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loo NZ’s #1 Indian weekend magazine | www.iwk.co.nz | 22nd of May, 2011 : Volume 3. no.3 | FOR FREE DISTRUBUTION

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GETTING OUT OF THE

DEBT TRAP From the Parliament’s Budget Lockup pg.3
Finance Minister Bill English presents his Budget at Parliament

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 Indian
Budget focuses on getting out of debt trap
Finance Minister Bill English presents his Budget at
Parliament on May 19. Photo: Dev Nadkarni
Dev Nadkarni
from the Parliament’s Budget
Lockup in Wellington
For an election year, Finance Min-
ister Bill English’s third budget is
certainly unusual in that it has been
rather bold in cutting spending than
what most observers might have ex-
pected. Indeed, it is the first time in
eighty years that a finance minister
has cut spending in an election year.
Given the parlous state of the
country’s finances, Mr English and
his team had no option but to take
whatever strong steps that were pos-
sible to try to balance the books as
early as possible. The task would cer-
tainly have been made more difficult
because of the November elections.
Measures proposed in Budget
2011 aim to bring down the govern-
ment’s external borrowing from
the whopping $380 million a week
currently to a more bearable $100
million a week by next year. This
could well pave the way for the gov-
ernment books to score a surplus
as early as 2015 – a year ahead of
schedule, which is an extremely de-
sirable outcome.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Mr English said Crown net debt
would now be under 30% of GDP
and that without the tight fiscal poli-
cies proposed in this year’s budget
it would have peaked closer to 35%.
“These are changes that will have a
long term effect,” he said.
But despite the cuts, the Finance
Minister has managed to avoid criti-
cism of being too harsh on any of the
affected sectors. That is because any
negative impact on these sectors has
been kept to a minimum. The budget
does not seem like a slash and burn
exercise so much as mere tinkering
at the edges.
Perhaps the only segment where
the cuts seem drastic, if at all, is the
state sector, where government de-
partments and agencies will be given
savings targets. Ending the funding
of more than 100 state sector agen-
cies’ employer contributions to Ki-
wiSaver, the State Sector Retirement
Savings Scheme and the Teacher Re-
tirement Savings Scheme will save
about $650 million. These agencies
will be asked to meet these costs
from their own funding, for the most
part.
Other tweaking in this sector will
save another $330 million, bringing
savings from the sector close to $1
billion – which, indeed, is a substan-
tial saving in tough economic times
like these.
The state public sector has had
runaway growth in the past decade
both in terms of people employed
and their annual salary increases,
which have been at a faster rate than
people in the private sector, even in
the toughest of economic times. The
budget will need the sector to imple-
ment some serious belt tightening.
Changes to KiwiSaver shifts the
focus away from external debt to
genuine internal savings. The gov-
ernment will now have to borrow
less externally to fund the KiwiSaver
savings scheme.
The government’s annual $1.2
billion contribution by way of the
$20 tax credit a week will be halved
to $10 a week (thereby halving the
employee tax credit to an annual
cap of $521). The $1040 kick start,
though, will continue without
changes, to encourage people to start
the savings habit.
Other significant changes to Ki-
wiSaver include raising minimum
contributions by employers and
employees from 2% to 3% from the
year 2013 and ending tax-free em-
ployer contributions (they will now
be taxed at the employees’ base tax
rate). This will affect both higher
income earners and their employers.
These changes to KiwiSaver are
tipped to improve the rate of na-
tional savings by about 2.2% of GDP
a year. From the present $7.9 billion
KiwiSaver funds are projected to rise
to $25 billion in 2014-15 and a whop-
ping $60 billion in 10 years.
Quite courageously for an elec-
tion year, the Finance Minister has
taken the scissors to the Working
for Families scheme as well. Phased
in lowering of abatement thresholds
will bring in some savings, while
benefit payments to high earning
families will be reduced, again pro-
ducing savings.
The hand-out largesse wrought
by previous government policies
has led to more than 40% of New
Zealanders receiving more from
the state than they pay in tax, as last
year’s Tax Working Group reported.
The budget has reallocated some
of the savings from these cuts to the
health sector, which will receive an
extra $2.2 billion over the next four
years, of which $585 million – made
up of $420 million of new money, in
addition to 165 million of savings.
This will help the healthcare
system provide increased medical
training and maternity initiatives,
greater access to medicines and elec-
tive surgery. It also increases funding
for dementia care – a growing
problem because of the country’s
aging population – besides mental
health, disability support services
and GP visit subsidies.
The Canterbury Earthquake
Recovery Fund is set to receive
$5.5 billion over the next six years.
Local infrastructure and state-
owned asset rebuild will gain from
this funding. Funds will also help
provide welfare support, meet costs
related to the immediate response
to the emergency and government’s
financial support package for AMI
Insurance.
Communications gets a big fillip
in the budget. As well as capital
funding of $970 million to be provid-
ed to Crown Fibre Holdings to invest
alongside private sector partners for
the national broadband initiative,
$28 million has been allocated for
upgrading connectivity in schools –
mainly providing last mile connec-
tivity to the broadband network for
the state school system.
Other infrastructure allocations
include $338 million for rail and
$109 million of capital funding for
education sector.
Part of this will be funded by
the government’s plan to sell stakes
in four state-owned energy enter-
prises while also reducing its major-
ity shareholding in Air New Zealand
to raise up to $7 billion in capital, of
course if only the government is re-
elected in the November elections.
The good news for business: an
additional $24 million over 4 years
has been added to last year’s impres-
sive allocation of $234 million over
4 years for business research and
development. The idea is also to help
commercialise research and devel-
opment project, addressing a lacuna
New Zealand innovators have long
faced: taking their bright ideas to the
world marketplace.
Though measures to bring the
government books back in shape
by the end of 2015 look impressive,
the exercise does come at a cost.
Before external borrowing comes
down to zero and the government
of the day embarks on a repayment
programme, the tax bill is tipped to
increase. From $3.5 billion this year,
it is tipped to rise to $6.3 billion by
2015.
3
Indian
Expert’s suggestions taken
on board
In an article
titled “It is pos-
sible for NZ to
save its way out
of debt” in the
April 15 issue of
Indian Week-
ender, financial
expert and writer Ajay Kumar had
listed a number of options that the
government could take.
Mr Kumar had also presented
his suggestions to an august audi-
ence that included Prime Minis-
ter John Key at a dinner earlier in
April.
With the announcement of the
proposals in Budget 2011, we note
that the National Party-led govern-
ment has taken on board a number
of those suggestions.
“The pre-budget announce-
ment regarding changes in Ki-
wiSaver and some of the actions
the government has taken and is
contemplating are very much the
same as suggested in the presenta-
tion on on April 1, which had been
presented to the prime minister,”
Mr Kumar told Indian Weekender.
“Our first suggestion was to stop
the tax credit of $20 a week which
comes to $1040 annually. It has
now been halved to $521. But our
idea has been widely accepted and
appreciated by other leaders as well.
“The second suggestion was to
further promote and increase con-
tribution under KiwiSaver, which
has also been given the green light
Join the St John-Indian Weekender
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4 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
from Finance Minister Bill English
as contributionsn will go up to 3%
from 2013.
“We also suggested that these
changes should be implemented
from the year 2012, once the New
Zealand economy starts recov-
ering. We have prepared a chart
where we have shown that the size
of KiwiSaver could be around $500
billion in the next 20 years. In this
chart, we also assumed an increase
in contribution in KiwiSaver from
the year 2012 – but in the budget, it
happens a year later.
“In our presentation and in the
article, we emphasised on the in-
ternal savings/ borrowings rather
than external borrowings from
foreign lenders to reduce the pres-
sure of foreign lenders on New Zea-
land’s economy,” Mr Kumar said.
“It is good to note that strategy is at
the centre of this year’s budget.”
It is evident that since April 1,
the government is borrowing more
from within New Zealand rather
than externally. There have been
two big issues of government bonds
locally and both have been over-
subscribed, another instance of a
suggestion that seems to have been
taken aboard.
“I trust that other suggestions
will also see the green light soon,
as they are a practicable way for the
country to come out of the debt trap
while building savings,” Mr Kumar
said.
-Indian Weekender news desk
Youth spirit focus of conference
Dynamic spirit of youth was the
focus of a joint Hindu Youth NZ
and NZ Hindu Students forum
held in Auckland recently.
Said joint general secretary of
the Hindu Coiuncil of New Zealand
Pritika Sharma: “Youth are full of
irresistible enthusiasm, enormous
energy, boundless hope and dedi-
cation. Youth is the life force of a
nation, or society.
“Hindu Youth conferences are
organised to unleash the poten-
tial of the youth. The second New
Zealand Hindu Youth Conference
was successful in this endeavour.”
The conference was inaugurat-
ed by opposition leader Phil Goff.
He said, “Our young people are our
future. We need to inspire them,
give them hope and the confidence
to know they can achieve whatever
they set out to do. This forum gives
young people an opportunity to
make a positive difference in terms
of their own lives and the lives of
others in New Zealand.”
MPs Dr Rajen Prasad and Kan-
waljit Singh Bakshi also attended
the ceremony.
Nitika Sharma, the conference
co-ordinator, and Som Sharma,
president of New Zealand Hindu
Students Forum welcomed the
guests. Ms Sharma said that
HYNZ and NZHSF were networks
of young professionals and ter-
tiary students, respectively. Young
Hindu New Zealanders were proud
of their Hindu as well as New
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Zealand identities.
In her keynote address, Ku-
muthini Selvaraj, co-ordinator
of HYNZ Wellington team, pre-
sented the significant contribution
of Hindu Youth to New Zealand
based on 2006 Statistics New
Zealand data. She compared the
age, education and employment
status of Hindu community to the
rest of New Zealand.
Young achievers of New Zealand
shared their success stories at the
conference. Speakers included
Claire Szabo, the chief executive of
English Language Partners New
Zealand, who was recently recog-
nised as the Young Executive of the
Year 2010; Dr Divya Dhar, chief
executive P3 Foundation, who was
awarded inaugural 2010 Young
New Zealander of the Year; J’aime
Laurenson, the recipient of the
inaugural 2010 Prime Minister’s
Pacific Youth Awards; and Vinny
Jeet, chief executive of OneBeep
and OneBuzz, winners of the Mi-
crosoft Imagine Cup Challenge
New Zealand, 2010 and 2011.
They inspired the audience by
exemplifying how hard work, per-
severance and dedication result in
impressive achievements.
Nachiket Joshi, a young phar-
macist from Hamilton, presented
the work that he has been doing
to spread education to underprivi-
leged children in India and Nepal
through the Ekal Vidyalaya (one
teacher school) movement.
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world’s fastest growing educational
movement, and more informa-
tion, including the contacts for the
New Zealand chapter, are available
through www.ekal.org.
A session on “Engaging youth
on serving the community” was
chaired Komal Shah. Youth from
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh; Inter-
national Society for Krishna Con-
sciousness and Yogi Divine Society
shared their contributions to the
community welfare.
Dijesh Patel of National Hindu
Students Forum, United Kingdom,
informed the audience on a model
of community development where
seva (service) activities from
various Hindu community organ-
isations in UK were coordinated.
A number of New Zealand gov-
ernment agencies and institutes
including Ministry of Youth De-
velopment, New Zealand Police,
Auckland Youth Advisory Panel
and Auckland Ethnic Advisory
Panel shared their vision for youth
regionally and nationally.
Pritika Sharma, joint general
secretary of Hindu Council of New
Zealand, delivered the closing
remarks at the conference com-
mending the efforts of young
students and professionals. She
added, “the team had shown that
youth from Hindu community
have the capacity and capability
to be leaders in the New Zealand
Society.”
Indian
Madhur Jaffrey in NZ
Antonia
Kokalova-Gray
The time-pressed gourmets among
us, particularly those with a pen-
chant for the delicious spiciness
and diversity of Indian cuisines,
are in for a treat this week as one
of the most acclaimed Indian food
writers in the world visits New
Zealand.
Delhi-born, US-based Madhur
Jaffrey has had decades of experi-
ence researching, compiling and
presenting mouthwatering curry
recipes in books and on TV shows
in the UK and US. She is renowned
for having ingeniously adapted the
complexities of Indian cuisines to
our fast-paced age.
With support from the Asia:NZ
culture programme, Madhur
Jaffrey is in New Zealand this
week to take part in the 2011 Auck-
land Writers and Readers Festi-
val (AWRF), which began on May
11. She will also speak at a dinner
in her honour in Wellington on
Thursday, May 19.
Ms Jaffrey’s naming had a
symbolic, prescient connection to
food (her chosen name, “Madhur”
means sweet as honey in Sanskrit)
and Madhur “was left with honey
on my palate and my deepest soul,”
as she tells in her 2006 memoir
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Climbing the Mango Trees, one of
over 15 popular books she has au-
thored.
With 175 easy recipes, Ms Jaf-
frey’s latest bestseller, Curry Easy,
is a tantalising culinary journey
across India, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and Pakistan, and allows
foodies to recreate the tastes
of South Asia with a minimum
amount of work.
“Indian food isn’t always com-
plicated to make, and you don’t
have to spend hours in the kitchen,”
says Madhur Jaffrey. “With just a
few very easy steps, you can get a
Goan prawn curry or a Sri Lankan
beef curry with coconut milk. That
is what Curry Easy is going to show
you how to do.”
At the Auckland Readers and
Writers Festival on Friday May 13,
Ms Jaffrey will talk about her fasci-
nating life journey from the banks
of the Yamuna River in Delhi to
Manhattan.
“The innocent Indian honey of
my infancy is now mixed with the
pungencies of Indian spices, the
sour and bitter, the nutty and the
tinglingly aromatic,” says Madhur
Jaffrey in Climbing the Mango
Trees.
“We are delighted to have
been able to bring culinary legend
Madhur Jaffrey to New Zealand,”
said Asia:NZ culture director Jen-
nifer King.
“The vividness of her life story
is suitably complemented by the
richness of her recipes – and we’re
glad New Zealanders will get a
taste of both, through our coopera-
tion with the AWRF in Auckland
and the New Zealand Guild of Food
Writers in Wellington, which made
these events possible.”
On Sunday May 15, Madhur
Jaffrey will be the guest pre-
senter at a lunch in her honour at
the Langham Hotel in Auckland,
where the hotel’s Indian chefs will
prepare an authentic Indian feast
drawn from her cookbooks.
Wellingtonians will also be able
to sample Madhur Jaffrey’s recipes
and hear her talk at a degusta-
tion dinner, organised by the New
Zealand Guild of Food Writers,
with support from Asia:NZ and the
James Cook Hotel Grand Chancel-
lor. The dinner is at 6pm on 19 May
at the James Cook Hotel; tickets
are $95 per person for a six-course
menu including drinks and pre-
dinner snacks.
Madhur Jaffrey’s latest cook-
book Curry Easy is now available
online and from bookshops in New
Zealand.
- Asia-NZ Foundation
New guidelines for
loan sharks
New Responsible Lending Guidelines have been put together by
the Ministry of Social Development and the Financial Services Fed-
eration. They educate people on what to expect when they apply
for a loan.
Local MPs Dr Cam Calder and Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi have wel-
comed the new Responsible Lending Guidelines for loan sharks.
“During the recession many Kiwis have fallen on hard times and
borrowed money as a last resort. But high-interest loans often trap
people in an increasing spiral of debt,” Dr Calder and Mr Bakshi
have said in a joint news release.
The guidelines address fears of people in Manukau and else-
where who are disturbed by the growing prevalence of loan sharks
in our community.
“I have also spoken to constituents burdened with loans they
are incapable of repaying. These loans should never have been
granted,” the MPs say.
“They also call for better consideration of loan security, and
more transparent interest rates. People should know exactly how
much a loan will cost them. I have seen loan sharks offering an
interest rate of 8% per week. Remember that can add up to over
2000% per annum.”
Loan sharks’ interest rates can be crippling, and there are usually
better options available. The new guidelines encourage lenders to
do the right thing, and borrowers to make better choices.
The Responsible Lending Guidelines can be found at www.fsf.
org.nz.
5
Indian
Three A-grade Indian uni
students win scholarships
A-grade students from New Zealand universities have been presented with
Freemasons scholarships totaling $220,000. Olympic athlete, Sir John Walker
presented the awards at a ceremony at the University of Waikato. Three of
these students were of Indian origin.
Shwetha George,  world,” says Mr Joyce.
University of Waikato
Shwetha will this year complete a
Bachelor of Science, majoring in
biological sciences at University
of Waikato.  She was awarded a
$6,000 Freemasons University
Scholarship.
As well, Shwetha has been
involved in a major study inves-
tigating seizure effects. Shwetha
has long desired to play a part
in pharmaceutical developments
in the treatment of Alzheimer’s
disease and Parkinson’s disease.
She hopes that involvement with
the Centre for Brain Research at
the University of Auckland next
year, as part of the biomedical
Honours programme, will be a
significant step towards fulfilling
this dream.
A neuroscientist in the making, Shwetha George of Hillcrest, Hamilton shows Freemasons Grande
Master, Selwyn Cooper a model of a brain.  a General Practitioner and work
Kyle Kannan, Massey
University  New Zealand.
It’s all in the family for Kyle Kannan
of Rotorua, who is in the final year
of a Bachelor of Veterinary Science
at Massey University. Two years
ago his brother qualified as a vet.
Their mother was a vet when the
family lived in India.  Kyle is pic-
tured receiving his $6,000 Freema-
sons  University Scholarship from
Olympic athlete, Sir John Walker.
Kyle is looking forward to quali-
fying and working in the Waikato
in production animal medicine in
the rural veterinary sector, where
there is a shortage of veterinarians.
Kyle enjoys the outdoors and prefers
working with large stock animals.
Kyle plans to consolidate what he
has learned, gain extensive practical
experience and then head overseas
6 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Her long-term goal is to be in-
volved with the Walter and Eliza
Hall Institute of Medical Re-
search in Melbourne while com-
pleting her PhD in neuroscience
at the University of Melbourne.
Shwetha is currently the
secretarial officer for the Uni-
versity of Waikato’s chapter of
the Golden Key International
Honour Society. She is an active
member of the Hamilton Malay-
alee Association, an Indian as-
sociation, where she participates
and organises cultural events and
performances to raise awareness
for societal issues.
Last year Shwetha trained
as a counsellor with LifeLine
Waikato and is now an active vol-
unteer telephone counsellor.
for a few years, bringing new and in-
novative veterinary practice back to
Over the last few years Kyle has
mentored a second-year student
which he has found to be a fulfilling
experience.
Badminton, rugby and hockey
are his favoured sports. Kyle is also
part of the music ministry at St Pat-
rick’s in Palmerston North, where he
plays the violin and leads a church
youth group.
Over the past 33 years, Free-
masons New Zealand has pro-
vided scholarships of nearly $3.75
million to 954 students at Auck-
land, Waikato, Massey, Victoria,
Canterbury, Lincoln and Otago uni-
versities, making The Freemasons
Charity one of  the country’s largest,
privately-funded university scholar-
ship programmes.  Cooper.
Sudhvir Singh of Torbay, Auckland is congratulated on his $6,000 Freemasons University Scholarship by
Olympic athlete, Sir John Walker.  require traffic from an uncontrolled
Sudhvir Singh,
University of Auckland
Sudhvi r has planned his career
path. He complemented his Univer-
sity of Auckland medical training
with an Honours degree in Public
Health to pursue a career linking
clinical medicine and public policy.
Sudhvir’s aim is to improve the
health and wellbeing of the popu-
lation and reduce inequalities in
society. His will be a name to watch
in health policy and advocacy work.
After registering with the
Medical Council, Sudhvir aims
to study for a Masters in Public
Health at an international uni-
versity, before returning to New
Zealand for vocational training as
Sir John Walker said the presen-
tation ceremony was a wonderful
opportunity to meet so many high-
achieving young people on the verge
of great careers and set to improve
the quality of life for people and the
environment.
Freemasons Grand Master,
Selwyn Cooper, made a plea that al-
though the inevitable attraction for
scholars was to extend their research
overseas, he hoped they would never
forget their homeland and that they
return with their skills and talents
honed by their overseas experience.
“The 32 successful scholars with
whom we celebrate today are not
only accomplished scholars whose
dedication and perseverance merits
recognition, but they also have an
impressive record of community
interest and involvement,” said Mr
as a physician in the public health
system.
Sudhvir co-founded and led
Medical Student for Global Aware-
ness, creating a network where
students have exposure to hu-
manitarian issues through events,
campaigns community activities
and international dialogue. The
United Nations Youth Associa-
tion of New  Zealand, the Asia-
Pacific Model United Nations,
New Zealand Climate and Health
and the Auckland University
Medical Students Association are
all organisations in which Sudhvir
has an active involvement.
On a community level, he vol-
unteers at North Shore Hospice
and for the Make Poverty History
campaign.
Left give way rule
consultations
begin
Public consultation is now under-
way on the proposed changes to
the give way rule.
Transport Minister Steven Joyce
says changing the give way rules
for turning vehicles is part of the
Government’s 10-year Safer Jour-
neys road safety strategy.
“Our current give way rules for
turning vehicles are confusing
and out of step with the rest of the
“Research shows changing the
rules could reduce relevant inter-
section crashes by seven percent.”
Currently if you are turning left you
have to give way to right turning
traffic coming towards you. This
change would reverse this so the
left turning vehicle would have right
of way in this situation.
Changes are also planned to the
rule for T-intersections. This rule
applies when there are conflicting
right-turns at a T-intersection. Cur-
rently, the right-turning vehicle on
the terminating road (the base of
the ‘T’) has priority over the right-
turning vehicle on the through road
(the top of the ‘T’). The change will
terminating road to give way to
traffic on a through road.
An extensive education campaign
would be carried out to ensure
drivers are aware of the new rules
before any changes come into
force.
The NZ Transport Agency is now
consulting on proposals to amend
the Land Transport Road User
Rule which includes the changes
to give way rules as well as
changes that would clarify existing
road rules and improve school bus
safety.  Any changes will come into
force early next year.
For more information about the
Rule or to make a submission go to
the NZ Transport Agency website:
www.nzta.govt.nz.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 7
Indian
India hopeful of NZ FTA by next year
Dev Nadkarni
Visiting Indian Minister of Com-
merce and Industry Anand
Sharma has said India and New
Zealand are in the process of nego-
tiating a “comprehensive economic
co-operation agreement in trade,
investment and services” that will
be “much more than just a Free
Trade Agreement.”
Speaking to Indian Weekender,
Mr Sharma said he hoped nego-
tiations would proceed smoothly to
have the FTA in place sometime in
the first quarter of next year.
Mr Sharma was addressing
a 250-strong group of business-
people in Auckland yesterday
(May 9). He invited
New Zealand busi-
nesses to participate
in India’s unfolding
“comprehensive economic
success story that co-operation agreement
has seen the country
grow at over 8% in trade, investment and
every year over much
of the past decade.
services” that will be “much
He said bilat- more than just a Free Trade
eral trade between
the two countries Agreement.”
was expected to
grow threefold from
$1billion to $3billion by 2014,
even as the FTA negotiations pro-
gressed. Meanwhile, officials in
the minister’s delegation will meet
New Zealand trade officials for
their fifth round of talks on the pro-
posed FTA this week.
New Zealand exports about
$750 million worth of coal, wood,
dairy and other merchandise to
India while importing about $250
million worth of small machinery
parts, food products and a range of
small goods. This trade imbalance
needed to be corrected and there
was ample scope for it, Mr Sharma
said.
Outlining the opportuni-
ties for New Zealand businesses,
Mr Sharma said India’s agricul-
ture sector was primed to receive
foreign direct investment of a
whopping $200 billion over the
next five years.
India is the second largest pro-
ducer of fruits, vegetables and
grain, Mr Sharma revealed, but its
largely underdeveloped agriculture
sector struggled with post harvest
storage, transportation and dis-
tribution management, resulting
8 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
in preventable spoilage of perish-
ables.
Investment in post harvest
preservation technologies was par-
ticularly important as the world’s
climate change, food inflation and
food security challenges continu-
ally intensified. Better supply chain
management in produce could sig-
nificantly bring down hunger, Mr
Sharma said.
The Indian government has
earmarked 46 dedicated food
parks that could receive up to 100%
foreign direct investment for ap-
provals through the “automatic
route,” he said.
Though India was the world’s
largest producer of milk, there was
much to learn from New Zealand,
Mr Sharma said. He said the Indian
government “deeply appreciated”
New Zealanders for the assistance
that had been offered to the Indian
dairy industry over the years.
The minister invited New
Zealand businesses to step up their
engagement with Indian industry
in the rapidly growing services
sector, notably education, tourism
films, animation, film post pro-
duction and the IT and business
process outsourcing (BPO).
The fact that India had made
rapid strides in wine production
and marketing it internationally
was not widely known in this part
of the world, Mr Sharma said. But
rather than compete, New Zealand
and India could work jointly in
the wine industry, he said. “India
has the land and the climate and it
could lead to a successful partner-
ship.”
What is also not widely known
is the progress Indian companies
have made in the drugs and phar-
maceutical sector. Mr Sharma
said that India now had 25% of the
world’s production of generic drugs
and after US drug firms it was
Indian firms that had the highest
number of approvals from the US
food and Drug Administration.
An opportunity to collaborate
on leading edge development proj-
ects in molecular biochemistry is
growing by leaps and bounds and
that is another area New Zealand
could participate, Mr Sharma said.
India’s government has recently
set up the “Innovation Council,”
headed by the Prime Minister, who
has named 2011-2020 the “decade
of innovation.” New Zealand has
been known for being a nation of
innovators, Mr Sharma said, and
this was another op-
portunity to work to-
gether with India on
a range of innovative
technologies – from
pharmaceuticals and
agriculture to alterna-
tive energy and green
technologies.
In the past few
years, India had signed
trade deals with a
number of emerging
countries under what
the minister said was the govern-
ment’s “Look East” policy. These
included the Asean bloc, South
Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and
Malaysia. “The emerging seven will
soon overtake the G7,” Mr Sharma
said. India was looking forward to
the continuing trade negotiations
with New Zealand and hoped these
would be concluded soon, he said.
INZBC chairman Wenceslaus
Anthony presented the welcome
address while FICCI chairman
Robin Banerjee and Glidepath
chairman Sir Ken Stevens deliv-
ered speeches. National Party
Member of Parliament Kanwaljit
Bakshi and India’s High Commis-
sioner to New Zealand Admiral
Sureesh Mehta were also present
at the well-attended lunch meeting
comprising officials and business-
people from both countries.
The event was jointly organised
by the India New Zealand Business
Council (INZBC) and the Federa-
tion of Indian Chambers of Com-
merce and Industry (FICCI) in as-
sociation with New Zealand Trade
and Enterprise, Auckland Council
and was sponsored by ANZ Bank.
Mutual regard
and great
camaraderie
Dev Nadkarni
New Zealand Trade Minister
Tim Groser and India’s visiting
Minister of Commerce and
Industry Anand Sharma share
a great relationship, going
by the comments and the
fulsome praise they heaped on
each other and their countries
during their respective ad-
dresses to businesspeople in
Auckland.
Mr Groser praised his Indian
counterpart’s contribution to
the World Trade Organisa-
tion (WTO) negotiations in his
relatively short association
with it while Mr Sharma said
he had learned a lot about the
WTO from Mr Groser, who is a
world renowned and respected
authority on the minefield that
is the WTO.
He said he placed Mr Shar-
ma’s visit “at the pinnacle of
visits by dignitaries” as a mark
of respect for India, which he
said “not deserves – that’s not
a good word – but commands
in the international arena.”
Mr Groser also acknowledged
the contribution the 100,000
“Kiwi Indians” were making to
New Zealand and its economy.
He said there always was an
instinctive feeling of warmth
between New Zealanders and
Indians because of shared
values.
New Zealand was just a tenth
the size of India but India had
a population more than 300
times New Zealand’s he said –
but that was a measure of the
potential that existed in India,
he said.
Opportunities were available
in plenty in the mining, natural
resources, technology and a
whole range of services, Mr
Groser said.
Commenting on the forth-
coming FTA between the two
countries, Mr Groser said
though many people would
instinctively accord greater
importance to the proposed
Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)
over a free trade agreement
with India, he would find it dif-
ficult to choose.
The minister obviously recog-
nises the emerging opportuni-
ties in India to carry as much
weight, if not more than what
the TPP would offer.
Mr Sharma narrated how he
had first met Mr Groser on a
flight to a WTO meeting. They
were in adjacent seats and
although they had never met
before, Mr Groser recognised
Mr Sharma and introduced
himself. The pair got talking
and he was amazed at Mr
Groser’s knowledge of WTO,
Mr Sharma said.
He also spoke about New
Zealand and India’s shared
values in democratic and legal
systems and of course the
English language – and cricket.
The two countries had a lot in
common he said and encour-
aged greater people to people
contact in the coming years.
It is known that Mr Groser had
a great relationship with Mr
Sharma’s predecessor Kamal
Nath and that was considered
instrumental in getting the FTA
negotiations off the ground, it
is widely acknowledged.
Mr Groser and Mr Sharma
seem to have hit it off equally
well and indications are that
the negotiations will progress
here on.
Indian
India-
Australia
to launch
FTA talks
next month
India and Australia will start
free trade agreement (FTA) ne-
gotiations next month follow-
ing Indian Union Commerce
and Industry Minister, Anand
Sharma’s visit to Canberra
last week, where he held bi-
lateral talks with the Australian
Trade Minister, Craig Emerson.
With the multilateral Doha
round of free trade talks going
on at a slow pace with possi-
ble outcome in sight, the focus
is now increasingly shifting to
consolidating bilateral deals
and the FTA is a result of that.
There is already a demand
within Australia that the
FTA negotiations should
also include talks for sale of
uranium to India, something
which the Australian Govern-
ment has been blocking de-
manding that India should
first become a signatory to
the NPT. India is Australia’s
third-largest export market.
Australia is India’s 14th-largest
market.
A feasibility study conduct-
ed earlier this year by both
the countries had found that
there was a need for a wide
and comprehensive trade
agreement and engagement
between the two countries
and this should also include
services, investment and
goods.
``We are hopeful that trade and
economics will get a big boost
once the PTA comes into
force. India is also negotiating
a PTA with new Zealand and
is in the process of initiating
talks with half a dozen other
nations. We want a wider eco-
nomic engagement and give
greater opportunity to our en-
trepreneurs,’’ Mr. Sharma has
said.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Swapping Indian professionals
for dairy access?
WELLINGTON: New Zealand is ready to open its doors wider for
Indian professionals and service providers as part of the bilateral free
Indians to stay in New Zealand for a short period, say six months,
and work to pay for their holiday. “It already has offered the scheme
trade agreement being negotiated, but the stress is going to be on to 34 countries and it could also work for us,” Mr Sharma said.
level of skills, the country’s trade minister Tim Groser has said.
New Zealand wants access to India’s dairy market in turn in the FTA.
“We will definitely offer more access to Indian professionals, which is “We are absolutely aware of the sensitivities that you have in your
in fact going to go in our favour, but we have to take care of our sen- agriculture sector. But there is scope to work around it,” Mr Groser
sitivities. We can’t allow unqualified people knocking our front doors said. New Zealand could export high-end dairy products and also
and doing poor jobs,” Mr Groser told ET. share technology, he said.
Professionals who could benefit include teachers, healthcare provid- India and New Zealand have concluded four rounds of negotiations
ers, technicians, IT experts, architects and hospitality providers. and hope to conclude the FTA, which will include both goods and
The two countries have started discussing reciprocal recognition of services, next year. The Indian minister met New Zealand Prime Min-
some professional degrees outside the FTA, said commerce and in- ister John Key to discuss key bilateral issues including the FTA. The
dustry minister Anand Sharma. New Zealand PM will visit India in June with a business delegation.
“We are discussing recognition of our degrees which could also
happen outside the FTA, but there is definitely going to be a separate “India is our number one priority in our foreign policy,” Mr Groser
chapter on services in the FTA that would ensure greater access to said. New Zealand has an FTA with China, which has increased bilat-
both service providers and professionals,” Mr Sharma said. eral trade to $10 billion. India-New Zealand trade is at just $1 billion.
“We now want to focus our attention on India,” he said.
India and New Zealand are also discussing a ‘working holiday
scheme’ for young Indians, preferably graduates, that will allow -Amiti Sen/ Economic Times
Anti-Asian leaflets condemned
Auckland: The Office of Ethnic creasing and groups like this one son, Dr Rajen Prasad and Chinese have nothing to apologise for.  They
Affairs has condemned the distri- should stop putting their own po- Community Affairs spokesperson, are highly valued New Zealand-
bution of anti-Asian leaflets in Auck- litical interests first and consider the Raymond Huo said in a statement. ers and their contributions benefit
land and Christchurch. needs of their neighbours and the “I dealt with a number of similar at- society as a whole.
whole of New Zealand society and tempts by the National Front when I
The Human Rights Commission economy.” was Race Relations Conciliator and “New Zealand effectively has a
says it has received a number of here he is again effectively painting passport to new trade, cultural and
complaints about brochures that Mr Singham believes no one the Asian and migrant communi- social relations with the countries
have been distributed by a small should shy away from debating the ties as unwanted in New Zealand,” of origin of our Asian and other
group called Right Wing Resis- value of immigration and groups Rajen Prasad said. migrants.  New Zealand’s Free
tance, which state ‘Stop the Asian from all spectrums of the politi- Trade Agreement with China would
invasion, join the resistance.’ cal landscape should be willing to “Asian and migrant communities not have been possible without
seize opportunities to have an open make a solid and positive econom- a sizable Asian presence in New
The Director of the Office of Ethnic and public discussion about New ic, social and cultural contribution Zealand.  The same will be true
Affairs, Mervin Singham said, “The Zealand’s growing ethnic diversity. to New Zealand. when the FTA with India is signed
distribution of such leaflets is scur- in due course.” Rajen Prasad said.
rilous and a clear attempt to cause Research by the Department of “Many members of the Asian com-
fear among Asian people living Labour about public opinion on munity as well as other migrants Raymond Huo said: “New Zealand
peacefully in New Zealand. immigration has found that 89 per will be seriously concerned about is the envy of many countries for
cent of New Zealanders agree it is Chapman’s statements that can our inclusive race relations record;
New Zealanders should not fear good for society to be made up of only be taken as racist.  When he I am distressed that the actions of
ethnic diversity and instead rec- people from different ethnicities, re- judges a group of people by their a few people may mar that record.
ognise all the benefits and oppor- ligions and cultures. race or ethnic background nega-
tunities diversity offers this country. tively he is effectively being racist. “I have seen this type of attack
Immigrants bring vital skills, innova- MPs condemn campaign on Asian migrants before and am
tion and overseas network connec- “Kyle Chapman of the Right Wing “While the right to free speech concerned that some of them have
tions when they come to live in New Resistance Group and former Na- saves the Right Wing Resistance received Chapman’s pamphlet,”
Zealand and are a vital key to this tional Front Member is up to his Group from prosecution, their Raymond Huo said. “My advice
country’s continuing success. old tricks again, trying to drive a brand of nationalism must be criti- to them is to disregard it and to be
wedge between Asian communi- cised by every fair thinking New satisfied that they are valued New
The number of ethnically diverse ties and other New Zealanders,”  Zealander.  Asian New Zealanders Zealanders.
people in New Zealand is in- Labour’s Ethnic Affairs spokesper- as well as other migrant groups -Indian Weekender news desk
9
Indian
Hindi bid a step closer
Arvind Kumar
An Auckland group’s quest to have the Hindi
language taught in New Zealand takes one
small step closer to fruition recently.
The first Hindi class, comprising 10 students,
was held at the Papatoetoe Intermediate School
on Sunday May 8, and the organisers are excited
that this could lead to a mainstream teaching of
the vernacular subject.
The project is being driven by the Hindi Lan-
guage and Culture Trust, headed by Auckland
school teacher Satya Dutt.
And Mr Dutt and the trust’s efforts have
been further bolstered by timely support from
National Party’s Papatoetoe MP Kanwaljit
Singh Bakshi.
Mr Dutt told the Indian Weekender that Mr
Bakshi had lent his support “100 per cent” by
sponsoring stationery supply to students valued
at more than $200 every year.
“We are very grateful to Mr Bakshi for his
ongoing support.”
Mr Dutt said he was working in collabora-
tion with several other groups in other New
Zealand cities in this project.
He said if some action was taken now to get
things going on a bigger scale, the Hindi lan-
guage in New Zealand could die out in time to
come.
“I have national focus and we need to keep
pushing for it.”
Mr Dutt said other vernacular langages such
as Mandarin, Japanese and even Samoan were
taught in New Zealand schools.
“So why not Hindi? Considering the close
trade ties New Zealand has with India, it should
be taught in NZ schools on a bigger scale and as
part of the main curriculum.”
Mr Dutt welcomed support from any indi-
10
viduals or groups who wanted to support his
trust in the project.
The Hindu Council of New Zealand said it
was supportive of Mr Dutt’s efforts.
“But we would like to see it happen with a
united national effort,” Council general secre-
tary Dr Guna Magesan told the Indian Week-
ender.
Dr Magesan said he had had talks with Mr
Dutt and they were “waiting for the right time”
to give the project a concerted push.
Auckland’s three radio stations, who all
broadcast in the Hindi language, have held back
from commenting on the issue and what they
thought of the standards of Hindi language used
on air in New Zealand, and about their roles in
promotion of the language.
Radio Tarana and Apna 990 did not respond
to emails, while Radio Humm’s Gaurav Gupta
said they did not want to “politicise” the issue,
and therefore were not comfortable comment-
ing on the topic.
Here, Mr Dutt talks to Indian Weekender
about the project:
You have been pushing for Hindi in NZ schools
for a while; what is it that drove you towards
this initiative?
Hindi is a universal language. There are
so many languages taught in New Zealand in-
cluding Pasifika languages (curriculum being
made and published). There are government
and community initiatives for the current lan-
guages being taught here in schools even Asian
languages such as Mandarin, Japanese, Urdu
etc. There are about 100,000 Indians in New
Zealand from Fiji, India, South Africa and other
places.
Are our young people not being exposed to
enough proper Hindi language in the commu-
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
nity, on radio and in social gatherings?
No, it is a trend nowadays that in social gather-
ings more so over English medium is used. The
radio stations have begun to use English as well.
Are our young people in danger of forgetting
their mother tongue because of the western in-
fluence in New Zealand?
Yes, there is a great danger beyond any reason-
able doubt and in four to five decades our Indian
community could be like South African Indians.
Which community groups are supporting you
in your efforts?
J.P.Maharaj-Brahiman Sabha of NZ, Manikan
Pillay-TISI Sangam, Roopa, Waitakere Indian
Association, Sunita Narayan - Wellington Hindi
School, Harnam Singh Golian-Sikh Society,
Shiva Charan Hindi School, Vishwa Shanti
Hindi School, Blockhouse Bay Arya Samaj
Hindi School, Hindi School running at Kaart
Trust in East Tamaki. Pt Nitya Nand Sundar,
Pt Sunil Sharda, Mahesh Bindra-Belmoral
Mandir.
Who are your trustee members?
Satya Dutt, Jagdish Chand, Ragini Lata
Narayan, Dhirendra Nath, Satya Wati Kumar,
Dinesh Chand, Vijendra Prasad, Prem Singh,
Indra Deo. Satyanand Swami, Shanti Singh,
Jagdish Prasad Maharaj, Radha Reddy, Shiu
Ram, Mahesh Bindra
What do you think of the standards of the
Hindi language being used on our three
24-hour radio stations?
Mostly commercial based, entertainment, news
and community messages.
Your thoughts for the future?
To see that Hindi is being taught in schools as
a language and be available to anyone wishing
to learn.
Indian
‘Mesmeriser’ KK coming
to Auckland
As a child he wanted to be a doctor.
Destiny made him a singer instead.
Krishna Kumar Kunnath better
known as K K is on a high note in
his singing career and today needs
no introduction.
A commerce graduate from
Delhi University, K K realised
very late in life that he could make
singing his career. A die-hard fan of
Kishore Kumar, K K switched from
Hindi to English songs during his
teens. His versatile voice was
soon tapped by various ad
agencies in Delhi for jingles.
He even formed a rock band
with his friends and played
drums for two other rock
bands and did vocals.
After graduating, K K did
a brief stint as a marketing ex-
ecutive but after eight months
gave up the job. Having
married his childhood sweet-
heart Jyothy in 1991, as des-
tined for the big time K K
arrived in Mumbai in 1994
finally. K K gave his demo tape
to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot,
Shiv Mathur and Leslie Lewis to
get a break in the music scene.
In 1994, UTV gave him his first
break in Mumbai and since then
has never looked back. He worked
with his mentor Leslie Lewis in his
first jingle in Mumbai and success
soon followed him. In a span of
four years, he has to his credit
more than 3500 jingles in 11 Indian
languages. Vishal Bhardwaj, who
noticed this new talent, gave him
the much-needed break in Hindi
cinema in Maachis.
“I was one of the playback
singers in Gulzar’s hit number
‘Chodh aaye hum woh galiyan...’,”
he says. Vishal Bhardwaj also gave
him his first solo number in HUM
PAANCHI EK DAAL KE. In 1999,
K K bagged the prestigious Screen
MP clarifies stand on Kashmir petition
Green MP Keith Locke at the Green Party office in Eden Terrace. Photo: Dev Nadkarni
Green MP Keith Locke has said
that presenting a petition to Par-
liament in his capacity as an MP
does not mean he agrees with its
contents.
Mr Locke told Indian Weekend-
er that he was not flying a banner
for Indian troops to leave Kashmir
but merely conducting his duty as
a Member of Parliament, who must
present a petition when requested
by either an individual or a group
of persons.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Award as the Best Singer for his
solo (non – filmy) album PAL under
Sony Music & Star Screen Award
2008 as the Best Playback singer
for khuda jaane (Film Bachna Ae
Haseeno). He teamed up with his
mentor Leslie Lewis for PAL.
K K surely has come a long
way since ‘Chodh aaye hum who
galiyan...’ and ‘Chappa chappa...’
(Maachis). In Sapnay, he gave
a memorable song ‘Strawberry
ankhen...’ and worked with A. R.
Rahman. With ‘Tadap tadap ke is
dil se aah nikalti rahi...’ (Hum Dil
De Chuke Sanam), he registered
himself as a singer to reckon with
and shared a beautiful bonding
with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and
Ismail Darbar. He has given
popular hits like ‘Mujhe kucch
kehna hai...’, ‘Pyaar re...’ (Mujhe
Kuch Kehna Hai), ‘Aaja gufaon
mein aa...’, ‘Bandaa yeh bindaas
hai...’ (Aks), ‘Koi kahe kehta rahe...’
(Dil Chahta Hai), ‘Bardaasht
nahin kar sakta...’ (Humraaz),
‘Sach Kah Raha Hai Deewana...’
(Rahna Hai Terre Dil Mein), ‘Chale
Jaise Hawaey...’ (Main Hoon Na),
‘It’s time to Disco...’ (Kal Ho Na
Ho), ‘Awaarapan...’ (Jism), ‘Sikh
Dhum...’ (Dhoom), and some of the
The Green MP presented a pe-
tition to the New Zealand Parlia-
ment requesting that the House
of Representatives urge the New
Zealand government to call on the
Indian government to withdraw its
occupation of Kashmir and “stop
the on going violence against Kash-
miri civilians.”
He acknowledged the long-
standing complexity of the prob-
lems in Kashmir and categorically
said that he did not agree with the
latest hits are ‘Dus Bahane...’ (Dus),
‘Ashaye...’ (Iqbal), ‘Dil Samudra...’
(Garam masala), ‘Dil Nashi Dil
Nashi...’ (Aashiq Banaya Aapne),
Kyu Aaj Kal (Who Lamhe), Aakho
Mein Teri Ajab Si (Om Shanti Om),
Zara Sa (Jannat), Khuda Jaane
(Bachna Hai Haseeno).
K K has worked with all the
top most music directors like A R
Rahman, Ismail Darbar, Nadeem-
Shravan, Anu Malik, Shankar
Ehsaan & Loy, Himmesh
Reshammiya, Sandesh, M
M Kreem, Jatin-Lalit, Vishal
Shekhar, Pritam and Saleem
Suleman. K K has also lent
his voice for most of the top
stars in the industry from
Amitabh Bachchan to Hrithik
Roshan and Tusshar Kapoor
to Akshaye Khanna. Down
South, he has worked with
well-known maestro Ilayaraj,
Harris Jayraj, Deva, Vidyas-
agar and Mani Sharma.
K K has sung some 500
songs in Hindi and more than
100 songs in Telugu, Tamil
and Kannada languages in a short
span. He has perform for several
corporate giants
He says, “I have been very for-
tunate to have worked with all the
best people in the industry. I prefer
to spend some quality time with
my family. I work less because I
want to enjoy my work and life to
my heart’s content.”
He concludes, “I least expected
to be a playback singer in my life.
Destiny surely shaped me up to be
one and I have taken GOD’s choice
in my stride with great humility.”
Event details:
KK Live in Auckland
Date: 9th of July 2011
Venue: TelstraClear Pacific
Event Centre, Great South Road,
Manukau
More at: www.themesmerizer.com.
view that Indian troops must leave,
given the law and order situation
on the ground.
The petition had been referred
to the Foreign Affairs and Trade
Committee for further action. In
his concluding remarks to the pe-
tition, Mr Locke has said that the
concerned parties need to sort the
matter among themselves and has
proposed a referendum for the
people of Kashmir about whether
they would like to be a part of India,
stay independent or join Pakistan.
Kashmir born New Zealander
Veer Khar, who also met Mr Locke,
says the referendum would be a
fruitless exercise. Kashmir has had
seven elections over the years and
political parties that have contest-
ed these have always been divided
along the lines of whether to join
India, stay independent or join
Pakistan.
“In that sense, a referendum has
been conducted in Kashmir seven
times,” he said. “So it’s quite point-
Interactive online
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Live audio-visual interactive online
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The key to efficient working of
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The communication system is our
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less suggesting another one.” But
Mr Locke said he believed there
needed to be a referendum sepa-
rate from the elections.
Speaking to Indian Weekender,
Mr Khar said he was relieved to
know that the MP who presented
the petition did not support its con-
tents.
“Asking the Indian law and
order machinery to get out of
Kashmir would cause havoc. It’s a
bit like asking the coalition forces
to leave Afghanistan or even the
special police contingent which
was rushed to Christchurch follow-
ing the earthquake to leave sud-
denly,” Mr Khar said.
The presence of troops helped
maintain a semblance of normalcy
in Kashmir, Mr Khar said. “But for
them, extremist elements could
well enforce their writ at gunpoint
and enforce fundamentalist ideolo-
gies, which would rob the people
of whatever freedom now exists –
girls won’t be able to go to school
and youth, As a part of series of
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E-Gurukul.net, an online plat-
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and wisdom gifted by the great
scientists, mathematicians, phi-
losophers and sages of ancient
India. It brings online courses in
art, science, and holistic living. Of
special note are courses for chil-
dren conducted by experts. The
sessions are free, all are welcome
to participate.
Next topic: Tips to Improve one’s
IQ & Energy Levels
Speaker: Mr Vijay Bansal (Live
from India)
Date:  May 22 -2011 - Sunday -
12.30 pm to 2.30 pm NZST (6 am
to 8 am IST)
Mode:  Live Audio visual Interac-
tive web session - 100% Online 
Registration Link : http://global-
mudrascienceday.com/contact-us
and women won’t be able to work,”
he added.
The dispute on Kashmir goes
back more than 60 years, to a time
when India and Pakistan became
independent nations. The two
neighbours have fought three wars
over the dispute and had a number
of talks to try to resolve the issue.
Pakistan has continued to inter-
nationalise the Kashmir issue down
the years. A news report published
last week says the Pakistan govern-
ment paid British Parliamentarian
George Galloway 135,000 pounds
from a secret fund for promoting
its case on the Kashmir issue, ac-
cording to information provided to
a Parliamentary panel in Pakistan.
The Pakistan High Commis-
sion in London paid the 135,000
pounds to Mr Galloway from the
“Pakistan projection fund” but
it was never credited to the gov-
ernment account. However, the
amount had since been refunded
by Mr Galloway, report said.
11
12 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
Indian sports and community
awards announced
Auckland: Indo Kiwi Foundation
(IKF), a recently formed charitable,
voluntary and non-profitable trust
to enhance community spirit and
promote sports in the Indian com-
munity has announced that it plans
to recognise talent in the commu-
nity with awards.
IKF’s mission is “Promot-
ing community development and
sports in the New Zealand Indian
community”.
Vice-Chair of the foundation
Shivani Arora says IKF will be
filling a big gap in the community.
“The main objective of this
trust is to promote community de-
velopment and sports in the New
Zealand Indian community.
“The annual Indian Sports and
Community Awards is a way to
achieve this objective. This initia-
tive is supported by the two estab-
lished names in the community
–Indian Weekender and SPROUT,”
Ms Arora said.
The trust is in the process of
selecting an executive committee
which will manage and implement
the objectives of the trust -- mainly
the Indian Sports and Community
Awards (ISCA).
“This committee will consist
of people with vast experience in
Sports, health, volunteering and
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
community development -- who
are the doers, the movers, shakers
and budding organisers in the com-
munity. IKF’s Indian Sports and
Community Awards (ISCA) 2012
will have two categories of awards,”
says the foundation’s news release.
“The Sports Awards is to foster,
promote and encourage Indian
sports people at a grassroots level
in the pursuit of excellence in their
chosen fields and to honour the
outstanding sporting achievements
attained by Indian.
“To bring out the best in the
Indian community, the trust will
also provide scholarships and op-
portunities for training and par-
ticipation in local, regional, na-
tional and international events to
amateur sportsperson of Indian
origin and teams.
“Within in 5 years we plan to
promote, establish, operate or
maintain facilities for sports, pro-
grammes, academy, skills and
coaching training as may benefit
the wider Indian community in
New Zealand,” it says.
“The community Awards will
ensure that ‘TRUE leaders’ are rec-
ognized for their contribution to
the wider Indian community and
society,” confirms Ram Lingam
General Secretary of IKF.
“Some people are always in
the limelight -national and local
figures whose opinion are sought
and deeds emblazoned but it is our
unsung “grassroots” heroes who
are the real ‘doers’ and who bind
the community together.
“These are the volunteers who
don’t hanker forpage-3 of com-
munity news but put others first
without expecting any financial
rewards. They are the ones who do
things from their heart like helping
the elderly and disadvantaged
manage day to day task, deliver-
ing meals, collecting for charities,
fun raising for charitable organiza-
tions, conducting weekly physical
activity class despite their families
with little children, lending their
expertise and motivation others to
better themselves, helping at-risk
youth and generally giving selfless-
ly.” Mr Lingam adds.
IKF plans to host the inaugu-
ral Indian Sports & Community
Awards ceremony in March 2012.
If you interested in contributing
your skills or participate as an ex-
ecutive committee member please
e-mail your interest with informa-
tion about your community partici-
pation to: info@sprout.net.nz
-Indian Weekender news desk
DJ NYK on
exclusive NZ tour
Wellknown DJ, remixer and electro music producer from New Delhi,
is coming to
New Zealand for the first time to give party goers something new
and different.
NYK will be performing live in Auckland on May 28 at India Gate
(formerly Chaska Punjab Da) – 380 Manukau Rd, Epsom.
Named the “King of Remixes” by the critics, NYK will be playing his
highly admired remixes from many of the Bollywood films like Golmal
3, De Dana Dan, and Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani.
The 24-year-old DJ, is a sensation in Bollywood. His massive perfor-
mances around the globe have received several reviews and made
the brand name ‘NYK’ a synonym to ‘quality music’.
NYK, who is not only a Dj but a DVJ, is something many people
would have never experienced before. He plays brilliantly with audio
and video to create an atmosphere not to be missed.
A DVJ is a combination of audio and video creations. If you haven’t
seen a grand night with mesmerising audio and visual pleasure for
your music taste buds, then the NYK’s night will be an opportunity to
witness something new.
Dj NYK’s official remix of Aey Khuda from the movie Paathshaala
stayed at the No.1 position on the Charts for 14 weeks in a row.
NYK’s mainstream Bollywood releases include Jai Veeru, Runway,
Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani, De Dana Dan, Paathshaala and
Golmaal 3.
For further information on the event and booking tickets contact
Dave on 09 215 4874 / 027 200 7368 or email at dave@futureprint.
co.nz Or visit us at www.ajanachle.co.nz.
13
Indian
Kiwi Indians pay fitting tribute to Gurudev
The 150th birth anniversary of
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was
celebrated with great enthusiasm
in Auckland under the aegis of New
Zealand Indian Central Associa-
tion (NZICA), hosted by Auckland
Indian Association (AIA) at the
Mahatma Gandhi Centre.
Guest Speaker Professor Sekhar
Bandyopadhyay’s address was
the day’s highlight. (A profile of
Gurudev penned by Prof Bandyo-
padhyay appears in this issue). He is
the Deputy Dean of Humanities and
Social Science faculty at the Victoria
University of Wellington. Prof Ban-
dyopadhyay outlined the great con-
tributions that the great poet made
to the literary and artistic world. A
DVD familiarised the audience with
Gurudev’s life and work.
Prithipal Singh, Paul Singh
Bains President NZICA, Member of
Parliament Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi,
and Harshad Patel Vice President
NZICA, delivered welcome speech-
es.
A section of the audience
A cultural performance
14
Dr. Cam Calder representing the
National Government, Dr. Rajen
Prasad representing the Labour
Party, Kunal Roy representing
Indian High Commission and Ataur
Rahman, Honorary Consul Bangla-
desh, also delivered speeches.
The ceremonial lamp in the pres-
ence of Chotubhai Sima, Sekhar
Bandyopadhyay, Kanwaljit Bakshi,
Paul Singh Bains, Harshad Patel
and Prithipal Singh.
A three-hour cultural pro-
gramme wholly based on Gurudev
Rabindranath Tagore’s works and
poems put together by Bangladesh
Association and Probasee Bengali
Association regaled the audience.
Raj Thandi proposed a vote of
thanks.
The Indian High Commis-
sion actively encouraged the event,
which was planned and executed in
association with several Indian or-
ganisations including NZICA, AIA,
Bangladesh Association and Pro-
basee Bengali Association.
Dignitaries lighting the ceremonial lamp at the beginning of the proceedings
Elder citizen Chotubhai Sima,
life member of AIA donated a por-
trait of Gurudev Rabindranath
Tagore on this occasion. Jeramb-
hai Patel sketched and painted the
beautiful portrait.
“Although we used to remember
Rabindranath Tagore only while
singing the National Anthems of
India and Bangladesh we would
not have dreamt of celebrating his
150th Birth Anniversary in New
Zealand, I have to thank NZICA, it’s
office bearers, executive members,
affiliated branches & associations
for taking up to organise this event
and the memories of Gurudev
will remain forever,” Mr Prakash
Biradar, Festival secretary told
Indian Weekender.
-Indian Weekender news desk
Prof Shekhar Bandyopadhyay presenting his address
Rabindra-
nath Tagore
(1861-1941) –
a poet of the
world
Sekhar
Bandyopadhyay
Rabindranath Tagore was born
in a family that was at the centre
of a cultural and intellectual efflo-
rescence that India experienced
in the nineteenth century. It was
at this time that the Indians were
rediscovering their ancient civili-
zation and re-examining it in the
light of modern reason. Rabindra-
nath was the finest product of this
nineteenth century renaissance
from which was born modern
India, as we know it today. His
literary genius lifted Indian liter-
ary tradition, particularly Bengali
literature, to a new height. He
wrote novels, plays, poems,
songs, short stories, essays – in
other words, his creative genius
touched almost every genre of
Bengali literature. In 1912 he went
to England with the English trans-
lation of a collection of his poems.
The manuscript was published by
Macmillan as Gitanjali (Song of-
ferings), for which he received the
Nobel Prize in 1913. He was the
first Asian, indeed the first non-
The portrait of Gurudev specially painted for European, to receive the Nobel
the occasion Prize.
Apart from creative writing,
Tagore was also a self-taught mu-
sician and at the very matured age
of late sixties he had started paint-
ing; his paintings have been exhib-
ited all over the world. The man,
who had rejected formal educa-
tion in his own life, became one of
the most innovative modern edu-
cationists of India. He first started
a school for children in Santinik-
etan near Calcutta in 1901, and
then in 1918 founded a new uni-
versity. He called it Visva-Bharati,
which was meant to impart a truly
global humanistic education. He
was also an environmentalist, and
started his famous Sriniketan rural
development project in 1921. And
in between all these activities he
travelled incessantly around the
world, speaking and raising funds
for his university.
Vaisakhi in Tagore was not just a Bengali
Hamilton
poet. His involvement in national-
ist politics and philosophical in-
teractions with Mahatma Gandhi
New Zealand Indian and Jawaharlal Nehru had a pro-
found impact on the shaping of
Association celebrated modern India. But his nationalism
Vaisakhi on Saturday May was universalistic. He had elevat-
7 in Hamilton. The popular ed himself above narrow territo-
event was well attended riality, and established himself as
and the audience was a global humanist – a poet of the
world. It is not surprising – though
delighted by performances unprecedented - that two nation-
of local artistes who put states – India and Bangladesh –
on an engaging show of have chosen his songs as their
talent. national anthems. It is in this glo-
balism lies his twenty-first century
relevance.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 15
 Letters
Parliament petitioned on Kashmir
Editor’s note: The letters published below had been received before Green
Party MP Keith Locke’s clarification on his stand on the Kashmir petition,
which appears in a news story in this issue. Mr Locke has categorically

From the Editor stated that he does not support the contents of the petition, while suggest-
ing that a referendum be held.

Largesse is never free – it’s payback time
There always will be many perspectives and opin-
ions on national budgets, just as there will always
be winners and losers. No finance minister in any
democracy can ever dream of universal approval,
no matter how he or she tries to justify the budget
proposals presented.
Finance Minister Bill English’s third and
perhaps most difficult budget has been delivered in
one of the worst economic situations New Zealand
has ever faced. The debt has been at record levels,
right up there with the likes of the PIIGS economies
that is beginning to impact the very raison d’etre of
European Union’s single economy.
A policy of largesse practiced by successive
Labour governments over nine years has caused
the debt to balloon to enormous proportions
because of runaway increases in welfare pay-
ments, which kept on inventing new schemes to
pander to the electorate.
This policy also led to a bloated bureaucracy in
Wellington, with salary increases that outpaced the
private sector workforce. It also led to the creation
of dozens of government funded programmes
that were expensive and delivered little benefit by
way of value to the economy of the wellbeing of the
people.
Add to that the huge interest free student loans
costing the exchequer billions of dollars, with little
recourse for collection of the debt and scarcely an
incentive for the borrowers – many of who left the
country after finishing their education – to pay
back the interest free loans.
There are no free lunches – it is a universal law.
Any impression of a free lunch or a free ride has to
come up with a large bill and pain at some stage,
when corrections need to be made for the very sur-
vival of the economy. This is such a time. It is indeed
payback time for the lax policies of doling out lar-
gesse of much of the past decade.
The unsustainably bloated welfare programme
had to be addressed sooner rather than later.
Though this should have been done in the first year
since to coming to power, the National government
put it off until its third year, when it had no options
but to wield the scissors.
Better late than never, nonetheless. This will
certainly raise the hackles of those availing of
the benefit system, particularly if they are higher
income earners. The Tax Working Group’s find-
ings last year were shocking and had some of these
measures not been measured in Budget 2011, the
country would well have been on the road to finan-
cial ruin.
After the bold budget last year, which focused
on growth, the government’s financial plans were
hit severely by the unfortunate Canterbury earth-
quakes, forcing it to make whatever course correc-
tions necessary this year. And it has shown that it
has guts, especially given that this is an election
year.
This is the first budget that has slashed govern-
ment spending in 80 years. This could be either as
much a sign of courage as desperation. We like to
think it is the former because the reasoning behind
it seems sound.
The budget has got its priorities right. At the
risk of courting unpopularity, given that 100,000
families are going to be affected by the changes to
Working for Families and the discomfort of both
employers and high earners for their larger Ki-
wiSaver payouts as well as tertiary students more
stringent loan terms, the government has chosen
to soldier on.
Bringing back the books on balance in 2015, a
year earlier than expected, is a great goal to pursue
given the circumstances. And enduring a little pain
after all those government sponsored good times of
the past decade is not too much to ask.
– Dev Nadkarni
Keith Locke should just look forward to his retirement rather than telling
other countries what to do. I, like many other PIO’s in NZ, am very annoyed
with Keith’s petition. There are two sides of the story. I call on all Indians to
write to Keith and let him know our thoughts. How about looking at Tibet?
They have been occupied – he dare not touch them.
– Concerned PIO in New Zealand
This is unbelievable. What the? When these guys have no idea about the
Republic of India, why make such a petition. In fact Keith Locke should
make a petition for New Zealand to be a Republic.
– A Khan
How about making a petition to give this country back to Maori people,
Mr.Locke? Have you got the conscience and the guts to do this? Didn’t
Keith’s forefathers occupy this land just by pointing the gun on the local
Maori people...What happened to that occupation?
– Graham Pratt
Women take charge of Hindu fest
This is really inspiring. We have a long way to go before people can under-
stand the true signficance of Diwali. It is no doubt a festival of lights but it
is also a symbol of the victory of good people over evil forces. This Hindu
festival (like Holi) is a celebration of the human spirit to achieve goodness.
In today’s bleak economic climate, life is made bearable by such occasions.
Not just Hindus, it is open to all communities. Hindus should show the
world that there is a way out of misery.
– Sneha Joshi
Place of Osama bin Laden killing vindicates India
Pakistan has been well and truly been caught with its pants down. What a
sham of a government it has. Pity the people who have to live under a mili-
tary and a government that they have. It’s the pits really.
– Farhad Noshir Variavwala, USA
Very nicely articulated a sensitive issue as this.
– Rashmi Kashi, New Jersey, USA
Dev’s assessment of the need to ensure political ‘stability’ (if such a thing
is ever possible!) in Pakistan is spot on. It is hardly a coincidence that a
few days prior to Osama’s killing, al Qaeda threatened to use pull a nuclear
trigger if Osama was either captured or killed.
– Ram, Fiji
Tablet wars: India’s Adam takes a bite of Apple’s iPad
Editor’s note: We received a number of letters for and against India’s
Adam tablet. Reproduced below is one of each. For more comments and
views, please visit the page online.

Looking at the notion ink being very new at the market and lead by totally
new admin, it is quiet amazing to see what they have achieved. It is only

Ten top 1. India rolls out red carpet to NZ 6. Hindi bid a step closer the up coming time will show when they launch some upgraded version
of ADAM that how much Notion Ink have learned from the market where
business 7. Indian sports and community they are gonna stay. Since then good luck Notion Ink.

stories on 2. Free musical night next week

3. Fiji-Tonga standoff escalates
awards announced
8. McCully complaint on Fiji story
– Harpreet

The Adam is nice on paper, but poorly executed. Many have hardware

iwk.co.nz
4. Mutual regard and great upheld
issues due to the poor quaility of the parts and complete lack care in
camaraderie 9. Anti-Asian leaflets condemned manufacturing. It has been one letdown after anouther. Notion Ink will
5. Parliament petitioned on Kashmir 10. On our second birthday… not accept returns for faulty hardware or software. The May 7th update
“that would solve all the hardware issues” was just pushed back to the 3rd
week of May. I will not stop until I have a fully working tablet or an RMA
number!
Indian Weekender Volume 3 No. 3 – Anonymous
Publisher: Kiwi Media Group Limited
Group editor-in-chief: Dev Nadkarni - dev@indianweekender.co.nz Congratulations and greetings on Indian
Online editor: Arvind Kumar - arvind@indianweekender.co.nz Weekender’s second anniversary
Chief Technical Officer: Rohan Desouza - rohan@ indianweekender.co.nz Congratulations! And please keep up the good work!
Design: Emma Penrose - emma@indianweekender.co.nz – Roland Meder
Advertising: Giri Gupta - ph: 520 0922, mob: 021 221 1131, email: girigupta@xtra.co.nz Congratulations Team at Indian Weekender for your excellent work in the
Tayna Mehra - ph: 520 0922, mob: 021 1598 016, email: tanya@indianweekender.co.nz past and wish you all the very best for future progress.
– Subra M Subramaniam B.Com, FCMA, FCPA (Aust).
Please email original editorial contributions, community notices and pictures to editor@indianweekender.co.nz May it expand further and further to serve the community at large.
Views expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher – Hans Raj
is not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication When I picked the 6th May edition of Indian weekender last weekend, i
saw that IW was celebrating its 2nd anniversary. Congratulations to your
Indian Weekender is published by Kiwi Media Group, 98 Great South Road, New Market and printed at team. Wish you success in your venture of keeping the public aware and
APN Print, Ellerslie, Auckland informed through Indian Weekender.
Copyright 2010. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.  – Pritika Sharma

16 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

 Indian
Pakistan army’s complicity in terrorism gets harder to deny
Ambreen Agha
“I heard someone shouting ‘Allah-
o-Akbar’ and then I heard a huge
blast,” Ahmad Ali, a wounded Fron-
tier Constabulary trooper reported,
after two suicide bombers attacked
a group of trainees on May 13, 2011,
in the Shabqadar tehsil near Pesha-
war, the capital city of Khyber Pak-
htunkhwa Province, killing 73 per-
sonnel and 17 civilians, and injuring
another 140.
Soon after, claiming responsibil-
ity for the attack, the Tehreek-e-Tal-
iban Pakistan spokesman Ehsanul-
lah Ehsan declared, “This was the
first revenge for Osama’s martyr-
dom. Wait for bigger attacks in Paki-
stan and Afghanistan.” Significantly,
confirming the death of Osama
bin Laden on May 2, 2011, the TTP
spokesman had threatened to attack
security forces.
“Pakistan will be the prime
target followed by United States.
The US had been on a man-hunt for
Osama and now Pakistani rulers
are on our hit-list as we also killed
Benazir Bhutto in a suicide attack,”
the spokesman added in an audio
message.
The bin Laden killing, however, is
more a platform than cause or prov-
ocation. The TTP has been executing
a relentless stream of attacks against
How social audit can be a corruption slayer
Amid the huge debate that the
Lokpal Bill has stirred, in cre-
ating an enabling environment
to attack corruption, lessons
from the youngest democracy,
Afghanistan, which has taken
a quantum leap in efforts at
addressing corruption at the
micro level, may offer valu-
able direction to India at this
juncture, says Jayalakshmi
Sengupta.
Amid incessant controversy that
continues to riddle the Lokpal Bill
significant questions on how to
ensure downward accountability to
eliminate vicious and rampant hold
of corruption at the micro level – are
still not being effectively raised or
discussed. While macro level cor-
ruptions, like a 2G scam, maybe har-
rowing for the economy, it is micro
level corruption that impairs lives
of people directly. If India is serious
about containing corruption it must
not only concentrate at the macro
level policy making process but also
raise pertinent debate on the pro-
cesses, structures and policies that
need to be implemented at village
level institutions to mitigate unbri-
dled corruption that prevails there.
Without undermining the impor-
tance of the Bill, the million dollar
questions, waiting for a response
therefore are, “Can an anti-corrup-
tion Bill alone eliminate corruption
across all echelons of democracy?”
If not, “how must one tackle wide-
spread grassroots level corruption
affecting lives and livelihood of
people?”
The answers maybe lying in
successful initiatives like mobile-
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Pakistani security forces from the
moment of its formation in the wake
of the Army’s Lal Masjid operation in
2007, after which suicide bombings
targeting security forces increased
dramatically.
Between 2001 and May 15, 2011,
423 at least 1,322 security personnel
have been killed and another 2,582
injured. Overall fatalities including
a range of other terrorist incidents
stood at 3,631 over the same period.   support to Afghanistan and India di-
Even more troubling is the fact
that there appears to be a substan-
tial extremist infiltration into the
military, and vice versa. Covert state
support has hardened and strength-
ened extremist elements over the
years.
More obviously, there is clear col-
lusion between a range of Islamist
terrorist formations and the army
and intelligence establishment in
Pakistan, even as the security forces
struggle to contain ‘renegade’ groups
that have escaped or rebelled against
military-intelligence control.
The Osama killing itself, within
the garrison town of Abbottabad and
in close proximity to major military
establishments, fairly clearly estab-
lished the link between state security
structures and the terrorist forces.
Pakistan’s Army and military intel-
aid-transfer in Kenya,  (a system by
which cash aid is delivered directly
to beneficiaries via mobile phones) or
social audits, in  Afghanistan (where  If India needs any consolation,
villagers trace the money trail of de-
velopmental aid, detect corruption
immediately and hold their leaders
accountable for any misappropria-
tion).
India with an integrity score of
3.3 (considered one of the “highly
corrupt”) has admittedly a very
tough challenge ahead. As per the
Corruption Perception Index, CPI,
2010, issued by Transparency Inter-
national, India is 87 out of 178 coun-
tries, indicating a serious corruption
problem. At the micro level endemic
corruption puts a spanner in the
development process itself, further
aggravating the matter. “Of the
Rupee spent for development pro-
grammes in the rural areas, only 15
paisa reaches the beneficiary”, Rajiv
Gandhi had once said. Today it would
be even less, considering corruption
in the form of bribery has increased
exponentially in the last decade or so.
Marred with corruption, the gov-
ernance system at Panchayat level in
India is very dismal and crying for
appropriate policies to ward off this
scourge. A glimpse of the ground
situation emerges from a recent
government-sponsored study on the
National Rural Employment Guar-
antee Act (NREGA). It is the biggest
poverty alleviation programme in
the world, with a Central government
outlay of 40,000 crore (US$8.88
billion) in FY 2010-11.  The report has
unearthed large-scale corruption
and irregularities in the implementa-
tion of the NREGA programme. In
several states, authorities have been
ligence apparatus has evident links
with terrorist networks within the
country. It is, indeed, the extremist-
terrorist spaces created for state sup-
ported groups that allow the anti-
state groups to flourish as well, since
all these are mobilised on a pan-Is-
lamist ideology of jihad that makes
clear distinctions between cadres of
different groups impossible.
Crucially, it is continuing state
rected terrorist groupings that pro-
vides the context for domestic terror-
ism. Indeed, Admiral Mike Mullen,
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of
Staff, has repeatedly accused the
ISI of having ties with the Afghan
Taliban in the Northwest tribal
belt, specifying, further, the links
between the Pakistani military intel-
ligence and the Haqqani network, an
al Qaeda allied outfit run by Sirajud-
din Haqqani and based in the North
Waziristan District of FATA.
These links have further been
confirmed by statements of Paki-
stani detainees held at Guantanamo
Bay, disclosed by WikiLeaks. Ac-
cording to the testimony of one such
detainee, Ziaul Shah, his direct su-
pervisor in the Afghan Taliban was
a man named Qari Saleem Ahmed,
the ‘commander’ of the Punjab
found “misappropriating central
funds and threatening workers to
keep their mouth shut.”  contributing to the changing land-
unstable governments like Afghani-
stan with a legacy of conflict, con-
tinue to dominate the bottom rungs
of the CPI with a score of 1.1.  That is
precisely why it makes an interesting
study to see how a war-torn nascent,
democracy like Afghanistan has pro-
actively introduced strong initiatives
in tackling   micro level corruption
lately. Incidentally, Afghanistan im-
ported the concept of social audit
from no other country but India. This
tool failed to culminate into a mass
movement here, remaining largely
localized in Rajasthan where it was
introduced by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti
Sangathan, MKSS.  In Afghanistan,
however, more than 900 such audits
in 5 major provinces have created a
national stir.  (NGOs/Gram Panchayat) on wide
This remarkable initiative spear-
headed by Aga Khan Foundation,
AKF, is now being replicated coun-
trywide at the behest of the World
Bank and ministry of rural develop-
ment. It has been hailed for the sig-
nificant level of transparency it has
achieved at the village level gover-
nance, in a short a short span of time,
and mandatory, for every village ac-
cessing public fund. “Initiatives to
strengthen local governance, such
as the social audit program, will be
key in helping to build a modern de-
mocracy in Afghanistan”, says John
Dempsey, a legal expert with the
United States Institute of Peace, a
think tank.
It is ironic to find an Indian expe-
rience reaping such large-scale bene-
fits in a remote country like Afghani-
Chapter of Taliban, who was report-
edly arrested around 1999 for being
a member of groups with “connec-
tions to subversive elements of the
ISI”.
In another revelation, on April 12,
2011, Pakistani-American terrorist
David Coleman Headley alias Daood
Gilani and Pakistani-Canadian ter-
rorist Tahawwur Hussain Rana,
who allegedly planned and aided the
attacks in Mumbai (November 26,
2008, also known as 26/11), impli-
cated the Pakistani Government and
the ISI in the attack.   The data on fatalities however, does
In its second charge sheet in the
26/11 attacks, the US Government
has named a serving ISI officer,
Major Iqbal, as a key conspira-
tor charged with providing funds
to Headley. Major Iqbal, posted in
Lahore during 2007 and 2008, was
handling David Coleman Headley
on behalf of the ISI. He provided
US$ 25,000 and fake Indian cur-
rency notes to Headley, to meet the
latter’s expenses during surveillance
operations in India. Headley provid-
ed all his surveillance videos first to
Major Iqbal and then to the LeT.
Such revelations only add to
Pakistan’s culture of impunity, with
terrorists often going scot-free. The
SFs have, of course, launched wide-
stan. It is at the same time heartening
to see serious Indian professionals
scape of Afghanistan. Sujeet Sarkar,
regional advisor with AKF, instru-
mental in introducing the concept of
social audit in Afghanistan, claims
that there is far less corruption in
Afghanistan today compared to Pan-
chayat in India.
While decentralization of power
is essential in devolution of high-level
corruption, it invariably leads to de-
centralization of corruption as well,
reminds Sarkar. The concept of social
audit is an empowering and partici-
patory process, whereby the power
to hold the government accountable
for vanishing development money lie
with the aid beneficiaries themselves.  A simultaneously effort in formulat-
Citizens assemble in a common
platform to scrutinize the perfor-
mance of their immediate agencies
range of issues - from the quality of
development services extended to
the benefits trickling to the commu-
nity. “It fixes downward account-
ability of local institution, elected by
the community and goes a long way
in contributing significantly towards
promoting good governance,” says
Sarkar.
Among all the people-centric
tools available, social audits provide
stakeholders an opportunity to raise
common concerns and collectively
look for solution. It is something
India desperately needs to promote
if India wants to make a difference
in the life of the ordinary people.
With the RTI constituted there is
tremendous scope to advance social
audit and other people-centered
techniques to promote transparency
spread campaigns against the TTP
and some other renegade terrorist
factions, including indiscriminate
bombing and artillery barrages tar-
geting civilian clusters across KP
and FATA.
Indeed, Chief of Army Staff
General Ashfaq Kayani, in his
address at Kakul, the Military
Academy at Abbottabad on April 23,
2011, had boasted, “The Army has
broken the back of militants linked
to al Qaeda and TTP and the nation
will soon prevail over this menace.”
not indicate any dramatic diminu-
tion in the capabilities of anti-Islam-
abad formations such as the TTP,
even as state supported groupings
such as the Taliban and the LeT,
among others, continue to flourish
with visible state support.
Despite the rising instability
within, and the escalating interna-
tional pressure on Islamabad, it
is evident that the terrorist state
remains alive and vibrant within
Pakistan.
(The writer Ambreen Agha is
Research Assistant with the Insti-
tute for Conflict Management and
the views expressed are the author’s
own and not necessarily of his em-
ployer or this publication)
at the grassroots level.   As recently
as Jan 2011, in the MKSS program
area, an embezzlement of Rs 56
lakh was exposed in a social audit of
MGNREGA in Todgarh Panchayat,
Ajmer district.  Such excellent citi-
zenry effort need to receive robust
media support to   galvanize them
into mass movements, spurring a
countrywide commitment to elimi-
nate corruption. But rarely do they
make it to the headlines.
With discussions rife on how to
contain the corruption conundrum it
is a perfect moment to assess grass-
roots situations. Specific laws and
policies at the macro level are es-
sential in creating the right environ-
ment for taking processes forward.
ing and implementing systems and
mechanisms to fix downward ac-
countability will ensure the issue of
corruption is addressed and attacked
from all sides.
Enabling institutions like nation-
als bureaus to tackle corruption,
strong measures against corrupt of-
ficials, an efficient judicial system
with speedy trial of corruption cases,
tough policies and popularization
of e-governance, all will contribute
to preparing the perfect backdrop
to corruption-free society. The final
actors in containing corruption, ac-
cording to Sarkar, must however be
the people themselves. Such process
which makes the local development
agencies accountable to the common
citizens will not only yield high gov-
ernance dividend but also make the
system corruption-free. Time the
biggest democracy learnt a lesson or
two from the youngest democracy, to
take its crusade forward.
17
Indian
A thumbs down to corrupt politics
Supporters celebrate the Trinamool win in West Bengal
Apurv Shukla
The results of the just conclud-
ed assembly elections in four
states of India have a common
underlying theme: it sends a
clear message that corruption in
public life will not be tolerated
by the voters, and the guilty con-
victed or perceived corrupt will
lose the battle of the ballot.
West Bengal gave a historical
result in that the Left Front was
voted out after being in power
for 34 years. Trinamool Congress
romped home in Alliance with
the Congress Party to win a land-
slide victory. From its humble
beginnings in 1998 to the 2004
general election, where it was
reduced to just one MP, it has
been a triumphant victory for
the party led by a lady known for
her indomitable spirit and street
fighting qualities – Mamata Ba-
nerjee.
Since the past few years the
people of West Bengal were
yearning for change, and were
waiting for a credible alterna-
tive to emerge for the Left. It was
being felt that the Left’s style of
functioning had not changed
with the times. India was pro-
gressing at a faster rate than
Bengal. The fruits of develop-
ment were seem to be consigned
with the cadres of the Left, with
the common man feeling left out.
Ms Banerjee has a huge task in
front of her; not only does she
have to come good on the ex-
pectations people have from her,
18
she also has to ensure her debu-
tant government hits the ground
running, and does not get cor-
rupted with the baubles of power.
Tamil Nadu the epicentre
of the ongoing 2G spectrum
scandal stayed true to history
by again swinging against the
ruling party the DMK. Jayala-
lithaa after keeping a low media
profile since the Lok Sabha elec-
What was perceived to be an easy
ride for the Congress turned out
to be a cliff hanger?
tions two years ago came back to
sweep the polls. Though a win
for AIADMK was predicted, it
is the scale of DMK’s defeat that
showed this election being a de-
finitive referendum against ve-
nality of the ruling government.
The government by all accounts
did a decent job of administrat-
ing the state, but was tainted by
charges of corruption, nepotism
and one bickering family out
to dominate state polity by all
means. Ms Jayalalithaa in her
new innings will have to remem-
ber her last stint in office was
marred by charges of corrup-
tion –and Indian polity has only
evolved and grown more intoler-
ant of deceitfulness since then.
Kerala once again changed
hands amongst the two compet-
ing alliances with the Congress
led Block just about edging out
the Left Front led alliance. What
was perceived to be an easy ride
for the Congress turned out to be
a cliff hanger? Left belied all ex-
pectations to rally back strongly.
Credit for that should be attrib-
uted to the outgoing chief min-
ister, V.S Achuthanandan. Here
was an 87-year-old man with
decades of untarnished public
life behind him, and the people
were ready to ready to give him
another term in power but it was
his own divided house which
proved his undoing. Incoming
Congress Government will have
to keep its house in order, and
scandal free to ensure a smooth
run with a wafer thin majority.
Assam gave the Congress a
third term in power. Riding on
the back of significant devel-
opment initiated by the Tarun
Gogoi led government; the in-
cumbent party got a comfort-
able majority. Also the peace
dialogue in the state with ULFA
proved a major selling point for
the government. Two pointers
for the evolving module of future
successful governments; clean
image and development orien-
tated.
Electricity, roads and water
are the basic wants of the elec-
torate, but now the concept of
achieving a continually better
standard of life is also gaining
traction. As India takes strides
towards becoming a developed
country the people have more
expectations of a government.
People today want the govern-
ments to acts a felicitators in
their journey and not deterrents
out to milk the system dry. Gov-
ernments will have to ensure
efficient and clean administra-
tions, or the electorate will give
them a befitting reply the next
time election season arrives.
Dawood in Pakistan:
Chidambaram
New Delhi: Union Home Minis-
ter P Chidambaram on Thursday
said underworld don Dawood
Ibrahim is in Pakistan.
“We think Dawood Ibrahim
has a home in Karachi. Whether
all the time he is in Karachi, I
cannot say,
but we have
seen that most
part of the
year he is in
Karachi or at
another place
in Pakistan,”
Chidam-
baram said at
a press confer-
ence.
His state-
ment comes
a day after union home ministry
on Wednesday made public a list
of 50 most wanted men hiding in
Pakistan with Dawood and 26/11
mastermind Hafiz Saeed featur-
ing it as some of the top terror-
ists enjoying the protection of its
neighbour.
Earlier also, he said India
has often asked Pakistan for Da-
wood’s extradition, but in vain.
“We have often asked Pakistan
to extradite or transfer Dawood
to us. I think we all know that
Dawood Ibrahim lives in a house
in Karachi. I think the broad co-
ordinates of the location are also
known. But the Pakistan flatly
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
denies that Dawood Ibrahim is
in Pakistan,” Chidambaram told
Times Now in an interview.
On Thursday, the Union Min-
ister said the government is also
pressurizing Pakistan for nail
26/11 attackers.
“The govern-
ment is press-
ing Pakistan as
well as mobil-
ising interna-
tional opinion to
press Pakistan
to bring the real
perpetrators of
26/11 attacks to
justice,” he said.
He said India
will also engage
Pakistan on
issues like visa, fishermen, cross-
border trade, exchange of prison-
ers.
“Those are matters on which
we are engaging Pakistan. I don’t
think there is dichotomy or con-
tradiction. This is the policy spelt
out by the Prime Minister and I
think, this is the right policy,” Chi-
dambaram said.
In the worst terrorist attacks in
India, Pakistani-trained gunmen
laid siege on Mumbai since No-
vember 26, 2008, killing over
166 people, including foreigners,
in attacks on a railway station,
luxury hotels and a Jewish centre,
among other targets.
Indian
Pakistan epicentre of
terrorism: Parnaik
Srinagar: Northern Army Com-
mander Lieutenant General KT
Parnaik said last Saturday that
Pakistan is the epicentre of ter-
rorism. He was speaking on the
sidelines of an Army function at
Old Air Field Srinagar on Satur-
day.
“Pakistan is the epicentre of ter-
rorism as terrorists are roaming
freely in that country,” Parnaik
said.
 Replying to a question on Chi-
na-Pakistan nexus, the Army
Commander said that there are
people in Pakistan occupied
Kashmir (PoK) and Northern
Areas who they claim to be en-
gineers and other such work-
force. “Whether they are Peo-
ple’s Liberation Army we cannot
comment.”
“It is widely known that China
is helping Pakistan in building a
road from the Khunjerab Pass to
Gwadar Port besides other infra-
structure projects like dams very
close to the Line of Control (LoC).
Pakistan and China also have a
deep collaboration in weapon
delivery and development,” he
said.
He further said that the use of the
word ‘intrusion’ is erroneous.
“They come to the area that they
perceive as their own and we
also do the same. These should
be termed ‘transgressions’ and
not ‘intrusions’,” said Parnaik.
“However, regular border meet-
ings are conducted to ensure
that no mishaps take place.
As far as infrastructure is con-
cerned, we are also making
concerted efforts to improve our
own as their infrastructure devel-
opment does give them a certain
military capability,”  Parnaik said.
 On the situation in Pakistan
post the killing of al Qaeda chief
Osama Bin Laden, the Army
Commander said, “Pakistan, to
divert
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
media and world attention after
the killing, may create mischief
on the borders by increasing the
number of people infiltrated, for
which we are well prepared.”
‘Though al Qaeda is not known
to exist in J&K, its affiliate terror-
ist groups based in Pakistan like
LeT and JuM are active here for
whom Pakistan is the epicentre
of support,” he said.
Welcoming the J&K Govern-
ment’s policy to rehabilitate ter-
rorists wanting to return from
Pakistan, he said this would also
expose Pakistan’s complicity in
sponsoring terrorism and call its
bluff of providing only moral and
diplomatic support.
 Commenting on the situation in
J&K, the Army Commander said
that the situation in the state has
improved over the last few
years.
“There are now approximately
450 to 500 residual terrorists in
the state. However, this number
is fluctuating and putting an
exact figure is difficult.  With the
late melting of snow, there are
unverified reports of infiltration
along the traditional routes.  It
is expected that in the coming
weeks, efforts at infiltration would
increase, but we are prepared,”
Parnaik said.
He further said that the last two
years have seen a drastic reduc-
tion as the Army readjusted its
postures from Counter Infiltration
to Counter Terrorism in keeping
with the changing requirements
of the situation. 
While replying to a question of
Armed Forces Special Powers
Act,  Parnaik said, “As far as the
Army’s stand on revocation of
Armed Forces Special Powers
Act, we have recommended its
continuation in view of the situa-
tion in the state and the special
requirements it entails.”
-Reporting by Neyaz Elahi
For all your
legal needs
Aaron Kashyap
BA, LLB
Barrister and solicitor
Level 1, 351 Manukau Road, PO Box 26-596, DXCP 32513, Epsom, Auckland
Mobile: 0274 857 302 Phone: (09) 6238277 Fax: (09)6235177
Email: aaron@kashyaplaw.co.nz
CBI to release Bofors
documents
New Delhi: A Delhi court on
Thursday asked the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to
release all documents pertaining
to the two-decade-old Bofors
payoff case, seized from an
accused named Win Chadha on
May 1, 1997.
“The CBI is directed to release
the documents from its head-
quarters,” said Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate Vinod Yadav.
The court’s order came after
Chadha’s son Hersh Washesher
filed a petition seeking the docu-
ments as criminal proceedings
were withdrawn after his father
died on Oct 24, 2001.
“It is most respectfully prayed that
this court may kindly be pleased
to direct CBI to release the docu-
ments/articles mentioned in the
seizure memo dated May 1, 1997,
to the applicant or the applicant’s
authorized representative,” Hersh
said in his application filed on
April 7.
“The officials of CBI seized a
Law expert on Rajaratnam conviction
Columbia Law School Professor
John Coffee, one of the leading
experts on securities law and
white-collar crime in the U.S. was
interviewed extensively about the
conviction Wednesday in New
York of Raj Rajaratnam in the
Galleon insider trading case.
Coffee told Fox Business
Network that any basis for an
appeal could hinge on whether the
government used wiretaps proper-
ly in order to gain evidence against
Rajaratnam, whom he added,
might seek to have his sentence
reduced if he offers to cooperate
against Rajat Gupta, the former
Goldman Sachs director accused
of passing information to Rajarat-
number of documents and ar-
ticles from the office and resi-
dence of late Washesher Nath
Chadha May 1, 1997, by way
of executing number of seizure
memos in which the particulars
of the documents/articles are
described. These documents/ar-
ticles belong to late Chadha and
his other family members includ-
ing the applicant, which have no
concern with the case of CBI,”
read his application.
On Mar 4, the court allowed the
CBI to close case against Italian
businessman Ottavio Quattroc-
chi in regard to the Bofors payoff
scam.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
Vinod Yadav pronounced the
judgement on a CBI appeal
seeking withdrawal of the case
against the 70-year-old Italian
businessman Quattrocchi, who
could not be made to appear to
face any court of law in India.
“The application of the CBI is
allowed. If the logical conclusion
of a case is not possible then it
nam. So far, Gupta only faces civil
proceedings, not criminal charges.
“Everyone cooperated against
Rajaratnam. Why should he be
the only standup guy?” Coffee told
FBN.
In an interview with Bloom-
berg, Coffee said “Quite frankly,
professionals learn what is legal
and illegal not by the law that is on
the books but by who goes to prison
and for what. And I think a genera-
tion of traders, expert networks,
securities analysts and others now
recognize that participating in an
insider trading network is danger-
ous, because, if one of the partici-
pants gets caught, our plea-bar-
gaining system makes it likely he’ll
is better to leave the issue,” said
Yadav.
The CBI had been telling the court
since Oct 2009 to withdraw the
case against Quattrocchi since
it failed to get him extradited first
from Malayasia in 2003 and then
from Argentina in 2007.
Quattrocchi had been accused
of receiving a payoff for brokering
the Bofors gun deal in 1986.
The continuance of prosecution
against Quattrocchi will be unjus-
tified. It is considered expedient in
the interest of justice that the pro-
ceedings against him should not
be continued and be withdrawn,
CBI had said in the application
seeking withdrawal of the case.
Advocate Ajay Agrawal, who
has been moving the case in
the Supreme Court and had ap-
proached the trial court against
CBI’s move to seek a closure of
the case, said the government
was trying to close the case
despite having sufficient evi-
dence against the foreigner.
turn in his co-conspirators and all
the financial dominoes will fall.”
Coffee said would-be insider
traders will likely learn to stay
away from phones and email to
carry out their misdeeds. But, he
noted, that would only take them
so far. “If you leave a trail, sooner
or later you’re going to get caught,”
Coffee told Reuters Insider.
“Insider trading is engaged in by
networks and if one person in that
network gets caught it’s in his in-
terest to plea bargan and cooper-
ate all the otghers rather than go
to trial. Thus, if you join a network,
you’re going to live and die by that
network, because they all sink and
swim together.”
19
Indian

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

Photos by Avishek Mitra

East Tamaki Healthcare is looking to expand.

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

• Overseas trained Registered Nurse or Doctor.

• Recent experience in primary health care and patient education.
• Good level of spoken English and the ability to communicate in Hindi.
• Knows how to use a computer.
• Able, and willing, to go into patients’ homes or community environments to
educate and engage family in wellness, health promotion and understanding of life-
style choices.
• Full NZ drivers licence.
• Own car with WOF, current registration and insurance.
• Teamwork.

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

• Excellent verbal communication skills.

• Good level of spoken English.
• Knows how to use a computer.
• Ensures the reception area runs smoothly and that patients are happy and com-
fortable.
• Maintains CONFIDENTIALITY of patient information and the details of the
running of the practice.
• Answers general enquiries.
If you or someone you know may be interested, please e-mail CV and cover letter
to gabriel@ethc.co.nz
Or, mail to
Gabriel Orendain, HR Manager
East Tamaki Healthcare
PO Box 61150, Otara,
Manukau 2159

20 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Only Tagore can take
musical liberty: Amjad
Kolkata, May 9 (IBNS): Only a
genius like Rabindranath Tagore
can take liberty in new musical cre-
ations, feels Sarod maestro Ustad
Amjad Ali Khan.   “We just read Tagore, but we
“Classical musicians were not
very happy about Rabindra Sangeet,
because he took liberties. But only
a genius can take liberty. There
is something new and something
secret in his cre-
ations,” Khan
said here recently
at an award func-
tion that cel-
ebrated the 150th
birth anniversary
of Rabindranath
Tagore.
Khan was here to receive a Life-
time Achievement Award in music
instituted by the famous pen brand
Montblanc in a tribute to Tagore, the
world poet and philosopher.
Montblanc honoured Nobel lau-
reate and economist Amartya Sen,
Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali
Khan and painter Jogen Chowdhury,
at the function.
The programme by Montblanc
was in association with Ministry of
Culture and music academy Dak-
shinee as part of the 150th birth an-
niversary of  Tagore.
Painter Jogen Chowdhury said,
“I am from Santiniketan. I still stay
Hurre yit’s
befooor late
t
2011 Early bird Special Air fares SALE ends soon
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Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
there. Tagore is someone who has
to be known from inside. He had
a vision for Bengal. He wanted a
society where everything is ideal.
need to understand and feel him. He
has talked about education, unity,
freedom of women and man-wom-
an relationship. He is the universal
man.”
“Discussing
Tagore’s writing
cannot be com-
mercial,” he said.
Speaking on
this occasion,
Dilip Doshi,
CMD, Entrack
I nt e r n at ion a l
Private Ltd (Exclusive Distributors
in India for Montblanc) , said, “When
Dakshinee approached me with the
year-long celebrations of Gurudev
Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth
anniversary, I personally felt it would
be both a privilege and an honour
for Montblanc to be closely involved
with this very emotional and cultur-
al journey. “Union Minister Saugata
Roy, BJP leader Tathagata Roy and
actor Bhisma Guha Thakurta were
also present at the event.
India Blooms News Service (IBNS)
Feedback: bloomsnews@gmail.com
Call: (0091) 9830096463  democratic rights in large number
sh/sd
From Auckland to Indian Subcontinent
1749
Fares starting from:
Tagore on Braille for the blind  Jammu & Kashmir
Kolkata: Third Eye, an NGO
working for the visually challenged,
Sunday donated 15 titles, in both
English and Bengali, to nine schools
for blind in the vicinity of Kolkata.  want to take it pan India.”
On the occasion the first and
second volumes of Rabindranath
Tagore’s “Gitabitan” was also dis-
tributed in Braille edition, in asso-
ciation with National Association
for the Blind.
Speaking on the occa-
sion, Mahua Seth, Founder Trustee,
The Third Eye Charitable Trust,
said, “It is a small beginning. But we
have great plans. Till now the visu-
ally challenged kids had no access
to story books. We plan to open up
a world for them with Braille edi-
tions of fictions, classics and non-
fictions.”
She went on to add, “Till now
they heard stories. Now they can
touch and feel the words and in
turn be touched by them. We have
already acquired titles from publi-
Inclusive of taxes
cations like Penguin, Tulika, Scho-
lastic and a few others and have
published Braille books in Tamil,
English, Hindi and Bengali. But we
Dr Kanchan Gaba, Secretary,
National Association for Blind, West
Bengal, said, “Braille is still very rel-
evant to a blind child. Nowadays
when children learn hearing they
develop weak spellings and have a
poor sense of construction which
proves to be a hurdle when they
seek jobs. These Braille books will
help them touch the words, know
spellings and make them educated
in true sense. It is a great venture
and we are happy to be a part of it.”
Ms Vishnupriya of Third Eye in-
formed that they planned to bring
out an online newspaper and mag-
azine for the visually impaired in
near future.  said Asha.
Besides, books were also given
to the Blind section of Calcutta Uni-
versity.
gets woman
Sarpanch
Baramulla: A Kashmiri Pandit
woman has been elected Sar-
panch (chief) of a Jammu and
Kashmir Panchayat.
52-year-old Asha, who works
as a peon at Wussan village of
Baramulla district, has been
voted as the new Sarpanch of its
Panchayat.
She defeated her competitor, a
Muslim woman, by 11 votes.
“I have struggled a lot. It
doesn’t matter if we are only five
Kashmiri Pandits living amidst
100 Muslims in this village. All
my villagers have supported me a
lot and it’s time I do something for
the development of our village,”
A high turnout and peaceful
balloting had marked the Pan-
chayat elections in Jammu and
Kashmir on Apr 13 held after
nearly ten years.
People defied boycott calls by
the separatist leaders like Syed
Ali Geelani and voted in large
number in eight blocks in the
local boy polls held after 2001.
In some places the polling was
as high as 77 percent.
The people of insurgency-
hit Kashmir had exercised their
in the 2008 assembly polls too.
21
Indian
Let Me Have A Daughter Like Mamata
The historic win of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal prompts journalist Ritusmita Biswas to blurt out  her strong opinion on gender equality
The story started years ago when
I was around 4-5 years old. It was
the baby shower for my youngest
aunt (popularly known in Bengali
as Saadh), and my mother, being
the eldest bride of the house was en-
trusted the responsibility of cooking
the rice pudding (payesh). All was
going on well when suddenly one of
the ‘well wishing relatives’ (who in-
cidentally happened to be  a master
degree holder and a communist
party member) pointed out that my
ma should not be allowed to cook
this ceremonial dish as else my aunt
might end up bearing a daughter like
my mom.
The saga continued and a repeat
happened in 2004. This time I was
at the receiving end—I had just re-
gained my consciousness post the
caesarian operation and was dizzy
half in pain and half in ecstasy of
giving birth to a lovely child. I was
happy to see all my loved ones close
by and felt secure, loved and cared
for. All was again going on well when
one of my most favorite aunts (again
very well educated, though not a
party member!) blurted out “Are you
sad that it is not a son? Don’t worry
next time you will have one”.   Now
being the egoistic person I am, it
hit hard. I had always tried hard to
22
be the best in every sphere where I
participated and now I wondered if
having a daughter made me a lesser
achiever.
As years passed by I realized that
even for the upwardly mobile class,
or intellectual and educated class
having a son meant all. It was a tradi-
tional mind set and despite all intel-
lectual progressivism in Bengal this
was a feeling that was deep rooted.
At this historic juncture I wonder
will “Poribartan” happen in this
mindset?
Change- as everyone will agree  is
always welcome – and it is hearten-
ing to know the middle class Bengali
has moved out of his/her secured
cocoon and welcomed change by
accepting a party that is non tradi-
tional and albeit does not fall in line
with traditional Bengali intellectual
sensibility.
What Mamata Banerjee delivers,
whether she lives up to expectations
or reverts back to her histrionics, or
will she merely be a pawn in the hand
of more powerful male members
remains to be seen — at the moment
however it cannot be denied that she,
despite being a woman, as fought
If we take a look at her we see that
Mamata is the traditional bad
girl who is every Bengali mother’s
night mare.
back not only against the communist
regime but against a strictly patri-
archal communist regime. And that
too in a country where a girl child is
condemned to death even before she
is born!
If we take a look at her we see that
Mamata is the traditional bad girl
who is every Bengali mother’s night
mare. She does not comb her hair,
she does not wear sthe right sober
and pastel taant sarees, does not sit
in the evening with harmonium (she
sings late in night in her own created
tunes), has not married in the right
age, and forget a son, she does not
even have a daughter! Nonetheless
this non stereotypical woman today
has received the blessings of millions
of women who wanted her to see in
the bastion of power.
People might ridicule her for her
not so chaste Tagore quotes, lack of
sophistication, yet even her strongest
critics will admire her persistence
and focus toward her goal. Mamta
proves once again that a woman is
equally capable as man —like every
other woman success story her
success screams out the anguish
of millions of girl child killed in the
womb “Give Us A Chance – We
Would Prove It.”
Unfortunately, CPI (M) despite its
progressive thoughts ignored a sig-
nificant part of the voting populace –
the women. Except for a handful, the
core party is essentially patriarchal
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
and the lack of any strong woman
leader in state makes one skeptical
that the communists never believed
in gender equality. Banerjee among
many other issues, captured this
hidden yet deep rooted resentment
amongst the women masses and the
results prove it all.
At this juncture as all of us look
forward to “Poribartan” I wonder
if the traditional Bengali mindset
about a son would change. Would
the Bengali mother be at peace to see
her daughter pursuing doggedly her
career goals and not fret to her about
“ how everyone of your friends has
got married and not you – when will
you settle down?”
Or will the mom in law be at
peace if the daughter in law is sin-
gularly ambitious and despite being
post 30 has yet postponed her de-
cision to have a child this year as
she is due for promotion? Will the
expecting moms today in Bengal
come out of the feeling “Ebare chele
hok” (Let me have a son this time) to
“Mamatar Moton Meye Hok!” (Let
me have a daughter like Mamata.)
The winds of change are flowing
across the state. At this juncture let
there also be a ”poribartan”  in how
the intellectual Bengali middle class
perceives its women folk.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 23
Indian
LIC launches new micro-insurance policy
Low-income earners in Fiji now have the opportunity to cope with
financial emergencies and protect themselves against unexpected life
events through a specially designed micro-insurance product.
Suva: Low-income earners in Fiji
now have the opportunity to cope
with financial emergencies and
protect themselves against unex-
pected life events through a spe-
cially designed micro-insurance
product.
Micro Life is an endowment-
type micro-insurance product
providing death, disability, acci-
dent and funeral expense benefits
to clients who purchase it. Since it
is an endowment product, it also
returns a large lump sum of cash
to the client upon maturity thereby
also acting as a tool to help people
save money.
This is the first ever micro-
insurance product like this in the
Pacific and has been introduced in
Fiji by the Life Insurance Corpora-
tion of India (LICI). At the prod-
uct’s launch in Suva last week, the
Acting Governor of Reserve Bank
of Fiji, Barry Whiteside welcomed
the initiative. “The product aims to
provide low cost life insurance solu-
tions to the segments of society who
have up to this point in time, been
under served. The product clearly
fits with the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s
24
picture of promoting greater finan-
cial inclusion,” said Whiteside.
“If low income individuals
decide to purchase the micro-in-
surance product, it will certainly
moderate the risks and provide
the comfort or backing to be more
optimistic in whatever they may
be doing to pull themselves out of
poverty. Micro-insurance is de-
signed to help the low income in-
dividual cope with financial emer-
gencies.”
The product has been developed
by the LICI’s Fiji branch but ben-
efits from the company’s extensive
experience with micro-insurance
in India, and has also been sup-
ported by technical assistance from
the Pacific Financial Inclusion Pro-
gramme (PFIP).
At the product launch PFIP
further announced that it will be
providing a small grant to LICI
to help build awareness around
the product. PFIP Pacific Finan-
cial Inclusion Advisor and Project
Manager, Tillman Bruett said the
interest in microinsurance in the
Pacific was generated after a work-
shop held at the Pacific Microfi-
nance week in Nadi in 2009.
“Following the microinsurance
workshop, potential partners ap-
proached PFIP and we worked
with a few from Fiji and Papua New
Guinea,” Mr Bruett said. “We know
from studies that families can and
do work to lift themselves out of
poverty over time. But all too often,
the death of a family member can
erase all of those gains and push
them below the poverty line once
again.
“Life insurance can help fami-
lies avoid that. I hope that employ-
ers take a look at this product, par-
ticularly those who hire household
or part time staff, and consider
buying this product on behalf of
their employees. It is a great benefit
and at a reasonable cost.”
PFIP is a Pacific-wide pro-
gramme helping provide sus-
tainable financial services to low
income households. It is funded by
the United Nations Capital Devel-
opment Fund (UNCDF), European
Union, AusAID and the United
Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and operates from the
UNDP Pacific Centre.
Fiji’s political dialogue to
begin next year
Political dialogue will begin in Fiji next year and
this will be followed by the formulation of a new
constitution in 2013.
Suva: Political dialogue will begin in Fiji next year and this will be fol-
lowed by the formulation of a new constitution in 2013, website Fiji
Village has reported.
Foreign Affairs Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola has presented this time-
line to the Political Committee of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly in
Budapest, according to the website. Ratu Inoke said elections will be
held in Fiji in 2014 however the government will focus on institutional
and socio-economic reforms until 2012.
He said this includes progress towards a race-free sustainable demo-
cratic system, the removal of references to ethnicity in public institu-
tions and the removal of institutionalized racial biases in government
tendering processes.
Ratu Inoke also invited the ACP Parliamentary Assembly to send a
mission to Fiji late next year or early 2013, when the political dialogue
is underway, to see the progress being made on the ground.
Meanwhile, Fiji’s Public Emergency Regulation (PER) is extended to 06
June. President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau gazetted the extension accord-
ing to the powers vested in him as the Head of State. The PER has
been in place since April 2009.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
Fiji-Tonga standoff escalates
New Zealand will not interfere in
a mounting standoff between Fiji
and Tonga, Foreign Affairs Minister
Murray McCully said.
The standoff follows the Tongan
Navy entering Fiji waters at the
weekend to pick up Fiji Army’s
former chief of staff Lieutenant-
Colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba
Mara, who had been facing sedition
charges last week.
Ratu Tevita, the youngest son of
Fiji’s founding Prime Minister and
former President, Ratu Sir Kamisese
Mara, had been released on bail.
Fiji Prime Minister Commodore
Frank Bainimarama has declared
Ratu Tevita a fugitive and accused
the Royal Tongan Navy of illegally
picking up Ratu Tevita in a patrol
boat in Fijian waters last week.
Suva Magistrates Court yes-
terday issued a bench warrant for
Ratu Tevita, who breached his bail
conditions after being charged with
one count of uttering seditious com-
ments.
The bench warrant means Fiji
can proceed with an extradition ap-
plication under the Extradition Act.
Ratu Tevita, who has strong Tongan
connections, was now reported to be
under Tonga’s protection.
What Went Wrong in Fiji
Padmini Gaunder
May 14 marked the 132nd anni-
versary of the first arrival of the
Indian labourers in Fiji. The day also
marked the 24th anniversary of the
first military coup in the country,
indeed, in the whole of the South
Pacific. What really happened to the
Indian migrants between May 14,
1879 and the same date in 1987?
 Indians who were brought to Fiji
were used as labourers for five years
and after that allowed to go home
at their own expense or to settle
down in the colony as independent
farmers. Most of them chose to
acquire land of their own and con-
tinue in Fiji as small farmers. The
indenture system continued till
1920 when it was abolished after
Rev. C. F. Andrews’ visit in 1916 and
his scathing report.
 Since the government did not
provide schools for the Indian chil-
dren, their parents had to send them
to Christian Mission schools for edu-
cation. Indians resented this as they
were afraid of their children getting
converted. So they brought teachers
and religious leaders from India and
established their own religious and
cultural organisations.
 The south Indians, who were a
minority and were brought to Fiji
only later in the indenture period
(they arrived in Fiji only in the
1900s), started their own organisa-
tion, the TISI Sangam (Then India
Sanmarga Ikya Sangam), because
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Meanwhile, Tongan Prime Min-
ister Lord Tu’ivakano said the Fiji
government will not face any ob-
stacles from his government as they
seek to extradite Mara.
Mr McCully said it was “hearten-
ing” that the Tongan Prime Minis-
ter had made assurances the courts
would not be subjected to political
Lieutenant-Colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara . . .
fled Fiji and is now in Tonga.
interference when considering the
extradition.
Fiji today started the legal
process to extradite Ratu Tevita.
Mr McCully said New Zealand
was watching the issue closely, but
would not intervene at this point
because it was an issue between Fiji
and Tonga.
He had not spoken to Tonga’s
Prime Minister and said he had not
sought any information on how Ratu
Tevita had come to be picked by
Tonga’s Navy.
they wanted to retain their traditions
and languages. Sadhu Kuppuswami
who established the Sangam sought
help from the Ramakrishna Mission
in India and Swami Avinashananda
was sent to help to organise it.
 Help from the Ramakrishna
Mission continued even after Swami
Avinashananda returned after
about a year as Swami Rudrananda
arrived to guide the Sangam.   Al-
though the South Indians are only
a minority among the Fiji Indians,
Sangam has continued to this day as
one of the most important non gov-
ernment agencies, because of this
early guidance from the Ramak-
rishna Mission.
 The Fiji Indians gave high prior-
ity to education. They established
schools and educated their sons
(and daughters) as they did not want
their children to be exploited by the
colonials because of ignorance as
they had been. Swami Rudrananda
and Sangam were at the fore front
of providing education including
higher education for Indian chil-
dren.
 If the indenture system was
over in 1920 the Indians were still
not progressing much and lived in
relative poverty because of the ex-
ploitation of the Colonial Sugar Re-
fining (CSR) Company. The Indian
leader A.D. Patel along with Swami
Rudrananda fought against this.
With the help of Ratu Mara, the
Prime Minister after independence,
Ratu Tevita has since released
a You Tube video strongly criti-
cal of Fiji’s attorney-general Aiyaz
Khaiyum, and said Mr Bainima-
rama “is no more than Aiyaz Khai-
yum’s hand-puppet”.
In the You Tube video dated May
14 entitled “regime change should
happen in Fiji soon”, Ratu Tevita
said the plan to arrest him and Brig
Gen Driti on what he said were
“trumped-up” charges had been laid
by Mr Khaiyum.
“For inexplicable reasons, Com-
modore Bainimarama, weakened
by ill health, morally and intellectu-
ally bankrupt, is no more than Aiyaz
Khaiyum’s hand-puppet,” Ratu
Tevita said.
“His (Khaiyum’s) megalomania
is inspired entirely by the self-im-
portance of a lonely and inadequate
man, endowed with no leadership
qualities and incapable of under-
standing the simplest principles of
decency and respect.”
Ratu Tevita said that when Fiji’s
dictatorship had ended, “all of us
who once served it shall answer to
the Fijian people for the part we
played, and I shall gladly submit to
their verdict”.
-Indian Weekender Online
Swamiji succeeded in improving the
lot of the farmers.
 With the establishment of the
University of the South Pacific, uni-
versity education became locally
available from 1968. Meanwhile
Fijian education had become a
major problem in the last decades
before Independence. The problem
had started when the Methodists
withdrew from the village schools
handing the schools over to local
committees. The Mission had
wanted the government to take over
the schools but the Director of Edu-
cation at that time, James Russell,
refused.
 The 1969, Education Commis-
sion had recommended special
provisions for Fijian Education for
a period of time and the Govern-
ment had accepted the recommen-
dation. The opposition National
Federation Party had not objected
to the proposal. But in 1976 the NFP
made education an election issue
and attacked the USP quota system
for admission for Fijian students.  and once he was gone they would
The Indians supported the NFP as
a block in the elections in 1977and
caused the defeat of the multiracial
Alliance government.
 Rather than explaining to the
Indians why such provisions were
necessary to eliminate discrepan-
cies in achievements and giving the
example of India where such posi-
tive discrimination was practised
even after decades of Independence
Operation Loloma helps beggars off the streets
Aims to identify root of
problem, provide
assistance
Suva: The Fiji Ministry of Social
Welfare’s ‘Operation Loloma’ is
now in motion to help beggars
get off the streets.
The Permanent Secretary
for Social Welfare and Women,
Govind Sami said the exercise
aimed to identify why these indi-
viduals were begging and how
civil society groups and Govern-
ment departments could help
them.
He said the information
collected was not for public
consumption and the Ministry
would work with its partners to
ensure that each individual case
was worked out.
“We don’t wish to traumatise
or stigmatise these disadvan-
taged people.”
Mr. Sami said the Ministry
Fiji- Viewpoint
(and it is still practised!) the opposi-
tion made it an election issue and
that marked the degeneration of
the NFP from a multiracial party (at
least in policies) to an Indian party.
They failed to ask for a review of
the special provisions for Fijian stu-
dents after a period of time as the
1969 Education Commission had
recommended which is what they
should have done if they were genu-
inely concerned about helping.
 Indians in Fiji enjoyed equal-
ity from 1970 to 1987. Though the
Fijians were given preference in
education the Indians still did better
in every field. The Indian leaders,
however, succeeded in creating
a feeling in the Indian mind that
they were treated as second-class
citizens. It was the perception that
made the Indians want to have an
Indian dominated government so
that they could feel equal.
 The Indians were also made to
believe that it was Ratu Mara who
was the cause of all their problems
have equality. It was, in fact, Ratu
Mara out of all the chiefs who was
prepared to give equal rights to the
Indians. Ratu Mara had even sug-
gested making Fijian the common
name for all the citizens of Fiji but
the others had rejected it. Unfortu-
nately Indians of Fiji were convinced
that Ratu Mara was their enemy.
 Instead of working for inte-
gration in education as the 1969
would get other districts to do
the same so that the welfare
of these disadvantaged indi-
viduals was cared for by the
various networks we have in the
country.
“Some of these beggars are
on social welfare assistance.
The Ministry will review each
file to see if there is a need to
provide some help to alleviate
the difficulties these people
face and provide an alternative
means of living other than being
on the streets as beggars.
“We will also link up with the
families of these individuals in
the review exercise,” Mr. Sami
said.
Operation Loloma began
last week.
-Losalini Rasoqosoqo/ Fiji Sun
Education Commission had recom-
mended and promoting the study of
Fijian as a basic language course in
primary schools the Indian leaders
worked for the entrenchment of
communalism. Indian leaders in Fiji
failed to heed the prophetic warning
of Fijian academic Dr. Tupeni Baba
that the Fijian educational problem
was a national problem and it was
going to determine in a significant
way how the people in Fiji were
going to live together as a multieth-
nic and multicultural society.
 Since the Indian leaders did not
act to ensure that Fiji remained a
multicultural society rather than
a communally divided country
Indians in Fiji today do not feel safe
anymore, especially since there is no
democratic government. The situ-
ation in Fiji where both Fijians and
Indians have rights, reminds me of
the story of Arjuna and Dhuryod-
hana both going to see Sri Krishna
before the Mahabharata war.
 Sri Krishna was sleeping and
they both waited. When he woke up
Dhuryodhana said he was the first
to come but Sri Krishna said he saw
Arjuna first so both were first in dif-
ferent ways and he had to help them
both!
 The problem for the Fiji Indians
was that they lacked such a wise
leader who could see from both
sides and work to avoid communal-
ism from settling in for the good of
the country and all its people.
25
Indian
The Virtue of Perseverance
Ajai Sahni
On April 23, 2011, Barely a week
before Operation Geronimo, in
which Osama bin Laden was
killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan’s
Army Chief, General Ashfaq
Kayani, had driven by this location
to the Kakul Military Academy,
just over half a kilometre away, to
boast, in his address to cadets
there, that “the terrorists’ back-
bone has been broken” by his
Forces. Over the past years, the
Pakistan establishment, includ-
ing two successive Presidents
– General Pervez Musharraf and
Asif Ali Zardari – have actively
spread a smokescreen over the al
Qaeda leadership’s presence on
Pakistani soil, repeatedly assert-
ing that bin Laden, in particular,
was either dead or holed up in
some caves in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden was, however, living
safely in the heart of an Army
cantonment, in “an extraordinarily
unique compound”, a three storey
building constructed around
2005 on a one acre plot, sur-
rounded by 12 to 18 foot security
walls, topped with barbed wire.
There was no telephone or inter-
net connectivity and all external
contact was managed through
a tiny group of trusted couriers
– the vulnerability that was finally
breached by US intelligence.
The furnishing was rudimentary,
suggesting that this may be one
of many safe-houses between
which he would have been shuf-
fled about over the past years.
Crucially, in the aftermath of the
September 11 attacks, bin Laden
was reportedly treated in a mili-
tary hospital in Rawalpindi, and,
in early 2002, had been sheltered
in the Binori Masjid in Karachi,
where he is said to have under-
gone treatment for a shrapnel
injury after his escape from the
Tora Bora cave complex.
Since late 2002, however, he was
pushed deep underground, most
likely, given the circumstances of
his eventual discovery, the near-
impenetrable secrecy surround-
ing his movements, and the per-
sistent disinformation campaigns
by state agencies and high offi-
cials, by Pakistan’s military intel-
ligence agency, the Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI).
Indeed, as John Brennan, Deputy
National Security Advisor for
Counterterrorism and Homeland
Security noted, “We are looking
right now at how he was able to
hold out there (in Pakistan) for so
long and whether or not there was
any type of support system within
Pakistan that allowed him to stay
26
there... There are a lot of people
within the Pakistani Government,
and I am not going to speculate
about who or if any of them had
fore-knowledge about bin Laden
being in Abbottabad. But certain-
ly his location there outside of the
capital raises questions...”
Bin Laden’s death is, without
doubt, a tremendous victory but it
would be premature grounds for
euphoria. It has though done little
to damage al Qaeda’s operational
and organisational capabilities.
Ayman al Zawahiri, his long-time
associate and second-in-com-
mand has, in any event, been in
charge of ‘military operations’
for years, and will seamlessly
assume preeminent command.
A deep international religious, po-
litical, strategic, military, financial,
communications and organisa-
tional structure has long been es-
tablished, and has operated over
the past years with no significant
inputs from, or connection with,
bin Laden, other than his occa-
sional exhortatory messages. A
second line of leadership, most
prominently including Saif Saif
al-Din al Ansari al Adel, the organ-
isation’s present ‘military com-
mander’, Amin al Haq Afghan,
the ‘security coordinator’ and
Suleiman Abu Ghaith, al Qaeda’s
spokesman, remain at large, as
does an elaborate network of
second and third tier leaders.
Al Qaeda and its loose affiliates
not only have a strong presence
across Asia, they have estab-
lished cells in almost every major
country in Europe and have a sig-
nificant presence on American
soil as well, though their opera-
tional capabilities in these latter
locations remain limited – or may,
in some measure, be unknown.
While the report lacks credibility,
it is useful to note, in this context,
that one of the Wikileaks expo-
sures had disclosed that Khalid
Sheikh Mohammad, the ‘master-
mind’ of the 9/11 attacks now in
US custody, had claimed during
interrogation that al Qaeda had
hidden a nuclear device in Europe
which would unleash a “nuclear
hellstorm” if bin Laden was cap-
tured or killed.
Nevertheless, even before bin
Laden’s termination, al Qaeda
had been immensely weakened
by a relentless succession of
arrests and killings of operational
commanders and leaders over
the years.
While apprehensions of al Qaeda
reprisals in the wake of the bin
Laden killing are justifiable, it is
equally important to recognise
that the organisation’s and its affil-
iates’ capabilities are overwhelm-
ingly located outside the West, in
Muslim majority countries, most
significantly including Pakistan-
Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia,
where retaliatory strikes would
mainly kill Muslims – undermin-
ing organisational legitimacy even
further.
While residual risks of catastroph-
ic attacks in the West cannot be
ignored, the reality is, al Qaeda
has failed to orchestrate any such
strikes – beyond the soft target
train attack in Madrid in 2004,
and the London Underground
bombings in 2005, the latter with
tenuous links to al Qaeda.
Crucially, bin Laden’s killing also
comes at a time when extrem-
ist Islamism and authoritarian
regimes that have instrumental-
ised Islam are being challenged
across the Arab world, in some of
the most dramatic cases, peace-
fully, giving the lie to the ideology
of violence and death that the al
Qaeda represents.
The complex interface of continu-
ous successes against al Qaeda
and its affiliates – crowned by bin
Laden’s death – and the rising
revolt within Islam against the ex-
tremist perversion of the Faith, will
have necessary and long-term
consequences that enormously
favour the forces of freedom and
undermine the terrorist enter-
prise. This dynamic imposes tre-
mendous pressure on al Qaeda’s
successor leadership to dem-
onstrate its capabilities through
dramatic, potentially catastrophic,
acts of terrorism, since these,
alone, can possibly reverse what
may appear, at present, to be an
irreversible decline.
In all this, the political and military
leadership in Pakistan is most
manifestly caught in a cleft stick.
The state will be forced to adopt
a contradictory stance, on the
one hand trying to project its ‘co-
operation’ with US agencies as
proof of the country’s continued
commitment to the goals of the
war on terror and, on the other,
attempting to distance itself from
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
the actual operation in order to
appease a radical domestic audi-
ence.
There have also been vocifer-
ous denials of any official role in
protecting bin Laden over the
past eight years and more; Paki-
stan’s leaders will continue to
sing the same old song about
the country being the ‘principal
victim of terrorism’, having lost the
lives of ‘tens of thousands of civil-
ians’ and ‘thousands’ of security
forces personnel; but, as the cir-
cumstances of bin Laden’s death
crystallize further, this pretence
will become progressively unsus-
tainable.
Even if there is a passing mael-
strom of reprisal attacks in areas
where al Qaeda and its affiliates
have sufficient surviving op-
erational capacities, Bin Laden’s
killing will certainly have a chilling
effect in the medium term, as it
demonstrates far greater will on
the part of the US intelligence and
political leadership than has been
manifest in the ambivalent decla-
rations on the war in Afghanistan.
Indeed, for years, Pakistanis
and Afghans have scoffed at the
US with the quip, “You have the
watches, but we have the time.”
Already, there are apprehensions
that America will use the death of
the al Qaeda leader as an excuse
to speed up its withdrawal from
Afghanistan; to ‘declare victory
and run’. Hillary Clinton has now
stated that the bin Laden killing
demonstrates to the world that,
“You cannot wait us out. You
cannot defeat us.” It remains to
be seen whether this resolve goes
beyond the killing of individual ter-
rorists.
The death of bin Laden is a major
incident – but still, only a single
incident – in the long war that Is-
lamist extremists and their state
sponsors have launched against
the rest of the world. The pro-
longed effort and operation that
brought about this outcome dem-
onstrates the virtue and necessity
of sheer doggedness and persis-
tence in the protracted contest
in which civilisation is presently
engaged. If the success at Ab-
bottabad becomes the basis of
even greater resolution in the war
against terrorism, its outcome will
inevitably strengthen the forces of
freedom. If, on the other hand, it
yields even the slightest moment
of weakness, the price in terror
will be unbearable.
The writer Ajai Sahni is Editor,
SAIR; Executive Director, Institute
for Conflict Management
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 27
Indian
The art and science of vastu
Michael Borden
Many years ago I made my first
trip to India after receiving per-
mission from my Vastu mentor,
Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati of Ma-
habalipuram, to come and study.
My wife, Karen, and I arrived in
Chennai on a hot afternoon and
made our way to a dusty hotel
near the city centre. Little did I
know of the heartwarming and
intriguing experiences that lay
before us in our many visits to
that amazing land in the upcom-
ing years.
That afternoon we visited our
first ancient temple and felt for the
first time the vibration of a Vastu
structure. I didn’t fully appreciate
it at the time but I have come to
know that Vastu energy as unique
and enthralling. As I look back
on that day, I am deeply thank-
ful to my teacher for sharing the
knowledge of how to design such
structures, thus making it possi-
ble for me to share this profound
experience with others.
Once we began our studies
with Sthapati, each day we would
go to his office, located a couple
of blocks from the sparkling Bay
28
of Bengal in Thiruvanmiyur, a
suburb of Chennai. No matter
what was happening that day in
his office, Sthapati would stop
what he was doing and patiently
focus his attention on our Vastu
studies. One question I asked
Sthapati in those early days was,
“What caused the whole process
of expression of the universe?”
His answer was to quote Khalil
Gibran: “Life’s longing for Itself!”
Though we call it Vastu
science for simplicity’s sake,
Vastu knowledge encompasses
sublime artistic principles as well
as scientific principles. In fact, in
this discipline no distinction exists
between science and art: scien-
tific observation of the natural
world is experientially artistic, and
vice versa. In the nervous system
of an adept Vastu scientist/artist,
the manifestations of the universe
are experienced and understood
fully as a function of his or her
unified body-mind-heart. The
adept then applies the appropri-
ate principles of manifestation to
the creation of new objects that
will have the ability to vibrate in
deep resonance with the matri-
ces of cosmic energy.
In Vastu science, the orthog-
onal Vastu Purusha Mandala
describes the pattern of energy
manifesting into substance at the
most subtle level. The mandala
expresses an order that is self-
maintaining. This orthogonal
pattern is the geometry at the
core of all manifestations. It is the
geometry of silence. At the centre
of this geometry is a thread of
light: the Brahma Sutra. This light
is the Nataraja: the dancing form
of Lord Shiva.
The simple truth of Vastu
science is that it has conceived,
understood, and applied the
most basic formulas governing
the ways in which primal sub-
stance (the pure energy level of
the universe) is made manifest
as the vast and gross material
universe. This science expands
on the tenet that no substantial nate with the most sublime and has established an office in
difference exists between subtle powerful forces or laws of nature, Nelson, New Zealand. The firm
and gross forms of life. It is a sci- which are specified and gener- offers custom home designs in
entific philosophy of unity of all life ated by space/time/light formulas the Vastu tradition. Assistance is
forms on all levels for all time. that are the basis of the struc- also offered in Temple projects
ture, whether it be a temple or a in a collaboration with traditional
Vastu structures are vibrant humble home. Temple architects in Tamil Nadu.
connections to a universal energy
matrix. These structures reso- Vastuved International Ltd. More at: www.vastu.co.nz
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
 Indian

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Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 29

Indian
Anushka Sharma gives haircare tips
Mumbai: With summer just
around the corner, so are hair care
woes.
While many don’t realize it,
scorching sun, harmful UV rays
and high levels of humidity are the
cause of serious hair damage. The
excessive sweating, dirt and grime
don’t help at all, making hair
rough, dehydrated, and frizzy.
Actor Anushka Sharma shares
some simple tips that will keep
hair beautiful & bouncy just like
her luscious locks, and let women
have fun in the sun without stress-
ing about their tresses.
“Oiling your hair with coconut
oil (like Parachute Advanced) will
condition and prevent your lus-
cious locks from turning frizzy
and brittle,” she says.
“Keep yourself well hydrat-
ed by having lots of water and
30
fruits like melons, watermelons, Aishwarya Cannes: Indian actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
walked the Cannes Red Carpet for cosmetic
walks Cannes
oranges and squashes to maintain major L’Oréal Paris along with brand spokes-
your moisture balance.” women – Aimee Mullins, Gong Li and Ines de la
She says: “Don’t wash your hair
Red Carpet
Fressange.
too often as that will dry it up.
Also, make sure you oil your hair Aishwarya was sporting the L’Or L’Or L’Ormake
with coconut oil before washing to up look that has been unveiled by L’Oréal Paris
maintain its softness. Avoid using especially for Cannes.
hair-dryers as they only damage
your hair and leads to the develop- Her ‘L’Or L’Or L’Or’ was created by renowned
ment of split ends. Go for an air- makeup artist and part of L’Oréal Paris first make
dry instead.” up Dream Team - Karim Rahman.
Anushka suggests covering
head with a scarf on summer days Aishwaryas make up look:
to avoid direct exposure of hair to Gold+Black+Fuchsia: Applied in a sweep of
sunrays. solid, even color, gold eyeshadow meets and
“Don’t use bands without blends with fuchsia blush, which has been
metal closures, barrettes with brushed diagonally from the hollow of the cheek
smooth edges, etc. that would not to above the eyebrow. Deep black liner defines
damage or tear your hair leading the lashes for unforgettably alluring eyes. Nude
to split ends. Before stepping out lipstick leaves the all the impact to the make-up
in the sun, cover your head with a on the eyes and cheeks.
scarf, umbrella, or hat,” she says.
Also, she advises to go for short
hair on summer.
“Keeping your hair short at this
time will help you enjoy summers
better and might just give you the
make-over you have been looking
for,” she says.
“Opt for natural remedies to
regain the shine and strength
of your hair like:- Applying
Coconut hair oil mixed with raw
amla powder or with egg yolk
and water, keeping it for 15 – 20
minutes on hair and rinse it off,”
said Anushka.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 31
Indian
‘I am a great dancer’
The original Prem of Bollywood is back. Salman Khan will be seen romancing Asin in Ready. The actor chats up with
TWF correspondent Sreya Basu
The song Character dheela
from Ready is already
rocking the charts. Whose
brain is behind this song?
Character dheela was Asin’s
idea. Since she is the heroine of
the film, how can we say no to her!
That’s it?
(Laughs) Generally we use
the term character dheela in a
negative manner. But Aneesb-
hai (Bazmee, director) wanted
to make it positive. One day he
said people always look at us and
32
say: Iska character dheela hai.
But actually, woh log bhi yehi sab
karta hai. So, if they do, it’s raas
leela, and if we do, then character
dheela! Not fair na!
You did gigs on Raj
Kapoor, Dharmendra and
Dilip Kumar in the song.
How was the experience?
There’s no way you can do
justice to what they have done.
The way Dharmji looked in Sholey
nobody can even come near him,
Raj Kapoorsaab is a legend, Yusuf-
saab (Dilip Kumar) is something
else…from the first day of our
industry till today, nobody could
come one percent close to his per-
formance. We just did this as a
tribute.
How much do you relate
the song to yourself?
Look, my character has never
been dheela. I am 46 years old
now and if you have seen my
average (in love), it’s pathetic.
Do you think remakes are
lucky for you (Both Wanted
and Ready are remakes of
south Indian films)?
Our (Bollywood) writers are
actually writing…and how?…we
take pegs from here and there…
pick   from a French film, take
something from Ethiopian film or
a Hollywood film or an old Bolly-
wood film; unless he is a writer-di-
rector, then only he can do justice
to a script. The South writers also
borrow heavily from old Hindi
films. Like my father (Salim Khan)
used to write-Haathi Mere Saathi,
Deewar-they (South) have taken
all that stuff. They have remade
most of our films. Now it’s time
to take at least one or two back.
And it’s not that we lifted, we are
not making blind remakes. The
fact is, in the South, they work
on heroism, while in Bollywood,
there is n o heroism now. I want to
see me as a hero on screen. That’s
the reason I have started doing
this kind of films. Be it heroism
in comedy, action or drama, when
you come out of the theatre, you
want to be the hero (of the film)…
that’s what I want.
Then why don’t you do a
super-hero film like Hrithik
Roshan and Shah Rukh
Khan?
I don’t want to do any super-
hero film. I don’t want to be bitten Prabhu Deva had a tough time How much did your chore-
by a spider and turn Spiderman, while choreographing me. When ographer tire you with steps
I won’t want a red underwear I copied Prabhu Deva’s steps, I for Ready?
outside to be Superman…I just knew I was doing better than him. This time I took care of my
want to be Sal-Man. But he kept saying ‘one more, one steps…lots of care. My choreog-
While shooting for more’. But I was doing better! rapher Mudassar himself weighs
Wanted, there was news that Hazam nehin hota. I never have 12 kilos. So he dared not mess up
you had a hard time learning difficulties with steps. I am a great with me.
the steps from Prabhu Deva. dancer. Ask Boneyji (Kapoor, According to a latest Internet
Did you face a similar situa- producer of Wanted)…retakes pe survey, you have been rated as No
tion in Ready, since there are retakes. What is this politics! You 1 bachelor of India. What’s your
quite a number of twisters in make an actor damn tired so that take on it?
it? he can’t deliver well. I will change it soon. I will shift
I didn’t have a hard time, but to -1 (minus one).
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 33
Indian
INDIA: BEEN THERE, DONE THAT…
ram lingam
India of the past was a world leader in both the sacred and the secular. Modern achievements seem to just exaggerate what
India achieved before the invasions. India’s past points out the vast knowledge, experience and intelligence in all fields of hu-
man endeavor. Indian history helps us find out who we are, how we got to where we are now and where we might be heading.
India’s past is not dead. Its still
operates in the present. But it
seems fashionable to dismiss
the historical past as ‘Jo hua so
hua – what can we do now?’ In
our vanity of being psychologi-
cally advanced we tend to ignore
history. This attitude is strange
given that ‘we are what we are’
because of our historical past.
Indian history is not just
about dates of kings and queens,
‘battle of Plassey and all that’.
All our religions and religious
practices are from the past. Even
our names and family names are
from the past. We know English
because of the ‘angrezi’ occupa-
tion of India that happened in
the ‘past’. Someone is a Medical
doctor because he/she studied
medicine in the ‘past’. However
this is no appeal to get stuck in
a bygone era, but only to learn
from it – to regard the past as
a rear-view mirror, being in
the present and looking at the
future. No doubt the present
determines the future but the
present will also become past
in the future. As it is said, today
will be yesterday tomorrow as
we are living in tomorrow’s past.
These days people are even
getting regressed into their
past lives as a therapy. There
has been a paradigm shift in
religious belief systems due
to the overwhelming evidence
in modern psychiatry about
‘past’ life regression. Promi-
nent mainstream psychiatrists
like Dr.Brian Weiss have healed
people by exploring their ‘past’
lives. His many books like the
‘Many Lives Many Masters’ are
just enough proof.
Alluding to the incredible
lessons that past teaches us,
the great American philosopher
and historian Will Durant said
“The past is not dead; it is the
sum of the factors operating in
the present. The present is the
past rolled up into a moment for
action; the past is the present
unraveled in history for our un-
derstanding. Therefore invite
the great men of the past into
your homes.”
Ancient Indian civilisation
has some terrific life-lessons for
the world as India in her zenith
has practically ‘been there
done that’ in areas – sacred
and secular. The lessons from
ancient India are more signifi-
cant today than ever, especially
when India and Indians out-
landishly follow a lifestyle that
is ‘Na ghar ka nag hat ka’ in an
atmosphere of hurried moderni-
sation. The ghar ka wisdom and
the ancient eco-friendly life-
style was solid in foundation, of
course with some paint peel-offs
34
wisdom but very few had noble
intentions. Even scheming Ori-
“A critical search should be made to find out the entalists like Max Muller had
to finally admit saying “If I am
nature of the accidents that are responsible for asked which nation had been ad-
the present condition of India which once had vanced in the ancient world in
respect of education and culture
the dangerous reputation of a fabulous wealth then I would say it was – India”.
Of the travelers who visited
attracting round her treasure-house adventurers India, Megasthenes (350 – 290
from distant shores.” - Rabindranath Tagore BCE) from Greece, Fa-Hein (337
– c. 422 CE) and Huan Tsang
(c. 602 – 664 CE) from China,
Alberuni (973 – 1048 CE) from
Persia provide some fascinating
accounts about India in their
travelogues. They came with a
quest to know India, as India
was at the centre of much scien-
tific and spiritual advancement
being a seat of learning. Fa-Hein
and Huan Tsang have given par-
ticularly glowing accounts of
the big universities of Nalanda
and Taksasila where more than
10,500 students from all over
the world studied more than 60
subjects.
The visitor’s travelogues
offer plenty of insight about
ancient Indian science, phi-
losophy, justice and lifestyle.
Besides these accounts there is
plenty of empirical evidence for
today’s scientific minded. Four-
teen branches of learning called
‘Chaturdasa-vidya‘ were taught
in India from the remote past
until the inception of ‘angrez’
rule as confirmed in the copper-
plate inscriptions dated 868 CE
in Tamil Nadu.
Eminent historians, philolo-
The ancient astronomical observatory, Jantar Mantar, in Jaipur gists, archaeologists and even
modern day scientists have been
overtly explicit about India’s
past glory in their writings. 
“I believe that the civilisation India evolved is not to Grant Duff the British Historian
of India confirms “Many of the
be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds advances in the sciences that
sown by our ancestors, Rome went, Greece shared the we consider today to have been
made in Europe were in fact
same fate; the might of the Pharaohs was broken; made in India centuries ago”.
Mahatma Gandhi’s in 1908
Japan has become Westernised; of China nothing can said “I believe that the civilisa-
be said; but India is still, somehow or other, sound at tion India evolved is not to be
beaten in the world. Nothing
the foundation.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi can equal the seeds sown by our
ancestors, Rome went, Greece
shared the same fate; the might
of the Pharaohs was broken;
which got tended to. and honest book like ‘The Case Tagore advised “A critical Japan has become Westernized;
The glory got hidden when for India’ by Will Durant was search should be made to find of China nothing can be said;
India was pauperised only in banned by the ‘angrez’ in India out the nature of the accidents but India is still, somehow or
the last 1000 years, in an era because they feared the book that are responsible for the other, sound at the foundation.”
of calamitous political slavery. would create an intellectual present condition of the country If such was the glory of India,
During this time, the glory of awakening instigating a journey which once had the dangerous what now? Past can’t be recre-
India was deliberately trodden, back to freedom and richness. In reputation of a fabulous wealth ated but the lessons and knowl-
maligned and eventually went 1931, Tagore mentions in his re- attracting round her treasure- edge can certainly be helpful.
underground (some literally). sponse to Durrant’s book: ‘The house adventurers from distant The tribute now would be to
Perhaps it was the price India dark facts of our bankruptcy are shores.” The loot that happened blend the good Indian past into
paid for being nice to the ‘paschi- evident to any casual visitor, but during the 1000 years – uska koi the present as Nehru observed
mi’ nomads, tradesmen and the the truth which is permanent in hisaab nahin. about Swāmi Vivekānanda
illiterate Mughals (the Persian the spirit of the people must be Many such treasure-house – “Rooted in the past, full of
word for Mongol is ‘Mughal’). explored in the history of our adventurers were simply awe- pride in India’s prestige and yet
In 1930, even an objective past.” struck with India’s wealth and modern in the appro.
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 35
Indian

Give a great start to your day

Varsha Asrani
Each morning, when you are racing against time, splitting it
between dressing up, getting your kids ready, packing lunch
boxes only to realise that you are running late to hit the road,
there is a good chance that you are missing something that is
essential for a great start to your day – The Breakfast!
Well, missing it could have a long lasting impact on your per-
formance for the day and when this becomes a routine then a
greater impact on your health for a life time.
Breakfast literally means – Breaking the fast. Generally most
of us do not indulge in any eating after dinner or a late snack
before sleeping, so breakfast is needed to provide the essen-
tial fuel for our body.
Breakfast is an important meal of the day; it provides you
the required energy needed to start a new day and is also
linked to multiple health benefits, including weight control and
improved performance. A nutritionally balanced breakfast
is known to improve concentration level and performance
throughout the day and improve your endurance level to
engage in physical activities. This can be important for all age
groups especially amongst children and adolescents.
In my previous articles, I have always emphasised on the im-
portance of having a balanced diet, spread across the day, it
is ideal to have between five to six small meals during the day
with breakfast an essential start, as people who skip break-
fast tend to end up eating more at mid day, at times making
choices which may not be healthy.
It is essential that we make good choices; breakfast should
be a healthy mix of carbohydrates like whole grain options, a
protein option like yoghurt or egg, milk or some nuts. The right
balance can keep away the hunger pangs till your next meal.
So the question then arises – what should I eat?
High energy dense options like muffins should be avoided,
a large coffee and muffin can add as much as up to 350 or
more calories, many of the advertised breakfast bars are ac-
tually nothing but creepy content that may not be ideal to start
your day, remember to read your labels.
Cereals that are available in the market can be high in sugars
and low in fibre; it is better to keep these at an arm’s length.
Ideally we should be eating foods like whole grain breads,
cereals or rolled oats that are rich in fibre and low in sugars,
low fat dairy for protein or eggs.
If running out of time, make up a healthy smoothie with few
fruits, yoghurt or milk and some oats which can be left in the
fridge overnight, this can be better than picking up a muffin or
a sweet pancake on your way to work
Having the same old breakfast each day can be boring, but
with a bit of creativity you can make this very interesting, while
maintaining its nutritional content.
Invest a little planning time to gain the big benefits of break-
fast, Add breakfast items to your shopping list so your kitchen
is well-stocked.
Have a great start each day!!!
This article is a general guideline only. Please see, a health
professional for individual conditions and needs.
Varsha Asrani is a New Zealand Registered Dietitian. For per-
sonal consultations or any questions, suggestions or views
please email her on info@varshaasrani.com.

Headaches most common disorders but widely untreated: UN

New York: Headaches are the
most common health disorders
across the world, yet they remain
neglected and under-treated, ac-
cording to a United Nations study
released on Tuesday, which calls
for greater investment in health
care to treat the problem effec-
tively through better services and
awareness.
In its Atlas of Headache Dis-
orders and Resources in the
World 2011, the UN World Health
Organization (WHO) shows that
headache disorders, includ-
ing migraine and tension-type
headaches, affected half to three
quarters of adults between the
ages of 18 and 65 last year.
Only a minority of people with
headache disorders worldwide
are professionally diagnosed,
with the rate for migraine and
tension-type headaches being
about 40 per cent and 10 per
cent for headaches related to
medication overuse, according
to the study.
Specialists reported using
International Headache Society
diagnostic criteria to support di-
agnosis in 56 per cent of coun-
tries that responded to the study
questionnaire. Usage was lower
in Africa, the Eastern Mediterra-
nean and South-East Asia and
very low in poorer countries gen-
erally.
Instruments to assess impact
of headache are used routinely
in only 24 per cent of countries
that responded, and very little
in lower middle- or low-income
countries, the report shows.
Worldwide, about 50 per cent
of people with headaches are
estimated to primarily treat them-
selves without contacting health
professionals. Only about 10 per
cent are seen by neurologists,
with the rate even lower in Africa
and South-East Asia.
Among specific anti-migraine
drugs, ergotamine is more widely
available than triptans, although
the latter is more effective and
less toxic, but more expensive,
according to the WHO study.
Countries in all income cat-
egories identified non-availability
of appropriate medication as a
barrier to best headache man-
agement, which probably refers
to limited reimbursement by
health insurers.
The study pointed out that
financial costs of headaches to
society through lost productivity
are enormous – far greater than
the health care expenditure on
headaches in any country.
“Health care for headache
must be improved, and educa-
tion is required at multiple levels
to achieve this,” WHO says in the
study. “Most importantly, health-
care providers need better
knowledge of how to diagnose
and treat the small number of
headache disorders that con-
tribute substantially to public ill-
health.”
Given the very high indirect
costs of headaches, greater
investment in health care that
treats headaches effectively,
through well-organized health
services and supported by edu-
cation, may well be cost-saving
overall, the study advises.

Exercise is important for wellbeing

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy –it’s a saying
that we all have heard while growing up. But its relevance
never seemed more pertinent than in today’s world. In
enacting our packed daily schedules we are running after
achieving success and money to the extent that running
on the treadmill seems to have fallen out of our list of
things to do. This eliminates the possibility of achieving
happiness of mind, which is a direct consequence of a
fit body.
Lack of time and avenues is the most common excuse
cited by people in ignoring physical activity. But it is all
about finding time and making exercise an intrinsic part
of our lives akin to eating or sleeping. New Zealand offers
plenty of options to pick and choose from to have a
healthy lifestyle. From the number of open spaces and
parks available, to the local gyms offering a bouquet of
activities like ultra-modern Gyms, to Zumba to swimming
there is no dearth of options. SPARC NZ also offers a
range of sports and activities to get involved with. Also
nearly all sports have a semi-professional/social league
operating. It provides good opportunities to join one of
these, to not only hone any dormant sporting talents, but
also to know more people in the nearby community with
common interests.
Being tired after a hard day at work is another excuse not
to exercise. From my perspective, it is the lack of motiva-
tion, and laziness that acts as a deterrent- the drive to the
gym is often the difficult part. Really speaking, how many
of us feel run down or tired after exercising? The answers
in most cases are a resounding NO.
Medical science has proved that exercise is not only a
great stress buster, but also it helps alleviate any negative
thoughts and improve self-esteem. No wonder exercise
is the best weapon against the problem of obesity which
is gaining epidemic and alarming proportions throughout
the world.
Cost should also not be a deterrent when you consider
the bigger picture: the benefits of having a sound body
and a peaceful mind far outweigh any other costs like a
gym membership or your gym gear. Remember a healthy
body will house an active and peaceful mind. And as the
old time tested saying goes Health is Wealth.
C’mon people let us all adopt a healthier and an active
lifestyle and the advantages gained will not only benefit
us but also our families and society .So let us make
the most of this God given opportunity in this beautiful
country with its clean air and pollution free atmosphere
to better our lot and those around us thru Exercise and
other physical activities.

36 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

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38 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian

Is it better to buy a house or to keep renting?

RAVI MEHTA
This is the dilemma many people face partic-
ularly after the housing market began losing
steam following the onset of financial crisis
led by falling house prices in United States.
You search on Google and you will find dif-
ferent columnists with different views with
some even suggesting that you should keep on
renting forever.
House ownership has distinct advantages;
you can make alterations which you cannot if
you are renting. You are never afraid of your
landlord giving you notice to vacate the house.
Also house ownership gives you a sense of be-
longing and pride.
But I am writing this article purely from
the financial perspective and particularly for
Auckland and may be other metropolitan
cities in New Zealand. Also, these calculations
are based on long term investment in housing.
The New Zealand house prices
rose by 3% average (over and
above inflation) between 1992 and
2002. I am not worried here about
the rate of inflation during that
time, as for the future, the Reserve
Bank’s target is to keep inflation
between 1 and 3% and I believe it
will be able to keep it at that level.
If we look at the REINZ Prop-
erty market report for last 10
years, Auckland median house
prices have risen from $255000
to $455000. It translates into
6.65% year to year growth. Across
New Zealand, the median price
has gone up from $179000 to
$372000, which is a growth rate of
7.75% a year. The point is that over
the past 2 decades house prices
have been on the rise. Though
past performance does not guar-
antee the future performance of
any asset class, it is definitely a
useful indicator.
Coming to rents, rents are on
the rise particularly in Auckland.
During the past one year, rents
have gone up by about 7% average. Keeping Now consider you
in mind the shortage of housing predicted buy a house of
by many experts in coming years, it looks as $400,000 with bor-
though that the upward pressure on rents will rowing of $385,000.
continue. If the interest rate
Also according to the data published by on an average is 7%
Crockers, the average annual rental increase over next 30 years
in New Zealand had been around 2% between (if inflation stays at
2007 and 2010. 3%, 7% interest rate
Let us make the comparisons now. You is a reasonable esti- So, if inflation rate is 3%, house prices
assume you are paying $450 per week now mate), your yearly average property main- should go up by at least 3% a year. Even in
as rent for a house which you can purchase tenance, rates and insurance are $5000, in- that case, you will be benefited financially by
for $400,000, where you can put a deposit flation rate stays at 3%, which means rates, buying rather than keep on renting, which
of $20,000 and borrow $385,000 (including insurance, maintenance charges will go should be evident from the above analysis.
any fees and charges). up by 3%, every year, the figures will be as Note: Though every care has been taken
Proposed rent payments over the next 30 to ensure that all
years, based on annual rental inflation of 2% calculations are ac-
and 3% will be as under- curate, Indian Week-
ender and the writer
are not responsible if
any one suffers a loss
by acting on recom-
mendations. Please
consult your financial
advisor to check the
suitability for your
own circumstances
before acting on rec-
below- ommendations.
So if the rents go up by average 3% on year to
year basis, and house prices do not increase Ravi Mehta is an Auckland based Finan-
in value at all, it does not matter financially cial Advisor and can be contacted on ravi.
if you buy a house or keep on renting as the mehta@pfsl.co.nz. A disclosure statement
results are almost similar. But following under Securities Markets Act relating to his
will be value of house of $400,000 after 30 services is available on request and is free
years, if these increase in value. of charge.

Remembering our Veterans

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi MP

On Monday 25th April, I attended the Anzac HMNZS Canterbury was already in port
Service in Papatoetoe.  It was great to see so at Lyttelton, and offered help right away.  It
many veterans, families, and servicemen at also completed supply trips to the region. Our
the ceremony. army dispatched troops to support Police
The Gallipoli campaign is a deeply signifi- maintaining cordons around the city and the
cant part of our history.  More than 2,700 New Royal New Zealand Air Force flew in vital
Zealanders lost their lives serving as part of equipment and urban search and rescue
the Australia New Zealand Army Corps that teams.
landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.  During the past year we have faced losses
Anzac Day is a day to reflect on, and be to our defence force, both here and in Afghan-
grateful to, our Anzac veterans.  We cannot istan. These men were serving our country
begin to imagine the human suffering, hard- and safeguarding the freedom of people that
ships, and horrors they endured.  We also re- needed our help. This is the same spirit in
membered those who have served in conflicts which our Anzac veterans served.
since that time, World War II, the Korean This year we have delivered on a pre-
War, the Malayan Emergency, the Vietnam election promise to see our veterans recog-
War, the Gulf War, and the Balkans. nised with the New Zealand Defence Service
There are currently 1136 New Zealand Medal. This medal recognises all Kiwis who
Defence Force personnel deployed on 16 op- have served in our defence force operation-
erations, UN missions and defence exercises ally, and in a wide range of vital support roles.
around the world. While our forces today may Defence Minister Wayne Mapp also an-
serve our country in a very different way to nounced that the Defence Force will provide
the Anzacs at Gallipoli, they are upholding a $2000 per person grant through Veterans’
democracy, preserving peace, and providing Affairs New Zealand to help our veterans to
aid around the world.   attend the 70th anniversary celebrations of
This year our armed forces also gave the Battle of Crete in May this year.
support on our own shores.  When tragedy These medals and grants are small ways
struck Christchurch on 22 February, our for us to acknowledge what our veterans went
armed forces responded immediately.  through on our behalf.

Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 39

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40 Indian Weekender | 21st of May, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz