. They can hold their own against the world in the knowledge that they are inferior to none. This is the proud legacy of Gandhiji. Indeed he was a true Mahatma (A Great Soul).

- Padmini Gaunder

India


Indian Fiji

Fiji’s new laws boostpublic confidence: AG

Methodist Church conference banned until 2014

Fiji School of Medicine roll up 20pc

Suva, Fiji: Fiji’s new Sentencing and Penalties Decree will remove inconsistencies in sentenc-ing and ensure public confidence in the country’s criminal justice system says Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

He made the comments while closing a train-ing workshop in Suva yesterday for prosecutors and police officers on the provisions of new laws coming into effect via three decrees on 01 Febru-ary.

The workshop was conducted by former High Court judge Nazhat Shameem.

The Crimes Decree, the Criminal Procedure Decree and the Sentencing and Penalties Decree represent Fiji’s first substantive reform of the criminal justice system since the 100-year-old Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code were first passed.

The Sentencing and Penalties Decree gives powers to the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court to issue guidelines on sen-tencing judgments to ensure that sentences are consistent and proportionate to the offence.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum cited sentencing incon-sistencies in the past such as one person getting a few years imprisonment for stealing $50,000 and another being jailed for nine months for stealing a tourist’s flip flops.

“When you have such disparities in the sen-tencing regime, it does not instill confidence in the public,” he told the workshop.

“The Sentencing and Penalties Decree is there to not just make your work easier but also to ensure there is confidence in the public regard-ing the criminal justice system.”

A government statement said the Crimes Decree for the first time creates offences of crimes against humanity and of people smug-gling.

“The offence of rape is now gender neutral and is defined in a new and enlightened way,” it said.

The Criminal Procedure Decree has special provisions for the taking of the evidence of vul-nerable witnesses, and spouses are now both competent and compellable to give evidence against the accused.

Prosecutors from the Fiji Independent Com-mission Against Corruption, the Fiji National Provident and the Army Legal Services along with 70 senior police officers attended the four-day workshop.

- Pacificbusinessonline.com/ Pacnews

Suva, Fiji: The Fiji School of Medicine (FSM), now part of the Fiji National University, has increased its student intake by 20 per cent this year, says the Dean, Professor Ian Rouse.

He said more than 400 students will be offered places in the wide range of programmes. The ca-pacity of certain programmes had been increased to reflect the growing health needs in Fiji and the Pacific region.

“There will always be significant demand for places in medicine as we try to respond to the sig-nificant international shortage of doctors,” said Prof Rouse.

The school will make notable increases in the traditionally strong areas of pharmacology and laboratory science.

“In response to the significant projected needs of the Ministry of Health, we are also offering more places in programs such as dental hygiene, dental therapy and dental technology. “

“It is clear that we need more of these key support staff in the field of oral health to support our well-trained dentists,” he said.

Prof Rouse said they were making record offers for places in those programs which are important for promoting and improving population health and responding to issues associated with diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

“We are working very closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure that Fiji has the right mix of well-qualified health professionals to help achieve the objectives set by the ministry for improving the health of the Fiji people.

A good example is that over the past few months more than $1million has been spent on upgrading student accomodation and facilities, teaching and library space and equipment in the Fiji School of Nursing and Fiji School of Medicine…PNS (ENDS)


Suva, Fiji: Fiji’s leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama has told civil servants in the island of Kadavu the ‘The ways of the past are over’.

The Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) and Methodist Church will have no place in the running of the nation’s government after the return to elected rule in 2014, he said.

And he stressed the military will closely monitor the new government’s progress to make sure the reforms now being put in place are fol-lowed.

Commodore Bainimarama said that only government and no other institutions, referring to the GCC and the Methodist Church, will run the country.

According to a Fiji Broadcasting Corpora-

tion report, the Fijian leader said the military that took over the country in 2006, was different from the military executed the coups of 1987 and 2000.

He added that there would be no delay to elec-tions planned for 2014, but the military would ensure the new government keeps to the path they have set.

Commodore Bainimarama said this is where past governments have failed.

The Prime Minister urged civil servants to work together and stand by the People’s Charter, which is the backbone to the reforms being carried out in the country.


Suva, Fiji: The Methodist Church of Fiji stands accused of spying on the mili-tary before the December 20006 coup.

Fiji’s leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama claimed some Methodist Church ministers were paid informers of the Qarase Government to spy on the Fiji Military Forces.

“Police have found that they were being paid as informers by the past gov-ernment which indicated that politics was alive in the church,” he said.

“We found out that there had been no change of attitude with these min-isters.

“They now face court and we will await the outcome of their case,” he said.

The latest revelations have result-ed Commodore Bainimarama order-ing that no annual Methodist Church conference be held until after the next general election planned for 2014.

“There will be no Methodist Church conference until 2014,” Commodore Bainimarama said.

He said Government was firm on its decision.

“The new government can decide whether to approve the permit but as far as I am concerned, there will be no conference during my term for the next five years,” he said.

On whether Government would issue a permit if the church changed its leadership, Commodore Bainimarama said only time would tell.

The Methodist Church of Fiji’s acting Secretary Reverend Tevita Nawadra said they are surprised by the revelation made by Commodore Baini-marama

Reverend Nawadra told FBC news today they have being trying to talk to Commodore Bainimarama on the issue

He said they have their own system of dealing with such issues if some of their ministers were involved in such a ploy.

Meanwhile, pension payments to former civil servants who have do not back the Government will be stopped from this week.

This was confirmed by Permanent Secretary for Information, Lieutenant-Colonel Neumi Leweni yesterday.

He said this had been done to change the mindset of people who were against the Bainiamarama-led Government.

“It has not started yet, but we are going to do it,” he said.

“We will stop pension payments to all those who speak against the Govern-ment or all citizens seen to halt Gov-ernment’s work on moving the country forward,” Mr Leweni said.

It was revealed that a decree was passed by Cabinet last week stopping pension payments

In his New Year message, he said his administration would continue working on improving the lives of all citizens.

He said he knew those who were still working behind the scenes to un-dermine the coming together of people, while there were some people who still thought along ethnic or racial lines.

Commodore Bainimarama said he knew of a few people who were working with “some of our develop-ment partners, our international friends and some sections of the media to un-dermine the efforts of Government”.

He said those people were spreading wrong information about Fiji and what was happening in Fiji.


Military to monitor elected government after 2014 election


Indian

aarti chabbria

FijiFiji ‘vulnerable to cyber attacks’

Fiji TV, Fiji Times axedfrom media talks

Mobile and landline charges to decreaseSuva, Fiji: Fiji is already vulnerable and exposed to cyber attacks, including attacks on eftpos ma-chines, says an IT expert.

“It is not a matter of if it could happen here, it will happen in Fiji.

“It is only a matter of time,” said Chris Ham-mond-Thrasher, a computer security expert and former University of the South Pacific employee.

Mr Thrasher was responding to questions by FijiLive following the recent wave of attacks on EFTPOS machines in New South Wales.

The Australian media is reporting what has been described as “an unprecedented attack” by international criminal gang on retailers’ EFTPOS machines, “fleecing some $50 million from hard working Australians.”

“The wave of attacks on EFTPOS machines in NSW was described by NSW fraud squad head Detective Superintendent Colin Dyson as “the biggest I’ve seen”.”

The NSW Police is urging people to change credit and debit card pin numbers to avoid the possibility of having their account balances wiped out, “as it was likely more cases would be identified in days to come,” www.news.com.au reported.

“However, such an attack, if it were to occur in Fiji, could be difficult to prosecute due to absence of legislation relating to cyber crime,” Thrasher said.

And according to Mr Thrasher, police inves-tigation in Fiji will need to be upgraded if it is to handle a massive scale rampage like the Austra-lian EFTPOS attacks.

In the new Crimes Decree 2009, expected to come into force next month, cyber crime is crim-inalized under “Computer Crimes” giving police the powers to arrest and charge perpetrators.


Suva, Fiji: Mobile and fixed line customers can expect a reduction in call charges following the re-duction in interconnection rates determined by Fiji’s Commerce Commission.

The Commerce Commission announced the binding determination yesterday, noting that the current local interconnection rates were way above the rates that existed in comparator economies world-wide.

The current 28 cents a minute mobile termination rates will be reduced over a period of three years to 11.5 cents a minute.

The fixed line rates will also reduce from the current 9.9cents a minute to 4.5cents a minute.

The results of the termination rates set by the Commission followed a substantial market study that began in May and ended in October last year.

“This should be good news for the consumers and business community as well, as we will now expect to see a good level of competition resulting in com-petitive prices,” said Commission chairman Dr Ma-hendra Reddy.

He said the study showed that all operators in Fiji, mainly Vodafone Fiji, Digicel Fiji and Telecom Fiji “have substantial market power”.

“This particular conclusion from that substantial market power study resulted in the Commission de-ciding to set prices,” Dr Reddy said.

He said if a call was posted into their network, the operators could decide what the termination rate should be, after which research began to see the most appropriate interconnection rate for Fiji operators.

Dr Reddy said the operators were informed yes-terday immediately after the Commission finalised its determination.

He said the telecommunication players should welcome this development as there would be a single mobile and fixed termination rate, thus a level playing field.

“In setting the rates, we were mindful of the level of investment operators have made, the business plans that they have and therefore, we have adopted

a glide-path approach meaning that the interconnec-tion rates that we have will slide down towards the cost model rate over a three year period,” Dr Reddy said.

He said the mobile and fixed line termination rates will decline annually over three years until it reached 11.5 cents and 4.5 cents a minute respectively.

“The first decline is from 28 cents to 23 cents and it will continue to decline until it reaches 11.5 cents,” Dr Reddy said.

He added that the fixed termination rate similarly will decline to 4.5 cents a minute at the end of three years.

He said operators had been informed that the Commission would carefully and closely monitor the market “to ensure that the changes and the trend in the wholesale market with respect to the intercon-nection rate should also translate into decline in retail rates”.

“Meaning that with immediate effect, I am ex-pecting that the retail rates in the telecommunication sector should decline,” Dr Reddy said.

Application of the new rates has been backdated to November 17 last year when the price control order became effective.

Digicel Fiji chief executive Matt Davey did not say much except to welcome the determinations of the Commerce Commission and “its hard work on these issues, particularly the work of Commissioner Reddy”.

Vodafone Fiji was to have made a statement on its position on the new termination rates yesterday.

“However, we have held this off until such time we get clarifications on some aspects of the deter-mination and how it applies to the network opera-tors. Parts of announcements in our view may be a bit ambiguous in its applicability and we seeking further clarifications from the Commission before we can make an informed comment later,” Vodafone’s manager corporate affairs Shailendra Prasad said.


Suva, Fiji: Fiji’s administration is standing by its decision not to involve two of the country’s media organisations from consultations on a new media decree expected to come into effect next month.

Permanent Secretary for Information Neumi Leweni said the Fiji Times and Fiji Television Limited would not be considered because of their failure to work with Govern-ment.

“We are not changing our stand and that is final,” Lieutenant-Colonel Leweni said. Con-sultations on the new media promulgation will

begin once the Attorney- General’s office has finished drafting the decree.

The media decree was expected to come into effect in February.

Fiji’s leader Commodore frank Bainimara-ma had confirmed that the Public Regulations Emergency would be lifted once the decree came into effect.

Fiji’s media has been under censorship since the public emergency regulations came into place in April last year.



Indian community news in pics

1. High Commissioner HE Admiral Sureesh Mehta addresses guests at the reception hosted by Indian Weekender in Auckland

2 High Commissioner HE Admiral Sureesh Mehta greets guests

3. Industrialist Roshan Nauhria speaks with the High Commissioner

4. Shashi Srivastav, Bhav Dhillon and Vipan Garg with the High Commissioner

5 Beant Singh greets the High Commissioner

7. Biotech entrepreneurs Anand and Sarita Kumble with the High Commisioner

Indian Weekender hosted a reception to Indian High Commissioner HE Admiral Sureesh Mehta in Auckland on January 22.

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Indian

Diamond jubilee of India’s Republic Day...community news in pics

Dignitaries addressing the gathering (left): Prime Minister John Key, Indian High Commissioner Admiral (Retd) Sureesh Mehta, Labour Party leader David Cunliffe, NZICA President Ratilal Champaneri, Community leader Prithipal Singh, Manukau Mayor Len Brown, Community leader Ranjana Patel, Minister of Ethnic Affairs Pansy Wong, Indiustrialist and community leader Roshan Nauhria and Auckland Mayor John Banks.(below): Mother India personified ... a group presents an eclectic dance performance incorporating attire from all over India;Suswagatam ... Prime Minister John Key being accorded a traditional welcome at the celebrations; Prithipal Singh, Manukau Mayor Len Brown, NZICA President Ratilal Champaneri and Auckland Mayor John Banks watching a performance MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Prime Minister John Key enjoying a performance; The flag hoisting ceremony

United Indianz organised the celebrations at the ASB Theatre in Aotea Centre in downtown Auckland. The Indian flag was hoisted by the Indian High Commissioner Admiral (Retd) Sureesh Mehta. Prime Minister John Key and a number of other dignitaries addressed the gathering amid a variety of colourful cultural performances by a number of groups from all over the city.


Indian

...celebrated with pomp and fervourcommunity news in pics

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

For all your legal needs

Bhartiya Samaj in partnership with 25 other Indian Culture based organisations celebrated the Indian Republic Day diamond jubilee at Telestra Clear Pacific Centre, Manukau on Sunday, January 24.Over 3000 people attended. The function began with flag hoisting at the hands of Sir Barry Curtis, former Mayor of Manukau, Cultural pro-grammes, parade and pageantry and an award ceremony marked the occasion. Food stalls served popular dishes from different parts of India.


Indian LettersIndian

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 2009. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

Indian Weekender volume 1 No 22Publisher: Kiwi Media Group Limitedgroup editor-in-chief: Dev Nadkarni [email protected] editor: Arvind Kumar [email protected] correspondent: Shobha Rao [email protected] technical officer: Rohan Desouza rohan@ indianweekender.co.nzdesign: Tanmay Desai [email protected] / www.desaign.co.nzAdvertising: Giri Gupta - Ph: 520 0922, Mob: 021 221 1131. Email - [email protected] email original editorial contributions, community notices and pictures to [email protected] expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher is not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearingv in the publication Please send us your name, street address and phone number along

with a cheque for $30 payable to Kiwi Media Group and mail it to Unit O, 8 Bishop Lenihan Place, East Tamaki, Manukau 2013. The amount would cover the costs of mailing and handling 26 issues.

Would you like your copy of Indian Weekender delivered to your mail box?

Pakistani cricketers’ Tiger syndromeThe exclusion of Pakistani cricketers in the third series of the Indian Premier League the world’s biggest privately organised Twenty/20 cricket tournament has expectedly raised a furore in sporting and political circles in the subcontinent and beyond.

The fact that there were no bids for some of the world’s best players – after all, Pakistan are world champs in this version of the game – cannot be seen ex-clusively through the prism of the long troubled relationship between India and Pakistan, though that is indeed a major factor.

Like all big international sport that involves millions of fans and therefore bil-lions of dollars, IPL is primarily a business proposition that is obviously driven by the profit motive above everything else. And in today’s wired world of instant media, reputations affect associations that in turn affect the profits of companies whose reputations are affected by virtue of their associations.

Ask Tiger Woods. No sooner had the caboodle of skeletons begun to tumble out of his carefully stowed cupboards and started to pile up in full public view magni-fied many times over by the gossipy instant media than his sponsors – some of the world’s biggest and most visible brands – began to desert him in droves.

They were all worried about their own reputations – and by extension profits – being damaged by continuing to associate with a celebrity after all his dirty linen was out in the public even if he were the richest sportsman of all time. It simply did not matter.

Given Pakistan’s present situation in regional and global politics and especial-ly the now proven involvement of its citizens in the Mumbai carnage of November 2008 that cost over 170 innocent lives and the fact that IPL is all said and done an Indian baby, it would be hard to imagine any Indian company dying to associate itself with such a perceived reputation even if it were the world’s best team.

It would clearly be suicidal for any business or sporting entrepreneur to risk being lumped with anything perceived to have even the slightest whiff of an as-sociation with subversive activity that cost so many lives and touch a raw nerve in the Indian psyche – even if it is simply the nationality of the players. This would be the overarching factor in their decision-making even given that the players obtaining visas to play in India was seen as iffy for a while, although everyone would wholeheartedly agree that the players could hardly be faulted for this state of affairs.

Life, business and, of course, profits are all about perception. And the fact that the Pakistani players have been left out in the cold is little else but the outcome of a shrewd business decision and must be seen as such.

Senior ministers of the Indian government have strenuously denied that it brought no pressure to bear on IPL to leave out the Pakistanis, which is entirely possible. It is unlikely that the government would do anything to jeopardise such a huge revenue generating activity such as the IPL unless it had extreme security concerns, which, in this instance weren’t there.

This episode involving some of the best players belonging to an entire nation as much as the preceding episode that involved but one man who rose meteorically to become golf’s biggest legend only go to illustrate just how much reputations matter – whether they are national or individual.

Later this year India will be hosting the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, in which, too, Pakistan’s athletes will participate. It is unlikely in that instance that any of what affected the IPL tournament will come into play. This is simply because those Games are almost completely of an institutional nature with virtu-ally no sponsorships. The only thing that could spoil that party would have to be bad politics – not business.

– Dev Nadkarni

Republic Day celebrations

As President of New Zealand Indian Central Association, I congratulate you all for joining in to celebrate Diamond Jubilee of Republic Day of India. When Roshan Nauria (who is a member of our Manukau branch) informed that he would like to organise this function, I advised NZICA branches in the area to assist and make it a success. At the same time when Jeet Sachdeva informed that he would also like to organise the function at another venue, I advised NZICA branches to support that function as well. The reason being that today our numbers cannot be accommodated in one place and as the apex body of Indians in New Zealand, NZICA has to provide an apt role irrespective of any party affiliations or any religious bias. I promise to make NZICA more proactive in future to avoid any misgivings.

It is heartening to see our dynamic PM’s presence and I would like to request him to grace our annual conference scheduled for 27th March at Auckland. It is the biggest annual event of Kiwi Indians for the last 84 years in NZ.

Today we bask in the glory of great India – The country which is surging forward with civilised outlook and championing real peace in a very unstable neighbourhood. NZICA takes pride in having amongst its ranks the people who were responsible for India’s independence and later in its becoming a republic.

Established in 1926, NZICA feels strong with every success in its roots in India. We wish the great nation of India all the best and are hopeful to see a big lift off in Indo NZ relations with the arrival of the action man Mr Mehta.

Ratilal ChampaneriPresident, NZICA

Why is India vegetarian friendly?

Wish people from outside the Indian community would read this article. Being a vegetarian myself I get asked the question by my Kiwi colleagues “How do you survive?” This article sheds light on some unknown aspects of Indian vegetarianism. Very well written.

- Seema

Being a non-Indian and non-vegetarian, I could say I’m not biased. I’ve had the pleasure of tasting Indian vegetarian food. Wow, what can I say, such a wide diversity of delicious and incredible tastes. Its amazing and beautiful the variety of dishes that can come out of Indian Vegetarian cooking. It’s definitely a healthy lifestyle that I could easily adjust to, without any problems. Nice article.

- Tiaga

When narrow interests reign supreme

This is a really nice article. Strongly recommend we celebrate Independence Day and Diwali festival united, keeping your commercial interest away.

- Jogindra Modi

I sincerely hope that out of the statements made by India’s new High Commissioner some leadership is shown and only one event is held as a joint event. C’mon Indians unite for India and Indians of Auckland – make this a new start for many other events to come. It’s the easiest way to bring cultures and values together. Let’s show that we can vision together the future of a Super City.

- Ann Pala

Brahman Samaj formed

By forming organizations with names (Brahmin) these people are promoting caste system in the name of culture.

- Mohit Sharma

Whatever the motives, it will promote casteism. Will we rather enjoy the peace here away from what everyone has left behind to be equal and progress together or bring segregation and discrimination here as well?

DMN


Indian

dev NAdkArNI

Attacks fuelled by bad policy rather than racismcomment

subHAsH APPANA

Government by Greed:

Qarase’s Philosophy supported the 2000 coup

In the wake of two vicious attacks on Indian na-tionals living in Melbourne recently – one result-ing in death – India issued a travel advisory for students intending to study in Australia. Never before has such an advisory been issued by an Indian government targeting a developed country, particularly for students.

These latest incidents follow a string of violent attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney over the past year that have threatened diplomatic relations between Australia and India and sent Australian politicians scurrying to pacify the Indian government, assuring better policing and new measures to protect students.

The higher education sector is Australia’s third largest foreign exchange earner and Indian stu-dents at over 90,000 comprise a high proportion of its foreign student population. Since the attacks began, there has been a 40 percent drop in enrol-ments from India that has cost the sector some $A70 million and is expected to worsen this year. The sector is right in fearing the negative publicity could well affect enrolments from other countries, particularly in Asia.

Although the attacks on Indian students seems disproportionately high, there has been little that has appeared in the media in both countries by way of analyses of why the problem has persisted and refuses to go away despite measures taken by both the Federal Government and the Govern-ments of Victoria and New South Wales, besides educational institutions themselves.

The Indian media has overcompensated for the lack of in-depth reporting in the Australian media by concentrating primarily on individual inci-dents, highlighting them repeatedly in news bul-letins relying for any comment almost exclusively on the Indian student community in Australia and

its leaders. The frayed tempers

and frustration that un-derlie such quick-cut comments on TV screens and in print and online media following a violent incident have veered public opinion heavily toward racism as being the central – often sole – motivation for the attacks.

The understandable reluctance of the Victoria Police to ascribe racial motives to the attacks whipped a frenzy in the Indian media shrill enough for a prominent New Delhi newspaper to publish a cartoon fea-turing the police in a Ku Klux Clan outfit – a move that outraged not just the police force but also Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

While race could well be a factor in some of the attacks, it is unlikely that it is so in all cases. There are several pointers to other causes.

Migration has been on the increase interna-tionally in the past two decades with more people and families leaving their countries to live, work and study in other nations. The sheer increase in the volume of global remittances over this period is testimony to this. Increased migration has inevi-tably seen a rise in crime directed at immigrants

across the world – from farm labourers in the Eu-ropean Union to students in Australia.

In recent years, pro-migration policies in Australia have resulted in a steady inflow of im-migrants in the skilled migrants category. That, coupled with a preoccu-pation with boosting the education sector has seen the government open the floodgates to internation-al students, offering them up to 20 hours of work a week while they study and a very real hope of permanent residency.

By some estimates, the Indian student population has grown 400 percent in five years with the bulk of students enrolling into vocational courses, many of them run by institu-tions that could well be facades for getting people

legally into the country.The twenty-hour work permit is a godsend

for these students, especially those from poor backgrounds that are prepared to work long, odd hours for a lower wage – often in cash to avoid paying taxes. There is clearly no dearth of employ-ers willing to use their services at such low rates – it’s a classic case of market gleefully meeting demand, as long as both parties are bound by a

mutually beneficial pact of silence, especially in circumstances which could be seen as breaking the law.

Low wages, odd working hours, poor choice of residential locations, a lack of knowledge of local social mores and an over-arching drive to earn more any which way, all form a dangerous cock-tail of circumstances that work against this type of student immigrant to catapult him into the domi-nant statistic that stares Australia in the face today.

This scenario seems likely from the fewer attacks reported on Indian students at universi-ties – or for that matter other Indian nationals who have lived in the country for decades – who do not need to work at odd hours to earn an additional wage.

The ubiquity of Indian students at casual jobs such as at gas stations and anecdotal evidence from witnesses to bashings of Indian students by drunken youth on public transport as seen from footage in the Indian media lend credence to the local resentment factor – attackers have been known to accuse the victims of ‘stealing’ their jobs and ‘working on the cheap’.

While violence of any sort cannot be justi-fied under any circumstances, far from racism, it might well be flawed immigration and work permit policy that may be responsible for what has unfolded in Australia.

There have been suggestions saying New Zealand could use the negative publicity plaguing Australia to its advantage by projecting itself as a safe destination for higher education. But given Australia’s experience, the government would do well to look beyond the immediate dollar gain.

- A version of this article appeared in The New Zealand Herald on January 18.

Every government rides on a philosophy that guides its policies and programmes. It is this that is used to attract voters in a multi-party parlia-mentary democracy. Furthermore the attractive-ness of the ruling political party and direction that government takes sits on the shoulders of the party leader who also becomes the PM.

In Fiji, just like the 1990s belonged to Rabuka, the 2000s belonged to Laisenia Qarase. His phi-losophy differed markedly in that he was not going to waste time with political horse-trading as did Rabuka. He was not worried about popu-larity; there was a job to do and only he (and his backers) knew his agenda.

After all, Qarase rose from the ranks of Fiji’s crumbling bureaucracy post-1987 and moved through FHL and FDB before entering Senate as an SVT nominee. His term in Senate was marked by anti-Indian outbursts that were often bitter. His philosophy however, became clearer after he was handpicked by suddenly-prominent power-brokers during the 2000 coup.

It is important to note that at that time, the power balance was very much on the side of the coup camp as they appeared to be calling all the shots. At a fateful FHL Board meeting in 2000 when Speight was still pushing Adi Samanunu Talakuli for PM, according to Commodore Bainimarama, Qarase was part of a group of six politicians including nationalist Apisai Tora, who proposed removing Ratu Josefa Iloilo from the presidency so long as he retained his hold on PM. Iloilo was being harassed by the rebels to support Speight’s candidate at the time.

On 28 August 2005, Qarase expressed shock at this revelation saying, “I have never been part of any discussions to oust the president, ( ) and to suggest that I was part of any discussions is unbe-lievable.” On 2 September, Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes promised to interview Qarase, but this never transpired. Interestingly, the Peter Foster dossier, that prompted this series on greed, alleges that Hughes had a different more insidi-

ous agenda.It has to be noted here

that Qarase’s very first pronouncements after becoming interim-PM was to accuse foreign governments of having a simplistic understanding of the 2000 coup. This was after the Common-wealth Secretariat gave Fiji a deadline to return to Parliamentary democ-racy in accordance with the Harare Declaration and consistent with the Millbrook Action program.

Qarase instead, proposed to stay in power and draft a new 1990-type racist constitution over a period of 3 years. “The Chandrika Prasad case put an end to these sectarian aspirations and forced Qarase to comply with Fiji’s Common-wealth obligations by restoring the 1997 consti-tution” (CCF report). This is the same Qarase who is now championing the 1997 constitution and the importance of democracy in Fiji.

At the Commonwealth Parliamentary Associ-ation meeting in Nadi on 29 August 2005, Qarase said that while Fiji “accepted” western-style democracy, it was an alien concept and certain aspects of it clashed with Fijian traditions. He thus perpetuated a persistent confusion in Fiji’s search for democracy by championing the tradi-tional system of governance despite being a com-moner PM.

This was later criticized by Ratu Epeli Ganilau, who said that Qarase was misleading the public and “should answer whether he wants the western system of governance which allows him to be Prime Minister, or the Fijian tradition which requires the chiefs to rule by virtue of their birthright and rank.”

While still on the topic of Qarase and de-

mocracy, one cannot be allowed to overlook the fact that

Qarase’s 2000 promise to introduce a new ethno-nationalist Constitution continued to surface in the SDL Elec-tion manifesto through-out his reign. In fact on a visit to NZ, Qarase intimated to PM Helen Clark that democracy was not going to work in Fiji. And the NZPM had nothing to say! Qarase’s

anti-democracy stance did not end there.Qarase Supported 2000 CoupThere is little dispute that Qarase supported

the 2000 coup like many who said they supported the objectives, but not the means used by Speight. His involvement however, must have been deeper because of the significance of the Fijian Holdings Ltd. boardroom in decision-making at the time, Qarase’s close links with FHL, and the fact that he became PM.

In fact this was an unarticulated misgiv-ing that Commodore Bainimarama appeared to have during the crisis of 2000 when he supported Qarase against Adi Samanunu and then asked him not to court any of the coup-tainted in his government when he took over the reins of PM on 4th July 2000. Qarase ignored this and defi-antly surrounded himself with the stars of 2000.

Later he tried to pardon the coup-makers legally via the Reconciliation Unity and Toler-ance Bill. Then on June 3, 2005 Qarase’s sym-pathies were clearly seen when he appeared to offer an apology for the perpetrators of the coup by declaring in parliament, “those responsible for the overthrow of the Indo-Fijian-led government in 2000 were responding to the Tagi in Taukei, or cry of the Fijian people”. Race was being used to

justify illegality; that was Qarase.A Racist PMIt is not clear whether Qarase ever had a po-

litical philosophy because his utterances were always steeped in exclusiveness for Fijians and disregard for Indo-Fijians. In the Senate, his nominees like Senators Mitieli Bulanauca, Asesela Ravuvu, Apisai Tora and Rev Tomasi Kanailagi continued to make racist, homophobic and bigoted statements throughout their tenure.

In parliament, some of his 2000 coup-spawned new stars were the biggest racists when it came to parliamentary contributions. Adi Asenaca Caucau thundered on 30th July 2002 that Fiji’s Indians were like co or wild grass growing everywhere and “taking up the space of others”. Ted Young called Kamlesh Arya, “Ponga Pundit”, in a foul attempt to denigrate the Hindu priest.

Simione Kaitani, who beat the courts on his involvement in the 2000 coup despite virtually living in the parliamentary complex at the time, never hesitated to make barbed comments against Chaudhry being the “cause” of the 2000 coup. He also spearheaded a malicious propaganda cam-paign against the President Ratu Mara, Qarase’s own traditional chief.

None of these racist undemocratic disrupters was ever reprimanded by Qarase. Perhaps they really were better at articulating his evolving philosophy as he focused on sanctioning pro-grams that allowed for personal plunder in the name of “Fijian assistance”. Strange that he was actually showing military savvy; diversionary tactics they call it!

- Subhash Appana is an academic and political commentator. The opinions contained

in this article are entirely his and not neces-sarily shared by any organizations he may be

associated with both in Fiji and abroad. Email [email protected]

Low wages, odd working hours, poor choice of residential locations, a lack of knowledge of local social mores and an over-arching drive to earn more any which way, all form a dangerous cocktail of circumstances that work against this type of student immigrant to catapult him into the dominant statistic that stares Australia in the face today.

It is not clear whether Qarase ever had a political philosophy because his utterances were always steeped in exclusiveness for Fijians and disregard for Indo-Fijians.


Indian community

The Auckland University of Technology’s Indian Students Association is a non-profit student or-ganisation working towards propagating the culture, traditions, and arts of India here in Auckland. In a fast pace and diverse city like Auckland it is necessary to unite participating members, both of Indian origin and interested non-Indians, and expose our great culture to our community.

“Our main goal is to serve as a providing organisation for our school, students, faculty, and community. We hope to enable these people to enjoy, appreciate, and be a part of our rich and colorful heritage,” says President Agastya Pesara.

The Indian Student Association was founded with the sole purpose of making a significant contribution in context to the student welfare at Auckland University of Technology, Auckland. ISA intends to extend its services to the general community so as to promote all round develop-ment concerning students in local, state, and na-tional events.

A forum for cross cultural interaction tran-scending all geographical boundaries ISA focus on the welfare of Indian Student Community but its doors are open to all students. Being away from family and friends for many a year the only contact being over a telephone coupled with the extremely tight school work proves extremely difficult to almost every Indian student.

ISA provides a means of shortening this dis-tance. With this in view ISA arranges regular activities not only within the university but also provides the doorstep for Indian students to par-ticipate in the normal activities in the City of Auckland. As an association, we arrange activi-

ties varying from get-togethers, taking up social causes and at the same time enjoying student life.

ISA can look forward to claim the distinc-tion of being the most active International as-sociation among the other Student Associations within AUT.

Throughout the years ISA has conducted various events ranging from our annual Diwali show, movie nights, picnics, Indian parties, and much more. An important aspect of our organi-sation is to network with other clubs, schools, and community associations to build strong re-lationships with them.

“We feel this is important in maintaining unity among our community. We welcome the new students to ISA and thank the current ones for your support. You can use the website of Indian Weekender to keep track of our upcom-ing events. We encourage all of you to attend these events to voice any issues and ideas you may have concerning our organisation. You can also visit the facebook and orkut community link and post any ideas you may have. We look forward in meeting each and everyone of you,” says Agastya.

Jathedar of Takht Keshgarh Sahib Giani Tarlo-chan Singh visited New Zealand recently. He is one of the five high priests who assume the highest temporal authority on the Sikh Religion. Giani Tarlochan Singh along with first Indian MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi inaugurated an Indian Store in Tauranga. Puran Singh Banga the proprietor of this new store said that he

would endeavour to serve the local community by making available authentic Indian foods and a wide range of traditional sweets and snacks. The local MP Simon Bridges was also present at this occasion along with numerous other community workers and leaders.

- Photo by Harjinder Singh Basiala

Members of the trust and several devotees at-tended the bhoomi pujan on January 14.

Papakura Sri Ganesh Temple has launched its community hall building project with a bhoomi puja to invoke the blessings of all the presiding deities. The temple, which has been in operation for the last 10 years and has and the need has arisen for a community hall.

The hall will serve the Auckland com-munity for several purposes. Weddings will be comfortably conducted in the new hall and will also accommodate religious music classes, yoga sessions and other religious

communal activities.Members of the trust and several devotees

attended the bhoomi pujan on January 14. The project, costing approx $450000, is expected to be completed by middle of the year.

A team of volunteer workers has undertak-en the project. The trust would gladly receive donations toward this project. Donation cheques should favour Auckland Sri Ganesh Temple Trust. Contributions are tax deduct-ible and a receipt will be issued.

AUT’s ISA promotesIndian culture and values

Community hall project launched in Papakura

Sikh High Priest visits New Zealand


Indian

A dance master, who has worked with some of the biggest Bollywood stars in India, wants to continue to share his skills with the community in New Zealand.

One of the first qualified choreographers in India, Sonar Chand Singh Ngangom has been in New Zealand for the past seven years, and he is as enthusi-astic about his skills and talents as he was as a young man in New Delhi.

Now aged 67, Sonar Chand (as he likes to be known), has been slowly sharing his knowledge with the West Auckland community, and holding one class per week.

But things are beginning to look better this year for the dance guru who has worked with some of the bigger names in Bollywood – namely Raj Babbar, Anupam Kher and he also worked at Anil Kapoor’s film institute in Delhi.

“Mein toh aaya tha New Zealand retayar hone, magar dancing phir se karne laga,” Sonar Chand told Indian Weekender recently.

Go to any Indian festival or public function, you are sure to find Sonar Chand present there, tirelessly cajoling and guiding his troops to fine performances on those special occasions.

His ambition is to create “new dimensions in the field of Indian dance and music”.

Having choreographed numerous functions throughout the country in recent times, Sonar Chand is well know for his services in India – and has been recognized for it.

He has taught martial arts to students of National School of Drama, Delhi (India) as a visiting lecturer and choreographed drama and musical productions.

Also choreographed Republic Day Parade items

for school children at India Gate, Delhi, India. Cho-reographed opening ceremony of sports events with 500 to 3000 participants.

Choreographed NCERT (Govt. of India) pro-gramme Community Singing with 10,000 at Nehru Stadium.

And so much more that it is impossible to list all his achievements achievements in India and New Zealand.

For now, Sonar Chand has been holding dance classes for at the Corbans Estate Arts Centre in Hen-derson, charging his students $10 a lesson.

But from this month, he will be able to provide free lessons – thanks to the Waitakere Indian Asso-ciation which will be paying for the lessons.

So, to learn traditional dances or martial arts, Sonar Chand has in-depth knowledge of the arts. He will only be tooi happy to hear from you.

ph, 09 836 2753, 021 044 1582, email: [email protected]

Amarnath is a well known and significant spiri-tual pilgrimage destination in Kashmir, India. Inside the Amarnath cave lies an ice stalagmite which resembles a Shiva Linga (an oval image believed to be an image of God). According to Hindu mythology, this is the cave where Shiva explained the secret of life and eternity to his divine consort, Parvati.

It is said that one must make the pilgrimage to Amarnath at least once in a lifetime. Many NZ Indian people will never have the chance to visit Amarnath so it is being replicated in Auckland so that all people and especially the Indian com-munity will have a chance to have the special ex-perience of seeing Amarnath.

This event is titled “Amarnath Darshan” which means “a glimpse of Amarnath”. It is being organised by The Brahma Kumaris Medi-tation Centre, which has taught meditation and positive thinking in Mt Eden and Penrose for over 30 years to help people return to spiritual values.

The BKWSU is an international organisa-tion working at all levels of society for posi-tive change and local centres around the world provide courses, regular classes etc in Raja Yoga Meditation and positive values, supporting indi-viduals in recognizing their own inherent quali-ties and abilities and making the most of their lives.

The BKWSU is a registered charitable orga-nization in New Zealand and its courses etc are offered free of charge as a service to the com-munity.

Amarnath Darshan is being held at the Shiva Mandir, 43 Holmes Road, Manurewa, Auckland

on Sunday February 14th from 8am – 8pm. It is open to all members of the public and is free of charge.

For further information call (09) 579 5646 or email [email protected]

Thriving on his dancing talents Amarnath yatra in Auckland

ArvINd kumAr

Dance guru Sonar Chand loves his art and is happy to share with others in the community

A significant spiritual pilgrimage destination being brought to the people of Auckland

community


Indian bollywood

Theirs was a storybook romance told against the shadow of a great American city, until a series of life-changing events threatened more than just their own happiness. Imagine what happens when a single act from a determined man seeking forgiveness and love lost can do to inspire the hearts and minds of a wounded nation.

In My name is Khan, Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol Devgan inhabit the most challenging roles of their careers. Rizvan Khan is an honorable Muslim man from India, living with Asperger’s Syndrome, who falls unconditionally for the beautiful Mandira, a Hindu single mother living out her version of the global dream of success. Yet, when an unspeakable act of cowardice tears their family apart, Khan selflessly embarks on a powerful journey through a contemporary America that is as complex as the terrain of the human heart. He innocently becomes that most unlikely act of defiance, one of peace and compassion. He provides a sobering reality that touches the lives of every person he crosses. In the name of the woman he loves, a curious stranger will introduce himself to the world simply by saying, “My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist.”

Fox Searchlight Pictures presents My name is Khan, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Jimmy Shergill and Tanay Chheda. Directed and produced by acclaimed filmmaker Karan Johar, the screenplay is written by Johar and Shibani Bathija. The production team includes director of photography Ravi K. Chandran, editor Deepa Bhatia, production designer Sharmishta Roy, costume designers Manish Malhotra & Shiraz Siddique, and music di-rectors Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy.

“my name is khan and I am not a terrorist”


Indian bollywood

The Journey of a KhansHAH rukH kHAN

Courage is not always a roar that should be heard by the world. Sometimes it’s a quiet whisper to yourself that says, “I will try again tomorrow.”

In a world which is ever so busy looking for a hero, or creating one when it doesn’t find it, My name is Khan is a quiet inner voice that whispers, “To walk the right path, to find the answers, to save yourself and the world with it, you don’t need to wear an exterior armor and fly.” All you need is a gentle conscience telling you that the simple truths of life matter the most. The right and wrong is not a complex equation. It’s just as simple as the coming of day after night, the sunrise after nightfall. So simple, that one might see Khan as abnormal in today’s world of overbearing and neurotic search for sanity.

It might seem odd to say that we created a superhero film. A hero who has Asperger’s syndrome is a simpleton and all he has for a superpower is his humanity. That’s what I truly believe my experience was in doing this film. That to be a hero all you need is the basic good-ness of human beings, something so rare; we might believe that the protagonist of this film is from another world.

The journey through the eyes of this charac-ter that I so closely lived made me realize that you can be very special by being ordinary. The shooting of the film took us all around America (which was pleasant except for the cold in L.A.) and I saw that the mainstay of the film - Islam and the Western World - has a surpris-ingly honest and balanced outlook amongst the Americans, especially all the crew that worked with us. They understood that in a war that was not started by either side, the lives being lost on both sides deserve equal empathy respect and regard. They understand too, as Plato wrote, “It is only the dead that have seen the end of war.” The sooner we can stop this meaningless strife the happier our lives will be.

On a personal note, as an actor I am not very well honed in the art of subtlety and re-straint but my friend and director Karan Johar has shown an immense amount of maturity not only in handling me, but this tricky subject as a whole. He is truly the hero of this film because he has been able to keep this complex-ity of Asperger’s syndrome; the western world and Islamic strife. A love story is also woven between all this, so wonderfully simple and re-latable, that really it seems of a different world.

Through the making of the flood sequence to capturing this neuro-atypical character to spending beyond his means to make a film with a heart that is as big as his, I can only be thank-ful for being a small part of this journey.

Also a word for our distributors, Fox – we all could have lost heart halfway through this film if not for your encouragement by coming on board to make this film truly for every audi-ence in the world. Thanks a ton, guys!

I pray to Allah that what we say through this narrative makes emotional sense to all. And, in our own way, makes us feel we helped in the steps towards sanity, normalcy, and sim-plicity that this world needs so much today. As Rizvan Khan would say:

“It’s fixed and working now.”

my NAme Is kHANshah rukh khan | kajol

DIRECTED BY / kArAN JoHAr

WRITTEN BY / kArAN JoHAr & sHIbANI bAtHIJA

PRODUCED BY / HIroo yAsH JoHAr & gAurI kHAN

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY / rAvI k. cHANdrAN, Isc

PRODUCTION DESIGNER / sHArmIsHtA roy

FILM EDITOR / deePA bHAtIA

MUSIC AND BACKGROUND SCORE BY / sHANkAr eHsAAN Loy

COSTUME DESIGNER / mANIsH mALHotrA & sHIrAZ sIddIQue

CASTING BY / sHANoo sHArmA (India) & robI reed-Humes (usA)

Releasing in New Zealand

February 11, 2010


Indian

Jacqueline Fernandez

Indian


Indian bollywood

Indian Films’ Striker launches music

Bollywood Calls for Miss India 2010 Contestants

Pantaloons Femina Miss India 2010 announces association with ace Bollywood film makers Madhur Bhandarkar and Vipul Shah with Anupam Kher and Shiamak Davar to lend their expertise

Sandeep Bhargava of Indian Films hosted the music launch party of Chandan Arora’s film Striker, starring Siddharth Suryanarayan of Rang De Basanti fame. It’s his second Hindi film after Rang De Basanti and first solo Hindi film.

Six different music composers like Vishal Bhardwaj, Amit Trivedi, Swanand Kirkire, Shailendra Barve, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Shailendra Barve have scored music for the film. It is for the first time in the history of Indian film industry that six composers have come together to give music for one single album.

Present for the event were director Chandan Arora, Siddharth, Aditya Pancholi, Anupam Kher and the cast, Vishal Bharadwaj, Amit Trivedi, Swanand Kirkire, Shailendra Barve and Sonu Nigam.

Siddharth himself has sung two songs in the film – ‘Bombay, Bombay’ composed by Amit Trivedi and ‘Haqse’ along with Yuvan Shankar Raja, composed by Yuvan himself.

All the songs were shown at the event and were received with an appreciative response by the media present.

6 musIc comPosers For strIker ‘cham cham’ composed by Shailendra Barve; ‘Piya saware’ composed by Shailendra Barve; ‘maula maula’ composed by Swanad Kirkire; ‘Haqse’ composed by Yuva Shankar. ‘yun Hua’ composed by Vishal Bharadwaj; ‘bombay bombay’ composed by Amit Trivedi;‘striker’ composed by Blaaze.

Taking the four-and-a-half decade old legacy to newer heights, the mother of all beauty pageants - Pantaloons Femina Miss India – returns with greater zest and zeal this year!

The country’s most sought after beauty contest has announced a strategic collaboration with two of India’s ace directors Madhur Bhan-darkar and Vipul Shah, at Mumbai. These direc-tors will identify, mentor and launch two Miss India finale contestants in their respective up-coming film projects. And that’s not all – indus-try stalwarts Anupam Kher and Shiamak Davar will also be supporting the association by train-ing and mentoring the contestants in acting and dance respectively.

This is the first time in the history of Femina Miss India, that an association of such scale is being worked on. Femina Miss India works as the perfect platform for aspiring young girls to showcase and get acknowledged for their talents, not only in the global fashion arena but also in Bollywood.

The brand Femina Miss India has evolved constantly with new initiatives being added each year to make it a more engaging and innovative platform for women. In the past two years, Miss India added the South and East regional pageants to ensure equal participation from these regions.

With the support of stalwarts and leading vet-erans from the film industry, Femina Miss India could well work as a potent platform for aspir-ing young girls to make their Bollywood dreams come true.

Madhur Bhandarkar and Vipul Shah will in-teract with the contestants of Femina Miss India during the training period (Mid March 2010

– End April 2010). From amongst these, they would audition and select one contestant each and launch the selected talent in one of their up-coming projects.

Anupam Kher, who spearheads ‘Actor Pre-pares’, one of India’s finest acting schools, shall be designing a specialised training module for contestants in nuances of acting. In fact, ‘Actor Prepares’ shall also award a scholarship for their Full Time Diploma Course in Acting – 3 months to any one of the deserving contestants.

Shiamak Davar, India’s guru of modern con-temporary dance, along with his team at SDIPA will be conducting exclusive workshops where he will train the contestants in Bollywood dancing.

Commenting on the association, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar said, “This association will bring about a novel, focused yet entertaining element to the Miss India training process. We will ensure we create superb actresses in tandem with the Femina Miss India team. It is known fact that I love working with newcomers, new subjects for my films and I think that this innova-tive tie-up will give the film industry talented ac-tresses to reckon with. I am looking for the right mix of talent and individuality and Femina Miss India is the perfect place to find such a person. “

The Femina Miss India pageant has recog-nised and nurtured the hidden talent in Sush-mita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra, Dia Mirza and many others to perfec-tion, and they have brought international fame and recognition to our country by proving their mettle on the global platform. And with the com-bined efforts of these talented experts this year, the success graph is sure to scale newer heights.


Indian bollywood

Serial queen Ekta Kapoor is “Most Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur” award

Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director, Balaji Telefilms, was conferred the Most Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur award by the Indo-Amer-ican Society on the occasion of the society’s golden jubilee.

She is the only recipient of the award. Ekta Kapoor was selected amongst 30 high-profile contenders by a panel of judges.

Commenting on the award, Ekta Kapoor said, “It feels great to receive this award from the In-do-American Society and through the hands of His Excellency, the Governor of Maharashtra. Also, to be selected amongst 30 deserving candi-dates by an admired jury makes this award even special. I hope to take Balaji Telefilms Ltd to new heights with the support of our viewers and part-ners who have been a pillar of strength for my team and me”.

Mr. Keshub Mahindra - Chairman of Board of Patrons, Golden Jubilee Celebrations Com-mittee, said, “It is my pleasure to felicitate Ms. Ekta Kapoor with this award for the change she has brought to the Indian Entertainment Indus-try.”

Balaji Telefilms is India’s leading entertain-ment conglomerate and has revolutionised the Indian television industry. Started in 1994, by the

proficient first family of the Indian Televi-sion Industry: Mr. Jeeten-dra Kapoor, Mrs. Shobha Kapoor and Ms. Ekta K a p o o r , Balaji Tele-films today is not only perceived as a content provider but also as a powerful communicator, which influences the lives of the audiences.

Balaji Telefilms is poised as a media power-house, which is ready to take on the world. Some of Balaji Telefilms’ recent TV shows include Bandini, Kitani Mohabbat Hai, Pavitra Rishta, Koi Aane Koi Hai and Bairi Piya. Having hired Puneet Kinra as Group CEO in 2008, Balaji Tele-films has today diversified into new businesses of Motion Pictures and New Media being driven by Vikram Malhotra and Uday Sodhi respectively, which are set to make a mark with entertainment content consumers across the world.

Music of My Name Is Khan has Sufi flavour

The soundtrack of the latest offering of Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan, “ My Name Is Khan “, boasts of Sufi flavour. Composed by Johar’s fa-vourite Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the album has six originals and most of the compositions are soul-stirring.

The album starts with “Sajda”. Sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan and Richa Sharma, it’s a Sufi number that tugs at one’s heartstrings. The sounds of tablas and dholaks keep the listener hooked. With great voices behind the mike, “Sajda” is a must hear.

Next is “Noor-e-khuda”, an unplugged version sung by Adnan Sami, Shreya Ghoshal and Shankar. It’s a soft, pleasing love ballad that instantly strikes a chord. Most part of the song is male- dominated, but it gets an edge when Shreya enters with her honey-tucked voice close to the end of the track.

Shafqat Amanat Ali renders “Tere naina” brilliantly. The subtle orchestration and melody

make for an interesting listen. It changes gear mid-way when it slips into the qawwali mode, which elevates it further.

Up next is “Allah hi rahem” - again a Sufi number. Crooned by Rashid Ali, it is enchanting. The lyrics are simple yet profound and the song transports you to a completely different world. It’s one of the best songs of the album.

Then there is “ Rang de “ by Shankar with ample support from Suraj Jagan. The song with influences of rock is nice and refreshing. It talks about peace, triumph and joy.

The album also has a “ My Name Is Khan “ theme song by Pakistani band Strings. It is an intriguing piece.

On the whole, every song in the album is above average. The composers have stuck to the theme of the film and the soundtrack has the po-tential to rock the charts.


Indian

Deepak Kuntawala, was hailed as a hero by everyone from British royalty to Bolly-wood stars,for his tales of bravery during the Mumbai terror attack, but now the London based businessman’s claims are being called a case of “massive deception”.

The father son duo were dining at the Taj hotel that fateful night. He was one of the survivors of the 26/11 attacks, but neither UK-based businessman Deepak Kuntawala (37) nor his father Vinay (60) have turned the entire incident into a self serving cause that would, allow them to rub shoulders with British royalty and Bollywood stars at Kens-ington Palace - as heroes.

Immediately after their providential escape, the father-son duo gave interviews to leading London-based publications who were eager to get a first-hand account from ground zero, recounting how their actions saved around 150 lives that night.

“No-one knew what to do, so I took charge,” Deepak Kuntawala told the British media. “We tore up the curtains and any mate-rial we could get our hands on. I made people get into four teams and pretty quickly we had our makeshift ropes ready. We tied them to pillars. People were fighting to go down first. But I restored calm and made sure people got down OK, starting with the elderly and then the women. It took 30 minutes.”

Kuntawala and his father Vinay Kuntawala soon set up a charity organisation the DVK Foundation, which claimed to help survivors and families of the victims of 26/11.

A few days later, Kuntawala received an award from the hands of Maharashtra Gov-ernor as a ‘surviving hero’. He returned tri-umphant to London where he decided to set up The DVK Foundation that aims to help survivors and families of the victims of 26/11. Queen Elizabeth’s first cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, agreed to be patron of The DVK Foun-dation and personally hosted a gala charity on the first anniversary of 26/11 at the Kensing-ton Palace in London. The event was attended by Bollywood celebrities like Lara Dutta, Konkona Sen Sharma, Pooja Bedi, Shekhar

Kapur, Boman Irani and Arshad Warsi.Soon the veracity of his claims came under

the scanner. Reports surfaced that Kuntawa-la’s claims of saving 150 people during the 26/11 attacks could be a self-serving account of the sequence of events that night, supported only by his own claims, and backed only by his father. Neither the Mumbai media, poeple who he claimed to have rescued, the local police, the Taj authorities - no one - had any idea who the man was. Neither did anyone seem to know about his bragging to UK-based publications.

Investigations showed that DVK Founda-tion may not be registered with the Charity Commission in London. In fact, it is neither a trust nor a charity, but a privately-held company.

All the vendors who were associated with the DVK Gala event were in for a shock when it was time to receive their payments. DVK first delayed and disputed the invoices of ev-eryone right from the travel agent, the London transport company, the PR firm and the event organiser, and then sent out repeated errone-ous remittances, which meant the payments were never actually made.

Indian intelligence agencies have received inputs that the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has purchased paragliders and its members are training to use them for suicide attacks on India.

Reports say fifty paragliders have reportedly been bought from Europe. This in the wake of the Republic Day celebrations has put the security in high alert. Security agencies conducted mock drills in different areas to prevent any airborne suicide attacks and tight security is being ensured at all vital installations in the country.

Earlier, the Home Ministry put Air India on high security alert following intelligence reports from Western agencies that terror groups were planning to hijack a flight.

According to the Home Ministry, radars located at strategic locations have been tuned to intercept all low flying objects and authorities are not taking any chances.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi, elaborate air

defence measures, including deployment of anti-aircraft guns, have also been taken to check pos-sible intrusion of air space during the Republic Day celebrations.

The biggest hijack threat was to flights by the carrier to and from the SAARC bloc of neighbour-ing nations, he said.

The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation is made up of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The Indian government which was criticised for its handling of the Mumbai carnage, is now spending millions on new security measures, from commando bases in cities to navy patrols and better intelligence gathering.

The Telangana Research Scholars’ Forum threat-ened to disrupt the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in Hyderabad to be held in March and April, alleging that the competition would divert attention from the movement for a separate state.

R Rudra Reddy, a member of the Forum, said, “The people of Telangana are agitated about the separate state demand. The IPL tournament would divert attention from the ongoing agitation.”

“Moreover, Telangana players are not encour-aged in cricket though the Hyderabad Cricket As-sociation was founded several decades ago. Only the children of business people are being promot-ed. We protest this,” he added.

Mr.Reddy also said that the Forum was against

betting on cricket matches as it was nothing but looting of the money of Telangana people

The inaugural function of the IPL-III was planned to be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Interna-tional Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad but was shifted to Mumbai after Telangana supporters had disrupted a Twenty20 match.

Representatives of the IPL team Deccan Char-gers have met TRS leaders and all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC),spearheading the Telan-gana movement, to seek their cooperation for con-ducting the IPL matches in Hyderabad and they have assured that there would not be any trouble from their side.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, chief of the Samajwadi Party (SP) has accepted the resignation of actor-politician Sanjay Dutt, as party general secretary.

Dutt had been brought into the SP months before the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 by mentor Amar Singh. Dutt had submitted his resignation earlier this month following Amar Singh’s resignation from all key party posts.

Earlier when Dutt was asked about his future course of action he had replied that he would remain with his “elder brother” Amar Singh.

Kuntawala – a fake 26/11 hero

Terror threat looms large

Samajwadi party accepts Sanjay Dutt’s resignation

Telangana forum warns of disruption to IPL matches

India (continued)


Indian Heritage

travel

rAm LINgAm

When a black cat crosses your path

Christmas in the Big Apple

Do you care if a black cat crosses your road? Would you dare to step on lime and green chillies? Why is a north facing house believed to be lucky? Are these omens just mere imagination? We know that there are no real answers to these superstitions as they are irrational beliefs that defy all known logic.

It was my first time to New York and I was sur-prised to see there is so much more to this city than skyscrapers. New York City is full of stimu-lation from all angles; from the underground subways to the tallest buildings; from the his-toric past to future plans for the city; from arts to science to technology. To me Manhattan is like a miniature model of the world offering you a piece of everything in one location. There was a glimpse of every nationality here and a lot of heritage too.

When we arrived, the city was buzzing with energy and that didn’t really diminish on the day we left. They’d just had a snow blast of almost 2 feet, well ahead of time, and the city looked really magnificent. The sun was out with clear blue skies, so a stroll around central park was a must. It was two blocks away from where I stayed and on the way there, I heard more languages in a few hours than I’d done in the whole year. More than 170 languages are spoken in New York and over approximately 40% of the population are born outside the US.

This city is truly amazing and is very easy to fall in love with. The city that never sleeps has a lot to offer everyone – the young and the old, the ambitious and the lethargic. There are so many food joints - to cater to the cash deprived students to the breathtakingly rich. So much to see, so much to do, it can be very hard to decide where to start.

Nick named the Big Apple, Gotham, The City

that never sleeps, The Empire City, Capital of the world and much more, the city is made up of 5 boroughs with Manhattan in the centre. The sur-rounding boroughs are The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. When you go up any of the high rise buildings you can easily see the Hudson River and beyond the river is New Jersey. With around 20 million people in the city now, this is the most populous city in United States and is rated as one of the safest too. New York exerts such powerful influence over world commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment that it’s very obvious it all starts here. With a strong network of public transportation, you can really get anywhere within minutes. Just wandering around the city can be so fulfilling.

The Statue of Liberty has greeted millions of immigrants and many more millions of visi-tors that visit New York every day. Wall Street in lower Manhattan controls the financial pulse of the world since World War II and is home to the New York Stock Exchange. This is such a narrow street that if you are not really attentive, you could go past this and miss it altogether. The Empire State building had so much expensive and lush office space available at one point in time that it had no occupiers due to its high cost and so, it was referred to as the “empty state build-ing” which soon changed. Land is really scarce and every bit of space available in the residential apartments is skillfully utilized to its optimal ca-pacity.

The world trade centre actually is made up of 7 buildings of which the twin towers were designed by Minoru Yamasaki, an American ar-chitect of Japanese descent. Surprisingly Minoru had a fear of heights. The North Tower and the South Tower were the tallest of these 7 buildings which collapsed on the day of the attack on Sep-tember 11, 2001. Although the other buildings did not collapse from the attack, some of them had to be demolished as they were damaged beyond repair. These have since been rebuilt and 5 of these office towers are functional today. The initial plan was to build two more towers even higher than the ones that went down but due to the current economic downturn, there are talks of these plans being altered. The subway stop that actually ran beneath the heart of the world trade centre is closed since 2001 till further notice.

Then there is Broadway, Times square, City hall, Bryant Park, the Rockefeller Centre, Grand Central terminal, Staten Island, the famous Brooklyn Bridge, various Museums to chal-lenge and educate you, New York Sky ride, the Gothic Churches, Top of the Rock (i.e Rockefeller centre), Madison square garden’s, Central Park Zoo, NBC Studio Tour, Radio City Music Hall… I can just go on and on. For most of these you can buy a city pass that saves you from standing in the rather long queues to buy entry tickets to. The reading room in the New York Public Library is truly amazing and one of the best in the world.

Tom Wolfe, the writer said of New York City

“Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather”. Numerous major American cul-tural movements began in the city, which estab-lished the African-American literary standard in the United States. The city was a center of jazz in the 40s, invent of American art known as abstract expressionism in the 50s, the birthplace of hip hop in the 70s, hardcore punk in the 80’s. This very culture is highly visible as a true characteristic of New York. Christmas is a great time to visit. You will love the magnificent giant tree lightings, the hustle and bustle of shopper-filled streets, and the beauty of ice skating and elaborate window decorations found all around the city.

And for the first time, I want to go back where I have just been. I am really looking forward to my next visit and I am sure it will feel as if I am going there for the first time all over again.

I stayed with my cousin who is such a great host. Catching up with family added a new di-mension to this happy experience too. On the way out I bought a hand bag which depicted my feelings for New York. It has “I love New York” written all over it so if you spot someone walking down Auckland roads with a black hand bag with bright white I love NY all over it, it is probably me.

- Rashmi Shenoy works with Hewlett Packard full time as a services account manager and writes for IWK in her spare time and can be

contacted via Indian Weekender.

“I would rather have every one of you be rank atheists than superstitious fools. There is no mystery in religion. Mystery mongering and superstition are always signs of weak-ness. These are always signs of degradation and of death. Therefore beware of them; be strong, and stand on your own feet. Be strong, get beyond all superstitions, and be free. “

~ Swami Vivekananda

Rashmi Shenoy writes about the charm of the world’s greatest melting pot in high winter

In this day and age we still hang on to supersti-tions. Just last month, India’s fill-in captain Vi-rendra Sehwag said he was supporting the oppo-sition team Sri Lanka because of his superstition. “I was not tense at all, because I was supporting Sri Lanka,” Sehwag said after India staved off Sri Lanka’s spirited response to eke out a narrow three-run victory. “I’ve this superstition that whenever I support India, we lose. So I was sup-porting Sri Lanka here and was never tense,” ex-plained Sehwag. Luckily this is really surprising coming from a fearless swash-bucking batsman.

Watch pacer Ishant Sharma doing his run-up to bowl and you will see all sorts of talismans swinging round his neck. Not sure if he is able to swing the cricket ball, but his neck-amulets cer-tainly do, without fail every time. I know of some who wouldn’t like to move out of his seat while Sachin Tendulkar is batting and would be out if he leaves his seat, as if Sachin’s batting skills depends on that seat.

Even the Bollywood people have changed the spelling of their names according to numerologi-cal beliefs and produce the ‘K’ series TV serials or movies with funny spellings. Remember the famous scene from the movie ‘Welcome to Saj-janpur’ where the girl is insisted by her mother to marry a black dog born on a Saturday to ward off a planetary affliction. Where would be our head when we are asked to marry an animal? Somebody once cut a joke to say that it’s better to marry an animal than marry an idiot.

We have all heard of at least one Indian su-perstition, so do we believe in them? Like people the world over, many from our subcontinent can be highly superstitious. In the USA, 90% of US skyscrapers do away with floor number 13, ac-

cording to reports by the Otis Elevator Company, the world’s largest elevator manufacturers. In Western Europe it is widely believed that if a cat washes over its ears, it is a sign of rain.

Many aspects of our lives are linked to some superstitious belief. A little understanding into the psy-chology of superstitions could help, but here are some evergreen Indian su-perstitions.

• Whatever you dream between 4 am to 6 am is bound to come true • Never call one back when the person is leaving the house.• Hiccups indicate someone is thinking of you. • Stitching cloth after sun set is a bad practice• Never sleep with head to the north• Its bad luck to have your shoes upside down• Nails should not be cut at night for fear of evil spirits• Twitching of the eye is highly inauspicious.• Having sweet things before going out for some important activities brings success.

Superstitions do have their base in our culture. We also confuse astrology and omenol-ogy (Shakuna-shāstra elaborated by Sage Garga) with the superstitions. Astrology has a solid

base while superstitions aren’t. Though times have changed, we seldom seem to change our outlook on life. This has been further compounded by the TV serial makers and movie makers, who show ri-diculous circumstances like the heroine is doing pooja, when the gust of wind blows off the lamp and then something bad happens.

According to diction-ary, superstition is a belief in something not justified by reason or evidence. It means to believe in some-thing blindly without veri-fication. Here are some synonyms for the word ‘superstitious’: Its ‘ridicu-

lous’, ‘gullible’, ‘irrational’, ‘illogical’, etc. It is an unreasonable belief based on ignorance and many a times are a result of a fearful feeble mind with no self confidence.

On the other hand, why shouldn’t one have a personal belief system that brings good luck? The more we get success or failures having a su-perstition, the more we tend to rationalise them with actual events only to make them stronger or otherwise.

Many of our beliefs would have come about for perfectly valid reasons in the past, but don’t we feel that they are now being followed only as mere rites? Here is an incident narrated by

a Vedanta teacher on how superstition creeps into our belief system. A family had a tradition to catch a cat and keep it captive under a straw basket during their yearly pooja havan. This was traced back to once such pooja done by their forefathers, where a stray cat wandered about disturbing the pooja and that they had to keep it captive under a straw basket that was handy. Now what has the cat got to do with worship? Mere superstition?

Despite the immense scientific progress in recent years people are still superstitious in nature. Even the silliest of misconceptions con-tinue till date. While in most of the cases these thoughts and beliefs are hardly harmful and many a times are quite hilarious, sometimes they do have serious effects on the society, especially in rural India. But sometimes it’s confusing to admit or negate superstitions because everything in this world seems to be inter-related.

But when in doubt or confusion, it is better to follow the wise. “Fear is the main source of su-perstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” remarks the English Philosopher Bertrand Russell. Our own Swami Vivekananda says, “I would rather have every one of you be rank athe-ists than superstitious fools. There is no mystery in religion. Mystery mongering and superstition are always signs of weakness. These are always signs of degradation and of death. Therefore beware of them; be strong, and stand on your own feet. Be strong, get beyond all superstitions, and be free.”

Someone said it is bad luck to be supersti-tious. What do you say to that?


Indian column

Heritage

oLIver PereIrA

It’s a Scary thought …

Ensuring safer journeys on Kiwi roads

More often that not I have met with people who could not remember the type of insur-ance policies they have, let alone the fact that they could not even locate the policy documents when asked. When questioned I have received various vague responses of the insurance policies they think that they may have.

I have had people tell me that they have health insurance, when it turned out that it was Critical Illness Cover, yet others have mentioned that they have a Life Cover when it turned out it was just an Accidental Death Cover. Now isn’t it a scary thought to be under the perception that one is insured for a certain type of risk and at claim time there is a nasty surprise waiting. By then it is too late …

To kick start this year I have for your ready reference listed below policies that have been designed to meet most insurance needs. It may be wise to dig out your policy documents from the bottom drawer and do a quick audit to see if you are adequately covered.

Life Cover*This will provide a lump sum to your

loved ones to care for themselves when you die. The money might also be used to: Repay debts: Protect a business if a key person dies: Create an investment fund to provide supple-mentary, or money for university education.

Trauma Cover or Critical illness Cover*This pays a lump sum in the event of a

critical illness or accident such as heart dis-eases or cancer, allowing you to preserve your life style if you are temporarily or per-manently unable to work. One in five will

suffer a critical illness before age 65.Income Protection*This enables you to continue to support

yourself and your family if you can’t work due to sickness or injury by providing a monthly payment of up to 75 percent of your pre tax income.

Total and Permanent Disability*This pays a lump sum in the event of such

a disability. One in five New Zealanders have a disability and two out of five people will be unable to work for six months or more because of sickness or an accident at some time between the ages of 30 and 65.

Health Cover*The public health system may not always

fund the health needs of New Zealanders and having health insurance will cover expenses associated with private hospital admission and treatment.

Business Expenses Protection*Pays the owner or partner of a small busi-

ness a monthly benefit to cover ongoing ex-penses and/or the cost of finding a replace-ment (either permanently or with a locum) should the owner (or key person) become totally disabled.

*Summary only. Full terms and conditions will be contained in the policy documents and will also list the specific benefits.

What’s going on in your life right now de-termines the type of life insurance you need and the cover levels that you may require. Life insurance products as summarized above are designed to provide a back up plan to hold things together when life turns an un-expected corner.

The above information has been provid-ed to serve only as a guideline to assist in evaluating your insurance needs. You are encouraged to do your own research before arriving at any decisions.

For further information, please contact:Oliver Pereira –

OPM Insurance Services Ltd.Ph. 0800 66 77 92, Faxmail. 021 551 669,

Mobile. 021 66 77 92Email. [email protected]

I have had people tell me that they have health insurance, when it turned out that it was Critical Illness Cover, yet others have mentioned that they have a Life Cover when it turned out it was just an Accidental Death Cover.

The low Holiday Road Toll is an encouraging sign that new driver safety initiatives are having an effect – but there is more work to be done to improve safety on our roads.

During the official holiday period - from 4pm on December 24, 2009, to 6am on January 4, 2010 – 12 people died on our roads, which is a big reduction from the 25 people who were killed during the same period last year.

However, the 2009 preliminary road toll of 384 compares to 365 deaths in 2008 and 421 in 2007. The number for last year was trending towards more than 400 for the year, until October, November and December all recorded the lowest number of deaths since monthly records began in 1965.

While it’s too early to say exactly why we have seen an improvement over this last quarter, road safety has been top-of-mind with new laws on cell phone use, drugged driving, and illegal street racing

being the focus of new laws. If that publicity has helped remind people of the responsibility they take on when they

drive, then that’s positive. However, every fatality and serious injury on our roads is a tragedy for the families involved and we must reduce this terrible toll.

In the 12 months from 1 July 2008 to June 30 2009 police reported more than 2500 people were seriously injured as a results of road crashes and we have seen little progress in reducing the number of these serious injuries in the last 10 years

In February, I will be releasing the Safer Journeys road safety strategy which will set out some immediate actions aimed at reducing the number of deaths and injuries on our roads and will take us through to 2020.

The priority areas in the strategy will include increasing the safety of young drivers, re-ducing the impact of alcohol and drug impaired driving, creating safer roads and roadsides, safer speeds and increasing the safety of motorcycling.

Initial actions will be implemented over the next year or two and they will be designed to our help improve our road safety outcomes.

However, it is ultimately up to all New Zealanders to take responsibility for their actions when on the road.

HoN steveN Joyce

New Zealand’s reputation continues to fly highPrIme mINIster JoHN key

Our islands are well known for the outstanding beauty of our scenery, our unique culture, and our fantastic food and wine. And not surprisingly, New Zealand continues to be named as one of the world’s top tourism destinations.

But it’s no secret that, for many of our visitors, getting here is a long haul. In fact that’s part of what makes visiting New Zealand so special. So it’s critical that we have world-class flight services bringing tourists to our shores.

Recently, Air Transport World magazine named Air New Zealand as their 2010 ‘Airline of the Year’. This is another sign that we offer world-leading experiences to our international visitors.

The award is a great honour. And, as those of us who regularly fly Air New Zealand know, it is well earned.

Having a highly-respected world-leading airline can only boost our tourism industry, which con-tinues to see millions of people from around the globe come to New Zealand every year.

In December alone, more than 53,000 visitors arrived from Asia – including 6000 from India. And those who chose to fly on Air New Zealand enjoyed our famous Kiwi hospitality as they travelled to and from our country.

Like so many New Zealanders I am proud of our national airline. It is leading its field in ingenuity and commitment to a more environmentally-responsible future. And like so many other innovative businesses in our tourism sector, the services it provides make a big contribution to the 100% Pure New Zealand experience.

As Prime Minister, and Minister for Tourism, I know just how important our reputation as a high-quality destination is to tourism, our economy, and our future. It’s great to see companies like Air New Zealand helping that reputation soar.


Indian Feature

Many Kiwi Indians of the younger generations are not sure what India’s Republic Day, which falls on January 26 every year, stands for, why it is celebrat-ed and how it is different from the August 15 Inde-pendence Day.

Even some of the dignitaries at last week’s func-tion at Aotea Centre in Auckland (see coverage and pictures elsewhere in this issue), which marked the diamond jubilee of India’s becoming a republic, confused it with Independence Day with a couple making a reference to it as Independence Day.

Republic Day is Independent India’s second most important national day after Independence Day. It is celebrated every year in the Indian capital, New Delhi, with great pomp and pageantry. It is cel-ebrated with equal enthusiasm in the capital cities of India’s states, as well as at other headquarters and important places. Patriotic-minded people also ob-served the day in homes, housing colonies, schools, colleges and institutions.

India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947. At that point in time, it however did not have a permanent constitution. Its laws were based on the modified colonial Government of India Act 1935, and the country was a Dominion, with George VI as head of state and Earl Mountbatten as Governor General (in an arrangement quite akin to New Zea-land’s relationship with England with the Governor General serving as the Crown’s representative).

On August 29, 1947, a committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution, with B.R. Ambed-kar as chairman of what was called the Drafting Committee. A draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947.

After many deliberations and some modifica-tions, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on January 24, 1950.

Two days later, on January 26, the Constitu-tion of India became the law of all the Indian lands.

The Constitution of India came into effect only on January 26, 1950. Following elections on January 21, 1950, Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first presi-dent of India.

However, the Indian National Congress and other parties had been celebrating January 26th as a symbol of Independence, even before India became independent in 1947.

It was the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress on the midnight of December 31, 1929 - January 1, 1930, that the Tri-Colour Flag was un-furled by the nationalists and a pledge taken that every year on January 26, the “Republic Day” would be celebrated and that the people would unceasingly strive for the establishment of a Sovereign Demo-cratic Republic of India.

It is to commemorate this memory that signing the constitution took place on January 26, as a mark of respect to freedom fighters.

Indian Republic Day celebrations have now become world famous and attract thousands of people from all over to watch the parades and the creative cultural presentations and performances from artistic groups from all corners of India.

The most spectacular celebrations include the march past of the three armed Forces, other colour-ful parades, folk dances by tribal folk from the dif-ferent states in picturesque costumes marking the cultural unity of India.

The tri-colour streaks of smoke described in the skies by the jet planes of the Indian Air Force marks the finale.

The President of India at New Delhi takes salute of the contingents of Armed Forces. In the States, the Governors take the salute, and in Taluqas and administrative headquarters on same procedure is adopted.

Beating of the RetreatAt Vijay Chowk in New Delhi, three days later

(January 29), the bands of the Armed Forces “Beat the Retreat” in a majestic manner.

The beating of the retreat ceremony signifies the end of Republic Day festivities. It starts with the massed bands of the three services marching in unison, playing popular marching tunes like Colonel Bogey and Sons of the Brave.

The Fanfare then is followed by the bands marching forward in quick time, then breaking into slow time, then by the ‘compound march’ involving movements to form intricate and beautiful patterns. The military band, again, breaks into quick time and goes back to the farthest end of Raisina Hills.

Then the Pipes and Drums of the Indian Army play traditional Scottish tunes and Indian tunes like “Gurkha Brigade” and “Chaandni” . This band also does a compound march. The last bands to perform are the combined bands of the Navy and the Air Force. This part of the ceremony ends with their compound march.

The three band contingents march forward and take position close to the President’s seat. The drum-mers give a solo performance (known as the Drum-mer’s Call). A regular feature of this pageant is the last tune played before the Retreat. It is the famous Christian Hymn composed by William H Monk, Abide With Me.

This is followed by the bugle call for Retreat, and all the flags are slowly brought down. The band master then marches to the President and requests permission to take the bands away, and informs that the closing ceremony is now complete. The bands march back playing a popular martial tune Saare Jahan Se Achcha. As soon as the bands cross Raisina Hills a spectacular illumination display is set up on the North and South Blocks of the Parlia-ment building.

Heads of states from all over the world are invited as chief guests every year. This year’s chief guest was President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Myung bak.

- Indian Weekender features desk

chief guests since 20002000 President olusegun obasanjo Nigeria

2001 President Abdelaziz bouteflika Algeria

2002President cassam uteem mauritius

2003President mohammed khatamiIran

2004king Jigme singye Wangchuk bhutan

2006king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-saud saudi Arabia

2007President vladimir Putinrussia

2008President Nicolas sarkozy France

2009President Nursultan Nazarbayev kazakhstan

2010President Lee myung bakrepublic of korea

Referenced from Wikipedia and other Government of India sources

What is Republic Day?


Indian sport

Sachin’s #45 as he passes the13000 run mark in test cricket

IPL 3 – Reality bites

Long-standing Sumo record falls

Sachin Tendulkar has notched up another milestone in his glittering career as he notched up his 45th test century in the second test against Bangladesh. At the same time he also became the first player to cross the 13000 run mark in test cricket. With this he has an impressive 90 tons combined in the ODI and TEST arena, a feat that will take some time to beat. With Ricky Ponting breathing down his neck in terms of centuries scored, the series against Bangladesh has come at an opportune time for the master blaster.

India took control of the test series in the first test itself when they beat the Ban-gladeshis by 113 runs. Though it was not a smooth sailing as predicted by standin captain Virendra Sehwag. Bangladesh bundled out India for a meagre 243 runs in the first innings, based largely on Tendulkar’s century no 44, before they themselves were shutout for 242. The second innings was a different affair though as Gambhir notched up his 5th consecutive 100 and in the process setup a challenging target of 415 runs for the Bangladeshis. That was a tall order as Amit Mishra took 4 wickets in the second innings to rip through Bangladesh and India coasted to a victory by 112 runs.

The second test match saw India gunning for a series win as they bundled out Bangla-desh for 233. Tendulkar and Dravid then took charge as they both notched up Tons to put India into a commanding position. It would be interesting to see if Bangladesh can save the match from here!

India has hurriedly added test matches in

their series against South Africa in March after realising that they might have to relin-quish their #1 tag if they don’t play more tests this year. Their dream of reaching the top spot in ODIs was shattered by Lanka as they beat them in the tri series finals a few days before.

Australia on the other hand are re building and are not to give up their crown of being the best ODI team in the world though South Africa is very close. Australia has beaten the hapless Pakistanis in the test series 3-0 to take the full honours despite having injury concerns. The first 2 ODIs have seen the same pattern continuing as Pakistanis were mauled by a resurgent Aussie line up. Can Pakistan salvage some pride in the remaining 3 ODIs and the lone T20 is a question on everyone’s mind. Though it would be tough to rule out a turn around as the Pakistani team is the most unpredictable one!

- Prashant Belwalkar

A milestone was reached at the New Year grand sumo tournament in Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugi-kan on Wednesday 13th January when Ozeki Kaio broke legendary Yokozuna Chiyonofuji’s 807 win record by chalking his 808th victory in the elite makuuchi division.

Sumo is Japan’s national sport with strong traditional roots. It does not have the wide popular following that baseball enjoys, but anybody who has lived in Japan for a few months gets drawn to it. In a number of surveys over the years it has been repeatedly shown that sumo is the most popular sport among foreign spectators in Japan.

When I first went to study in Japan in April 1987, the spring tournament was on and every evening just before dinner I’d go by the student lounge while the last half hour of sumo cover-age was on. It didn’t take long to identify wres-tlers like Chiyonofuji, Hokutoumi, Onokuni, Hokutenyu, Konishiki, Nankaeryu and the di-minutive but hugely popular Terao.

And it didn’t take long for me to know that there was something special about the “Wolf” Chiyonofuji. His main rivalry was with giants Onokuni and Konishiki. Sumo is divided into two main divisions at the upper level: the juryo and the elite makuuchi. These were elite makuuchi wrestlers who had been through the painstaking grind to appear on the public scene.

There are further rankings in the elite di-vision. From the highest to the lowest, these include: Yokozuna (grand champion), Ozeki (champion), Sekiwake (sometime champion), Komusubi (potential champion) and Maegashi-ra (rank and file). The aim is to climb to the highest rank through performance on the dohyo (ring) and very few have made it to Yokozuna.

Chiyonofuji was one Yokozuna who domi-nated the dohyo for a long time. In every match involving Chiyo, the audience held their breath

and waited for technique to prevail over size. His hidari uwatenage (left hand upper grip) was a thing of legend because once he got that in he was invincible. That was the one that always toppled 340kg Hawaian-Samoan Konishiki.

Chiyo was fondly referred to as chisana daiyokozuna (diminutive dominant champion) as he was only 130kg during his heyday when he ruled the dohyo. I noticed that he was never paired with the ever-dangerous Yokozuna Ho-

kutoumi and found out later that they both be-longed to the Kokonoe stable. And the 1980s belonged to Kokonoe.

After that, former champion Futagoyama’s sons, Takahanada and Wakahanada broke onto the scene with Hawaian Akebono in 1988. All three of these grapplers went on to become Yo-kozuna with the Hana brothers adopting the name Takanohana and Wakanohana. The 90s belonged to this trio as Chiyonofuji retired after

setting an all-time makuuchi win record of 807.On Tuesday, Fukuoka native Ozeki Kaio

who also debuted in 1988, equaled the record by steamrolling Goeido. And on Wednesday he broke it by getting behind the feisty demoted Ozeki Chiyotaikai and pushing him off the dohyo with an “okurinage”. Those in the sumo world knew that a landmark had fallen.

Yokozuna Chiyonofuji, now the Kokonoe Oyakata (Kokonoe stable master), was typical-ly dignified and philosophical on NHK when he said, “records are there to be broken and when a wrestler comes out and does that it livens up sumo”. No regrets for a true champion whose fans and critics alike know of his greatness.

As a Chiyo fan, I feel sad as I recall how he dominated and never allowed Konishiki to bull-doze him even though at the tachiai (faceoff) that’s what it looked like all the time. Chiyo struggled with a few niggling injuries towards the end and retired in 1991 after repeatedly fal-tering against maegashira Ryogoku and losing to young turk Takahanada. That was the end of a proud reign by a great grand champion.

As the current tournament unfolds in Tokyo, the aging Kaio will likely add more wins to his record and make the mark ever more difficult to break. I will simply sit back and think of the day I got to shake Chiyo’s hand and get his te-gata (autograph) which still hangs proudly on my wall. The pinky finger of the chisana dai-yokozuna’s left hand was always irregular and never marked its middle portion on the te-gata. For me Chiyo will forever remain the greatest sekitori who ever graced the dohyo.

- A Japan scholar, Subhash Appana, spent close to 6yrs in Japan and writes occasionally

about that country

The third season of IPL will soon be under way and the auctions for players saw some interesting buys. Mumbai paid the highest amount for Kevin Pollard and several ICL players including Shane Bond have been selected in this round. But the biggest talking point has been the exclusion of Pakistani players from the purchases. None of the Pakistani players were selected by the franchises and it started an emo-tional warfare with the External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Chidambaram, Shah Rukh Khan and others joining the debate!

The reality of the situation is something that these people don’t want to understand. IPL franchising is a business unit like all other businesses and decisions are taken by the owners based on the returns that they will generate for them. It is a simple mathemati-cal equation and not an emotive one! All owners are looking at the best return for their investment and as such, given the current uncertainty over the availabil-ity of Pakistani players it has been a prudent deci-sion by the franchises of not investing in uncertainty.

There is no doubt that Pakistan does have some the most talented and gifted T20 players in the world, but if they are not going to get visas or are unable to play in India then what is point in investing in them?

One has to look at this as they do in Football. Football clubs don’t invest based on emotions, they do so based on what can the club get out of the money they are paying for a player. Similarly, if franchises are going to dole out cash for Pakistani players who can’t make it for non cricketing reasons into the IPL then it is prudent to spend money on somebody else! It is not about Pakistan or the talent that they have produced. It is business…!

PS: If Shahrukh was so concerned, he should have bidded for some of the players as it takes only 1 franchise to start the process! Easy to join the band wagon of political correctness, but shrewd enough to keep the right decision of not bidding. You can’t have your cake and eat it too!

– Prashant Belwalkar

subHAsH APPANA


Indian


Indian

recipe by ruby dhillon

WeekeNdCUISINE

2- Potatoes (small)1cup- Chana (Chick peas soaked over night with water)4- Green chillis1tsp- Ginger paste1tsp- Garlic paste1tsp- Jeera whole(Cumin)1tsp- Red chilli powder1tsp- Garam masala1tbs- Anardana powder1tbs- Dhania powder (Coriander)1tbs- Cumin powder2- Tomatoes (big and chopped)Salt according to taste1/2cup- Chopped coriander1- Lemon2tbs- Oil

Ingredients: method:

MASALA CHANA

Boil potatoes, peel and cut them into

halved and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok add ginger, garlic paste

and when it is brown then add slited green

chillis, coriander powder, cumin powder,

red chilli powder, Salt and add chopped

tomatoes, stir fry them until the masala is

cooked.

Add the pre soaked Chana(Chick peas) to

the masala, cover and cook with two cups

of water for 20minutes or until they are

cooked.

In the other pan heat oil add jeera whole

and allow the jeera to reeden then add

Anardana powder and Potatoes. Fry the

Potatoes until they are brown in colour.

Mix potatoes with Chana masala.

Serve hot with a dash of lemon on it and

chopped Coriander.

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Volume 1 Issue 22

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Transcript of Volume 1 Issue 22