Indian Weekender 18 March 2016

8/19/2019 Indian Weekender 18 March 2016

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The pulse of Kiwi-Indians

18 March, 2016 • Vol. 7 Issue 50 • www.iwk.co.nz

NZ’s first Kiwi-Indian weekly newspaper

E s t abli s hed 2 0 1 3

201 5 201 5


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18 March 2016 | www.iwk.co.nz

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2 NEW ZEALAND


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www.iwk.co.nz | 18 March 2016

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3

Amst ma “sts”, ITA

as th st t hst th -ait Hih Cmmissi Iia at his st icamt i th Ct.Ath st as th cmitth th t HihCmmissis.

IWK BUREAU

India Trade Alliance organised a unique

event hosting the High Commissioner

of New Zealand in India and his Indian

counterpart in New Zealand in Auckland

this week.

Grahame Morton, NZ High

Commissioner to India and Sanjiv

Kohli, India’s newly-appointed High

Commissioner to New Zealand addressed

a gathering of businesspeople at the

PwC Towers on Quay Street on Tuesday,

March 15.

High Commissioner Morton, who began

his tenure during the 2014 Indian elections,

spoke admiringly of the country’s democratic

process and the complex logistics of holding

elections in the world’s largest democracy

of sub-continental proportions. He said the

present Indian government had brought in

greater transparency in a number of areas

especially in the energy, infrastructure and

telecommunications sector clearing up

many of the legacy systems that had given

rise to allegations of widespread corruption

and favouritism. He said this augured well

for international investors investing inIndia and that the world needed to look at

Indian investment with a fresh set of eyes.

New Zealand, he said, was still a small

player in the ‘Make in India’ programme,

which was mainly about the large industry,

infrastructure and mega investment

projects, beyond the league of New

Zealand’s scale. However, he said that as

time passes the Make in India programme

would look at the smaller more specialist

ideas that New Zealand had to oer and

said that long term, India and New Zealand

had much to gain from building the already

longstanding and strong relationship.

Continued on page 4

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Clockwise from above: The newly-appointed NZ HighCommissioner to New Zealand, Sanjiv Kohli, addresses theaudience; (from left to right) ITA Chairman Giri Gupta, Sanjiv

Kohli, NZ High Commissioner to India Grahame Morton and ITAGeneral Secretary Sunil Kaushal; Grahame Morton addressingthe attendees


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High Commissioner Kohli, whose real

life role as a diplomat during the Yemen

crisis—which resulted in one of the biggest

evacuations in human history—has been

celebrated in a lm on the subject titled

‘Airlift’. Only two weeks old in his new

assignment, Mr Kohli said that the India

New Zealand relationship was strong and

one that rested on many pillars—cultural,

business, scientic and sporting among

others. He said that the relationship needed

to be strengthened with more interaction at

dierent levels.

Answering a question he revealed that

a new approach to India’s external aairs

ministry encouraged external investors

and businesspeople to approach states

directly for projects. This is a departure

from a previously centralised mechanism

for approval of projects. This federalist

thinking was the present Government’s

approach to economic development in

many areas, Mr Kohli said.

ITA delegATIon—wAlkIng

THe TAlk

W elcoming the two HighCommissioners and the audience,ITA Chairman Giriraj Gupta outlinedthe highlights of his recent visit toIndia. Mr Gupta and ITA GeneralSecretary Sunil Kaushal were inviteesof the Chief Minister of Haryana atthe ‘Happening Haryana’ event earlierthis month.

While at Happening Haryana, ITA alsosigned a MoU to further strengthen theBusiness to Business bonds with the stateof Haryana businesses, with the Federation

of Indian Industries—an APEX body, whichhas been created to cater for Haryanabusiness. The MoU, which was signed in thepresence of Haryana Agriculture Minister,

Renewable Energy Minister, Child WelfareDevelopment Minister and NZ Member ofParliament Mr Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi. TheITA delegation also had a private audience

with the Chief Minister of Haryana, MrMohan Lal Khattar where they discussed

various sectors in detail and collaborative

approach needed to grow these sectors

in the two countries. Besides meeting the

Chief Minister of Haryana, the ITA ocialsmet Minister of External Aairs Sushma

Swaraj and senior politician Sharad Pawar

as well as Amitabh Kant, the architect

and the mastermind behind projects suchas Make in India and Incredible India,

who is also the head of Niti Ayog, the new

organisation that has replaced India’serstwhile Planning Commission, which

sets out future milestones for India’seconomic and social development and

general progress.

Needless to say, ITA remains focusedon delivering results for its members and

promises an eventful year ahead, if the

recent eorts and events are anything togo by.

Clockwise from above: (from left to right) Giri Gupta, Amitabh Kant, MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Sunil Kaushal; (from left toright) MP Sadashiv Lokhande, Sunil Kaushal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Giri Gupta at HappeningHaryana; Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Sunil Kaushal with Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj

To know more about the new Indian High Commissioner turn to page 30


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Cementing its place as the leading

national organisation in IndiaNZ Trade, INZBC launched its

Wellington Chapter in the presence of more

than 100 key stakeholders. Her Worship

Celia Wade-Brown, Mayor of Wellington,

congratulated INZBC for the relaunch of

the chapter and has extended all support to

the organisation for further enhancing the

relationship with India.

She was appreciative of the Indian

businesses in Wellington and also the

organisations that are doing business with

India. She was pleased to welcome the new

Indian High Commissioner designate and

pleased to know the presence of MFAT,

NZTE, Members of Parliament including

Dr Parmjeet Parmar and other governmentorganisation, attending the event.

The new Indian High Commissioner

designate, Mr Sanjiv Kohli, was also

felicitated by the Mayor and the INZBC

team and was happy that his tenure is

starting with an academic programme

on the India-NZ relations. He further

expressed his desire and happiness to work

with INZBC, which is a “credible 26-year-

old organisation”. He acknowledged

the good work being done by INZBC

in this eld and said the full support of

the High Commission will be given to

INZBC’s activities

AbouT THe new CHApTer

INZBC Chair, Robert Barker, while givinghis opening remarks, introduced thenew chapter head, Jay Changlani and gaveoutlines of the way it will work.

Jay is a Chartered Accountant and

a Director of Accounts Icon, Chartered

Accounting rm based in Wellington. Jay

has more than 10 years of Accounting,

forensic accounting and tax experience.

Some of his previous roles include Tax

Manager at Grant Thornton and Crowe

Horwath (WHK), Tax Investigator at the

IRD, Forensic Accountant at McDonald

Vague, and Financial Accountant at

Flight Centre.

On the relaunch, Jay commented,

“Relaunch of Wellington INZBC Chapter

was a great success. It was well attended

by Govt. ocials and local businesses.

Personally, I am thankful to INZBC

executive team for showing trust in me toHead the Wellington Chapter.”

The Victoria University of Wellington

(VUW) had partnered with INZBC to host

this event.

Dr Revti Raman, Senior Lecturer—

International Business, had given apresentation on INDIA-NZ Institutional

Distance, Challenges and Mindset

Adaptation. This was based on a recent

study he had conducted.

VUW achieves its strategic theme to

enable NZ as an Asia-Pacic trading

nation by producing high-quality research,employing strategic sta in the Asia

business research arena and contributing

expertise on advisory panels and institutes.

One of their key employees in this space

Siah Hwee Ang (the Bank of New Zealand

Chair in Business in Asia) explains:

“India is a key part of Victoria University

of Wellington’s strategic theme to enable

NZ as an Asia-Pacic trading nation. In

my role, I also engage with NZ businesses

seeking advice on business interactions in

and with India. India must not be left out

of our sights.”

When we consider New Zealand India

business dynamics Siah explains the

relevance of Revti Raman’s work for the

India New Zealand Education Council:

“While sharing historical ties, India

and NZ businesses continue to face

cross-border institutional environment

challenges in their engagements. This

project enhances our understanding in this

arena, and reects on Victoria University of Wellington’s strategic theme to enable New

Zealand as an Asia-Pacic trading nation.”

Mr Anthony also announced some new

initiatives taken by INZBC, more details

of which will be announced later, which

include MOU’s with Field Days and the

Haryana government entity HSIIDC.

On receiving feedback from the industry,

INZBC along with NZTE are launching

The India Unplugged series with AJ

Park leading patent attorneys, starting on

March 30, which will be inaugurated by the

Ex-Foreign Aairs Minister of Government

of India.


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NZ’s top mortgage advisercelebrates 17th anniversarySWATI SHARMA

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ew Zealand’s numero

uno mortgage and

insurance advisers,Global Financial Solutions,

recently completed 17 years of

excellence in customer service and

dedicated their success to their

customers and supporters.

GFS was founded on

March 5, 1999. With the support

of the Indian community in New

Zealand, GFS has been ranked

as the number one mortgage

broker in New Zealand for the

last two years. It marked its 17th

anniversary by arranging $825

million in mortgages in the last

12 months (until February 2016).

It is possibly the highest value of

mortgages arranged in a year by amortgage adviser in the country,

as claimed by GFS to the best of

their knowledge.

Ajay Kumar, Managing

Director of GFS says that their

core value is based on Mahatma

Gandhi’s philosophy: “a customer

is the most important person on

our premises… We are not doing

a favour by serving him. He is

doing us a favour by giving us an

opportunity to do so.”

By devotedly following this

philosophy, GFS became the rst

and only mortgage broker to win

the Westpac Auckland Business

Award for customer service

in 2015.

So far, GFS has won more than

29 awards including top and best

nancial adviser awards, which is

the maximum for any mortgage

broker in the country. Ajay Kumar

adds, “Today, there are more than

4,000 mortgage advisors in the

country and there’s no such body

that keeps the record of all the

advisors, but the banks. We have

won the top broker awards from

all the major banks in the country

including ASB, ANZ, Customer

Service Award from Westpac and

the BNZ sponsored Best Financial

Adviser Award at INIBA awards,

which makes GFS the top broker

in the country. The gures and the

data itself speak for our success.

“I am grateful to our customers,

especially the Indian community,

our supporters and the ethnic

media. It was only with their

support that we have been able to

reach a new milestone one after

another. We are also lucky to have

such a great team at GFS that is

always ready to give their best.”

For the last two years, GFS has

been named as the top brokerin New Zealand in the single

advisor category by the famous

TMM magazine (the NZ mortgage

mag). GFS has to date arranged

approximately $3.8 billion in

mortgages and $2.5 billion in

insurance cover. This compares to

$1–2 billion of mortgages claimed

by its competitors.

With their maximum customer

base from the Kiwi-Indian

community, GFS now plans to

extend their business by opening a

branch in West Auckland.

GFS Making history

• 17 Years• 29 Awards

• $3.8 Billions in mortgage

• $2.5 Billions in insurance

• $825 Millions in the last 12 monthsRead our next issue to nd out more about GFS’s future plansand their complete story of success.


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7NEW ZEALAND

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Standing for workingpeople and employersSUNNY KAUSHAL

l

abour has registered another

political victory this week by putting

an end to zero hour contracts inNew Zealand. Labour Party promised

to get rid of unfair and exploitative zero

hour contracts. Together with the unions

campaigning to end zero hours they have

managed to change the law.

Just a few weeks ago, the National

Government was planning on entrenching

them in law, making it easier for bad

employers to exploit zero hour workers. But

together with the 56,500 New Zealanders

who joined the campaign to scrap zero

hour contracts, they achieved this.

This will be a welcome news for all the

workers who have been forced to sit by the

phone and sometimes left with no work to

show for it. Employers, including Business

New Zealand, have told Parliament there isno need for zero hour contracts.

pa isss

National Government has been caught

once again buried its head in the sand,

its inaction and failure over the last eight

years to x payroll issues has not only

aected the workers but it could also be a

huge pain for employers. This is a serious

management issue from the government.

Revelation of a $30 million botch up in

miscalculation to NZ Police besides 3,000

MBIE sta paid the wrong amount in

holiday entitlements could be a tip of the

iceberg. Interpretation of complex holiday

pay laws and multiple ways left open to

calculate holiday pay has only worsen the

issue. The calculations can be based on

either ordinary weekly pay at the beginningof the holiday or average weekly earnings

over the previous 12 months, “whichever is

the greater.”

Employers are urged to check that their

payroll systems are choosing “the way that

gives the greater amount of holiday pay”.

The legal obligation is to pay the higher

amount capable of being calculated.

The workers who feel they may have

been wrongly or underpaid should

speak up. It is a fundamental part of any

organisation to be able to pay its sta

properly. The workers need to be able

to have condence in their pay packet.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and

Employment (MBIE) is responsible for

this aspect of the law. If they cannot pay

their people properly, how can anyone else

in wider New Zealand be expected to pay

theirs. It is a huge embarrassment for the

ministry in charge of employment law and

wants an inquiry. Labour has demanded the

government must take full responsibility

and a full independent inquiry is needed so

we know what happened and when.

Sunny Kaushal is one of the senioractivists and an active member in Kiwi Indian community. He was the Labour

Party Candidate in General Election 2011 and 2014.


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CIA showcases India at Culture GaloreGAURAV SHARMA

established in 1935 by the second-ever Indian to arrive in Christchurch,

Vallabh Chiabba, one of the

oldest Indian community organisations

in the country—the Christchurch Indian

Association (CIA)—showcased India at the

2016 Culture Galore last weekend.

Headed by 63-year-old Ramesh Bhana,

Chiabba’s grandson, the CIA has more than

300 members, with the majority hailing

from the Navsari region of Gujarat. “Every

year, for the last 15 years, we come to this

event to share with all the Christchurch’s

residents and the wider community, our

rich Indian heritage. While the younger

members always put up a music and

dance performance, the older ones

get together to serve various Indiandelicacies. This year our theme was Indian

street food with bhel puri being the most-

sought-after dish on oer,” said Bhana.

Similar sentiments were expressed by

Henry Jaiswal, General Manager of the

Christchurch Migrant Centre. Jaiswal noted,

“With almost 80 cultures represented here,

the event is a wonderful opportunity for all

migrants as well as Kiwis to get to know

each other’s culture and cuisine.”

Surinder Tandon, President of the

Christchurch Multicultural Council, added,

“With time, I have seen Christchurch

grow more and more diverse, and

truly moving towards becoming multi-

cultural. Even the Culture Galore hasimproved a lot in its decade-and-a-half

old history.”

baash C Chistchch

The Bangladesh Club of Christchurch

especially had set-up a stall selling various

Bengali dishes. “We have been participatingin the Culture Galore for the last 15 years

and it’s always a wonderful experience.

Where else can we nd Russian, Serbian,Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Venezuelan

and African food under one roof,” noted

the President of the Club, MesbahuddinChowdhury, also a lecturer at the University

of Canterbury.

bhaataatam g

Chistchch

Established 11 years ago by Sri Lankan

Tamil Anuradha Ambalavanar, theBharatanatyam Group of Christchurch—

the only dance school in the city teaching

the classical dance form that originatedin Tamil Nadu—also participated in the

Culture Galore. “Our intermediate students

performed Ganesha stuti followed by

a Thillana—a dance act performed inpraise of Lord Shiva. It was a curtain raiser

sort of for our upcoming seventh annual

dance recital in April,” said Ambalavanar.

“In any case, music and dance have

universal appeal. And this applies all the

more to an ancient dance form such asBharatanatyam. A reection of that is in

my students who come from India, Sri

Lanka, Fiji, and even some local Kiwis,”

she concluded.

Christchurch’s most multi-cultural event

organised by the Christchurch

City Council as part of its

Summer Times programme,

and ably supported by Plains FM—

Canterbury’s only community access

radio station—and Fendalton-Waimairi

and Riccarton-Wigram Community

Boards, the 16th edition of Culture Galore

(an annual free outdoor multicultural

festival) was held on March 12 at the Ray

Blank Park. Easily the most multi-cultural

event in the city’s social calendar, it

featured music, dance, food and arts

and crafts from more than 80 cultures

around the world. The event kicked o

with Kapa Haka performed by the Hornby

High School. Later, Mundi African dance,

Chinese Lion dance, Scottish Country

dance, and Japanese Takumi drumming

mesmerised the audience. For those

wishing to try their hands at various art-

forms, parallel workshops were organised

including the ones by Chinese Square

Dancing group of the Christchurch

Migrant Centre, Indang Dance by the

Canterbury Indonesia Society, and Wushu

martial arts by Master Song Shaolin.

Nor’West Arch Morris Dancers and the

Macedonian Cultural Group participated

as well.

But the most popular section of the

Galore was the multi-national cuisine on

oer. Igor and his wife, who immigrated to

New Zealand six years ago from Ukraine,

had a stall serving Russian home-baked

products. Scott, originally from the US and

in Christchurch since 2008, was selling

Thai ice-cream. Sitti from Singapore

was selling the Lion-City’s delicacies in

celebrations of her country’s 50 years

of independence from Malaysia. Emily

from Germany, with help from her Kiwi

partner Jonathan, had set-up their Little

German Kitchen.

A team from Plains FM, who were

the emcee at the event, summed up the

afternoon rather nicely: “Today is the

day to learn a new language, make a new

friend or try a new cuisine. That’s what

Christchurch’s Culture Galore is all about.”


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9NEW ZEALANDNEW ZEALAND

Vaisakhi Mela rocksthe Garden City GAURAV SHARMA

I

t was a mix of melody and trendy. It

was a mix of established veterans and

upcoming stars.

In recognition of the growing Indian

population in Christchurch, mainly from

the northern part of India, two city-based

event management companies—Revel

Events and Friendz Events—joined hands

to present the rst-ever Vaisakhi Mela in

the South Island on March 12 at the Aurora

Centre of Performing Arts in Christchurch.

The evening started with Jenny Johal—

whom Punjabi media has hailed as the

next big thing in Bhangra—setting the

stage with her tune-with-the-times trendy

Punjabi songs.

It ended with Ranjit Bawa, a household

name in the Punjabi music scene,

enthralling the crowd with his more

traditional numbers.In between, the oor was rocked by

Melbourne-based singer Gagan Kokri. Few

local artists including Deep Moud Gill,

Bhav Karan and Gurinder Mann presented

some items too.

Lucky Jassal, one of the organisers

informed, “These three singers—Ranjit,

Jenny and Gagan—are on a month-

long tour of New Zealand and Australia.

Christchurch’s was their rst performance

in the country, which would be followed by

the one in Auckland.”

“While majority participation in the

sold-out show was from Christchurch, we

also had families coming from Ashburton,

Timaru and Rangiora. This shows how fast

diversity is spreading in the South Island,”

he added.

Hitesh Sharma, another co-organiser

concluded, “With the success and support

we have received, we plan to make this

Vaisakhi Mela an annual aair and the

most sought-after event in the Punjabi

community in Christchurch.”

Top: (from right) Gagan Kokri, Ranjit Bawa, and Jenny Johal(in orange suit)Above: The 750-strong audience at Aurora Centre ofPerforming Arts

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Minister ofHealth Volunteer Awards open

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says

nominations are now open for the 2016

Minister of Health Volunteer Awards.

“These awards help to recognise the thousands of

unsung heroes who support New Zealand’s health and

disability services,” says Dr Coleman.

“Last year’s award recipients ranged from helping

people to navigate their way around hospitals and

health services, to visiting isolated older people in

their homes.

“Health volunteers make life better for New

Zealanders in many ways, often without seeking any

recognition. If you know an individual or team of

volunteers who deserve to be recognised, I encourage

you to nominate them.”

Last year, the overall winner of the Health

Volunteer Awards was Cancer Core, a group of Otago

University students.

Their inaugural University Relay for Life, the rst

run by any New Zealand university, attracted more

than 1,000 students and raised more than $60,000 for

the Cancer Society’s Otago and Southland Division.

Nominations close on April 8. The awards will be

presented during National Volunteer Week, from June

19 to 25.

Students on track to bettertarget ahead of timep

rojections showing students are

on track to surpass challenging

educational targets almost

two years ahead of schedule have

been hailed by Education Minister

Hekia Parata.

“In today’s world kids need

meaningful qualications to make the

most of their talents and opportunities,”

says Ms Parata. “These gures show

more young New Zealanders than ever

before are entering adulthood with the

skills and tools they need to succeed.”

The projections are based on

provisional NCEA data for last year

and historical trends. They suggest that

the number of 18-year-olds with NCEA

Level 2 or an equivalent qualication

increased by 3.2 percentage points to

84.4 per cent last year.

“This is a massive achievement for

our kids, parents, teachers and the

wider community,” says Ms Parata.

“When we took oce in 2008 just 68

per cent of 18-years had NCEA Level

2 or an equivalent. The 24 percent

increase in achievement since 2008

means 7600 more young people are

equipped to succeed this year than

seven years ago.”

The provisional data shows the

largest gains have been made by Māori

and Pasika students up 62 per cent

and 54 per cent to 72.3 per cent and

79.1 per cent respectively since 2008.

However, because Māori and Pasika

students started from a lower base

they have further to go to achieve the

Government’s target of 85 per cent

achievement by 2017.


11/32


l

11NEW ZEALAND

Council cracks down onirresponsible liquor outlet

A

n investigation, carried out last

month by council’s licensing

inspectors and accompanied by

the Police, has resulted in an application

to have Southmall Liquor Bargain’s

license cancelled.

This is the rst such application in New

Zealand under the new Sale and Supply

of Alcohol Act 2012 and comes after

Southmall Liquor Bargain sold alcohol

to a minor for the third time in just over

two years.

Rob Abbott, Manager Alcohol Licensing

said altogether 23 licensed premises in

Manurewa and the surrounding area were

tested in a controlled purchased operation,

four of which failed by selling alcohol

to the minor. “While we’re pleased that

the majority of operators we tested areresponsible license holders it shows us

there’s still work to be done.” A controlled

purchase operation is where a person

under the age of 18 is sent in to try and

buy alcohol.

Chair of the Regulatory and Bylaws

Committee, Calum Penrose says, “The sale

of alcohol to minors is something we take

very seriously.

“It’s our job to protect our young people

from the harm alcohol can cause and it’s only

appropriate that irresponsible premises

have their licenses revoked.”


12/32


l

12

Winston Peters

NZ First leader

NEW ZEALAND

Kanwaljit BakshiNational List MP

Parmjeet Parmar

National List MP

Better services improving the lives of New Zealanders

w e’re committed to meaningful

improvements in areas that

really matter to Kiwis.

Each year, we spend 70 billion taxpayer

dollars on public services.

This includes vital spending on

health, education, infrastructure, justice,

and welfare. It’s important we target

this spending carefully at services that

are eective.

We have a high standard of living here

in New Zealand. According to the OECD

Better Life Index we rank top in health

status compared with all other OECD

countries. We also rank above average

for well-being, education and skills,

personal security, environmental quality,

civic engagement, housing, and jobsand earnings.

We’re not perfect though. Here in

New Zealand we still grapple with some

of the complex systemic issues that are

challenging governments around the world.

Nearly four years ago, Prime Minister

John Key made a commitment to addressing

these dicult issues and announced 10

clear, measurable goals, which we refer to

as the Better Public Services targets.

These goals cover issues in long-

term welfare dependency, vulnerable

children, skills, crime, and interaction with

government. We’re the rst administration

to set public targets to be measured against,

and our progress is reported every six

months. These results belong to us all.

Behind the numbers are real New Zealand

families living better lives.

The latest results show the proportion of

immunised eight-month olds has increased

from 82 to 93.7 per cent and the number of

rst time rheumatic fever hospitalisations

has dropped a massive 45 per cent.

The trend in the number of children and

young people experiencing substantiated

physical abuse has attened, after

previously being on an upward trajectory.

These results mean happier, healthier

children that are better prepared for life.

More young New Zealanders than ever

before are entering adulthood with the skillsand tools they need to succeed. Provisional

2015 NCEA Level 2 achievement results

show the proportion of 18-year-olds who

achieve a NCEA Level 2 qualication has

increased to 84.4 per cent, from 74.3 per

cent in 2011. This result is almost two years

ahead of target.

The number of benet recipients has

decreased by 7,245 in a year largely driven

by decreases in Sole Parent Support.

This represents parents moving into

work and training to make a better life for

their family.

Our targets encourage the public service

sector to nd long-term solutions by

working with vulnerable people to nd out

what really makes a real dierence.

The latest update conrms our

approach is working. We’re making real

progress on challenging issues and will

continue to deliver more eective and

productive services.

Families and businesses benetting frommodernising ACC services

This government has been focused

on delivering public services that

are easy to use and meet the needs

of Kiwi families.

ACC has begun rolling out a $450 million

programme to transform ACC’s people,

processes, technology, and information

over the next ve years. The programme

will ensure ACC is delivering services that

are more customer focused and are meeting

the needs of their most vulnerable clients.Enhanced technology is a key part of

the programme. Paper-based processes

will be replaced and technology will enable

faster, more transparent decisions, and

better sharing of and access to information

for clients, health professionals, and

businesses alike.

These changes will free up sta to

spend more time with people who have

complex needs so that ACC can make a

real dierence. It means better services for

injured people and for health providers and

levy payers too. This is just the rst stage

of the programme, which also includes

improvements for business customers. Oneof the rst changes will be improved levy

invoices, which have long been a source of

dissatisfaction for the more than 500,000

businesses invoiced each year by ACC.

Business customers will have choice and

control over how they pay their levies to

suit their business needs—they’ll also have

visibility over and can plan for the likely

levy amount and timing. They’ll also have

a much clearer understanding of how their

levies have been calculated.

The changes come after $450 million

of levy cuts happening this year, including

an 11 per cent reduction to average work

levies paid by employers. These cuts taketotal ACC levy cuts overall to $2 billion

since 2012.

ACC has come a long way since 2008–

09 when it posted a yearly decit of $4.8

billion. Since then, the scheme’s assets

have grown from $10 billion to $33 billion,

thanks to its world class investment team.

That’s good news for our families and

businesses. We’re continuing to deliver

better public services for the people who

use them and those who pay for them.

Govt arrogant over manipulation of Hindi language

The government’s ippant disregard

for New Zealand First’s concerns

over a deliberate manipulation of

the ag referendum voting papers shows

their arrogance.

New Zealand First MP Mahesh Bindra

read the voting instructions for Hindi

speaking people on the information

pamphlet accompanying the ballot paperstitled ‘How to Vote’.

He was shocked to nd the wording

was not just wrong but that it attempted

to manipulate voters towards the Prime

Minister’s ag.

The wording was supposed to read—

“tick the ag you want to be the New

Zealand ag’’ However, the Hindi words

said—“tick the ag you want to be the NEW

New Zealand ag.’’

Mr Bindra, who was a trustee and

founder of the Hindi Language Culture

Trust of NZ, had others to support him.

The wording on the pamphlet can only

be seen as a blatant attempt to manipulate

80,000 Hindi speaking voters.Because of this farce we have called for

these votes to be nullied.

When the Electoral Commission was

advised of the manipulative text they said

the wording was correct and they would

not change it. Mr Bindra raised the matter

in parliament where Deputy Prime Minister

Bill English took no responsibility. Mr

Bindra asked Mr English why he was

treating the matter in such a cavalier

fashion when Hindi language experts

were suggesting legal action to stop such a

subversion of democracy and distortion of

their original language.

Mr English, who by his broad grin

seemed amused by the matter, said anyone who was an expert on Hindi was free to take

the Electoral Commission to court.

New Zealand First intends to do that.

This Hindi language issue is just another

example of how the public have been

inuenced and manipulated so the prime

minister’s dream of changing the New

Zealand ag can be achieved. The pro-change lobby in the National government

have been unrelenting in their campaign:

They shoulder-tapped the country’s top

sports stars and other prominent people

to speak out in favour of a new ag; the

alternative ag was sent to councils and

other organisations around the country to

be own next to our current national ag.

This was done under the pretence of

comparing the two ags but it was a blatant

attempt to promote the prime minister’s

ag and to manipulate the ag debate.

The prime minister also took every

opportunity to promote his ag even to the

point of blatantly wearing it as a lapel badge

at major events where he was representing

New Zealand.

Fortunately, the ag decision rests with

the New Zealand public—they are wise to

this government and its manipulative and

unfair methods.


13/32


l

13NEW ZEALAND

Phil Goff

Labour MP

www.donha.co.nzTop One Real Estate Limited Licensed (REAA 2008)

12 Osterley Way, Manukau 261 2555 | 1 Arranmore Dr, Botany 265 0318

Time to stand up for therule of law

our claim to be a civilised societydepends on upholding the rule oflaw. All of us should have the right

to go about our business without threat toour safety. We expect those who breach thelaw to be held to account.

That, however, does not appear to reectthe reality of life in our community at themoment. Just a week or so ago, in Manurewa,a liquor store owner was stabbed outside hisshop. He was hospitalised but fortunatelysurvived. He said he was reluctant to go backto his shop where he no longer felt secure.He could easily have been killed, like ArunKumar who was stabbed to death in hisHenderson shop in 2014 by a 13-year-old.

Just last weekend, 10 teenagers wentinto the Red Hill Superette owned by IndyPurewal. You can see on Facebook theincident, which was recorded by CCTV.

In broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon,the youths just took what they wanted fromthe shop as if they were entitled to it. Itwas the brazen nature of the theft that wasso shocking. There was no attempt to evendisguise their identities. They just went inand helped themselves to what didn’t belongto them. It was as if there was no law or itdidn’t matter.

They seemed condent they would getaway with it and never face the consequences.That should worry all of us and so tooshould the apparent inability of the Police to

respond. When Red Hill Superette worker,Maninda Singh, had rung the Police on theprevious Friday night when there was anattempted break in to the shop, he was toldthey were “too busy” to deal with it.

On the Sunday he resorted to telling thePolice he had a gun and a knife and was goingto sort out those who were raiding the shop,the Police turned up at once, but he shouldnot have had to resort to that to get thePolice there.

Owner, Indy Purewal, is at the end ofhis tether. The store has now been robbedaround 18 or 19 times. No family or businessshould have to put up with that.

The gures I revealed last month in mycolumn in the Weekender gives none of usany cause for condence that the rule of law is

being upheld. When 93 per cent of burglars in Auckland get away with their crimes, there isno disincentive for criminals to stop breakingthe law. They remain out in the communitygoing on committing crimes against people

who are working hard trying to support theirfamilies. As a former Minister of Justice, Itoughened the law on bail, sentencing andparole. But making the law stronger doesn’t

work as a deterrent if the law is not upheld.For six years now, police stations have

been closed, police numbers frozen and thePolice budget cut in real terms, while thepopulation has increased rapidly.

The Police Commissioner himselfadmitted to Parliament’s Law and OrderCommittee, on which I sit, that he had hadto absorb $300 million in increased costs

because there was no budget to meet them.Ensuring our safety is a fundamental

responsibility of Government, which theyare not currently upholding. The public willincreasingly demand that they do.


14/32


l

14 FIJI

Authorised by Jenny Salesa,

Parliamentary Buildings, Wellington

Electorate Office:

7 Fulton Cres, Otara

09 274 9231 or 09 278 9972

[email protected]

Otahuhu:

Otahuhu Town Hall,

10 -12 High Street

Monday mornings

9am to 12pm

Papatoetoe:

YouthLine Building,

145 St George Street,

Friday mornings

9.30am to 12pm

- . :

AG meets IndianMinister forExternal AffairsT

he Honourable Attorney-

General and Minister for

Finance, Mr Aiyaz Sayed-

Khaiyum (‘AG’) met with the Indian

Minister for External Aairs Ms.

Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi on

Friday, March 11.

The AG informed Minister

Swaraj about the devastation left

behind by tropical cyclone Winstonand the relief eorts by government.

He also acknowledged and thanked

the Indian Government for the

nancial assistance and relief

supplies provided to Fiji, noting

that India was one of the rst

countries to provide direct budget support

to the Fijian Government.

The AG and Minister Swaraj also

discussed other areas of Indian assistance

and collaboration including reconstruction

eorts, agricultural support particularly in

providing seeds suitable for the climatic

conditions in Fiji and SME development.

The Indian Minister is expected to visit

Fiji in the next few months. The AG was in

New Delhi to attend the IMF Conference,

Advancing Asia from March 11 to 13.

He will be part of a high-level panel

discussion on the challenges of Climate

Change and Economic Resilience.

Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, with Minister for Finance, AiyazSayed-Khaiyum

Rations distribution costs $9.7m

Atotal of $9.7 million has

been used by the National

Disaster Management Oce

for the distribution of relief rations,

says National Disaster Management

Oce director Akapusi Tuifagalele.

“The continuation on the

distribution of relief rations to the

aected areas following Tropical

Cyclone Winston will depend on the

ground assessment,” he said.

“The government is working on

the 30 days period, where we assure

that all the rations are distributed evenly to

all the aected areas. After the one month

declaration period, then the Government

will have to decide on whether to continue

with the distribution.”

Mr Tuifagalele said the NDMO was

now speeding its recovery work as only

seven days of the declared state of Natural

Disaster period was left.

Statistics as th ndMo:

• Death toll—44

• Total number of evacuation centres

still opened—291

• Number of schools still used as

evacuation centres—11

• Total number of evacuees—8,098

dama assssmt

• Total number of fully destroyed

houses—9,173

• Total number of partly destroyed

houses—28,998

rct atis

• Canada—$1.6 million

• Thailand—$10,000 to the PM’s

Relief Fund

rct iat assistac

• Fiji Development Bank

(FDB)—$50,000

• Secretary to Parliament—$11,150

• USA Sanatan Organisation—$17,630

NZ to assist Fiji restore

electricity n

ew Zealand is supporting the

restoration of electricity on

Viti Levu.

New Zealand’s High Commissioner

to Fiji Mark Ramsden says NZ has

committed $1.42m to help restore

electricity infrastructure, including re-

erecting fallen power poles, restringing

power lines and reinstalling fallen

transformers and other overhead electricity

distribution equipment.

Two companies, Top Energy and Unison,

have been engaged by the New Zealand

Ministry of Foreign Aairs and Trade to

send personnel to Fiji.

Discussions are continuing with othercompanies that may also be able to provide

support. Fiji Electricity Authority has

estimated it will cost around $20 million

to repair damage to electricity equipment

caused by the cyclone.

The rst of New Zealand’s line

mechanics arrived in Fiji over the

weekend and commenced work alongsideFEA counterparts.

NZ Defence Force personnel currently in Fijixing 3 schools and a hospital in Vanuabalavu

The New Zealand Defence Forcepersonnel currently in Fiji are

xing three schools and a hospitalin Vanuabalavu.

Commanding Engineer HMNZS Major

Chris Wilson said they are focusing onMualevu District School, Lomaloma

Secondary School and Mavana District

School in Vanuabalavu. Major Wilson saidthey hope to get the schools ready in the next

two weeks. He said they will be in Yacata

later this week to rebuild a school on the

island which was severely damaged duringCyclone Winston.

Major Wilson said they have also

distributed a number of tarpaulins.

Meanwhile, Commanding Ocer ofHMNZS Canterbury Simon Rooke said they

will be taking 15 tonnes of construction

materials and about nine tonnes of foodto Yacata and Vanuabalavu. Rooke said

they have been providing the basic needs

to the aected villagers. Rooke also said

oshore patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington

is also operating in northern Lau and has

delivered boxes of tinned food, crackers,

bottled water and vaccines and bales of tree

saplings to aected communities on Yacata

and other islands in the area.

According to Rooke almost 300 combat

engineers and naval personnel, assisted

by 13 members from the New Zealand Fire

Service’s Urban Search and Rescue team,

are supporting the rebuilding at Lomaloma.

Commanding Engineer HMNZS Major Chris Wilson


15/32


16/32

NEW ZEALANDINDIA

Editorial — Aldous Huxley

Thought of the week

After silence, that which comes nearest toexpressing the inexpressible is music.

From the desk of theManaging Editor

“J“The answer to this question may lie in DeskTime, a software application

that meticulously tracks employees’ time use throughout the day. When the

makers of this software looked at the most productive 10 per cent of their

36,000-employee user base, they made some surprising discoveries. What the most

productive people have in common is an ability to take eective breaks. These elite

10 per-cent work for 52 minutes at a time, then take a 17-minute break before diving

back into their work.

According to Julia Giord, who works with DeskTime and wrote the report, the

reason this pattern helps productivity is that the top 10 percent treat the periods of

working time like a sprint. ‘They make the most of those 52 minutes by working with

intense purpose, but then rest up to be ready for the next burst,’ Giord wrote. She

also noted that during the 17 minutes of break, the group was more likely to go for a

walk or tune out rather than checking email or Facebook.”

~Tom Rath from Are You Fully Charged?

More and more of us now work at our desks, with the world becoming digitised and

at our ngertips. Even some meetings can now be had on Skype, etc., directly from

our desks. However, sometimes working at the same desk can become monotonous

and we begin to drift away or lose attention and productivity. I was impressed with

the research quoted above. I nd this is rather true. If big projects or a huge day of

work is broken down to short sprints, interspersed with short power breaks (as I like

to call them), the overall productivity of the day can be improved and you end up

achieving a lot more. I think it is important that more and more people delve into the

way they do things. It is only when we change and learn and try out new things that

development and growth occurs and that is key to achieving in life.

Talking about achievements, it is indeed one that the Black Caps have never lost a

T20 to India and India always loses to the Black Caps. Kicking o the T20s in style,

the Black Caps are poised to take on the tournament. Needless to say, we cheer for

both teams and it becomes rather dicult to take sides.

The new Indian High Commissioner His Excellency Mr Sanjiv Kohli is now well and truly in oce. On behalf of the IWK family, I would like to extend a warm

welcome to him and hope he has a very successful innings at the helm in Wellington.

We caught up with him in a candid personal interview and bring you details of that,

so you may know him a bit better.

We are now proud to announce that the nominations for the Kiwi Indian Young

Achiever and the Kiwi Indian Unsung Hero are open along with the nominations for

the Kiwi Indian Hall of Fame. We would like to encourage everyone to participate

in this nomination process actively and make sure that the people you want to be

recognised, get their recognition.

Hope you enjoy this issue. Until next time.

Giri Gupta

Pick of the week

Indian Weekender : Volume 7 Issue 50

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, Marketing & Distribution: 022 3251630 / [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

Phrase: Go bush

Meaning: To abandon city amenities and live rough

Usage: I think that guy who escaped from prison will be going bush

• Save your money spent on cupsof coee every day by brewing acup at home instead

• Avoid eating outside. Buyingweekly groceries is cheaper thanpaying for takeouts every night.

• Avoid taking the car out for smalldistances such as running errands

• Go from billing to postpaid onyour smartphone to avoid excessphone bills

• Set up an automatic payment inyour bank account that will deducta certain amount every week

Set against the backdrop of Lake Tekapo this could quite possibly be the most beautiful little church inthe world #onlyinNZ Photo by Adam Osborn.


17/32


l

17OPINION/EDITORIAL

Digital inequality warning sounded for urban IndiaBY DEVANIK SAHA

r ecent indications that India’s

Internet use is low and not reectedin the numbers of mobile phone

connections and growth are buttressed by a

new study that points to digital inequality

in urban areas.

Carried out in Pune, a rapidly growing

metropolis of 5.92 million people, its

economy driven in large part by information

technology, the study found:

82 per cent of people surveyed in

low-income neighbourhoods don’tuse Internet

56 per cent of households have no

Internet users at all

41 per cent of non-users have never

heard of the Internet

43 per cent of people between 16 and 25

years of age do not use Internet

The results are likely to be similar in

more prosperous cities, such as Bengaluru

and Delhi, worse in poorer cities.

Although Internet users in India are

increasing rapidly, and the country is

Asia-Pacic’s fastest growing smartphone

market, only 22 per cent of the adult

population in India uses the Internet,

compared to the global median of 67 per

cent, according to this survey by Pew

Research Center, a US research institute.

In absolute numbers, India likely

overtook the US and became the country

with the world’s second-largest Internet

market, with 402 million active Internet

users in December 2015. These gures

clearly hide great variations, the Pune study

revealed. Pune has grown rapidly over the

last two decades to become the eighth-

largest urban agglomeration in India. In

2015, Pune ranked second only to Bengaluru

in software exports from India. The city

has as many as 3.6 million Internet users

(a 34% year-on-year growth), according to

Internet in India

2014—a report

f r o m

I n t e r n e t

and Mobile

Association of India.

These are the six main observations the

study made about Pune’s digital inequality:

I. Eighty-four per cent of women do not

use Internet compared to 42 per cent men.There are several stereotypical beliefs that

augment this gender digital inequality,

according to the CCDS study.

For instance, it is primarily men in the

household who acquire smartphones,

while women are handed down older, basic

phones without data access, or feature

phones that allow only limited Internet

applications. Boosting Internet access for

women has the potential to boost their

participation in the labour force, according

to this Mckinsey study. Recently, several

villages in Gujarat banned mobile phones

for girls and single women, a conrmation

of widespread patriarchal norms hindering

gender equality.

II. Better education increases chances

of Internet access. As many as 56 per cent

of households with at least one member

with a class 10 education or enrolled

currently were “connected”, meaning at

least one Internet user, as compared to 14

per cent of households without anyone withsimilar education.

The number of non-Internet

users decreases with increasing

education levels. Of those who

never attended school/had any

primary education, only three per

cent access the Internet, compared to

83 per cent of those who are graduates

and above.

III. Wealthier households are more

likely to use Internet. Only 29.4 per cent

of households in the rst wealth quintile

(poorest) were connected, compared to

62.8 per cent of households in the fth

quintile (richest).

IV. Younger people are more connected

to the Internet. 53.5 per cent of all Internetusers were between 16 and 20 years of age.

The percentage decreased with age, as the

chart below shows.

V. Occupation plays a signicant role in

increasing access. 46.5 per cent of Internet

users were students, while 26.2 per cent

were in the service sector, establishing a

link between occupation and access.

VI. Having a smartphone increases

chances of Internet use. As many as 77

per cent of households with a smartphone

accessed the Internet, compared to 30 per

cent in households without a smartphone.

“Smartphone users are leading India’s

Internet growth,” said this recent report

from Google India. Only 17 per cent of

Indian adults own a smartphone, according

to the survey by Pew Research. Only seven

per cent of adults in low-income families

own a smartphone. Other key ndings:

As many as 27.5 per cent of non-users

reported that lack of understandingof the Internet and how to use it was a

major reason for not going online

Men are eight times more likely to use

the Internet than women

As many as 21 per cent of non-users

believe that the Internet is not useful

for women

The number was 32 per cent for

Internet users

As many as 35 per cent of male users

and 24 per cent of female users felt the

Internet had increased their condence

and enhanced their personality

Only eight per cent of users said they

found the Internet useful in nding out

about government benetsThe CCDS eld research was spread

across six low-income settlements, 1,634

households and 5,999 citizens in Ambedkar

Nagar, Janata Vasahat, Laxmi Nagar and

Patil Estate in Pune Municipal Corporation

areas and Anand Nagar, Mahatma Phule

Nagar in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal

Corporation area.

BJP is far from winning the ideological warAMULYA GANGULI

on the day Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley claimed the BJP had

won the ideological war in the

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) battle

because student leader, Kanhaiya Kumar,

had waved the national ag and said “Jai

Hind”, a group of saron activists vandalised

a church in Raipur in Chhattisgarh.

They were chanting not “Jai Hind” while

attacking women and children and tearing

up copies of the Bible, but “Jai Shri Ram”,

the battle cry of the Hindutva brigade since

the early 1990s. According to a spokesman

of the Christians, this was the sixth attack in

as many weeks in the state.

Jaitley was speaking at a convention

of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha

(BJYM), one of whose members has been

expelled for threatening to cut o Kanhaiya

Kumar’s tongue. Another saronite has

been arrested for putting up posters in

Delhi, oering a reward of Rs.11 lakh for

decapitating the student union president.Considering that goons among the

pro-BJP lawyers had beaten up Kanhaiya

Kumar at the Patiala House Court, and a

BJP MLA of Delhi, O.P. Sharma, had said

that he would have shot him if he had a gun,

it is clear that the BJP interprets ideological

victory more in terms of what takes place at

the physical level than in the mind.

It is noteworthy that the BJP’s muscular

approach to the Left-Right divide has made

even the Shiv Sena say that such tactics

have turned the student leader into a hero.

Since the Sena is an outt, which knows a

thing or two about thuggery, its views have

to be taken seriously.

That there are a few among the BJP’s

supporters who also believe that aggression

does not pay is evident from Anupam Kher’s

observation at a Kolkata function in favour

of evicting the combative Yogis and Sadhvis

from the party.

The politically naive actor is apparentlyunaware of the value of belligerent storm-

troopers at election time. He was probably

only thinking of how their antics detracted

from his claim that there was no intolerance

in the country. For the BJP, however, it will

not be enough for one minister to declare

the party’s ideological victory and another

to dub Kanhaiya Kumar as an “aberration”.

Nor will the denial of visas to an

American team put an end to a growing

sense of worldwide unease over the current

events in India.

What the BJP will have to ensure in

order to score an ideological as well as

electoral victory in the coming weeks is to

not only demonstrate its commitment to

the rule of law but also to act with a sense of

compassion (as the closet saronite, Sri Sri

Ravi Shankar, has advocated) with regard

to the law on sedition.

The BJP’s failing in these respects is due

to its self-belief about being vested withthe responsibility of protecting the nation

against ungodly aliens while aunting

its Hindu ethos, which is reected in a

prime minister who wears a “tilak”, as BJP

president Amit Shah has said.

Since a Hindu-oriented xenophobia does

not suit a democracy, the BJP runs the

danger of losing the ideological war even

before it has begun. Kanhaiya Kumar and

his Leftist supporters do have their faults

as Prof. Makarand Paranjape pointed out

how the JNU had been converted into

a “hegemonic space” of the Left or how

millions killed by Stalin were brushed

under the carpet by them.

Evidently, the battle has been really and

truly joined not only between the Left and

the Right but also between the Left and

the Centre.

How it pans out will depend on the

performance of the BJP and its opponents

in the forthcoming elections, especially in

Assam, Kerala and West Bengal.If the Left wins in Kerala, as is likely,

and improves its tally in West Bengal with

Kanhaiya Kumar addressing a few rallies in

the two states, the JNU crowd will consider

it as their victory. On the other hand, if the

BJP pips the Congress at the post in Assam,

the party can look forward with some hope

to next year’s UP elections.

The danger, however, is that in the

event of the Assam outcome not going the

BJP’s way because of the uncertainty over

its alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad,

there is a possibility of the hardliners in the

saron camp becoming even more hawkish.

Some of their belligerence can be

explained by their inability to score brownie

points in their confrontation with students because their follies do not attract the same

condemnation as those of the grown-ups.

Moreover, the militancy of the extreme

Right reected in the threat to cut o

Kanhaiya Kumar’s head embarrasses the

BJP and is bound to be exploited by its

opponents during the election campaign.

The government’s mistake was its high-

pitched response to the “sedition” charge

in the JNU. Ever since Kanhaiya Kumar’s

release from jail, however, it is nding it

dicult to retain the high ground, which

it claimed to have occupied and is not too

certain, therefore, of having won the battle

of ideas.


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NCRB launches FICNcompilation system portal

The National Crime Record Bureau(NCRB) on March 11 launched a

web portal as a tool in its armoury

to easily compile the precise data of FakeIndian Currency Notes (FICN) circulated

across the country.‘Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN)

compilation system’ portal will help the

NCRB in acquiring data from all states andother agencies to have a complete picture

about the circulation of counterfeit notes in

the country.Union Minister of State for Home Aairs

Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary launched

the web portal on the occasion of the 31st Inception Day of the NCRB.

On the occasion, Chaudhary also

launched a mobile application ‘VahanSamanvaya’ to help police and public in

tracing stolen vehicles from database.The NCRB—mandated to empower

the Indian Police with informationtechnology (IT) and is responsible forcollecting, analysing the crime data of the

country—facilitates Investigating Ocers

with updated IT tools and information ininvestigation of crimes.

The scheme envisages connectingall the police stations through their

computerisation. At present, of the 16,000

police stations and oces in the country,10,000 police stations and oces have

already been connected through this

system. In the future roadmap of thegovernment, CCTNS will become one of the

major components of integrated criminal

justice system.

Week-long Festival of Innovations

kicks off at Rashtrapati Bhavan In a bid to boost the grass roots-

level innovations across the country,President Pranab Mukherjee on

Saturday, March 12 inaugurated thesecond edition of the week-long “Festival

Innovation” at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The festival, to be celebrated fromMarch 12 to 19, has been organised by the

President’s Oce in collaboration with the

National Innovation Foundation (NIF).The festival was kicked o with

the inauguration of an Exhibition ofInnovations at the world-famous Mughal

Gardens that will remain open to the public

till March 19.“Innovation is an idea whose time has

come. The budget for this festival has gone

up 600 per cent as compared to last year,” Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, Department

of Science & Technology, told media. Our

idea is to reach out to the students fromclass six to 12 for innovative ideas across

the country.From there, one lakh ideas will be

selected and each of them will be given

Rs.5,000 to convert the idea into aninnovation,” he added.

Later on, 10,000 innovations will be

selected and showcased at state-level. Outof the 10,000 innovations, 1,000 will be

showcased at the national level.“The nal 60 innovations will be

showcased at the Rashtrapati Bhavan,”

Sharma noted. The president also released

a book titled Festival of Innovation—2015 authored by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of

Science and Technology, at the event.

The exhibition showcases severalinnovations including a tractor-driven

onion transplanter, multi-crop thresher,foot operated page-turning device for

dierently-able and posture correcting

chair, among others.The most noticeable products among the

65 eye-catching grass root innovations are

anti-molestation device for women worn on wrist and alert switch in bus/auto rickshaw

for the safety of women.

Besides the above, the festival will have

three exhibitions, two workshops, four

group discussions, two award presentation

ceremonies and roundtable on dierent

topics during the week.

Some highlights of the festival were a

keynote address by Nobel laureate K ailash

Satyarthi on March 13 and presentation of

Visitor’s Award on March 14.

The NIF, set up in 2000 by the

Department of Science and Technology,

has taken major initiatives to serve the

knowledge-rich, economically poor people

of the country.

President of India, Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an exhibition of grass roots innovations in Rashtrapati Bhavan kicking off

thereby a week-long Festival of Innovations from March 12 to 19


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19

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Lok Sabha passesAppropriations Billl

ok Sabha passed the Appropriation

Bill, completing the rst phase

of the budgetary exercise for

2016–17, with Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley saying that his government willnd a lasting solution to banks’ nancial

stress by addressing issues at the core of

the problem—over-borrowing by long-

troubled sectors like steel, sugar, power

and highways.

In his reply in the Lok Sabha to the

debate on the Union Budget 2016–17,

he said banks stress on account of fraud,

where defaulters have wilfully declined to

repay loans, will be dealt with legally.

“But there are also some other issues

due to which non-performing assets (NPAs)

have added up in the banking system,” he

said, adding that some genuine economic

reasons for the delays in repayments to

banks were required to be addressed.

In steel, he said, it was dumping byChina. In sugar, it was low global prices,

while in power, it was indiscriminate moves

by some states to sell electricity below cost,

forcing distribution companies to resort to

borrowing. In highways, it was poor policy

implementation that had crippled the

sector, Jaitley said.

“But all these are being tackled with

appropriate policy action,” he said.

“There is no point in pushing dirt under

the carpet and saying the room is clean,”

he added.

Jaitley listed the steps taken by his

government such as the anti-dumping

duty and high minimum import price of

steel, high customs duty on sugar and the

Uday discoms’ debt restructure package for

power utilities.

The NPAs of public sector banks (PSBs)

have increased by close to Rs.1 lakh crore in

the rst nine months of the current scal,

parliament was told last week.

Jaitley also rejected demands for

rollback of one per cent excise duty on

jewellery saying it was in preparation for

unveiling of the Goods and Services Tax,

which hopefully will “come soon”.

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Hindus, Muslims settle25-year-old land dispute

Hindus and Muslims in the

Madhya Pradesh district have ina precedent-setting act resolved

through mutual agreement a land dispute

that had evaded a judicial solution for thepast 25 years.

The dispute related to a plot of vacant

land lying between a Hindu templeand an Imambara (congregation hall

for commemoration ceremonies ofShia Muslims) of the Lakhera Muslim

community in Betma town in Indore

district, a police ocer said.“Both the Hindu and the Muslim

communities were claiming the vacant land

as their own,” said Rajkumar Yadav, stationhouse ocer (SHO) of Betma police station.

For 25 years, the dispute had remainedunresolved and currently lay pending with

the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh

High Court, he said.Tired of the lengthy judicial process and

no immediate resolution in sight, the two

communities nally decided to sit togetherand thrash out a solution to the vexed

problem. The matter was settled within amatter of days after the two communities

decided to meet across the table and sort

out the contentious issues with mutualunderstanding and accommodation. The

Hindu community was represented by

Dharmvir Singh Chauhan, also president ofthe town council, and the Lakhera Muslim

community by Haji Faqeer Mohammad

Sheikh—both met twice before making wayfor other community leaders to reach the

much desired consensus. According to the agreement reached

between the two communities on Saturday,

March 12, 1,395 sq.ft. of the 2,160 sq.ft. vacant land would be turned over to the

Sheetala Mata temple and the remainder

to the Imambara of the Lakhera Muslimcommunity, said Yadav.

The temple is currently built on 450sq.ft. of land while the Imambara occupies

630 sq.ft. Following the resolution, the two

communities decided to withdraw the courtcase, get the land registered in accordance

with the agreement, and also despatched

letters to the authorities, including SHO

Yadav, conveying the agreed upon points of

the settlement.


20/32


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20 INDIA

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Action plan to handhold new entrepreneurs: Sitharaman

The government has preparedan action plan for 22 sectors

under ‘Make in India’ initiative

to promote new entrepreneurs in the

country, parliament was told.

“An investor facilitation cell has beencreated in Invest India to assist andhandhold investors,” Commerce andIndustry Minister Nirmala Sitharamantold the Lok Sabha in a writtenreply. She also said that the centralgovernment rolled out a start-up actionplan to create a conducive environmentfor budding entrepreneurs (start-ups)in the country. The start-up action planincludes simple compliance regime for

them based on their self-certication. Amobile app and portal for complianceand information exchange was

also launched.Sitharaman said that a Start-up

India Hub was set up to handhold

new entrepreneurs during variousphases of their development along

with legal support and fast-tracking

patent examination at reduced costs.The government relaxed norms ofpublic procurement and faster exit for

start-ups. The minister said start-ups would be provided funding supportthrough a fund of funds with a corpus

of Rs.10,000 crore. Tax exemption will

also be allowed on capital gains invested

in fund of funds. She also said there

will be credit guarantee fund available

for start-ups and they will be allowed to

enjoy tax exemption for three years.

Apart from this, the central

government will be organising start-

up fests to showcase innovations and

providing collaboration platforms, the

minister said. The commerce minister

also sought harnessing private sector

expertise for setting up incubators.

Seven new research parks modelled on

the Research Park at IIT Madras have

been set up, she said.

Frame rules andregulations forchild adoption,says SC

T

he Supreme Court on March 14 asked the

central and state governments to frame

required rules and regulations governing in-

country and inter-country adoption of children underthe existing laws.

While noting that during the pendency of the

petition, the legislation has been enacted, the

court said, “The interest of children, whether it is

intra-country or inter-country adoptions, has to

be protected. The process of adoption has to be

transparent. It should ensure welfare of the child.”

It asked CARA to frame regulation under section

68 of the act, under which the agency is mandated to

regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions and

to facilitate inter-state adoptions in co-ordination

with the state agency, and to carry out the functions of

the Central Authority under the Hague Convention on

Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of

inter-country Adoption.

Besides several other aspects, section 110 providesfor the manner of inquiry that would be conducted

in respect of missing children or run away children

whose parents can’t be traced, responsibilities of the

child welfare ocer attached to a Children’s Home

and the process of restoration of abandoned or lost

children to their families.

While refusing to keep the PIL by NGO Adavit

Foundation on board and disposing it o, the apex

court permitted it to make representation before the

central government and CARA on the framing of rules

and regulations and the same would be considered by

them while framing the model rules and regulations.

While declining to pass a general order for a

Central Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged

malpractices in the adoption process as sought by the

NGO, the bench allowed it to move the court pointing

to the specic instance of wrong doings in inter-country and in-country adoption.

Karnataka setsup anti-corruptionbureau

The Karnataka government on March 14 set

up an Anti-Corruption Bureau to provide a

transparent and ecient administration.

Although Karnataka was the rst state to set

up an anti-corruption watchdog—the Lokayukta

(ombudsman) in 1984 under the Karnataka Lokayukta

Act (KLA), there is also the Prevention of Corruption

Act empowers police to investigate graft charge

against ocials.

“The KLA and PC Act are dierent legislations, as

the former empowers the quasi-judicial Lokayukta to

only inquire into complaints against public servants

but does not allow criminal investigation against them

and others accused of seeking or taking bribe,” an

ocial statement said.

Although the state government entrusted the

investigation powers into corruption charges to the

police wing of the state Lokayukta, the Supreme Court

in the C. Rangaswamaiah versus Karnataka Lokayukta

case in 1988 held that police ocers probing cases

under the PC Act were autonomous.

The state government has decided to separate the

two roles by forming the Anti Corruption Bureau

(ACB) on the lines of the central government.

“The ACB will be a statutory au

Indian Weekender 18 March 2016

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