Indian Weekender December 18, 2015

7/21/2019 Indian Weekender December 18, 2015

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/indian-weekender-december-18-2015 1/32

The pulse of Kiwi-Indians

18 December, 2015 • Vol. 7 Issue 39 • www.iwk.co.nz

NZ’s first Kiwi-Indian weekly newspaper

WRAPPING UP 2015



18 December 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

l

2 CONTENTS

FEATUREBloggers Park

BOLLYWOODLights, camera, action...

Pg 28

FACE OF THE WEEKMeet the young art genius

Pg 30

Pg 22Pg 14Pg 4

Pg 24

NEW ZEALANDFirst ag referendum results released

CHRISTMAS FRUIT SUPREMEGATEAU

$56FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY

www.gateauhouse.com

Head shop: 309 Dominion Rd, Mt.Eden 09)630-8333, 630-7744 • CBD: 332 Queen St, CBD 09) 368-5646• CBD: 18 High St, CBD 09) 303-2636 • Newmarket: 142 Broadway, Newmarket 09) 524-6845

• Dannemora: Unit 7, 14 Bishop Lehihan Place, East Tamaki 09) 278-9008• Henderson: Unit 6, 42 Paramount Drive, Henderson 09)837-0104 • Glenfield20 Link Drive, Glenfield 09)444-1004

SPECIAL FEATUREThe Kiwi round-up

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL’Tis the silly season



www.iwk.co.nz | 18 December 2015

l

3SPECIAL FEATURE

淋浴頭

支付公道的價格享受高品質的生活

可調節淋浴龍頭

淋浴

可調節盥洗台龍頭

NOVA750 壁掛式

盥洗台去水器

浴室地漏

原價現價

節省

* 不包括底盤

100%防水 PVC 盥洗台

2 X 軟關閉櫃門和抽屜

760X460X450

A s the year 2015 draws

to a close, we at Indian

Weekender, have decided,

yet again to wrap it all up with round-ups of all that happened this year.

We have exclusive stories on the

highlights from around the world,

New Zealand and Fiji, on all that

glittered in Bollywood, all that took

you to the heights of excitement in

the world of sports and all that awed

you in the nifty world of gadgets and

technology. And just when you

think we had missed some other

exciting things, we have them all in

our special centre spread.

For a team dedicated to bringing you the best of all there is, it has been

a fast-paced year. In the year gone by,

we have brought you a bouquet of 50

specially designed issues, carefully put

together for your reading pleasure. So

as we all get into the holiday spirit

and take some time o to prepare and

re ju ven a te

to do it

all over

a g a i n

next year, we

want to say a big Thank You for all your support; our advertisers, our

readers, our friends, our guides and

supporters and our critics. It is each

one of you that makes us want to come

back week after week and put in our

best. It is your constant support that

makes us want to better ourselves.

We promise to lift our game even

further in the coming year, so you

can count on us for being your

rst choice.

With best wishes for an exceptional

festive season, we wish you a MerryChristmas and a bright and brilliant

New Year. We will be back on the

stands on January 8, 2016.

Until then, may you have a season

full of love, togetherness, laughter

and cheer. Stay safe and stay blessed.

-Team Indian Weekender




l

4 SPECIAL FEATURE

Christchurch in 2015GAURAV SHARMA

January

Annus horribilis for farmers

The year started with farms

in wider Canterburyregion on the brink of a

serious drought, and is ending

with the most severe El Ninoweather pattern in almost 50

years. Prospects of an even hotter

and drier summer are loomingover the farming community in

and around Christchurch. Recorddrop in Fonterra’s milk price

forecast—which having touched

$3.60/kgMS is hovering at $4.60/kgMS now—added to the distress

throughout the year.

March

Hosts Te Matatini—the

national Kapa Haka festivalStarted in 1972, the ve-day

festival, themed “He ngakauaroha” this year, was held

between March 4 and 8 at North

Hagley Park in Christchurch.

The theme was selected byNgai Tahu—the principal iwi

[tribe] of the country’s South

Island—in recognition of thesupport the city has received from

other Maori tribes around thecountry. Of the 45 performing

teams, Te Kapa Haka o Te Whānauan Apanui was the overall winner

and won the coveted title of

Toa Whakaihuwaka.

May

Christchurch Town Hallrestoration

The decision to restore and

repair Christchurch’s earthquake-

damaged Town Hall seemedpossible when Deloittes declared

the estimated costs to be within

the City Council’s budget. Laterthe Council voted to spend $127

million restoring the heritage-

listed building by June 2018. The

restored building will comply withthe new building standards, and

will have upgraded audio and

lighting systems.

Cathedral Square

rebuild stallsMeanwhile, development plans

around city’s iconic but severelyearthquake-damaged Cathedral

Square kept on collapsing with

no consensus in sight. With the$500 million convention centre

also been pushed to 2018, and

the newly-launched joint council-

government entity RegenerateChristchurch announcing no

plans for the Square as yet, peopleare hoping for 2016 to bring some

good news.

June

CTV building

engineer clearedIn a case that had caught the

entire nation’s attention since

the 2011 Earthquake, Alan Reay

of Christchurch design rm AlanReay Consultants, responsible

for the six-storey Canterbury

Television building, which

THE KIWI ROUND-UPThe year 2015 has been eventful.As we approach the end ofthe year, looking back, lots ofmemories, stories, news and factscome to mind. Let us start withsome stories that made us, the

Indian community, stand taller.MAHESH K

Harman Singh

The 22-year-old Sikh made headlinesall over the world with his seless

and heart-warming gesture when

he broke religious protocol by removing histurban to help a six-year-old boy hit by a

car outside his Takanini house in May.

Indian Weekender carried an interviewwith Harman in the “Heroes Amongst Us”

section, where he shared his feelings duringthe incident. He was presented with a police

award and praised for his “outstandingcompassion and empathy”. People such asHarman make our community proud and

this world a better place.

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi

Although there are many such stories of

members from this vibrant community, I

would like to share the story of our very ownKanwaljit Singh Bakshi. Delhi-born Bakshi

who is New Zealand’s rst Indian and rst

Sikh member of New Zealand Parliament,was honoured with the prestigious Pravasi

Bharatiya Samman Award in India thisJanuary. The award, which recognises

outstanding contributions by recipients

in their chosen eld, was presented toMr Bakshi by Indian Vice President

Mohammad Hamid Ansari. Mr Bakshiwho is known to be a humble and activemember of Kiwi-Indian community was

also the rst inductee to the Kiwi IndianHall of Fame.

Nungshi and Tashi Malik

Another story that should be an

inspiration to many, is that of India’s

famous ‘Everest twins’ Nungshi and Tashi

Malik, who were in Invercargill to studyat the Southern Institute of Technology

after they got awarded a NZ India SportsScholarship. The 24-year-old sisters from

Haryana have the distinction of being therst Indians to climb the tallest mountains

on every continent. They have also been

featured in Guinness Book of WorldRecords in its 60th Anniversary edition.

They have been lauded for being the

world’s rst siblings and rst twins to scalethe famed Seven Summits. The brave twins

hoisted the Indian tricolour on the North

Pole in April this year. Indian Weekender was privileged to host the sisters during

its prestigious Hall of Fame event in Maythis year.

Lest we forget

This year also saw the commemoration

of the centenary of the ANZAC militarycampaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula. New

Zealanders paid tributes to thousands

of young men who stormed the beacheson the Gallipoli Peninsula on April

25, 1915. For eight long and arduous

months, New Zealand troops alongsidethose from Australia, Great Britain and

Ireland, France, India and Newfoundland

battled adverse conditions and Ottomanforces to protect their homeland. Indian

Weekender carried a story aimed toacknowledge the forgotten Indian soldiers

who fought during the same war. While

it is sad that the Indian contribution inthe campaign is often forgotten, we will

always be proud of this shared pieceof history.

Flag referendum

The year was also abuzz with debates

about whether the Kiwi national ag

should be changed. There have been

various arguments advocating the

change of ag some of these include

New Zealand ag being too similar to

the Australian ag, it not representing

the independent, sovereign status of

New Zealand and not representing New

Zealand’s Māori heritage. The arguments

against the change have been primarily

the emotional attachment that Kiwis have

with the current ag and the nancial

cost of the whole exercise of changingthe ag. Whichever side of the fence

you might sit, New Zealand government

has scheduled a two-staged binding

referendum with the rst referendum

already taken place. The process which

has a strong backing from Prime Minister

John Key started with a Flag Consideration

Panel that engaged with public asking

their suggestions, feedback and

ag designs.

Pathway student visa

The Pathway Student Visa that will

allow international students to undertakea pathway of up to three consecutive study

programmes saw mixed reactions. The

visa will be valid for a maximum of ve years. While announcing the visa, Tertiary

Education, Skills and EmploymentMinister Steven Joyce said, “…Pathway

Student Visas will help retain more

international students and make NewZealand more competitive with countries

such as Australia which already oer

pathway programmes.”

The Story of Rama

On a cultural note, Auckland art lovers

got a treat from the Auckland Art Gallery when it announced the opening of its

exhibition The Story of Rama: Indian

Miniatures from the National Museum, New Delhi . A 101 paintings have travelled

from Delhi to Auckland which tell thestory of the Indian epic. These exquisite

paintings based on Ram Katha come from

north, central and east India.If you have not been to the exhibition

yet, you still have time. It is on till January

17, 2016.

ATEED Diwali festival

Taking the cultural round-up further, I

have to mention ATEED Diwali celebration. Although the event is an annual Auckland

feature, the grandeur and excitementseems to be growing every year. This year

too, despite some initial opposition from

self-proclaimed community leaders, thefestival saw unprecedented participation

from not only the Kiwi-Indian community

but also from other communities. Like last year, Indian Weekender was proud to be a

major partner for the event this year too.

India Trade Alliance

Another news that made Kiwi-Indian

business community happy was the

formation of India Trade Alliance (ITA).The alliance was launched this year with

a mission to promote closer economic

ties between New Zealand and India.ITA executive committee consists of

heavyweights with proven experience and vision. Community has a rm belief that

ITA will bridge the gap in the Indo-Kiwi

trade relations and provide a win-winplatform to members in both the countries.

Continued on page 5




l

5SPECIAL FEATURE

Dairy with Lotto in Central AucklandWeekly Sales $15,500 (incl Lotto)Asking $149,000 + Stock Ref 44951

Dairy with 3 BedroomAccommodation in PukekoheWeekly Sales $7,000 ApproxAsking $55,000 + Stock Ref 44634

Entry Level Superettein South AucklandWeekly Sales $10,000 Approx.

Asking $110,000 + Stock Ref 45222

Nice and Spacious Dairyin West AucklandWeekly Sales $11,000 Approx.Asking $120,000 + Stock Ref 45228

Dairy in Auckland CBDWeekly Sales $9,000 ApproxAsking $40,000 + Stock Ref 45048

Dairy With Accommodationin Hawkes BayWeekly Sales $40,000 ApproxAsking $450,000 + Stock 45049Freehold Option Available

Dairy in HamiltonWeekly Sales $14,000 ApproxAsking $129,000 + Stock Ref 45255

Dairy in Auckland

Weekly Sales $14,000 ApproxAsking $149,000 + Stock Ref 45077

Dairy and Lotto with 3 BedroomAccommodation in Hamilton Weekly Sales $32,000 Approx.Lotto Sales $5,500 Approx.Asking $450,000 + Stock Ref 45120

(UNCONDITIONAL)

Dairy in East Auckland Weekly Sales $9,000 ApproxAsking $99,000 + Stock Ref 45087

Dairy in Auckland

Cheap Rent $173 per WeekWeekly Sales $7,500 Approx


Dairy in East Auckland Price to Sale


(UNCONDITIONAL)

Dairy with Lotto in North Shore Weekly Sales $22,500 Approx

Including Lotto Sales of $8,000 ApproxAsking $350,000 + Stock Ref 45259

Dairy with 3 BedroomAccommodation in North ShoreWeekly Sales $9,000 ApproxAsking $110,000 + Stock Ref 45165

Dairy with Lotto in AucklandWeekly Sales $9,000 Approx (incl Lotto sales)


Dairy in West AucklandWeekly Sales $6,500 Approx


Fruit & Vege In West Auckland

Weekly Sales $17,000 Approx


Fast Food Sandwich Franchisefor Sale in Auckland


(UNDER CONTRACT)

Fast Food Sandwich Franchisefor Sale in AucklandAsking $280,000 + Stock Ref 45091

Fast Food Sandwich Franchisefor sale in NorthlandAsking $340,000 + Stock Ref 45298

Licensed Indian Restaurant in Auckland



Licensed Indian Restaurant



Fully Managed Licensed Restaurantin East Auckland



Retail Indian ClothingStore In AucklandSame Vendor for last 17 years

Asking Only Value of Stock $250,000

Approx Ref 45236

Habitual Fix Franchise forSale in Auckland


Liquor Shop for Sale in Auckland CBDWeekly Sales $14 ,000 Approx.


Huia Food store Premium Caféand FreeholdAsking $1,225,000 Ref 45300

collapsed in the earthquake claiming

115 lives, was cleared of all charges ofmisleading New Zealand’s professional

engineering body—The Institution of

Professional Engineers (Ipenz). With this,the ongoing criminal investigation on the

building collapse is yet to conclude whetheranyone will be charge.

August

Earthquake Commission

(EQC) debacle

Contrary to its mandate, EQC faceda class action suit, and allegations ofoversight on shabby repair works, nepotism

and favouritism this year. A report into the

Building Code compliance of earthquakerepairs to Christchurch homes by the

Ministry of Business, Innovation and

Employment (MBIE) revealed more than athird of the surveyed homes failed to meet

the building code. Then, more than 100Christchurch home-owners approached the

High Court in a class action suit against the

EQC. The Commission also faced negativemedia coverage all year long, especially as

regards to a young claims assessor Nikki

Kettle—daughter of Gail Kettle who is thegeneral manager of customers and claims at

EQC. Questions were raised on how Nikki,

in-spite ofyfacing scrutiny and internalinvestigations for her general conduct,

technical decisions and conict of interest,had continued in her role for so long.

September

Regenerate ChristchurchIn a rst for New Zealand, the Crown

and Christchurch City Council outlined

plans to establish Regenerate Christchurch(RC)—“a jointly owned and funded entity

tasked with overseeing the long-term $40

billion development and enhancement ofthe Central City, residential red zone, New

Brighton and other potential regeneration

zones”. With a working mandate till

2021, RC, headed by Andre Lovatt, will

develop plans and strategies to assist with regeneration, monitor regeneration

outcomes and interventions, as well as

facilitate seamless investor experience.The government later introduced the

Greater Christchurch Regeneration Billin the Parliament, which will replace the

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011

expiring on April 26 next year.

December

A Great Place to BeEvery society needs hope; actually

every society survives on hope. Especially

a city still traumatised by the devastating

February 2011 earthquake. Realising this,The Press, Christchurch’s main newspaper,

launched a campaign—A Great Place to

Be—to carry forward “the optimistic spiritconjured up by Share an Idea, launched in

May 2011 as a colourful, engaging way to getChristchurch residents to say what kind of

future they wanted for their city, and which

had seen more than 105,000 suggestions being shared within six weeks”.

Continued from page 4




l

6 SPECIAL FEATURE

Top global stories of the year 2015—the year Marty McFly and Doc Brown travelled to in the sequel of Back to the Future in 1989. Our year was probably no match to RobertZemeckis’ version—no flying cars or hoverboards. Well almost; our tech section may tell you otherwise—but here is what made the headlinesthis year.

ESHA CHANDA

Love wins

In a historic court ruling, theUnited States Supreme Court

ruled in favour of same-sex

marriages on June 26. Five out of

nine court justices determined the

right to equality in the Obergefell

v Hodges case. With the court’s

ruling—a triumph for gay rights

movement in the country—the

US became the latest country

to join the circle that legalised

gay marriages. Other nations

include Finland, Brazil, New

Zealand, England and Wales and

the Netherlands.

Hello, Pluto

NASA’s spacecraft NewHorizons made its historic

ypast of Pluto on July

14 after blasting o

in January 2006.

The fastest launch

recorded, reaching

speeds of more

than 36,000

miles per hour,

the spacecraft took

pictures of Pluto

and its largest moon

Charon. In the rst

24 hours after its ypast,

NASA received images that

revealed that Pluto is slightly

larger than thought. The sensorson the spacecraft also detected

a nitrogen atmosphere. The

spacecraft, which carries the

ashes of the late Clyde Tombaugh,

who discovered the lonely dwarf

planet in 1930, is now headed

further into the Kuiper Belt. The

fuel is designed to last until the

late 2020s or even beyond.

International Yoga Day:

more unrest than peace?

The UN General Assembly

adopted International Yoga

Day and gave the 5,000-year-

old practice a global status on

June 21. An initiative by IndianPrime Minister Narendra Modi,

the event was

s u c c e s s f u l l y

observed by

many countries.

But as

people rolled

out their mats,

c o n t r o v e r s y

brewed around

the UN and

the Indian

government’s

s u p p o r t

for yoga.

A c c u s a t i o n s

of pushing a

Hindu agenda

led to a erce

debate between

political and

r e l i g i o u s

leaders.

Water on the red planet

NASA announced that they

found evidence of liquid water on

the surface of Mars in October.

The Mars Reconnaissance

Orbiter spacecraft

d e t e c t e d

hydrated salt minerals on slopes

where darkish streaks are seen.

The brine found on the steep

slopes is the strongest evidence

yet of water owing on the planet.

Although the scientists are unsure

where the water comes from, the

discovery raises the chances of

nding some form of Martian life.

The historic COP 21

The 21st session of the

Conference of the Parties (COP 21)

received a lot of media attention

around the globe. For the rst

time, in more than 20 years of

UN negotiations, the conferenceheld in Paris aimed to achieve a

legally binding agreement from

all the nations of the world. After

two weeks of tense negotiations,

the conference

reached an agreement that was

dubbed as “historic, durable and

ambitious”. The participating

195 countries had agreed to

the nal global pact—to reduce

their carbon output and to keep

global warming to below two

degree Celsius.

Terror strikes Paris

Early in the year, two brothers,

Said and Cherif Kouachi—identied as gunmen belonging

to the Islamist terrorist group

Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen—

attacked the oce of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly French satiricalnewspaper. The open re in the

oce killed 11 people and injured

11 others. As the police continuedthe search the following day,

one of the gunmen shot dead a

policewoman before eeing thescene. The three-day massacre

began at the oce in Paris on

January 7 and ended with a police

operation and two sieges.In November, terror shook

the capital of France again whengunmen and suicide bombers hita stadium, multiple restaurants

and bars and a concert hall. The

ISIS-co-ordinated attacks claimedthe lives of 130 people and left

more than a 100 wounded or in a

critical condition.

Nepal earthquake

In the worst natural disaster

to strike the country, a massiveearthquake shook Nepal in April

killing more than 9,000 people.

Two weeks later, dozens died whena new tremor near Mount Everest

triggered a landslide. Beforethe country could recover from

the shock, another catastrophic

quake—tremors of which were feltin Bangladesh, China and many

states in India—caused mass panic

and more landslides. Months later,thousands are still struggling to

return to normal lives from the

widespread destruction.




l

7SPECIAL FEATURE

Merry Christmas& Happy New Year

IWK SETS NEW BENCHMARKSSWATI SHARMA

Indian Weekender continued to scale new heights and set standards this year as well. Besides continuing to excel with the weekly publication, Indian Weekender ’sevents were well-received by the Kiwi-Indian community.

Hall of Fame 2015

This year’s Hall of Fame marked its third

anniversary. It grew even bigger withthe announcement of two new awards this

year along with the coveted Kiwi Indian

Hall of Fame. The new awards Kiwi-Indian

Young Achiever and Kiwi-Indian Unsung

Hero were well received.

This year Dr Kantilal Naranji Patel

was inducted into the Hall of Fame

for his contribution towards the Kiwi-

Indian community. Prerna Sinha aka

Dj Charlie and Parveen Patel won

the awards for Kiwi-Indian Young

Achiever and Kiwi-Indian Unsung

Hero respectively. The event graced by

Prime Minister John Key and other MPs,

model and actor Colin Mathura-Jeree and

who’s who of the Kiwi-Indian community,

was highly praised for its grandeur, content

and the “wow factor”.

A free weed-eater for the first 10 franchises

NEW BUSINESS only

Work for Lifestyle, Security, Success and Fulfilment

Area available throughout AucklandFrom $15,500 + equipment

Pay For Work Guarantee of $1,500 per week*

Phone

NOW0800 4546 546

JOIN OUR TEAM OF PROFESSIONALS TODAY!

NEEDS

YOU!

www.jimsmowingauckland.com

Gold Award 2014for Franchisor Support



Continued on Page 8




l

8 NEW ZEALANDNEW ZEALAND

Wishing you and

your families a

Merry Christmas

and a Happy New

Year.

Jenny SALESAMP for Manukau East

[email protected]

Electorate Office

7 Fulton Cres, Otara

09 274 9231

Authorised by Jenny Salesa

Parliament Buildings, Wellington

- .

Spreading joy:Humm FM’s Christmas forKids RadiothonIWK BUREAU

Hundreds of listeners walked

through the doors of Humm FM

with just one motive, to bring

smiles on little faces this Christmas. Humm

106.2 FM, Auckland’s only Hindi FM Radio

Station, launched a 48-Hour Radiothon

broadcast to bring joy to less fortunate kids.

The campaign started on Thursday,December 10 midday and was scheduled

to end on Saturday, December 12

midday, but the non-stop response of

listeners motivated the RJ’s to carry it

forward till 6 p.m. Saturday, making it a 54-

hour Radiothon.

Breakfast show host, Vijay Varma, Drive

show host Dev Sachindra and Evening

show host Roopam Chowdhury anchored

the Radiothon for 54 hours while breakfast

show co-host Pooja Kumar joined the

campaign later, giving 35 hours, and Drive

show co-host Sandy Sekhon joined the trio

for the remaining 30 hours of campaign.

While most of the gifts were from Aucklanders, some gifts came from as

far away as Wellington and

Melbourne. The gifts range

from little toys to bicycles

and large stued toys. Three

listeners contributed with 48,

50 and 100 gifts respectfully.

One of the most touching moments of

the Radiothon was when two brothers aged

eight and nine, broke their piggy banks,

went with their parents to buy gifts and

brought them to the station. Nine-year-

old Nyra decided to forgo her Christmas

presents and added them to the growing

collection at the Humm FM studios.

Two emotional grandparents broughtthe true joy of Christmas while celebrating

the announcement that their one-year-

old granddaughter was in remission from

cancer. They truly understood how lucky

they were to have the little ones smiling face

with them.

Humm FM Director, Satyan Prasad says,

“Since Humm FM started four years ago,

this campaign is the biggest achievement to

date.” Mr Prasad congratulated all listeners

who came with their family to donate gifts

and making this campaign a success.

During the Radiothon, Humm FM

received 1,861 gifts, which will now be

handed over to Auckland City Mission

for distribution.

Christchurch to dance to Bollywood

Summer FestGAURAV SHARMA

Organised by the city-based400-member Indian Cultural

Group (ICG), the second editionof Bollywood Summer Fest will be held

on December 19 at the Aurora Centrein Burnside, Christchurch. Sandeep

Sachdeva, President of ICG, informed,

“While we expect about 500 people from

across all communities—Indian and non-

Indian—to attend the festival, Indian

High Commissioner from Wellingtonhas also conrmed his attendance. There

will be about 20 plus music and dance

performances, ably supported by llercomedy sketches performed by our hosts

and emcees throughout the duration of

the show. Importantly, as the theme of this

year’s Fest is ‘Streets of India’, all our stage

and venue decorations, as well as the foodstalls, would be denoting that.” The idea is

when people enter the Aurora Centre, they

get the feel similar to what one witnesses while walking in the streets of Indian cities,

he added.

Celebrate Christmas in styleGAURAV SHARMA

Established in 2005,

C h r i s t c h u r c h

Kerala Association

(CKA)—a non-prot

catering to the needs of

the Malayalee community

living in and around

the Christchurch—isorganising a Christmas

and New Year’s party the

coming Saturday.

Ajesh Jose, Secretary

at CKA, informed,

“Celebrations will start at

6pm with cake cutting and

dinner. This time, we have

organised few competitions

including the best Christmas

tree and crib, as well as

the best Christmas cake.

Announcement of winners

and prize distribution will

also happen that day.

Later, a small segment

of Malayalee dance and

music will be presented.

But the evening’s highlight

will be a children’s nativity

play performance depicting

popular Christmas stories,

for which the kids have been

practising very hard.”

About 200 Malayalees,

people from other Indian

communities, as well as non-

Indian Kiwis are expected

to attend the festivities,

he added.

Kiwi-Indian Thought Series

A nother feather added to thehat of Indian Weekender

this year was the Kiwi-IndianThought series.

The inaugural series was held at

the Aotea centre during the AucklandDiwali Festival on October 17 and 18 and

received encouraging response from the

audience. We hope to bring you more

of the informative talk-sessions in theupcoming year.

Continued from Page 7




l

9NEW ZEALANDNEW ZEALAND

United Travel Royal Oak Royal Oak Mall, Auckland (09) 625 2425

Christmas wishes from the teamat Royal Oak United Travel.

Peace and goodwill to you all

We look forward to helping with your travel plans, visit our

experienced team in the Mall (Mt Albert Road entrance).

Suresh Sharma (Ex NZ/UK Bank Manager)

Insurance Adviser

Phone: 09 625 3800

Mobile: 021 82 [email protected]

Suman SharmaMortgage Adviser

Phone: 09 26 6 9890

Mobile: 022 044 [email protected]

We wish you and your family

From princesses to prime ministers, street children tospiritualists, academics to archbishops Zerbanoo hasbeen a cosmic networker connecting people acrossboundaries. Her story is about the triumph of humanendeavour, a pioneering spirit who breaks rules andbelieves in the ̀ power of now'.

Zerbanoo was at the heart of the women's movement,re lent less ly fight ing for soc ia l and economic

empowerment of women. Challenging the status quo, shehas seen the power equation change dramatically in her lifetime. Readers ofher biography will be able to plug into the mains and be charged up byZerbanoo's electric energy, inner grace and her passion for life without apause.

`An Uncensored Life' is a motivational memoir/biography that is spirited,thought provoking and fun to read. An awe inspiring story that simply needs tobe told, penned by senior NZ journalist and biographer Farida Master.

rdSunday 3 Jan

10am - 12noon - Swaminarayan Temple, 12 Wentworth Ave, Papatoetoe

Topic - Youth - Modern day aspirations & leadership

3pm - 4.30pm - Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, cnr. Kitchener + Wellesley St

Reading the Biography “Zerbanoo Gifford - An Uncensored Life” Q& A with Zerbanoo

thMonday 4 Jan11am - 12.30pm - Botany Library, 1 Botany Town Centre Sunset Terrace, Manukau

Reading - Book signing

thTuesday 5 Jan5pm - 7.30pm - Central City Library, Level 2, 44 - 46 Lorne St

Reading the Biography “Zerbanoo Gifford-An Uncensored Life” Q& A with Zerbanoo

Program, Topic and Venue:

Thanks to:

Contact details: Ranjna Patel - Mob: 027 2788111 E.mail: [email protected]

ALL ARE WELCOME

Youth and Women Leadership by Zerbanoo Gifford




l

10 NEW ZEALAND

David Shearer

Labour MP

Jenny SalesaMP for Manukau East

Supporting local businesses at Christmas

Each year, as Christmas draws near,

I make it a priority to get around

and support local businesses

because when our businesses ourish, so do

our communities.

This year, in my visits to local workplaces,

I’ve been asking business owners how we

can make New Zealand an easier place for

them to trade.

The most common response I hear from

business owners is that dealing with the

Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is anenormous headache. When a company’s

cash-ow doesn’t match up perfectly with

the IRD tax calendar, these hassles can

really dominate a business.

In my electorate—where there are

several shopping and eating areas from

Sandringham to Kingsland, Mt Albert to Pt

Chev, Grey Lynn and more—there are many

businesses where owners, their families and

sta are working long hours to make their

businesses successful.

The last thing we should be doing is

saddling these entrepreneurs with a tax

system that is old-fashioned and frustrating.

Some businesses get the majority of

their revenue at this time of the year—the

lead-up to Christmas. But the IRD demands

provisional tax from them in the dead of

winter too, when there is not much revenue

coming in to cover it. It doesn’t make sense.Labour’s policies will make it easier for

small businesses to pay tax. We want to

replace the IRD’s rigid timetable with a new

exibility for business owners. We want to

let Kiwi businesses pay their tax when they

earn their income.

That way, a business owner can choose

to pay more in the busy season and less

when things are quiet, while a business that

earns the same amount every month can

choose to pay more consistently through

the year. Businesses in dierent situations

can choose to pay tax at dierent times,

decided by them. A simple idea, really. And

long overdue.

It’s a little bit like the pay-as-you-earn

arrangement most of us have through our

jobs. I’m really pleased we can oer that

same advantage to business owners as well

as to people earning wages and salaries.The key thing is that the person who

gets to decide when to pay the tax isn’t the

IRD, but the business owner. They can use

their new exibility to help them get ahead,

while still paying their tax. And if a business

owner is happy with the current provisional

tax model, they can stay with that. It’s their

choice.

Why not give that power to the

businessperson, rather than the

government? Because it gives business

owners freedom—after all they know their

industry and cash-ow better than the IRD

does.

If we want everyone in our community

to do well, they need good jobs. When we

make life easier for businesses, we help

create more of those jobs. And that’s good

for everyone.

Unhealthy conditions of state homes

December is a hectic time of year for

most of us. Parliament is now in

recess and it’s the busiest time for

events and celebrations in my electorate.

Businesses are run o their feet, working

to capacity, while the school year winds

up and many people are looking forward

to holidays when they can spend time with

family and friends.

It’s also a time to think of others. While

I appreciate the blessings I and my family

enjoy, I am also mindful of those whose

daily struggles don’t stop just because it’s

the holiday season. Indeed,for many this

highly commercialised time of year can be

quite stressful.

The lack of aordable, safe housing is

the number-one issue in my electorate and

a major problem across Auckland. Average

rents in places like Manukau East are now

unmanageable for many families with two

working parents, let alone those who have

no jobs. Buying a rst home in Auckland,

where the average price is now $931,807 isa fading dream.

A recent CAB report about the

scandalous numbers of homeless people

in New Zealand underscores the problem

for my sta and I because we see homeless

families living in cars on a weekly basis.

Many others who come to us for help

are living in garages, caravans or in

overcrowded,unhealthy, mouldy, leaky,

damp homes.

Since the tragic death of Otara toddler

Emma Lita Bourne highlighted the

unhealthy conditions of many state houses,

a number of homes are being repaired and

refurbished. However, the issues of damp,

cold leaky homes causing major illness

continue. In an exciting development,

students from Otara’s Rongomai Primary

took up the challenge of discovering exactly

how healthy local houses are. Their South

Sciscience project measured moulds in

their homes. Scientists analysing the results

were astounded to nd 14 dierent kinds ofmould in 18 of the 22 houses studied, as well

as three dierent yeasts that were emerging

human pathogens and three bacteria

that had antibacterial resistance. Clearly,

more must be done urgently to ensure

that everyone lives in a warm, dry and

healthy house.

I recently marched on the Hikoi for

Homes to draw attention to the housing

crisis in Auckland. I have also drafted a

Private Members Billwhich, if passed by

Parliament, would mean that families

with school-aged children, the disabled

and the elderly in state houses would not

have tenancy reviews. Assured tenancy

status would lessen the stress that can

cause poor health in vulnerable people

and also help to address the high rates of

transience in schools, especially in lower-

income communities.

It would support stable neighbourhoods

where children grow up, attending the same

school for a long period and getting a betterstart in life.

As a country, we must ensure our most

vulnerable have their basic needs met

including a job, a living wage, opportunities

for learning and development and, most of

all, access to shelter.

Many temples, churches and service

organisations will be oering food and

support for the vulnerable during this

season. Please remember them in your

actions and your prayers.

My family and I wish you and yours a

joyous, safe holiday period.

Auckland takes initiative in climate change post-ParisIWK BUREAU

Mayor Len Brown says that the

global climate agreement in

Paris puts the onus rmly

on transport and energy and that’s

where Auckland as a city can—and

will—take action.

“When it comes to climate change, cities

are where it’s at. We have the tools and the

opportunities to make a practical dierence

to our shared climate future,” says

the Mayor.

“Of the nearly 11 million tonnes of CO2

emissions in Auckland in 2013, 3.8 millioncame from road transport. That’s 35

per cent and the single largest emissions

source, so anything we can do to give people

options to their car is going to help.

“As a united Auckland, we have an

unprecedented opportunity to respond

rapidly and strategically to aect the kinds

of changes we need to ensure this city’s

future. That’s why we have set a target of

reducing our emissions by 40 per cent by

the year 2040 (relative to a 1990 baseline).

The introduction of our new electric trains

alone reduced emissions by one per cent.”

The Mayor is now ne tuning the action

Auckland will take in the wake of the Paris

Agreement to limit global warming to well

below two degrees Celsius, with the intent

to pursue a 1.5-degree target.

The agreement recognises cities as

essential in fast tracking transformative

action in the urban world. The actions ofcities could make up a third of the shortfall

between the Paris agreement’s ambitions

and country commitments. That’s 3.7

gigatons of urban greenhouse gas emissions

by 2030. The Mayor was part of the ocial

New Zealand government delegation to the

21st Conference of the Parties to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change (COP21) and travelled at the

invitation of the United Nations Secretary-

General’s Special Envoy for Cities and

Climate Change, Michael Bloomberg and

the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.

Among the initiatives the Mayor says

Auckland is already implementing but

which require more eort in the wake of

the Paris Agreement are the continued

transformation of Auckland’s transport

system with the focus on public transport and

cycle and pedestrian walkways and leading

by example with Council procurement, building and infrastructure design. The

retrot of Council’s headquarters building

has reduced energy consumption by 40 per

cent and saved $535,000 per year.

“We are also moving to a Zero Waste

City by rolling out separate organic waste

collection and community-led resource

recovery network so we are walking

the talk.”

The Mayor says his invitation to attend

and speak at the Paris conference, as well as

his inclusion in the ocial delegation, was

recognition of Auckland’s position as one of

the world’s most liveable cities.

“And while the Auckland story is a

good one, it was not just about telling it,”

he says, “It was about learning from best

practice examples from around the world

in areas such as urban regeneration,

sustainable transport, energy eciency and

conservation and hot transport trends. We

learnt from other cities facing similar

challenges, enhancing Auckland’s ability

to benet from their expertise, tools and

programmes in the future.”




l

11NEW ZEALAND

City Rail Link to be builtunder Commercial Bay

The rst stage of the City Rail Link

(CRL) project will be built on the

site of the Downtown Mall, betweenlower Queen Street and Albert Street. The

construction will take place as part of the

‘Commercial Bay’ development by property

company Precinct.

First visible steps of the CRL

With the re-situating of stormwater

pipes on lower Albert Street this month

and the demolition of the Downtown Mall

in May 2016, Aucklanders will see the rst

steps in the construction of the CRL.

Mayor Len Brown said discussions with

the prime minister, minister of nance

and minister of transport were going well,

with the government committed to the

CRL project.

“The only remaining issue is the timing

of government funding.”

The ‘new Auckland’

The 39-storey, $681 million Commercial

Bay development will make an outstanding

contribution to what people are calling the

‘new Auckland’.

It is one of several major new

developments that will arrive in Auckland’s

city centre in the next few years.

“The private sector is demonstrating its

condence in Auckland’s future by investing

billions in our city centre,” says the mayor.

“Central Auckland is New Zealand’s most

productive, largest and fastest growing

commercial and employment centre. It has

long been said Auckland is the powerhouse

of the New Zealand economy. That is now

a reality.”

“Growth is the reason we are backing

private sector investment with better public

transport. We simply cannot meet that

growth by moving more people into the

CBD by car.

“The private sectoris demonstratingits confdence in

Auckland’s future by

investing billions in ourcity centre”




l

12 FIJI

Highlights of the year YASHMIN CHAND

2015 has been quite a

year for Fiji for severalreasons. As the year

draws close, take a look at the

key news and events that have

created headlines.

UN hails Fijian Government

The United Nations Children’s

Fund (UNICEF) commended

the Fijian Government for

its continued commitment to

child welfare and development,

which was highlighted through

the strengthened partnership

between UNICEF and the

Ministry of Women, Children

and Poverty Alleviation to raise

awareness on the Prevention

of Child Abuse and Neglect

Campaign (PCAN).

President’s farewell

In major news this year

was the grand farewell of the

outgoing President, Ratu Epeli

Nailatikau. He was appointed

in 2009, replacing the late Ratu

Josefa Iloilovatu.

Fijian to receive award

from Her Majesty The Queen

A young Fijian Luisa Tuilau

is one of 60 people from across

the Commonwealth who are

being recognised as exceptional

leaders in their community. She

will receive a prestigious Queen’s

Young Leaders Award in 2016.

Luisa works to raise awareness

of the needs of young people.

She studies psychology and law

at the University of the South

Pacic and is the President of its

Law Association.

Talk on climate change

Fiji welcomed the climate

change agreement adopted in

Paris during the United Nations

Climate Change Conference (COP

21). Fiji played an important role

in making the voices of Pacic

nations heard.

Fiji, Germany celebrated years of relations

Fiji-German co-operation in

the forestry sector celebrated

their 30-year anniversary this

year. Fiji established diplomatic

relations with Germany in 1973.

They embarked on a bilateral

partnership in the forestry sector

in 1985.

Entertainment and arts Fiji hosted one of the

magnicent rst ever bike and

car shows

Miss Fiji Zaira Begg was

the third runner-up at the

2015 Miss Pacic Islands

Pageant, held at Rarotonga,

Cook Islands

Famous Bollywood music

director, singer, actor and

producer Himesh Reshammiya

toured Fiji with successful

music concert.

Business

Fiji Airways has had a good

year with strong prots, the

appointment of a new CEO

and good growth across

the network. Adding to

its achievements was the

announcement of a new Airbus

A330-300 aircraft. The 300

version will bring a number

of benets to the airline in

operational eciencies and

to the customers in terms of

comfort, in-ight experience

and service. The airways has

also announced that it will

be making adjustments to its

Auckland-Suva direct service

including adding a third ight

to be scheduled next year.

Bank of Baroda announced

that parents sending money

to their children in India do

not have to pay any extra fees.

Students studying under the

Indian Council for Cultural

Relations (ICCR) scholarship

scheme will benet from

this arrangement.

Sports

Fiji began defending its World

Rugby Sevens Series (WRSS)

title by winning the opening leg

in Dubai by defeating England.

Fiji and South Africa currently

lead the WRSS ranking table. Fiji

is pooled with Argentina, Japan

and Wales in Wellington on

January 30.

Vijay Singh to represent

Fiji in Rio

World Champion Fijian golfer

Vijay Singh will represent Fiji at

2016 Olympic Games in Rio de

Janeiro. Golf will be played at the

Olympics in Rio for the rst time

since 1904.

Wedding of the year

A hearing and speech

impaired couple—Vinay Chand

and Sanjana Mudaliar tied knot

recently. It was a joyous and

historic moment for the couple,relatives and those who were at

the function.

423 Richardson Road,Mount Roskill, AucklandD: +64 9 6272353F: +64 9 6272353

www.akarshan.co.nz / facebook.com/akarshannz / [email protected]

187 Great South Road,Papatoetoe, AucklandD: +64 9 2792352F: +64 9 6272353




l

13FIJI

We are a fast growing specialist precast concretemanufacturing company in Hastings, sunny Hawkes Bay.Due to expansion and restructuring we have several vacancies for precast concrete workers to join our team.Experience in either precast concrete manufacture orthe construction industry is essential.We offer good pay rates, a stimulating fun workingenvironment and great working conditions.We may be able to assist with accommodation.

JOB OPPORTUNITY

1018 Manchester Street, Woolwich, Hastings 4120T: 06 879 8364, F: 06 879 8360E: [email protected] www.latteycivil.co.nz

CHALLENGING GRAVITY

Concrete workers required in Hawkes Bay

0800 RESENE (737 363) www.resene.co.nz

Conditions: Buy R esene premium paints, wood stains, primers, sealers, wallpaper, decorating accessories and cleaning productsand get the GST (15% off the full retail price) off at your Resene ColorShop and participating resellers. Excludes Crown, tradeand industrial products, PaintWise levy and account sales. Paint offers also available at participating Mitre 10 MEGA and Mitre 10stores. Not available in conjunction with any other offer. Offer closes 3 February 2016. 3

0 7 9 5 I W

Come in and see us today at your local Resene ColorShop!

On Resene premium

paints, woodstains, primers, sealers,wallpaper, decorating accessories

and cleaning products

*Fees subject to change (local taxes and service charges may apply). Western Union also makes money from currency exchange. Subject to terms

and conditions of service. Funds may be delayed or services unavailable based on certain conditions, including amount sent, destination country,

currency availability, regulatory and foreign exchange issues, required receiver action(s), identification requirements, Agent locations hours,

difference in time zones or selection of delayed options. Additional restrictions may apply. See Western Union Send Form and Terms and Conditions

for details. Western Union transaction limits do apply. Network data as at 12 November 2015. ©2015 Western Union Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

moving money for better

SENDINGMONEY TO A

BANK ACCOUNTTHESE HOLIDAYS

Visit your localPostShop today

$10FROM

PLUS NO RECEIVER’S FEE*

Show your loved ones you’re thinking about them.

Send money direct to a bank account at one of over200 PostShops nationwide.Wish you

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

For an unforgettable experience, Dine in!




l

14

Christmas celebrationswith Bhartiya SamajIWK BUREAU

Continuing the yearly-trend,

Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trustcelebrated Christmas with much

joy and fervour.

More than 200 senior citizens became

part of the year end celebrations held

at Sangeet Restaurant, Manukau on

December 13. The fun day was packed

with entertainment, live music, lunch

and more.

Kiwi-Indian parliamentary dignitaries

Dr Parmjeet Parmar and Mahesh Bindra

graced the occasion with their presence

along with other community leaders. The

merry making exercise was carried out

for hours, which included singing and

dancing with all senior members taking

active participation. The dignitaries also

joined the seniors on the dance oor.

The success of the event can be

undoubtedly credited to the BSCT

volunteers whose devotion towards

the community service resulted in the

immense happiness and pleasure of

those present.

BSCT president and QSM Jeet Suchdev

concluded the event wishing everyone

a merry Christmas and healthy happy

New Year. He acknowledged the entire

BSCT family for their eorts towards

community service.

Clockwise from left: Mr Jagdish Punja; Roopa Suchdev QSM, Jeet Suchdev QSM, Mr Ashrif Choudhary, Mr NipulPatel, Mr Narinder Singla JP, Dr Bruce Huckern; the senior citizen members at the party

First flag referendumresults releasedIWK BUREAU

The ocial result for the rst

referendum on the New Zealand

Flag was released this week. The

most preferred alternative ag design

chosen through the rst referendum is

Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue).

The referendum asked the question:“If

the New Zealand ag changes, which ag

would you prefer?”

The next most preferred ag design

is Option E: Silver Fern (Red, White and

Blue), followed in order of preference by

Option B: Red Peak, Option D: Silver Fern

(Black and White) and Option C: Koru.

The rst referendum received a total of

1,546,734 votes, which includes 149,747

informal votes (9.68%) and 3,372 invalid

votes (0.22%).Voter turnout was 48.78%.

The second binding referendum on the

New Zealand ag will be held from March3 to 24, 2016.In the second referendum,

voters will be asked to choose between

Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue), being

the most preferred ag design selected in

this referendum, and the current ag. The

ag that receives the most votes will be the

ocial ag of New Zealand.

Voters should ensure that they are

enrolled and their enrolment details are

up to date well before voting begins in the

second referendum.

NEW ZEALAND



FIJI NEW ZEALANDINDIA

Editorial — Dr Seuss

Thought of the week

Christmas doesn’t come from a

store, maybe Christmas perhapsmeans a lit tle bit more...

From the desk of theManaging Editor

“David Kohl, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech University, has found that

individuals who write down their goals will have nine times the success of those

who don’t put their goals on paper. Yet Dr Kohl’s research suggests that only 20

per cent of our population has goals and less than 10 per cent take the time to write

their goals down. So why is it that so few of us take the time to develop and make note

of clear and concise goals? After researching this question for 10 years, I have come

to the conclusion that the reason is, quite simply, we are lazy.” —Jason Selk

It’s the perfect time of the year to be talking about this. It is that time when we make

New Year resolutions, and then come up with excuses for breaking them within the

rst week. As Selk says, often it is because of our laziness. I have witnessed the power

of writing down goals in not just my own life but also of others around me. Every time

I am approached by someone junior to me in age, who is looking for guidance, therst thing I often say to them is to write down their goals and aspirations. It is true

that most people do not even take time to write these down. Often people who do are

more committed and focused on their goals and are highly likely to achieve them.

As Steve Maraboli says, “If you have a goal, you write it down. If you do not write

it down, you do not have a goal—you have a wish.” Enough said.

We bring you the nal issue for the year this week. Even though, by this time of

the year, the entire team has reached its capacity, having worked non-stop through

the year to continue to be you rst choice for news, views, facts and entertainment,

we bring this issue packed with all the goodness of the entire year. It is truly a round-

up of the year, and you will notice that each member of the team has put something

together for this issue.

As New Zealand goes into the holiday spirit and virtually comes to a standstill,

Indian Weekender will also break for the year end and take a much-needed break.

We will return rejuvenated in all senses of the word but we will return bearing gifts.So watch out for our exciting new developments and oerings in the New Year.

We have recently heard great examples of the spirit of giving, and I hope we

continue this. Amidst our celebrations let us also take time to be grateful for what

2015 brought for us and spare a thought for those less fortunate than us. From the

entire team at Indian Weekender, I take this opportunity to wish all our readers and

their families, a Merry and Safe Christmas. Here’s also wishing everyone a fabulous

New Year. Hope the New Year brings for everyone all that they have in mind.

We look forward to meeting you again in 2016.

Giri Gupta

Pick of the week

This controversial cartoon was published in the Rupert Murdoch-owned The Australian in response to the Paris climateconference.It depiction of Indians starving and eating solar panels was condemned as “racist”.

Vanity Kit EssentialsMust-haves to look your best thisseason

• A no-show foundation--for uneven skintone and discolouration

• Conealer--to cover those dark circlesand blemishes• Blush--to add a pop of colour• Clump-free mascara and eye liner--to

defne your eyes• Lipstick--for the perfect pout

Indian Weekender : Volume 7 Issue 39

Publisher: Kiwi Media Group LimitedManaging Editor: Giri Gupta | [email protected]

Editor: Annu Sharma | [email protected]

Chief Reporter: Swati Sharma | [email protected]

Reporter: Rizwan Mohammad | [email protected]

Reporter: Esha Chanda | [email protected]

Reporter: Kumar Suresh | [email protected]

Chief Technical Ofcer: Rohan Desouza | [email protected]

Sr Graphics and Layout Designer: Mahesh Kumar | [email protected]

Graphic Designer: Yashmin Chand | [email protected]

Accounts and Admin.: Farah Khan | [email protected]

Sales and Marketing: 022 3251630 / 021 1507950 | [email protected]

Views expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher

is not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication

Views expressed in the articles are solely of the authors and do not in any way represent

the views of the team at the Indian Weekender

Indian Weekender is published by Kiwi Media Group, 98 Great South Road, Auckland

Printed at Horton Media, Auckland

Copyright 2015. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

Tip from the trenches

Waiwai Express

Meaning: Walking

Usage: We are taking the Waiwai express across the hill




l

16

It’s a princess

A new royal family member was born on May 2, 2015.Princess Charlotte of Cambridge is the younger childof Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine,Duchess of Cambridge. She is fourth in line tosucceed her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II,after her paternal grandfather, father, and elder brother.

Phil Go tocontest for Mayor

Labour MP from MtRoskill, Phil Go, ociallyannounced that he will

contest for the Aucklandmayoralty. He vision—tocreate a better Auckland.He will continue as MP.

LA gets closer

to Auckland

American Air lines announced that itwill be launching a daily non-stop service

between Auckland and Los Angeles from June2016 alongwith joint venture partner Qantas.

A K L Wri ters Fes tival

The festival in its 15th year saw more than 150

no velists, playwrights, song writers, critics, illustrators

and poets from New Zealand and around the world

including prominent author Haruk i Murak ami. O ver ve da ys, people attended various sessions, talk s and

other performances.

Supermoon sightedThe rare total lunar eclipse of a Super full moon occurred in

September 2015. According to NASA, they have only occurred

ve times in 1900s. The full moon of September was a

Supermoon—the moon was closest to Earth. Also referred to

as a blood moon, next occurrence will happen again only after

18 years.

Saudi women voteIn another rst, Saudi women were allowed to vote for therst time in the municipal elections. Elections in December2015 also saw 978 women contesting as candidates.

World’s frs t

carbon neu tral ci t y

Work was comple ted on the rs t phase o f

Masdar Ci t y loca ted ou tside o f A bu Dhabi.

The ci t y is designed to

be the world’s rs t carbon

neu tral, zero was te and full y sus tainable

and sel f-con tained ci t y.

WHAT WE TALKEDABOUT IN

Canada has spokenIndian community in Canada cheered thefact that there were a record number of19 MPs elected for the new Parliament.

The number was more than double fromtheir representation in the last parliament.

SPECIAL FEATURE

MAHESH K




l

17SPECIAL FEATURE

Ear th-like alien world found

A ne w plane t, K epler 438b

spo tted and declared to

be the “most Ear th-like”

due to various similari ties

to Ear th. I t is 12 per cen t

bigger than Ear th

and receives 40 per cen tmore heat from i ts sun.

Long live the Queen

On Sep tember 10, 2015,

Elizabe th II became longes t

reigning monarch in Bri tish his tor y

when she comple ted 63 years

and 217 da ys on the throne.

Facebookfounder Mark

Zuckerberg andwife Priscilla Chan

announced the birth of

their daughter Max, andhis decision to donate 99%

of their Facebook shares forgood causes over the years.

SocialPrincess

Google announced a cor por ate r estr uctur e w ith a new par ent company called A lphabet br inging Google and other div isions under its umbr ella. Google also unv eiled a r edesigned logo.

NZ passes an ti-c yberbull yin

g la w

The ne w c yberbull ying la w was passed th

a t

mak es i t a criminal o ence o f in ten tionall y

causing harm b y pos ting a digi tal

communica tion

Firs t woman bishop

Firs t woman bishop o f the Church o f England

Re v. Elizabe th Jane Holden “Libb y” Lane became

the rs t woman bishop appoin ted b y the Church

o f England. Her consecra tion took place on

January 26, 2015.

W HA T W E TA L K E D

A B O U T I N

Aussie gets new PM

Australia elected a new Prime Minister when former PM Tony Abbott was defeated by Malco lm Turnbull. Amid the rumors of

leadership spill, Turnbull challenged Abbott for the Liberalleadership and defeated him by 54 votes to 44.

Oprah in NZQueen of the television,

Oprah enthralled New

Zealand. Her show

in Auckland included

performances and snippets

about various issues

including New Zealand’s

new ag concepts.

Ro yal Visi t

Prince o f Wales Charles and the Duchess

Camilla

o f Corn wall visi ted Ne w Zealand in No vember to

mark Queen Eli zabe th II’s Diamond Jubilee. Th

is

follo wed Prince Harr y’s visi t in Ma y who deligh ted

people wi th his eas y charm.




l

18

The year that was: IndiaSWATI SHARMA

Like every other year, this year, too,

India saw its share of highs and

lows. While on one hand there

have been many positive developments

in India’s international relationship that

have made the world stop and take anotherlook at India under the leadership of Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, on the other a

few events have left bitter memories in the

minds of people.

As the year 2015 comes to a close, let

us take a look at the top stories from India

that made headlines this year.

Obama’s visit

Possibly amongst the most important

events this year was the US President

Barack Obama’s visit to India on January

26, as he is the rst US head of state to

attend the Indian Republic Day parade.

It was also for the rst time that a US

President visited the country twice during

his tenure at the White House.

Gurdaspur terror attack

Terrorists attacked a police station in

Gurdaspur district of Punjab on July

27. The attack killed nine people including

three terrorists.

Chennai oods

A major tragedy this year, the oods

devastated the state of Tamil Nadu.

More than 400 people died, more than

1.8 million people were displaced and

damages cost up to Rs. 10,0000 crore

(US$15 billion) as of December 10.

Establishment of NITI Aayog

The 65-year-old Planning Commission

was scraped and replaced by NITI

Aayog. PM Modi’s think tank follows

a bottom-up approach in contrast

to the traditional top-down decision

making process.

Modi unveils Digital India

The launch of Digital India programme

by PM Modi on July 1 was one of

the major initiatives. It aims to improve

online infrastructure, Internet connectivity

and provide government services on anelectronic platform.

AAP’s victory in Delhi

In a stunning win, Arvind Kejriwal’s

anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party’s

(AAP) secured 67 out of 70 seats in the

Delhi state elections. It was the rst

big setback for the BJP since the 2014

general election.

Bihar Elections

Another biggest political upheaval

was seen after the Bihar Legislative

Assembly elections. The Nitish-

Lalu- Congress alliance recorded

a landslide win against the BJP-

led National Democratic Alliance.

With 56.8%, the elections also saw

the highest ever voter turnout in

the state.

Science and technology

ISRO again made its mark. The

highlight of the year was the launch of

ASTROSAT—India’s rst multi-wavelength

space observatory on September 28, which

will enable researchers to observe and

analyse any celestial body they want.

In other important launches, ISRO

launched ve UK satellites and GSAT-6.

It also placed Indian Regional Navigation

Satellite System (IRNSS) 1-D satellite

in orbit. Among the test rings were the

Agni-V missile and Beyond visual range

(BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra.

Awards/Recognitions

This year India’s highest civilian

honour, the Bharat Ratna, was

awarded to freedom ghter Madan

Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) andIndia’s former Prime Minister Atal

Bihari Vajpayee.

Among the Padma awardees this year

were actors Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip

Kumar, nuclear scientist M.R. Srinivasan,

mathematician Manjul Bhargava,

computer scientist Vijay P. Bhatkar, Hindu

spiritual guru Swami Satyamitranand and

Aga Khan IV.

Demises

India’s former President and aerospace

scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, known as

the missile man, left for his heavenly abode

on July 27.

The legendry cartoonist R K Laxman

passed away on January 26 at the age

of 93.

Famous writer and academic M. M.

Kalburgi was killed this year, which sparked

the intolerance and ‘Award Wapsi’ debates.BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya,

composer and singer Aadesh Shrivastava

and actor Saeed Jarey also passed away

this year.

SPECIAL FEATURE



WWW.GLOBALFINANCE.CO.NZ | 09 255 55 00 | GFSNZ

New Zealand’s top mortgage & insurance advisers… Looking after your family’s biggest assets since 1999!

Arranged $3.5+ billion of Loans | $2.5+ billion of Insurance coversDisclosure Statement available, upon request and free of charge

Global Financial Services Ltd 28

Awards

Winner of

Trusted to be the best...Saving interest cost on your loans | Delivering great customer service | Advice tailored to your needs

Thank you to 4,000+ families for their continuous support for 16+ years!

No. 1 Mortgage Adviser AwardsANZ BankASB Bank

Best Financial Adviser Award(Mortgage & Insurance)

BNZ- Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards 2015

Excellence in Customer Service AwardWestpac Auckland Business Awards

2015 - Auckland South


l

19

Google plans campusat Hyderabad, more netaccess: Pichai

Google will build a new campus at

Hyderabad in Telengana state and

hire more people, company chief

executive Sundar Pichai said during his

visit to India.

He said the American multinationaltechnology company was working towards

including as many people as possible in

the use of internet in India, and added thecompany will develop products in India

that have global usage.“In our attempt to provide internet

access to people, we have decided to provide

Wi-Fi at 400 railway stations in associationwith RailTel. The rst 100 stations will

come online by 2016-end. Mumbai Central

station will be online by early January,”Pichai said at ‘Google for India’ event in

New Delhi on December 16.Pichai also met union Communications

Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who said

Google has reached in-principle agreementwith the Indian government for its research

and development project, Loon. The

project is aimed at providing internet

connectivity in rural

India. He did notdisclose the investment

proposed by thecompany, which now

has 1,500 employeesin India.

“This country has

given me and Googleso much. I just hope we

can give much more to the country,” Pichai

said, adding, “a lot of what today is about ishow we build products for the next billion

Indian users, yet to come online.”This is Chennai-born Pichai’s rst visit

to India after he became the CEO of the

restructured Google in August.Pichai on Wednesday laid out Google’s

three-step approach to promoting the

Internet in India. First, Google aims togive people in India and other developing

countries better access to full internetthrough better connectivity and high-

quality software.

Second, Google is making Googleproducts work better for Indians. And

Google wants to make it easier for Indians

to build on top of Google’s global platformslike Android and Chrome to build solutions

to local problems.

“By 2018, more than 500 million users will be online in India, from all 29 states,

speaking over 23 languages. But in 2020,over 30 percent of mobile Internet will still

be from 2G connections.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai duringa press conference in Delhi onDecember 16

INDIA




l

20 SPECIAL FEATURE

Sports action reloadedRIZWAN MOHAMMAD

A ction-packed and

tremendously exciting

is how the year can be

described for sports fans—and

especially for us, the Rugby

frenzied! Undoubtedly, the

biggest happening of the year wasNew Zealand winning the Rugby

World Cup yet again. The other

highs included the three major

sports world cups, of which two

were hosted by Aotearoa—The

Cricket World Cup and the U-20

FIFA World Cup.

Here’s a glimpse of the

major sporting events:

Rugby World Cup

The RWC 2015 held in

England saw the All Blacks

becoming the champions for

the second consecutive time

defeating Australia by 34–17.Captain Richie McCaw raised the

cup at the Twickenham Stadium

on October 31 in London and Dan

Carter was named the Man of

the Match.

Cricket World Cup

Australia defeated New

Zealand by seven wickets in the

World Cup nal in Melbourne.

It was a good world cup for the

Black Caps, as for the rst time,

the team reached the nals.

Day/Night cricket test

History was created on

November 27 when the rst-

ever Day/Night Test match wasplayed at Adelaide Oval between

the Kiwis and Kangaroos. The

match was also a remembrance

of Philip Hughes, who passed

away on November 25 last year

after being hit by a bouncer on

the same pitch.

U-20 FIFA World Cup

New Zealand hosted the rst

U-20 FIFA World Cup with

Serbia emerging as champions

defeating Brazil. Twenty-four

teams competed in 22 days at

seven host cities across New

Zealand raising the football fever

in the country. Wimbledon 2015

Men’s Singles: Serbia’s Novak

Djokovic defeated former world

champion Roger Federer.

Women’s Singles: USA’s

Serena Williams defeated Czech

Republic’s Petra Kvitova

Women’s Doubles: Martina

Hingis and India’s Sania Mirza

emerged winners by defeating

Russians Ekaterina Makarova

and Elena Vesnina.Professional Boxing

The match of the century was

between Floyd Mayweather Jr

and Manny Pacquiao held on

May 2. Mayweather became thechampion and the match is said

to have created revenue of $300-

$400 million.

Formula One season—

World Championship

The Formula One World

Championship started on March

15 in Australia with 19 Grand

Prix across the globe ending in

Abu Dhabi on November 29.

Lewis Hamilton won the Drivers’

Champion. Mercedes won the

Constructors’ Champion at the

Russian Grand Prix. The FIA

Pole trophy was also secured by

Lewis Hamilton.

Sachin’s Blasters Vs Warne’s

Warriors

The Cricket All Star series 2015

saw legendary retired cricketers

exhibiting T20 series in the USA.

The three match series between

Warne’s Warriors and Sachin’s

Blasters started November 7

and ended on November 14 with

Warne’s Warriors leading the

series by 3–0. The three-match

series was hosted by New York,

Houston and Los Angeles.

Hockey World League

Australia won this year’s

FIH Men’s Hockey World

League by defeating Belgium

in the nals whereas India

secured the third position by

defeating Netherlands.

Indian Premier League

The eight season of Indian

Premier League saw Mumbai

Indians coming out victorious

for the second time. The money

building machine IPL has been

engulfed in controversy from

the very beginning. This year

the Supreme Court of India

suspended Chennai Super Kings

and Rajasthan Royals on charges

of illegal betting and match-

xing. The teams have been

replaced by Pune and Rajkot

teams in the ninth season of IPL,

which is set to start on April 9.

Sports stars who retired

Richie McCaw

The New Zealand Rugby team

captain, under whom the team

won two world cups back to back

(2011 and 2015), announced his

retirement soon after the RWC in

October 2015.

India’s opening batsman

Virendra Sehwag bid

farewell from cricket. He had a

remarkable career with a total

of 17,253 with the highest score

of 319 runs in test and 219 runs

in ODIs.

Others who retired were:

• Australian Skipper

Michael Clarke

• Australian batsman and

wicket-keeper Brad Haddin

• Australian all-rounder

Shane Watson

• Pakistani cricketerShahid Afridi

• Pakistani skipper Misbah-

ul-Haq

• Sri Lankan Cricketer

Kumar Sangakkara

• Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela

Jayawardene

• Indian pacer Zaheer Khan

• Kiwi all-rounder Daniel Vettori

Controversies

Oscar Pistorius Trial:

Six time Paralympics Gold

medallist, Oscar Pistorius was

convicted of murdering his model

girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

in 2013.

FIFA controversy

The Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI) has been

investigating the FIFA body

for more than three years now

doubting many anomalies withinthe biggest sports body of the

world. FBI indicted 14 current

and former FIFA ocials and

associates in the case of bribery,

wire fraud, money laundering,

and racketeering. On June 2,

FIFA president, Sepp Blatter

resigned from the post amid

corruption charges.

RIP Jonah Lomu

New Zealand Rugby legend

passed away on November 18.He nished his career with 63

caps and 37 international tries.

Thousands gathered to bid adieu

to their star at a public service

held at the Vodafone Event

Centre and at Eden Park on

November 30.




l

21

TECH ROUND-UPMAHESH K

W ith our fascination

for technology,

gadgets and gizmos,

no round-up is complete unless

we bring you the best of tech

news. If you missed out— here isyour chance to catch up with the

sate of the art.

MacBook

This year, Apple unveiled the

new and beautifuuly-designed

MacBook, with lots of bells and

whistles, to carry forward the

MacBook legacy.

To begin with,

you will be

a m a z e d

b y

h o wthin and

light it feels in your

hands. It oers a great battery

life, has the new USB-C port

and comes in three colours. The

MacBook range also includes 13-

inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro

with faster processors, more

computing power and optional

Retina display. The 11-inch

MacBook Air and 13-inch

MacBook Air complete the

range.

Surface Book

Microsoft’s ‘Ultimate Laptop’

is quite good actually. It oers

an irresistible solution to the

‘tablet or laptop’ problem. It has

a brilliant design, which is almost

futuristic, a stunning display and

fantastic tablet separation. It is

made from two solid blocks of

magnesium oering solid built

with minimalistic classic style.

The amazing Clipboard gives you

great functionality. If you have

not checked this device already,

you need to Google it right now.

Pixel C

This is Google’s version of a

tablet doubling up as a laptop.

The Pixel C is a showcase

product from Google pointing

to where the tablets are going.

It has a sturdy aluminium build

with a stunning screen and

long-lasting battery. It comes with

an optional magnetic keyboard,

which connects via Bluetooth. It

runs on Android Marshmallow

and is priced at $500 and an

additional $150 for the keyboard.

Apple Watch Although the Apple Watch has

sold in impressive numbers, the

product failed to make a mark.

While there are plenty of other

Android Wear watches out there,

Apple merely added to

the market oering its watch in

two sizes with various options

in bands, colours and nishes.

It has its own watch OS and a

nifty digital crown to interact

with the watch. Apple Watch is

undoubtedly expensive but when

did the Apple fans care about

price? Question is do you really

need it?

LG Watch R

This is LG’s next generation of

smartwatch. Based on Google’s

Android Wear, it has garnered

largely positive

reviews. It is an expensive

smartwatch but boy it is beautiful!

It has a circular conventional

looking 1.3” P-OLED 320 x 320

pixel display, 512 MB of RAM

and 4 GB of storage. It also has

tiny microphone, a gyroscope,

compass, optical heart rate

monitor (on the back) and

an accelerometer.

Huawei Watch

The Android Wear based

Huawei Watch is an excellent

oering. It has same specs as LG Watch R with

4GB of storage, 512 MB of RAM

with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon

400 processor. The standout

feature is its Sapphire crystal glass

and 1.4” AMOLED 400 x 400 pixel

display. It has all the standard

watch sensors—heart rate sensor,

gyro and accelerometer and

even a barometer. The watch

oers various choices including

leather strap or steel bracelet.

The watch has a button at the 2o’

clock position to interact with

the watch. It is a good looking

executive style watch that ticks

all the boxes for an Android

current generation

smartwatch.

Pebble Steel

The rst

smartwatch that got the

market excited was Pebble. This

year in a market that was swarmed

with the Apple Watch and

various Android Watches, Pebble

launched Steel. The best feature

is that it works with Android and

iOS both. The other feature that

leaves the competitors far behindis its promise of 10-day battery. It

is water resistant to 30 meters

and features an always on

colour display. You can record

voice notes through a built-in

microphone and of course

has its own Pebble appstore.

Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift has not been

launched yet. It is slated

to come out in Q1 2016 but

this virtual reality headset

is already making news.

Facebook acquired Oculus

last year for

US$2 billion.

Oculus Rift is a

stereoscopic 3D

headset that makes

you feel as if you are a part of the

game that you are playing or VR

movie that you are watching.

Oculus Touch is a pair of

controllers that let you interacts

with your VR games.

These devices will change the

gaming forever. Check them out.

Microsoft Holo Lens

Tech giant Microsoft

has jumped in the VR

arena with its still in

development HoloLens.

It is the rst fully un-

tethered holographic

augmented reality headset

that enables high-denition

holograms to integrate with real

world. You can create and shape

holograms with gestures, and

communicate with apps using

your voice. Yes, just like in Iron

Man.

Hoverboard

Hover boards, Airwheels,

swegways, mini-seaways or self-

balancing boards—whatever you

call them—they really exploded

(pun not intended) this year.

Hover boards don’t actually hover

but they are controlled using

gyroscopic censored paddles

where the rider stands.

While there is still debate

about the safety and even

legality of hover boards, they

have become quite popular,

thanks to celebrities’

a p p e a r a n c e s

with the

rideables.

Basically, there

are AirWheel and Overboard.

While Overboard has two wheels

and pressure-sensitive foot pads,

AirWheels has one large (or

two) wheel in the middle with

pressure-sensitive paddles on

either side that the user stands

on to control the speed and

direction. In both cases, they use

internal batteries which can last

from 5 to 25 miles depending on

models. Prices start from $300

onwards.

Drones

Drones really took o (again,

no pun intended) in 2015.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) or Drones have

long moved out of the war

zones. Now they are used

for recreational purposes

and are becoming quite

ubiquitous. I recently read

somewhere that wedding

photographers in India

have started using drones to

shoot photos and videos.

While the governments

want to control the

proliferation of drones,

it is not going to be easy.

These remote controlled

drones with a camera

can be lifesavers. Recently,after a helicopter crash on Fox

Glacier, a drone was used to

map the glacier and help recover

the body and the wreckage. The

easiest way to jump on the drone

bandwagon is to buy a Ready-

To-Fly(RTF) quadcopter. There

are various brands with dierent

models- prominent ones being

DJI’s Phantom & Inspire, 3D

Robotics’s Solo, Parrot Bebop,

Yuneec. The prices of a good

quality drone with a high-end

camera start from US$499 and

can go up to US$3,000. If the

Drones have not been on your

radar till now, check out the

gorgeous footage shot from these

drones on the Internet.

Light L10

This new alien-ish looking

camera promises to pack DSLR

quality into a slim and streamlined

camera body. L16 camera is like

having 16 individual cameras,

10 of them re simultaneously

when you shoot, capturing the

detail of your subject at dierent

xed focal lengths. These images

are then processed and fused

together giving you high-quality

nal image with resolution

of up to 52 megapixels. Thecamera features a 5” touch

screen on the rear, has on-

board editing and built-in Wi-

Fi to share those images. Light

has a team with many Indians

including co-founder, Dr Rajiv

Laroia.

SPECIAL FEATURE



SPECIAL FEATURE 18 December 2015 | www.iwk.co.nz

l

22

Lights, Camera, Action2015 saw blockbusters that burst through the box ofce. And then there were movies that failed to make theirmark on the silver screen.

SWATI SHARMA

TOP

Undoubtedly the movie of the

year was Tamil and Telgu historic

epic Baahubali that received great

reviews from both the critics and

audience. Made with a budget of

Rs. 120 crore, the lm collected

Rs. 600 crore on worldwide box

oce and became the rst non-

Hindi lm to gross more than Rs.

100 crore.

Rajshri Productions and

Salman Khan worked together

after 16 years for Prem Ratan

Dhan Payo. The Salman Khan and

Sonam Kapoor starrer romantic

drama directed by Sooraj Barjatya

has already crossed a Rs. 300

crore mark and is still doingrounds at the box oce.

Comedy king Kapil Sharma’s

debut Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon

was a rib tickling rom-com that

earned both praises and money.

Akshay Kumar, while keeping

up with the trend of many movies

a year, was seen in Brothers,

Gabbar is Back and Baby, which

were highly praised.

Possibly this year’s biggest

release and denitely the biggest

grosser was Salman Khan starrer

Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Unlike other

Salman Khan movies, this one was

highly praised for its story and

Khan’s work.

Other lms that entertained

the audience and received good

response included Dil Dhadakne

Do, Tanu Weds Manu Returns,

Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, Jazbaa,

Drishyam, Badlapur, Dum Laga

Ke Haisha, NH10, ABCD 2 and

the recently-released Tamasha.

FLOP

Some big banners and stars

failed this year to impress the

audience. Shahid Kapoor and Alia

Bhatt starrer Shaandaar created

a hype before its release. While

the lm’s music was a complete

hit, the movie wasn’t able to

attract many to the cinema halls.

Other op movies included Katti

Batti, Welcome Back, Phantom,

Hamari Adhuri Kahani , Bombay

Velvet , Shamitabh and Roy.

Critically-acclaimed lms

Some movies that received

praises from the critics included

the recently-released Angry

Indian Goddesses, Manjhi—

The Mountain Man, Masaan,

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!

and Court —India’s entry for the

Oscars next year.

Upcoming movies:

Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun

Dhawan and Kriti Sanon starrer

Dilwale and Deepika Padukone,Ranveer Singh and Priyanka

Chopra starrer Bajirao Mastani

are slated to release today

(December 18) are expected to be

good year-end entertainers.

Celebrities in New Zealand

The city of sails saw many

Bollywood celebrities.

However there were

fewer shows this year. The last

biggest Bollywood event was

Temptations Reloaded with

SRK, Madhuri Dixit and Rani

Mukherjee in 2013.

New Zealand hasn’t seen

a big Bollywood show since

then. The most-talked about

celebrity visit this year was that

of Sidharth Malhotra who was

also named as the New Zealand tourism ambassador to India by

Prime Minister John Key during his visit. His trip made headlines not

only in the Kiwi-Indian and Indian media but also in mainstream New Zealand

media.

Other celebrities that made noise in the air were rapper and RnB artist Badshah, hip hop artist and Punjabi

rapper Bohemia, and singer and actor Himesh Reshammiya. Their full house shows entertained the Kiwi

Indian audience.

Other celebrities who visited New Zealand included Jackie Shro, Govinda, Sunil Shetty, Raju Srivastava,

Johny Liver, Asrani (Govardhan Asrani) and Padmini Kohlapure.

Big fat weddings

The most talked about

wedding was that of

Shahid Kapoor and

Meera Rajput. The heartthrob

of Bollywood nally got hitched

breaking the heart of millions of

girls. The low-key wedding was

followed by a grand reception

in Mumbai.

Bollywood actress and the

Nawabi princess Soha Ali Khan

tied knot with her long-time beauKunal Kemmu.

Another most talked about

wedding of the year was cricketer

Harbhajan Singh and actress

and model Geeta Basra’s grand

Punjabi wedding followed by a big

fat reception.

Indian cricketer Dinesh

Karthik and squash player,

Dipika Pallikal’s wedding was a

huge aair. The couple had both

Hindu and

Christian wedding

ceremonies. Ace

batsman Suresh Raina

tied the knot with his

childhood sweetheartPriyanka Chaudhary.

Rohit Sharma

who married long-

time girlfriend Ritika

Sajdeh was the fourth

cricketer to have a

wedding this year.

Controversy of the year

The latest controversy of Bollywood was Aamir Khan’s remark on intolerance

in India where he said that “Kiran and I have lived all our lives in India.

For the rst time, she said, should we move out of India? That’s a

disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make to me. She fears for her

child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be.”

Although we think his statement was misinterpreted, Khan faced

backlashes from various sectors of people in the country, be it

government, common people or Bollywood itself. Here’s how a few

from the lm fraternity reacted on twitter:

AnupamKher (@AnupamPkher): Dear @aamir_khan. Did you

ask Kiran which country would she like to move out to? Did you tell

her that this country has made you AAMIR KHAN.

RaveenaTandon(@TandonRaveena):Guess all those who did not want pm Modi to become PM,want 2 bring this govtdown..sadlybecoz of

politics,they are shaming country ..

Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal): A true

patriot will not run away n leave his motherland

behind in turmoil or in troubled times (if

any )...don’t escape - build it ..

T o p mo v ie s o f 2 0 15



SPECIAL FEATURE

*Directmaterialcostsapply

Gain the skills needed to join the glitz and glamour ofBOLLYWOOD, and bring your creave ideas to life withdigital lmmaking, screenwring, sound design and

animaon!

New in 2016!

Bachelor of Screen Arts

SOUTHERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYCongratulaons to all our Internaonal students

from India that graduated in 2015!

Well done on your achievements!!

Say Y ES to success

with ZeroFees

www.sit.ac.nz0800 4 0 FEES

Nungshi and Tashi Malik

Graduate Diploma in Sports and

Exercise NZISS recipients and

2015 graduates

The Bachelor of Screen Arts is a three year full me programme intended for students

interested in the excing arena where creave arts meet digital technology.

This course covers:

• Video Producon and Eding

• Screenwring

• 2D and 3D animaon

• Stop Moon

• Moon Graphics

• Business and Legal Skills and more...


l

23




l

24 FEATURES

Bl ggersPARK

NZIFT Student Blogs #3LANI

This 5 week trip to India

has denitely been an

eye-opening cultural

experience that I won’t forget.

Since being here I have got to

see a part of the world I didn’t

really think I ever would.

I’ve experienced things thatmake me feel more creative and

have learnt things that will make

me a better person.

The rst boundary I had

to conquer was their food. I

personally don’t deal well with

spice but after some perseverance

I am really enjoying it.

From the rst day everyone

here at BIT has been very friendly

and welcoming.

The trip to Ooty was a cold one

but denitely worth it with the

scenery. A view from the top of a

mountain was amazing. Our trip

to Mysore was cool too. On our

way we stopped and got shownhow the silk is taken from the

cocoon of a silk moth. Whilst in

Mysore we also saw two temples,

visited a zoo and went to a palace.

I rode an elephant for the rst

time.

The industry experiences

have also been very helpful in

physically showing me how the

silk and cotton is manufactured

into fabric.

I denitely learnt a lot while I

was here and it will be something

I will be grateful for the rest of my

life. A trip back in the future is

denitely a must!

SUMNER

Hey there!

The past few days have beenamazing here in India, still don’t

truly believe I’m actually here.

We took a two day trip to

Mysore (about a 4 hour bus ride).

We stopped in at a silk factory

and were able to see how the silk

is extracted from the silk worms’

cocoon. Apparently the boiled

worms are made into dog biscuits

so there actually isn’t a lot of

waste. The owner gave each of us

a strand of pure silk to take home.

We also visited a temple and

got to see an Indian elephant

for the rst time on the whole

trip! The owner only used it as

a money making thing which was quite depressing & he also

held two battens with very sharp

hooks on the end.

We stayed in a nice hotel and

then got up in the morning to visit

Sri Chamarajendra Zoological

Gardens (the zoo). I’ve never seen

leopards so close before! A metre

away from me, such beautiful cats.

We also saw black bears, African &

Indian elephants, hyenas, snakes,

lions, white peacocks, toucans,

cheetahs, giraes, monkeys and

the list goes on. We felt like one

of the attractions too, with all the

school kids staring at us instead

of the animals.

Next we went to The Mysore

Palace, the most beautiful man-made place I have ever seen. The

building was Indi-colonial with

huge golden pillars, stained-glass

windows and tigers carved out of

stone. We were given headsets

which taught us about the palace

as we walked through.

Next Austin and I rode a camel,

something I’ve ever done before.

It was so, so tall!

Having so much fun here and

learning many new things.

With only one week left, time is

diminishing quickly.

Cya

ANGELA

Our stay here in India has beenlled with wondrous experiences

and kind hospitality. Our trips

have been inspirational and

eye opening.

The stay at the yoga retreat

showed us a new take on utilizing

our inner strengths and calming

our minds.

The trip to Ooty was beautiful

and magical. What a breathtaking

place hidden in the mountains.

And seeing the natives with their

intricately-handcrafted

fabrics was a once in a

lifetime experience.

Then we were

welcomed with

open arms of the

chairman at hisestate. Absolutely

beautiful and it

was so kind of him.

That was a trip in

a lifetime.

Then we went on a trip

to Mysore which was equally

amazing. The palace of Mysore

was one of the most spectacular

Palaces I’ve ever seen. Absolutely

mind-blowing. And the zoo was

huge and impressive.

I would say that the trips we

have been fortunate enough to

have taken were the highlights of

our stay here in India.

I also appreciate all the things

we have leaned on our trips to

weaving and spinning mills and

garment construction factories

etc. This trip was a mental and

personal growth experience

priceless in its nature.

I feel very fortunate and lucky

to have been a part of this truly

once in s lifetime experience.

Thank you sincerely New Zealand

Fashion Tech and Bannari

Amman Institute of Technology!

Merry Christmas& Happy New Year




l

25FEATURES




l

26 KIDS ZONE

He may not be in the gift giving businessfor the big bucks, but Santa still needsmoney to keep his operation rolling (andto pay for the elves' dental plan. Thoseelf unions are ruthless.) Thankfully,Santa's wealth surpasses even ScroogeMcDuck's money bin. Forbes compiled

a list of the world's richest fictionalpeople and St. Nick topped it with a networth of infinity. This beats the world'scurrent net worth record holder,Mexican investor Carlos Slim Helu, whoonly topped out at a measly $74 billion.No wonder Santa's so jolly.

It 's har d t o go mor e t han f i v e minut es wi t hout hea

ri ng t he f amili ar t une of ' J ingle Bells' r unning t hr ough y our head dur i ng Dec ember . T he t r ut h is t hat y ou should hav e been hear i ng i t in N ov ember .Ac c or ding t o M e n t a l _F lo s s magaz ine, c omposer J ames Lord P i er pont wr ot e t he song in t he 1850s t o play f or hi s Bost on S unday sc hool c lass dur i ng T hank sgi v ing as a way t o c ommemor at e t he f amed M edf or d slei gh r ac es. K i ds and adult s lov ed t he song and ev ent ually c hanged t he ly r ic s t o f i t C hr i st mas. N o wor d on whet her t he ori gi nal ly r ic s c ont ai ned t he li ne, ' Dashi ng t hr ough t he snow, i n a one-t ur k ey open sleigh.'

The f irst person to decorate a

Chr i stmas tree was reportedly Protestant reformer Mart inLuther (1483-1546). Accord ing to legend, he was so moved by the beauty of the stars shin ingbetween the branches of a fir tree, he brought home an evergreen tree and decorated itw ith candles to share the imagew ith his children.

J i ng le B e lls was

wr i t t e n f or T hank sg i v i ng , not C hr i st mas

The fir st person to decorate a Chr istmas tr ee

was Pr otestant reformer Martin Luther

Jingle Bells was the first songbroadcast from space when Gemini6 astronauts Tom Stafford andWally Schirra sang it on December16, 1965.Astronomers believe the StarOf Bethlehem, which guided thewisemen to Jesus, may have been acomet or the planet Uranus.

T he beauti ful pohutuk awa is regar ded as New Z ealand' s ic oni c C hr istmastree. The pohutuk awa also holds a prominent plac e i n M aori c ultur e: an 800-y ear-old tree c linging to thec li ffs of C ape Rei nga i

s reputed to guard the entranc e to a sac red c av e through whic h spiri ts pass on their wayto the next world. T hi s ic onic Ki wiC hr istmas tr ee, whi ch often features on gr eeting cards and in poems andsongs, has bec ome an i mpor tant sy mbol for New Zealanders at home and abr oad.

Jingle Bells was the fir st song sung in space

New Zealand's Chri stmas tree:

Pohutukawa trees

Sa n ta is t he wo rld 's r ic hes t ma n

5 I n t e r e s t i n g f a c t s a b o u t C h r i s t m a s

Send usstories, drawings,poems and other

contributions by yourlittle ones along with theirphotographs for this page.

E-mail us at editor@indianweekender.

co.nz




l

27KIDS ZONE

*Offer ends on 31st December 2015 unless sold out prior.Advertised fares are all inclusive for travel on the route Auckland-India-Auckl and(via Sydney/Mel bourne/Delhi ), priced as on 30th November 2015 for outbound travel on 21st March 2016 andinbound travel on 20th April 2016, with 8 kg carry-on luggage and 30 kg check-in baggage.Travel between Auckland and Melbourne/Sydney permitted on our interline partner Air New Zealand (NZ) Virgin Australia (VA), Qantas (QF) only.Outbound travel is

permitted from 16th Feb 16 to 15th June 16 or 06th July 16 to 30th September 16.Travel must be comple ted within 3 months from the date of departure. Prices are correct as on 30th November 2015 and small variati ons in prices may occur as a result of

changes in airport taxes or currency uctuations. Offer is subject to availability and fares are valid on Air India operated ights only. Basic fare and fuel surcharge are non refundable and change/no-show fees apply. For full termsand conditions, pleasevisitwww.airindia.com or contact your local travel agent or call Air India on (03) 90218720 / (02) 92833370.

Note:-Passengers travelling to Amritsar will be provided with STPC at Delhi airport if the same day connecting ight is not operated.

Earlybird FaresEarlybird FaresReturn fare starting from

Delhi ...................... $1446*

Amritsar ............... $1484*

Hyderabad ........... $1370*

Mumbai ................... $1372*

Kolkata .................... $1372*

Ahmedabad ............ $1474*




l

28 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

’Tis the silly seasonOur holiday special round-up—from different Christmas traditions and lesser-known facts to must-watch movies andexciting events happening in Auckland this Christmas.

ESHA CHANDA

Christmas around the worldFrom the old traditions to the ones

that are downright strange, here is

how the world celebrates Christmas

The fear ofKrampus

M e e t

K r a m p u s — a

half-goat, half-

demon beast,who is St

Nicholas’ other

half in Austria.

This mythical Christmas devil is said to beat

children with birch sticks for not being nice

during the year.

A January Christmas

In Russia and Greece, Christmas iscelebrated on January 7.

This is because much of the former

Soviet Union and the Middle East still usethe Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian

one used in the West.

Longest Christmas celebration

The Philippines start their celebrations

as early as September and continue till

January 6—the Feast of Epiphany or Three

Kings. And it is not just the longest but

also the most lavish celebration seen in

the world with elaborate light displays and

masses held throughout the country.

Pies and GuinnessMilk and cookies dominate in the US,

but as part of the

Irish tradition,the popular

snack for Santa

is swapped withmince pies and a

bottle or pint of

Guinness.

La Befana

In Italy, children don’t wait for Santa.Rather they look forward to La Befana’s

arrival, a friendly witch who ies on her broomstick and brings gifts and candy on

January 5.

Foretelling marriageUnmarried women in Czech Republic

have an unusual tradition of standing by

a door and throwing a shoe over theirshoulder. If the toe points towards the door

when it lands, it is said that the girl will getmarried in the next year.

A KFC Christmas dinner

Although not a national holiday in Japan,families head to the nearest KFC outlet for a

Christmas dinner—complete with chicken, wine, cake and champagne. The tradition

dates back to 1974 when KFC began its

Christmas Chicken marketing campaign,a complete hit, and one that continues

till date.

A movie marathon Our all-time favourite holiday movies

Christmas in and around the city

Christmas Lights, MOTAT NightsBeautifully lit up heritage buildings,streetscapes and trams, the annualChristmas Lights, MOTAT Nights celebratesthe spirit of giving by buying children giftsfor charity from the proceeds collected.Celebrate the festive season with liveentertainment, tram rides, outdoor moviesand traditional Christmas treats such asmulled wine and cake pops on sale. Entrycost is $2 per person.

When: December 11 to 24, from

8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Where: Museum of Transport &

Technology, 805 Great North Rd, Auckland

Dominion Road Christmas carols A free annual family event, join MaxMaxwell’s Sing for Joy choir this year

as they entertain the audience with thefavourite seasonal songs. Markets will runfrom 5 p.m. The event is open to all.When: December 19, from 5 p.m.

to 8:30 p.m.

Where: Ballantyne Square, Corner

Dominion Rd and Ewington Ave, Auckland

Christmas drive-thruGreenlane Christian Centre’s drive-thruprovides a fun and thoughtful reection onthe Christmas season. Bring your own caror hop on the back of one of the trucksprovided for the 30-minute drive-thru. Stayback for face painting, Christmas-themedphoto booth, handmade gifts and deliciousfood and drink.When: December 15 to 20, from 7:30 p.m.

to 10 p.m.

Where: Greenlane Christian Centre, 17

Marewa Road, Greenlane

Christmas buffet dinner Treat yourself to a sumptuous andextensive Christmas dinner buet that oersa spread of fresh seafood, salad, honey-glazed champagne ham with traditionalcondiments and desserts that includecandy cane and red velvet trie, Christmasmince tarts and Yule log. The buet will alsohave freshly baked artisan breads with oliveoil, homemade pesto and hummus.When: December 25, from 5:30 p.m.

to 10 p.m.

Where: Aria Restaurant and Bar,

128 Albert Street, Auckland

The Nightmare before Christmas (1993)

Santa Claus has been kidnapped, andHalloweentown’s Jack Skellington is behind it.

Tired of his monotonous routine of organising the

annual Halloween holiday, Jack stumbles upon

the secret passageway to Christmas Town. Whenhe nds himself in the middle of a merry town

where goblins have been swapped with Santa’s little

helpers, he feels the need be in charge of a holiday

that brings joy. His plan to abduct and replace Santagoes wrong when he embarks on a con-like sleigh

to deliver gifts that terrify the kids. The world of

The Nightmare before Christmas came to life 11 years after Tim Burton came across the idea while

working as an animator at Disney. This stop-motionanimation has a distinct Burton style that is far away

from the traditional Disney fairy tale.

The Holiday (2006)

A column editor in London nds herself in Los

Angeles and a workaholic who owns a company goes

to Surrey in a house-swap during the holidays. Both

women, recovering from broken relationships, are

looking for a change. While Iris enjoys the luxuryof Amanda’s home, Amanda nds it dicult to keep

herself engaged in the slow-paced English county.

But everything changes when Iris meets Arthur

Abbott, a screenwriter, and back in Surrey, Graham

shows up at Amanda’s door to discover she is living

in his sister’s house. This romantic comedy follows

dierent storylines and explores the relationships of

two distinct women.

Home Alone (1990)Bratty eight-year-old Kevin is sent to sleep in

the attic of the house after an argument breaksout between him and his older brother Buzz on

the night before the McCallister family’s departure

to Paris. Strong winds in the night cause the alarmclocks to reset resulting in the family oversleeping.

In a rush to leave, the youngest one is left behind.Kevin wakes up in a world devoid of parental

control, where he can live o junk food and has

unlimited television time. But the plot takes a turn

when two burglars target this suburban Chicagohome. Left to his own devices, Kevin needs to

safeguard him and his house from Harry and Marv,

who repeatedly try—and fail—to enter the house.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

George Bailey’s dream of a life beyond Bedford

Falls, New York is repeatedly put o because of

family responsibilities. He marries his childhood

sweetheart, raises children and takes over the

family business—the Bailey Brothers’ Building and

Loan. When the richest man in the town proposes

to dissolve the company, Bailey talks his way out.

Problems arise when Bailey’s uncle misplaces some

bank funds of Building and Loan.

When a desperate George gets drunk and walks

o to a nearby bridge to commit suicide, his guardian

angel stops him and shows a world where George was

never born.

Based on The Greatest Gift , a short story by Philip

Van Doren Stern, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life

is a timeless classic. It improves with age.




l

29CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Saturday

26 DecemberTulja Centre 190 Stoddard Road Mt Roskill • Ph: 09 629 3333

172 Great South Rd, Papatoetoe Ph: 09 278 6000Like us on www.facebook.com/SonaSansaar • www.sonasansaar.co.nz

11 AM - 4 PM




l

30 FEATURES

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES SPECIAL FARES TO INDIAN

SUB-CONTINENT STARTING FROM NZ$1175Outbound travel should commencebetween 19th Jan and 25th Jan and6th August 2016*Sale ends on 31st Dec 2015Limited availability. Blackout dates apply

Call Now!Shell 021 915346Zulfi 021 915329Tony 021 915340

Eksimar Sahni

Art geniusA child prodigy, most comfortable with her colour palette and canvas, Eksimar Sahni started painting at the tender age of three. Her rst soloexhibition Aura of Colours showcases a collection where each brush stroke narrates a story. Indian Weekender spoke to the young artist to ndout more about her love and passion for art.

ESHA CHANDA

IWK: When did you develop aninterest in painting?

Eksimar: I was always attracted to

colours and art since a very young age. I

would always draw and colour wheneverI got the chance throughout my preschool

years, and I still have a few drawings fromthen. I fell in love with painting when I was

around six to seven years old. I rst painted

on a canvas when I was 10, and I haven’tbeen able to stop myself from creating art

since then.

IWK: Tell us something about the work

being featured in your exhibition.

Eksimar: The theme of this exhibition

is Belle Femme, which means BeautifulWoman in French. My reason for choosing

this theme is that women have immensely

inspired me throughout my life, and I amamazed by the magic they hold.

IWK: Many of your paintingsfeature gures. Who do these

gures represent?

Eksimar: These gures don’t represent

a specic person, but the reason to makehuman gures a key part of my collection

was to give life and soul to my art throughthem. Every curve, every muscle, every scar

tells a story, and that is what I have been

trying to do with my paintings—to narratethe beautiful stories a woman’s body holds

for us.

IWK: What’s the most indispensable

item in your studio?

Eksimar: I can never nish a painting without good music. Music creates a

relaxing aura, which I nd most necessary

while painting.

IWK: What was the rst artwork that

you worked on?

Eksimar: I don’t recall the rst artworkI worked on, but I do remember the

rst canvas I painted. It wasa beautiful woman’s face,

leaning slightly to the side, which was painted half brown

and half white with a maroon

background. What I had beenthinking of while making this

piece was that no matter what

colour you are, race can’t make

you superior or inferior to anyone else. No

matter how dierent people may look on

the outside, what your soul holds has barelyany dierence at all.

IWK: Your priced possession from your collection.

Eksimar: The painting that is closest

to my heart, without a doubt is the rst

one I made. This is because it was whatkick started my passion and my love

for painting.

IWK: Artists that you look up to.

Eksimar: I most denitely look up to the

famous artist Pablo Picasso. This is for

multiple reasons. His art style was suchthat had never been seen before and was

rejected so many times, yet he strivedand now is well known for his originality.

Although I have not yet had a chance to

develop a specic style in my paintings, I

hope to do so in the near future. Secondly,each of Picasso’s paintings tells such a deep

and meaningful story, and I also try to dothe same in my work. Lastly, his ideology

has inspired me to scale such heights. Likehe once said, “I’m always doing things I

can’t do. That’s how I get to do them.”




l

31FEATURES

Merry Christmas from

the team at Newton

College of Business and

Technology (NCBT).

Auckland campus

ph +64 (0)9 303 1934 [email protected]

study, work, settle in New Zealand

Newton College of Business

and Technology

www.n c b t . a c .nz

NCBT16470



• A team of Licensed Immigration Advisers /Ex-Immigration Ofcer.

• We provide tailor-made solutions to individual

migrants and their families seeking to study,

work, invest, do business and live in New Zealand

permanently

Our team

Level 1 - 166 Harris Road,

East Tamaki, Auckland

www.immigrationadvicenz.com

09 272 4424 021 144 6641 [email protected]

Our team wishes the readers a very MerryChristmas, a safe and happy holiday, and allthe very best for 2016.

Indian Weekender December 18, 2015

Documents

Transcript of Indian Weekender December 18, 2015