The Indian Weekender, 15 April 2022

15APRIL2022 • VOL 14 ISSUE 4 

www.iwk.co.nz /indianweekender /indianweekender 

Pg4 

Pg7 

Pg10

2 NEW ZEALAND 

Friday, April 15, 2022 

The Indian Weekender 

HAPPY 

VAISAKHI! 

Christopher Luxon 

Leader of the Opposition 

Melissa Lee 

National MP 

National Party Spokesperson for Ethnic Communities 

Christopher.Luxon@parliament.govt.nz 

christopherluxon.national.org.nz 

christopherluxon 

MPLee@parliament.govt.nz 

melissalee.co.nz 

mpmelissalee 

Authorised by Melissa Lee, National List MP, 

Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.

The Indian Weekender Friday, April 15, 2022 

NEW ZEALAND 3 

Petition to stop roadwork for proposed 

cycleway in Newtown gets underway 

VENU MENON IN WELLINGTON 

The Wellington City Council is 

hearing a petition submitted by 

local businesses to stop roadwork 

that will remove car parks to clear the way 

for a proposed cycleway linking Newtown 

to the city. 

In its issue dated March 25, 2022, Indian 

Weekender highlighted the resistance mounted 

by the business owners when the Council 

announced the move to restructure the roads in 

this suburb. 

Around 470 signatures were collected 

for a hybrid petition (paper and online) 

urging the Council to hold consultations 

with business owners from the area before 

bulldozers start rolling. 

The loss of parking will hit businesses along 

the John Adelaide and Riddiford intersection, a 

heritage stretch dating back over 80 years. 

“Wellington risks losing a heritage site,” 

says Urmila, who runs a grocery started by her 

parents more than 50 years ago. “Businesses in 

the area have funded a lot of the sprucing up of 

the heritage buildings. They have invested quite 

heavily in Newtown for that to be removed.” 

Urmila, under whose leadership the business 

owners in the area petitioned the Council, says 

the intersection is a transit area to get to other 

suburbs such as Island Bay, Kingston, Miramar 

and Kilbirnie. 

More critically, the area surrounds the local 

hospital and auxiliary medical services, such 

as blood testing and imaging, will be disrupted 

if cars are not allowed to park in the vicinity. 

Patient and outpatient flow to the hospital will 

be affected as a result. 

“These changes result from several 

years of planning and policy work that has 

involved substantial public consultation and 

engagement,” Council chief planning officer 

Liam Hodgetts told local media. 

Wellington risks losing a 

heritage site. So that’s the 

issue. No consultation, no 

democracy. And New Zealand is 

a democracy, not an autocracy. 

We were told it was a trial, but 

it’s becoming permanent 

But Urmila disagrees. “There 

was no consultation from the getgo,” 

she claims. The review process 

was triggered after business owners approached 

the Council with their petition. 

There is also a lack of clarity around whether 

the cycleway is a trial. “We were told it was 

a trial, but it’s becoming permanent,” Urmila 

Businesswoman Urmila 

says. The petition submitted by the business 

owners could force a fresh vote in the Council. If 

councillors vote to go ahead with the cycleway 

without consultation ( or “further” consultation, 

as the case may be), the bulldozers will start to 

roll next week. 

For Urmila, democracy is on the test. “So 

that’s the issue. No consultation, no democracy. 

And New Zealand is a democracy, not an 

autocracy,” she says. 

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4 NEW ZEALAND 

Indian migrants 

fly down south in 

search of better 

work-life balance 

MAHESH KUMAR 



If you are in Auckland looking to buy a 

house but put off by the exorbitant prices, 

you are not alone. There is an exodus of 

Kiwis fleeing Auckland and moving to the 

South Island, specifically to Christchurch. Of 

course, the prime reason cited for the drift is the 

spiralling house prices in Auckland. 

According to Stats NZ, Auckland is 

experiencing its first recorded decline in its 

net population. And while there are various 

reasons for this ‘big flee’, the prime suspect is 

Auckland’s unaffordable house prices. 

In December 2021, the median house price in 

the Auckland region was $1,290,000 while in 

the Canterbury region, it was $680,000. 

University of Canterbury Professor 

Girish Prayag notes that the trend of 

migration to South Island has accelerated 

in the last two years. 

“As housing prices soar in Auckland, families 

are faced with either extended travel times to 

their workplace or very over-inflated prices in 

the inner city and suburbs close to the CBD. 

They are looking to get better value for money 

out of their housing investment and lead a better 

Professor Girish Prayag 

lifestyle following two years of the COVID-19 

pandemic. Rather than spending hours in 

traffic, they are looking for opportunities to 

have a better work-life balance. South island 

offers relatively cheaper housing and access to 

amazing outdoor recreation, good schools, and 

access to a vibrant hospitality sector as the one 

in Christchurch. 

Following the rebuild in Christchurch, 

modern retail and leisure facilities are attractive 

to both the elderly and young families.” 

New Zealand Qualifications Authority 

Approved Category 1 Education Provider 

Kanishka and Harry Shandilya 

After living in Auckland for seven years, 

Kanishka Shandilya and her husband Harry 

decided to move to Christchurch. 

“While our primary reason for moving was 

the housing affordability, we also fell in love 

with Christchurch when we came here for a 

short visit. It is quieter and more peaceful than 

Auckland.” 

Shandilya works in retail and found a job in 

Christchurch with a better package. 

“We moved to New Zealand from India 

looking for a better work-life balance and 

laid-back life. After spending seven years in 

Auckland, we felt we were always running 

and not enjoying life as much as expected. 

Christchurch offers you a slower pace of life, 

allowing an overall better quality of life.” 

Shandilya shares that many of their friends 

were planning to move to Australia since 

they found Auckland becoming unaffordable. 

She has recommended that they experience 

Christchurch before jumping ‘the ditch’. 

Roshan Chauhan 

Roshan Chauhan who works in hospitality, 

made the move to Christchurch for work 

but since then, has felt that people are nicer 

and easy going. Auckland might offer more 

opportunities, but the cost of living is also 

higher there.” 

Prabhjot Singh Chhabra moved from 

Auckland to Christchurch in November 2021 

and does not regret the decision. Chhabra 

moved to New Zealand in 2016 and is a trucker. 

Before migrating to Christchurch, he has not 

been to South Island. 

“I found the house prices in Auckland 

ridiculous and had no intention to buy a 

cramped million-dollar house. I also feel 

Auckland is crowded and you can no longer 

enjoy a peaceful life there. The traffic situation 

Prabhjot Singh Chhabra 

during peak hours adds to stress and results in 

poor work-life balance.” 

Within 5 months of moving to Christchurch, 

he has bought a house and land package. He 

confirms that you get more bang for your buck 

in the property market down south. 

“The price I paid for a 4-bedroom house 

would not have even got me a two-bedroom 

house in Auckland.” 

He now spends less time stuck in traffic and 

has more time to spend with his young family. 

Gaurav Sinha is another example. A young 

IT professional who made the switch last year. 

He moved to Christchurch from Wellington. 

He is still working for the same company he 

worked for while in Wellington. 

He also cites the rising prices of houses 

in Wellington as the reason for moving to 

Christchurch. 

‘We considered moving to Queenstown or 

Wanaka, but the prices there are also out of hand. 

I found that Christchurch was a better package 

as a city to live and work in. The increasing 

global acceptance of remote working made the 

move almost a no-brainer. Both my wife and I 

now work from home and are still employed by 

our respective Wellington organisations.” 

“I have to admit that both of us working from 

the same house has its own challenges, but we 

have got used to it by now,” laughs Sinha. 

Looking at the downside, it is not easy to 

leave your friend circle and move children to 

a new school, but the pros outweigh the cons 

of moving. 

Kanwar told us, “yes, the first couple of 

months were difficult. But soon we got into the 

rhythm of the new life with kids settling in and 

making new friends.” 

Despite the recent rise in house prices in 

Canterbury, its income to house price ratio 

is still better than Auckland, Tauranga, and 

Wellington. Many houses are comparatively 

new builds, as developments are still taking 

place in the city. New Stats NZ figures show 

7500 consents for new homes were issued in 

Canterbury until October 2021. 

The second-largest city in New Zealand, 

Christchurch also offers increasingly more 

employment opportunities with a booming 

tech sector. With the city steadily but 

surely recovering from some past tragic 

events, including a devastating earthquake, 

Christchurch has more to offer to its new 

migrants.


NEW ZEALAND 5 

Happy Navratri 

and Vaisakhi 

The ACT Party celebrates 

alongside you. 

Authorised by David Seymour MP, ACT Party Leader, 

Parliament Buildings, Wellington. 

act.office@parliament.govt.nz 

act.org.nz

6 NEW ZEALAND 

Friday, April 15, 2022 The Indian Weekender 

NZ Telugu Association celebrates 

Ugadi Uthsavam at Sai Mandir 

NAVDEEP KAUR MARWAH 

the attendees, Rajeeva Moturu, said, 

“I was amazed by the amount of work 

The Telugu community in 

this association puts into celebrating 

Auckland came together in 

cultural events. 

full enthusiasm to celebrate 

"This event was a true essence of 

Ugadi Uthsavam (Telugu New Year) 

the Ugadi celebration, where there 

on Saturday (April 9) afternoon. 

were fun activities, including singing 

The event, organised by the 

performances for one and all. It was 

New Zealand Telugu Association 

pleasing to see kids singing Telugu 

(NZTA) (a charity organisation 

songs showcasing our culture. 

established in 1998 to maintain the 

"I would like to specially mention 

culture of the Telugu people) at Sai 

the traditional mouth-watering dishes 

Mandir in Onehunga, saw everyone 

they planned for this event served on 

in a gala mood. 

Banana leaves. 

From savouring authentic Telugu 

The event was very well 

food (which is a mix of six different 

planned and adhered to all the 

ingredients such as sweet, sour, salt, 

Covid-19 protocols.” 

bitter, pungent, and spice) to singing 

Sindhuru A, another guest at 

performances that paid a heartfelt 

the event that had attendance only 

tribute to the late Telugu lyricist 

through registration, also expressed 

her delight about being at the event. 

legend Sirivennela Seetharama 

“I enjoyed the event, filled 

Sastry, the event had something to 

withmelodic musical performances 

offer for one and all. 

and a heartfelt tribute to Sirivennela 

The celebration, which took place 

SeetharamaSastry. 

in two sessions, saw around 320 

"The delicious traditional meal 

people attending throughout the day. 

served with love by the committee 

“I would like to take this 

members made me nostalgic 

opportunity to thank all the attendees 

about the festivities back home," 

who have registered and attended 

said Sindhuru. 

our Ugadi Uthsavam and made it 

a grand successful event for their Executive members of NZTA during the Ugadi celebration 

unconditional support. 

fellow committee members and community events in the future Secretary, NZTA. 

"I want to acknowledge the 

volunteers alike. 

to celebrate our Telugu culture,” The attendees, too, had all the great 

hard work and dedication of 

I look forward to doing more said Suneel Kuncha, General things to say about the event. One of 

Kiwi-Indian community leader urges West-Aucklanders 

to sign a petition to save Waitakere Hospital 

SANDEEP SINGH 

A 

Kiwi-Indian 

community 

leader is urging West 

Aucklanders and the broader 

community to sign a petition to save 

the Waitakere Hospital. 

Sunil Kaushal, who is also 

President of West Auckland based 

Waitakere Indian Association (WIA), 

is on a mission in his personal 

capacity to advocate and garner 

as much support as possible for a 

currently ongoing petition to get the 

government’s attention back toward 

the Waitakere Hospital. 

Launched by Waitakere Health 

Link, the petition seeks to bring 

back the now diminished attention 

of the Ministry of Health, which 

has declined the funding request for 

financing the increased services and 

facilities at Waitakere Hospital. 

The next round of funding is not 

due until 2024-25. 

Notably, Waitakere Health Link 

and Waitemata District Health Board 

have been working on a Master Plan 

for Waitakere Hospital since 2000 to 

become an acute general hospital. 

Since then, incremental 

progress has been made with 

the opening of an Emergency 

Department 24/7 in 2011. 

However, that incremental 

work has come to a halt with the 

government declining the latest 

round of funding request, saying 

it “does not believe it can make 

recommendations of the progression 

of the programme Business Case” 

submitted by the Waitemata District 

Health Board and have deferred the 

future development of Waitakere 

Hospital to the new NZ Health 

Board entity. 

The letter from the Ministry of 

Health rejecting the funding plea 

also says, “The Northern Region 

DHBs did not identify the Waitakere 

Tranche One Business Case as a 

Sunil Kaushal with family 

priority for Budget 2022 funding 

(covering the financial years 

2022/2023 and 2023/2024)”. 

In response to that rejection, 

Waitakere Health Link believes that 

there is a lack of understanding of the 

urgency to meet the increased capacity 

needed to provide adequate services 

to the West Auckland population, 

which is a deprived and one of the 

fastest-growing in the country. 

Waitakere Hospital has the lowest 

bed numbers for the population at 1.2 

per 1000 population. 

Waitakere Health Link is 

asking for the reinstation of the 

Waitakere Hospital Master Planning 

Programme Business Case into the 

current financial year and funding 

approved before June 2022. 

Kaushal, a West Auckland resident 

for more than 20 years and a selfavowed 

“Westie,” is taking it upon 

himself to augment the effort of 

Waitakere Health Link by setting up 

a separate website and advocating on 

social media. 

The building has 

gone past their 

use-by date, and 

it’s not about keepspending 

money to 

renovate them again 

and again. The health 

minister, with a stroke 

of his pen, can make 

that decision to 

endorse it 

Commencing his efforts on 

social media on April 7 – the 

World Health Day–Sunil had 

launched a website https:// 

www.savewaitakerehospital. 

nz/ and appealing to 

Aucklanders to sign the petition 

(available at www.change.org). 

Sharing his motivation for 

launching his advocacy on social 

media for supporting this petition, 

Sunil said, “We have all seen the 

importance of a reliable and worldclass 

health system during this 

pandemic. I was shocked to hear 

that even for a small operation like 

appendectomy, which is common 

for kids, we have to rush to North 

Shore after being diagnosed from 

Waitakere Hospital.” 

“I have personally and with 

my family seen the importance of 

how important it is to have a quick 

diagnosis - it’s a matter between life 

and death.” 

“People of West Auckland have 

been calling for the upgrade for the 

last 30 years, and if the government 

does not act now, it will be over two 

generations missing out on a firstworld 

health system in our back yard. 

“The building has gone past their 

use-by date, and it’s not about keepspending 

money to renovate them 

again and again. The health minister, 

with a stroke of his pen, can make 

that decision to endorse it,” Sunil 

said. 

The petition launched about three 

weeks ago has so far garnered the 

signature of 3666 people out of the 

initial target of 5000 signatures.


NEW ZEALAND 7 

All you need to know about the 

Accredited Employer Work Visa 


From July 4, Immigration 

New Zealand (INZ) will 

be introducing the new 

temporary work visa - Accredited 

Employer Work Visa (AEWV). As 

per the same, an employer must be 

accredited to hire migrant workers on 

an AEWV. 

Whether you are an employer 

wanting to hire a migrant or a migrant 

applying for a work visa, there are 

things that you need to keep in mind 

regarding AEWV. 

Indian Weekender spoke to 

Ruth Isaac, General Manager, 

Employment, Skills and Immigration 

Policy at the Ministry of Business, 

Innovation & Employment, to 

answer your questions regarding 

AEWV. 

What are the things that an 

employer would require to 

get accredited? 

The accreditation process is a 

relatively light touch and online. All 

employers must meet a minimum 

set of accreditation requirements, 

including showing they are a genuine, 

operating business, are compliant 

with employment, immigration and 

business regulatory standards, and 

will complete activities to support 

the settlement of migrant employees. 

The type of accreditation employers 

needs to apply for will differ 

depending on their business model 

and the number of migrants they 

want to hire. 

Putting these checks upfront helps 

businesses highlight any barriers 

before they begin the next steps in 

Mortgages: 

• Home loans 

• Commercial Property loans 

• Business Loans 

• Top up & Debt consolidation 

• Re-Finance and Refixing 

• Investment Property loans 

• Restructuring of loan 

• Construction & Renovation 

Ruth Isaac 

the immigration process and helps 

prevent exploitation by giving 

migrant workers more confidence 

about the role they are coming to 

NZ for. This process will be more 

transparent and certain for employers 

and migrants. 

There is a notion that if 

someone is getting paid below 

the median wage, they will not 

qualify for the same? 

The Government has announced 

that for most roles, employers will 

need to pay the median wage to hire 

migrants on the AEWV. 

This ensures that migrants being 

recruited into NZ are mainly filling 

higher-skilled positions and will 

support employment opportunities 

for New Zealanders. 

The Government is considering 

whether there will be any timelimited 

exemptions to the median 

wage rule for AEWV as part of the 

Immigration Rebalance. 

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What will be the process for an 

employer to apply for accreditation 

and advertising? 

There are three steps to hiring a 

migrant on the AEWV. These are 

accreditation, the job check, and the 

AEWV application. Employers can 

apply for accreditation from May 23 

and a job check from June 20. 

Employers can apply for 

accreditation through a simple online 

form on INZ’s website and pay the 

relevant fee. 

The process will not require a lot of 

documentation. Accreditation lasts 

for 12 months. Employers will need 

to apply for accreditation even if 

they have been accredited under the 

previous system, as the requirements 

and eligibility are different to the 

previous policy. 

Once accredited, businesses must 

advertise the job to ensure no New 

Zealanders are available to do the 

work before offering it to a migrant. 

This will involve listing it for a 

minimum of two weeks on a national 

job listing website. The terms and 

conditions of the job must be evident 

in the ad, and it must include the 

minimum and maximum pay rates. If 

the job is paid at least 200% of the 

median wage, employers do not need 

to advertise the role. 

If no suitable New Zealanders are 

found, the employer can apply for a 

job check to hire a migrant for the 

role. The employer must be prepared 

to declare if there are no suitable 

New Zealanders available for the job. 

There is criticism saying that 

AEWV will make it harder for 

industries such as construction 

to get workers into the country, 

and the process is more complex 

and bureaucratic than before. 

Also, the scheme is biased 

toward high paying jobs. What 

is INZ’s stand on the same? 

AEWV, which replaces six work 

visas with one, is designed to ensure 

New Zealanders are first in line 

for jobs and where genuine skill or 

labour shortages exist, accredited 

employers can hire skilled migrants. 

We are confident employers 

will find the new process easier 

to navigate. We have also worked 

to remove unnecessary hurdles f 

rom the system. 

We have listened to stakeholders 

in designing the accreditation 

requirements. One benefit of the new 

system is that it tests whether a job 

is one you can hire a migrant for 

first before we look at the migrant’s 

eligibility, and this can even be 

before a candidate is found. 

It will also mean if INZ has 

questions about the employer and 

their recruitment, we can go direct 

to the employer, and the prospective 

employee does not see business 

information that is not relevant to 

them. 

As a migrant, how do you 

prepare for AEWV and what is 

needed for the same? 

Accredited employers who have 

completed a job check for a role can 

invite a migrant worker to apply for 

an AEWV. Applications for the new 

visa open on July 4 2022, and will be 

made through a simple online form 

on the INZ website. 

When migrants apply for an 

AEWV, they must meet health and 

character requirements. They must 

also show they have the skills and 

experience that the employer told 

INZ was needed as part of the job 

check application. If they have 

demonstrated skills and experience 

previously or through holding 

occupational registration, they do not 

need to provide evidence again. 

Before an overseas migrant comes 

to NZ, their employer must have a 

genuine job offer. They must provide 

a detailed employment agreement 

complying with NZ labour laws 

for the migrant to sign before 

leaving for NZ. 

The employer should pay all costs 

and fees inside and outside NZ for the 

migrant’s recruitment. Migrants may 

have to pay for the visa application 

and airfares and any immigration 

advice received through an agent. 

Migrant workers already 

in New Zealand 

If a migrant is currently living and 

working in NZ, they can continue 

to work under the conditions of 

their current visa until it expires 

or they no longer meet the 

conditions of the visa. 

Suppose a migrant already in 

NZ has an expiring visa and their 

employer has not completed the 

steps in time for the migrant to apply 

for an AEWV before their existing 

visa expires. In that case, they can 

apply for a bridging visa. This 

will be a visitor visa and will not 

allow you to work. 

If they want to remain in NZ after 

their visa expires by applying for an 

AEWV, they will need to find a job 

paying at or above the median wage. 

Some migrant workers who are 

currently paid below the median 

wage will qualify for the 2021 

Resident Visa if they meet the scarce 

or settled criteria. 

Contact for 

free assessment 

Nimish Parikh 

Registered Financial Advice Financial Provider Adviser 

M. 021 236 7070 

nimish@saffronfinance.co.nz 

18B Kirby Street, Glendene, 

Auckland 0602 

P O Box - 69263 , Glendene, 

Auckland 0645 

www.saffronfinance.co.nz

8 NEW ZEALAND 



Mana Andhra Telugu 

Association NZ committed 

to showcase Telugu culture 


New Zealand is a multicultural country, 

and the Kiwi Indian community 

is one of the most vibrant migrant 

communities in NZ. 

In Part 3 of our series featuring Indian 

cultural associations, we bring to you the 

story of the Mana Andhra Telugu Association 

New Zealand (MATA NZ) – a community 

association that was formed in December 2020 

and hosted its first cultural event in the form of 

Ugadi Uthsavam 2021. 

The newly formed association aims to build 

connections amongst more than 10,000 Teluguspeaking 

people in NZ from the two States of 

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana living in the 

North and South Island. 

Giving details about the organisation’s 

history, Dr Reginald Samuel, President, MATA 

NZ, says, “We formed this association to 

represent the people of Andhra Pradesh and 

engage with other communities and promote 

goodwill and understanding in 2020. 

"It is the first-ever Andhra Pradesh Association 

in the world. It started with just fifteen families, 

but now there are more than eighty-one 

families in a short span. We are continuing to 

grow and have members throughout NZ. Our 

most significant achievement is that people 

know what MATA is and what MATA is 

doing for the community. 

MATA NZ aims to enrich NZ Teluguspeaking 

residents’ and visitors’ lives by 

encouraging local involvement and interactions 

Dr Reginald Samuel 

within multicultural events and promoting 

NZ as a rich international multicultural 

destination for culture and art, performances 

and entertainment. 

Giving an insight into the activities and 

programmes that the association conducts 

to keep the Telugu culture and language 

Ours is a relatively 

new organisation. 

Since our inception, 

we have been doing 

some festivals of Andhra 

Pradesh. Last week we 

celebrated Ugadi 

(Telugu New Year) 

alive in NZ, Samuel says, “Ours is a 

relatively new organisation. 

Since our inception, we have been doing 

some festivals of Andhra Pradesh. Last week 

we celebrated Ugadi (Telugu New Year). 

"We also participated in international Telugu 

language seminars. We plan to start Telugu 

language classes here in Auckland. 

"As an organisation, we are trying our best to 

develop and promote the Telugu language here 

in NZ and teach the younger generation the 

values and ethics of Indian culture, especially 

Telugu. 

"However, funds are the biggest challenges 

we face in running this association.” 

Lastly, talking about the organisation’s future, 

Samuel, who feels cultural organisations play a 

very crucial role in the Kiwi Indian community 

in NZ, reveals, 

“We plan to do an Eid Milaap on May 6. Apart 

from that, many community-related works/ 

programs are lined up this year, such as blood 

donation and organising sports for the children, 

mainly youth, women’s empowerment programs, 

celebrating Andhra Pradesh Anniversary in 

November and many more. 

"We plan to start another association in South 

Island affiliated with MATA and make MATA 

a role model to other organisations in the next 

five years,” Samuel said. 

Christchurch wants to become a bike-friendly city 

MAHESH KUMAR 

With roads clear of the usual traffic, she said 

Spiralling petrol prices have forced many 

more locals than ever were dusting off their 

to reconsider their commuting choices. 

bikes and continued to use them afterwards. 

The government is doing its part by 

Christchurch city has also taken other 

offering subsidies and rebates to encourage the 

measures to make roads safer for cyclists. 

move to alternative fuels. 

The speed limit is being reduced 

While many Kiwis are discovering the 

benefits of driving Hybrids and EVs, Kiwis are 

on two central Christchurch streets — 

Colombo St, between Bealey Ave and 

also rediscovering the joys of commuting on 

Kilmore St, and Peterborough St, between 

good old bicycles. 

Durham and Manchester Sts, from 50kmh 

Almost every New Zealand city worth 

to 30kmh. 

its salt promotes bicycles and makes city 

The Christchurch City Council and 

roads bike-friendly. 

Though many criticise the over-emphasis 

Canterbury police have also recently signed 

on bike lanes at the cost of parking spaces 

up with an online service called 529 Garage to 

and driving lanes, one can’t deny that there 

has been a shift in cultural attitude towards 

biking in the country. 

offer free online registration of bikes. 

This is to counter the increase in the number 

of reported stolen bikes in the city. According 

Christchurch is one of the cities that 

still owns a car but has used it only once in the Many cycling advocacy groups based in to media reports, $2 million worth of bikes 

has invested heavily in cycleways, 

last month. Holkar admits that his bike trips the city form a community that wants to see were stolen in the city last year. 

using the opportunity to rebuild after 

may go down as winter sets in and rains become Christchurch take the lead towards becoming With the 529 Garage app, bike owners can 

the 2011 earthquakes. 

more frequent. 

NZ’s best and among the world’s best. 

register their bike’s serial number, features and 

According to Christchurch City Council’s 

Holkar is one among many residents Spokes Canterbury, a cycling advocacy even a picture of their bike. 

Residents Survey, half of the residents said 

of Christchurch who are always up to 

they had cycled in the past year. It is not a 

group, wants to make Christchurch one of The registration makes it easier for 

the biking challenge. 

tiny figure for the city with a population of 

the world’s top five cycling cities by the year police to return the bike to its owner and 

According to the Christchurch City Council, 

almost 400,000. 

2025. The group’s primary goal is to establish a prove it was stolen. 

the city saw the highest global participate rate in 

Chetan Holkar, who moved to Christchurch 

comprehensive, connected, community-centred Council Transport Operations Manager 

the Aotearoa Bike Challenge, an annual monthlong 

cycling initiative. This year, over a million 

just two years ago from Hamilton, loves the 

cycle network. 

Stephen Wright said the council was keen to 

city and has rekindled his love for biking. 

kilometres, were cycled by 6,000 participants 

RAD Bikes (Recycle a Dunger) runs not-forprofit 

community bike workshops in the city free” initiative. 

get as many bikes registered using the “simple, 

Holkar told the Indian Weekender, “The fact 

in Christchurch. 

that Christchurch is relatively a flatter city 

In 2013, the council promised to build and welcomes people to help recycle and learn 

makes it easy to be out on a bike. It is not as 

13 major cycleways connecting the city’s how to fix bikes for themselves or others. 

exhausting as biking on hilly places.” 

central suburbs. Only four of these have RAD Bikes community workshop cofounder 

Jess Smale said Covid lockdowns gave 

Holkar bought a used bike when he moved 

been fully completed so far, and the initial 

here and then upgraded to a new one as he 

estimated budget of $67 million has now biking a boost. 

loved the convenience that biking offered. He 

surpassed $300m.


NEW ZEALAND 9 

Kiwi-Indian woman sets out to bridge 

gender gap in financial literacy 


In most households, of most societies, 

often it is conveniently assumed that 

taking financial decisions is often the sole 

prerogative of men only, reinforcing the myth 

that women are in any way less competent to 

plunge into financial decision making. 

A Kiwi-Indian female entrepreneur Hesha 

Irani is set out on a mission to demolish this 

long-held perception and empower fellow 

women through financial awareness. 

She is addressing this inequality through her 

business venture, aptly named - Her Financial 

Independence (HerFI). 

Talking about her inspiration behind the 

initiative, which aims to increase awareness 

of financial literacy among women as well 

as make financial education easy and more 

accessible to women, Hesha says, “HerFI was 

born in August 2021, during Covid-19, to 

empower women to become financially savvy 

and take control of their financial lives. 

The response has been phenomenal with 

close to 100 sign-ups for the membership 

waitlist within a month.” 

The 30-year-old, who originally hails from 

Mumbai, reveals that the existing financial 

knowledge gap between genders led to this 

venture’s establishment. 

She has completed a Bachelor of Commerce 

in Financial Markets, followed by a Master of 

Commerce in Business Management and the 

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program. 

“My passion for working in the finance 

industry was ignited at the age of 16 during 

a Commodities trading course at the Multi 

Hesha Irani 

Commodity Exchange. Since then, I have spent 

more than a decade studying finance or working 

in a financial market-related role. 

During my time in financial markets, both 

overseas and in NZ, I could see stark differences 

in how men versus women within the 

industry perceived investments and discussed 

personal finances. 

Even in social settings, I was mildly surprised 

to find that women do not discuss money 

matters with their friends, family, or colleagues. 

Girls are taught to save money, while boys are 

encouraged to assume risks and build wealth. 

Women are majorly 

excluded from 

conversations around 

investing. This is largely 

responsible for women 

displaying lower financial 

knowledge than men and 

feeling less confident in their 

financial knowledge and skills 

Despite these differences, women often depend 

on men to make financial decisions for their 

teams, themselves, and families,” she says. 

Hesha feels that if we want to progress as a 

society, it is vital to increase the awareness of 

financial literacy among females. 

“Women are majorly excluded from 

conversations around investing. This is largely 

responsible for women displaying lower 

financial knowledge than men and feeling less 

confident in their financial knowledge and 

skills. I believe that by normalising money 

conversations among everyday women, 

Gen Z and upcoming generations will have 

the opportunity to grow up observing their 

mothers being able to participate in household 

financial decision making.” 

So, how is she planning to raise this financial 

understanding? She says, “I am launching NZ’s 

first Women’s Finance Club at HerFI where 

financial education is not complicated, not dull 

and not jargon-filled. It is a great way to connect 

with like-minded women and explore what’s 

behind the doors to the intimidating world 

of finance. One of the outstanding features 

of the Club is that it provides a platform 

for mothers and daughters to participate in 

money conversations together. 

The freemium membership plan (at no 

cost) gives you access to all the resources 

and tools you need to take control of 

your financial future. 

Whenever you are ready to implement 

the learnings into your daily lives, the 

premium membership plan gives you access 

to masterclasses, accountability sessions, 

coaching sessions, and live events. 

Apart from them, we are doing webinars, 

and online workshops are ongoing throughout 

the year. If the Covid situation gets better, 

I hope to have an in-person event for 

Mother’s Day in May. 

Sharing her journey and experience, Hesha, 

who moved to NZ around five years ago, 

reveals, “When I immigrated to NZ, I started 

my investing journey from scratch. 

However, my financial knowledge, backed 

by extensive research, helped me become a 

proud first-home owner in Auckland alongside 

building a retirement fund. I continue 

to share my experience with millennials 

helping them transition from renters/ lodgers 

to first-home owners and build long-term 

wealth,” she signs off. 

Easter fervour pervades Indian community 

AVINASH SEN 

One could argue that next to 

Christmas, Easter is one of the 

biggest Christian holidays. 

However, despite it being a Christian 

holiday, it tends to be celebrated by 

many people of different religions 

as well, as a cultural event. This of 

course includes Indians. 

Even if we are not Christian, we are 

very much familiar with the holiday: 

the candy eggs, the celebration and 

its ties to the rebirth of Jesus Christ. 

But obviously, since Indians 

are themselves such a diverse 

community, it means that even though 

we celebrate the same holiday, we all 

tend to do it a little differently. 

This is why Indian Weekender 

reached out to various members of 

the community to find out more about 

Easter and how they celebrate it. 

Read on as Father Sebastian, a 

Roman Catholic Priest in Auckland, 

Syamdev Vasudevan, the secretary 

of the Kerala Cultural Forum 

(KCF), Rupal Solanki, a Kiwi Indian 

performing arts enthusiast and host of 

Indian Weekender’s Gujarati show, 

and Alen Tomy, the secretary for the 

Wellington Malayali Association, 

share their thoughts. 

How significant is Easter 

among the Indian community 

in NZ? 

Father Sebastian: ‘Easter’ is not 

confined to an individual group, or 

particular society of cultural ethnicity 

or integrity. Instead, it is far reaching 

to anyone who is ready and willing 

to receive the truth in the message of 

Easter. Easter is, “the first message 

of the resurrection of Jesus from the 

very first day of Jesus’s actual rising 

from death to life.” 

Therefore, the church’s teaching 

has always been very clear and 

concise in this regard, and that is; 

“Easter” is the celebration of Christ’s 

triumphant victory over death. 

The apostles felt grief stricken 

and full of fear at His death. They 

doubted that He would return. But 

true to His promise Jesus, showed up, 

dispelling the fear and doubt, anxiety 

and despair in their troubled hearts, 

illuminating them with His presence. 

They were shocked, when they heard 

him say ‘peace be with you’. 

My wish and prayer for you this 

Easter therefore is that each of you 

would experience the true faith of the 

Holy Catholic Church. May this truth 

illuminate your hearts. 

Rupal: Easter is more important than 

Christmas. Easter is the celebration 

of the Resurrection of Jesus which 

means defeat of death and hope of 

Salvation. As a follower of Jesus, it 

is believed that the sins of humanity 

were paid for by the death of Jesus 

and that his resurrection represents 

the anticipation believers can have 

in their own resurrection. Once 

you accept Jesus as your personal 

saviour, you resurrect as a new 

individual with a covenant to lead a 

righteous life. 

Syamdev: Easter is celebrated 

by Christians as a joyous holiday 

because it represents the fulfillment of 

the prophecies of the Old Testament 

and the revelation of God’s salvific 

plan for all of humankind. 

In commemorating the resurrection 

of Jesus, Easter also celebrates 

the defeat of death and the hope of 

salvation. Easter is a big celebration 

in our Kerala community. During this 

time many Christian people do their 

fasting for a month till Easter day 

(Lent). Most of them will eat only 

the vegetarian foods and they won’t 

consume any alcohol. 

The Indian community takes lots 

of effort to make the Easter event 

enjoyable. My family celebrates 

Easter here with my friends and 

their families. We organise Easter 

breakfast, lunch and dinner in 

different houses. We have a big 

celebration along with lots of cultural 

events and food. 

Alen: Our association is mixed 

culture with people from different 

castes and religions like Christians, 

Hindus and Muslims. We don’t 

especially celebrate Easter, 

because on this week the Hindus 

also celebrate Vishu (a day which 

celebrates the astronomical year 

as well Lord Vishnu and his 

avatar Lord Krishna). 

We don’t give more importance 

to one holiday over the other, so it 

is more like a family meet up. It’s 

a unification of different people, no 

matter what their religion. We treat 

the day like a family meet up. 

How do you celebrate Easter 

here? 

Syamdev: My family celebrates 

Easter here with my friends and 

their families. We organise Easter 

breakfast, lunch and dinner in 

different houses. We have a big 

celebration along with lots of cultural 

events and food. 

Rupal: We go to church in the 

morning and celebrate by greeting 

each other. Churches have fresh 

hot cross buns and Easter eggs for 

everyone to enjoy after the church 

service. Later in the day we visit 

friends and family or just go for an 

outing. 

During your time here, have 

you noticed any changes in the 

way people celebrate? 

Syamdev: Yes, there have been some 

changes over the past two years due 

to Covid-19. We had a lockdown 

before and now there are limitations 

to people attending gatherings. I 

feel people really want to go out 

quite badly nowadays. I can see the 

difference. I hope we will have better 

times soon. 

Rupal: Just like Christmas, Easter 

has also been commercialised. It is 

made to believe and practice that 

Easter is all about Easter eggs, Easter 

bunnies etc. The Easter bunny is 

marketed with Easter; however, it 

has no mention in the Holy Bible or 

has any connection with Jesus. 

The faith of a follower of Jesus 

remains as it is with the hope 

of resurrection and repentance 

of one’s sins. 

Alen: Talking about the functions, 

before we would have happy, good 

celebrations. But nowadays, because 

of the Covid-19 pandemic, things 

have changed. People are focusing 

more on themselves right now and 

less on meeting and getting together. 

As with most festivals in the 

Indian community, Easter is a multicultural 

holiday that is celebrated by 

everyone in the community together. 

We wish you all a very happy Easter.

10 NEW ZEALAND 



Pitch curator bags 

Northern District Cricket 

Association award 

SANDEEP SINGH 

Vijay Changotra - a Kiwi-Indian 

horticulturist 

who works for Auckland 

Council’s social infrastructure 

organisation firm City Care 

- has bagged the prestigious 

Northern District Cricket 

Association Community 

Groundsman Award. 

Changotra won the 

award ahead of 

some of the 

veterans in 

the fray with 

decades of 

experience under 

their belts 

and was elated when 

the Indian Weekender spoke with him about the 

coveted prize at Mountfort Park in Manurewa, 

South Auckland. – 

Northern District Cricket Association is the 

parent body of local district and regional levels 

cricket associations comprising regions 

Northland, Counties Manukau, Hamilton, 

Waikato Valley, Bay of Plenty, 

and Poverty Bay. 

Nominations were invited for 

the award by Northern District 

Cricket Association along with 

awards in other categories, 

including Club of the year, 

Emerging umpire of the year, 

Community Official of the 

year etc., from January 

28 to February 27. 

And the colourful award 

ceremony to celebrate 

the success of players and 

support staff was then held 

The quality of 

pitches here had 

been appreciated by 

one and all, including 

players, coaches and 

other experts” and 

had compared it to 

international standards 

on Saturday, April 9, at the Sky City Hamilton 

and brought together cricket enthusiasts from 

the region and beyond. 

Speaking to us, an emotionally elated 

Changotra shared how he found his way into 

the career of ground maintenance and pitch 

curating and found a hidden passion inside him 

to know, learn and excel in science and the art 

of curating a cricket pitch. 

Sharing his story of joining the role of 

linesman a few years ago for the firm City 

Care, which Auckland Council tasks to manage 

open spaces, building constructions, facilities 

management along with maintaining all social 

infrastructure in the Auckland region, he said, 

“This role has not been just a job for me, it’s 

a passion. 

I get goosebumps when I think I am working 

in the league of pitch curators who decide the 

nature of the cricketing pitch–whether it will 

support pace or slow bowling.” 

Elaborating further on the craft of curating 

a cricket pitch, he pointed towards a small 

rectangular block of land in Mountfort Park 

and said, “The quality of pitches here had been 

appreciated by one and all, including players, 

coaches and other experts” and had compared it 

to international standards.” 

Originally from the Kathua district of the 

Jammu region in India, Changotra had been 

living in New Zealand for the last thirteen years 

and had been in this role for around five years. 

Recalling his growing up days in India, he 

said, “Like all other Indians, I was also obsessed 

with the game of cricket – but more as a player 

– and had never imagined that I would make a 

career in maintaining ground and pitches.” 

“It was only after getting into this role that I 

realised that curating pitch is a combination of 

science and art.” 

“One has to be a horticulturist – trained or 

learned – to understand the level of moisture 

in the ground beneath the pitch and know what 

moisture can do to maintain the level of green 

grass on the pitch.” 

“Now, when I watch international cricket 

matches, my eyes are busy capturing how 

the pitch is behaving and impacting different 

players,” Changotra said. 

When asked trivially about how pitches are 

perceived to support or challenge batsmen 

against different bowling attacks – pace or spin 

– he said with a philosophical tone, “A good 

pitch offers equal opportunity to all kinds of 

players to showcase their talents.” 

Changotra is keen to share his success story 

with the rest of the community, hoping that his 

line of work might find some attention within 

the Kiwi-Indian community. 

Protesters make a comeback in Wellington 

VENU MENON 

The Bank of New Zealand ( BNZ ) 

branch on Willis Street in central 

Wellington quickly downs its shutters 

as a small group of protesters gathers on the 

sidewalk outside. 

“The sooner New Zealanders give up their 

freedoms, the sooner we’re going to get them 

back,” a bearded middle-aged man bellows. 

“Yeah, right,” the crowd roars. 

“If we can just keep the masses of New 

Zealand scared and under control, the best we 

can keep them safe,” the man yells, pacing 

back and forth on the pavement. 

“Yeah, right,” the crowd answers. 

This routine is repeated as speaker after 

speaker contributes to the theme of the day: 

the “mis-and disinformation campaign” run by 

the government on Covid-19. 

The protesters, who bore the brunt of the 

police crackdown that ended their 23-day siege 

of Parliament in March, have re-surfaced. 

This time around, they are following a 

different strategy. Rather than amassing at a 

single point, the protesters have been gathering 

at various locations throughout the CBD as part 

of a two-week campaign to draw public attention 

to what they call the government's misleading 

messaging and faulty policies around 

Covid-19. The Willis Street protest was Day 8 

of this 14-day campaign. 

With the vaccine mandates largely lifted, the 

protest has shifted its focus to the perceived 

harmful effects and fatalities associated with 

taking the jab. 

There is also strong opposition to 

the Covid-19 legislation brought by the 

government driving the protest. 

They see the NZ Covid-19 Public Health 

Response Act 2020 as a coercive piece of 

legislation. Joachim Wanihi, 46, who played 

a vital role during the Parliament occupation, 

points to the wide-ranging powers granted 

to inspectors after the post-April 4 changes 

to the legislation came into effect. Presently, 

inspectors are still authorised to enter a premise 

without a warrant. 

“This means businesses are locked into an 

agreement of conduct by force, not by choice,” 

Wanihi argues. 

While the process of revoking the vaccine 

mandates is underway, there are questions 

around feasibility and fairness, with Workplace 

Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood 

saying those who lost their jobs for failing the 

vaccine mandates are not guaranteed to get 

their jobs back. 

Clearly, the aftermath of the vaccine 

mandates wind-down is spawning confusion 

regarding the rules. 

The protesters are seeing an opportunity 

to regroup and are tweaking their 

agenda accordingly. 

The anti-vaccine mandate protest that raged 

on the Parliament grounds in March appears to 

have morphed into an anti-vaccine stir instead, 

with an ideological shift away from mandates 

to raising questions about the politics behind 

the government’s Covid-19 policy, the science 

behind vaccinations and against the mandate 

of the World Health Organisation (WHO) as 

the global authority on public health. 

But this protest is nowhere close to 

gaining the traction witnessed in March 

when NZ held the world’s attention for three 

tumultuous weeks.


NEW ZEALAND 11 

AVINASH SEN 

Happy New Year! 

Yes, we realise it’s 

already April of 2022, 

but that is precisely what you’ll be 

saying if you were a Bengali. To 

be more precise, you’d be saying 

“subho noboborsho” (which roughly 

means happy new year in Bengali) 

because you’d be celebrating the 

beginning of a Bengali new year or 

“Poila Boishakh.” 

In India, Poila Boishakh, which 

marks the beginning of the starting 

month of Baishakh (or Boishakh, 

depending on how you pronounce it) 

on the Bengali calendar, is celebrated 

on either the 14th or the 15th of April. 

This year, it is falling on the 15th. It 

isn’t just Bengalis, though - in India, 

Sikhs and Hindus also celebrate the 

beginning of the new year through 

the festival of Vaisakhi or Baisakhi. 

But we’re not in India; we’re 

in NZ. So how does the Bengali 

community celebrate Poila 

Boishakh here? 

Indian Weekender spoke to Debes 

Bhattacharyya, a prominent member 

of the Bengali community here in 

New Zealand, to find out more. He 

was the President of the Probasee 

Bengalee Association of New 

Zealand for many years and also 

represented the Bengali community 

in the Indian Central Association 

(ICM) in NZ. 

He also works as a priest or pujari 

for the various community pujas 

What is Poila Boishakh? 

(e.g. Durga Puja, Lakshmi Puja, 

Kali Puja) celebrated by the Bengali 

community. 

What is your connection to the 

Bengali community and its 

origins? 

The community was formed through 

the celebration of Durga Puja. We 

started in 1992 and held the Durga 

Puja in our own house for three 

years. It was a relatively small group 

of people. Gradually we expanded, 

and the numbers were increasing, so 

we finally shifted to the community 

and school halls. 

At the end of the 1990s, we formed 

an Association called the Probasee 

Bengalee Association. 

We continued to hold the Durga 

Puja for a while under a general 

umbrella. But then we shifted. under 

the administration of Probasee 

because other pujas started as well 

Since then, other groups have been 

formed. There’s a younger group 

called Bhavna, which takes the 

primary initiative for Kali Puja. 

Often we hold joint programs. 

Bangladeshi people have their groups 

as well. Also, there is another group 

called Nandan. So we maintain good 

relations with all of them. 

What is the history behind 

Poila Boishakh? 

There is a bit of controversy regarding 

the origin of Poila Boishakh. Some 

people say Emperor Akbar started it 

to ease tax collection. 

But some people also have 

argued now that they have found 

that even during the Vikramaditya 

Shashanka era, they found what’s 

called Bongabda, meaning Bengali 

year. So we can’t say definitely 

when it started. 

In Bengal, they invite people and 

distribute sweetmeats irrespective of 

religion. They’ve got big processions 

in Dhaka, and they hold that as a new 

year festival. We have a prevalent 

theme of the singing of ‘Rabindra 

Sangeet’ (songs by Rabindranath 

Tagore), such as ‘eso he Boishak, 

eso eso,’ meaning ‘please come to 

Boishakh.’ 

Here in NZ, we often cannot hold 

it precisely on that day because 

programs are organised depending 

on the weekends. 

Sometimes, if there is any problem, 

we have tried to combine that with the 

8th of May, Rabindranath Tagore’s 

birthday or Rabindra Jayanti. 

Throughout the month, people buy 

new clothes. We have dances, music, 

and get-togethers. 

You mentioned that you are a 

priest and that you sometimes 

hold the pujas (prayers) for the 

Bengali community. So you still 

do that? 

No, I don’t do it anymore. I celebrate 

at home by cooking some sweetmeats 

and things like that and invite a few 

friends. 

But the community festival is held in 

a communal form. 

That means you invite all the other 

people irrespective of religion. We 

usually hold it in an auditorium. Of 

course, it has been disturbed in the 

last two years due to Covid. 

So last year what we did, for the 

Rabindra Jayanti and nobho borsho, 

we had a zoom festival. 

It went very well. It had singers 

from NZ, Australia and India 

performing, and it continued for 

more than three hours. 

So what about this year? Are 

you planning to do a zoom 

meeting again? 

This year, the committee has been 

very cautious. Last even Durga Puja, 

I did it at home and telecast the 

Pushpanjali (offering flowers with 

prayer) on zoom so that people could 

give anjali in their own homes. So 

this year, we are holding back, and 

if the situation improves, we are 

thinking of doing something in May. 

As you mentioned, usually 

during Poila Boishakh, people 

buy many new clothes. Is there 

any particular colour for the 

clothes that they buy? 

No. But at the festival, usually, the 

Basanti colour, the yellowish saffron 

colour, is prevalent. So usually, the 

dancers and the young ladies will 

wear a white (or Basanti saree) with 

a Basanti/red border. 

Even the male participants will 

try to wear that particular colour 

set. So we try to bring some kind of 

uniformity there. 

What is the significance of the 

saffron colour? 

The year starts in spring, which is 

basanto. In Bengali, we call spring 

basanto, and the colour of basanto is 

Basanti, signifying the bright colours 

of spring. Basanti Puja (a form of 

Durga) is also held during this period. 

And there you have it. To all our 

Bengali bhaiyo aur beheno, we hope 

you have a great Poila Boishakh! 

Shubo noboborsho to everyone! 

Happy 75th Indian Independence day 

to us 

Talk 

Hall 

about 

and 

hiring 

catering 

needs.

Editorial 

Time for govt 

to take law and 

order seriously 

The audacious ram raids at the Louis Vuitton and Gucci stores in Auckland CBD 

earlier in the week should remind the government that it’s time to take deteriorating 

law and order seriously. 

To say that the law and order situation is deteriorating will be an understatement as 

the news of ram raids in dairy stores and retail outlets across the country continue to rise 

unabatedly. 

With hushed voices within the community even suggesting that not all incidences of 

ram-raids are being reported to police, out of a growing fear of attracting more such acts 

of adventurism or just sheer frustration. 

For dairy owners and retailers, life immediately after such boisterous acts of destruction 

and stealing is already quite stressful and risks several more hours of business loss when 

the police’s forensic teams gather the so-called evidence that seemingly rarely gets used, 

in the absence of arrests and successful prosecution in courts, is not worth reporting to 

police. 

Despite this perceived less reporting to police of such acts of burglary or retail crime, 

the latest data on retail criminal offending is outright concerning. 

As per the data released by the police under the Official Information Act, on the one 

hand, the retail offending is increasing while the police is making lesser arrests. 

In the first eleven months of 2021, the dairy and convenience store theft were up 30 per 

cent on 2020 figures, and burglaries were up nearly 20 per cent. 

Expectedly, Auckland is leading in this list, with retail offences rising by 25.8 percent, 

followed by Waikato (19.7 percent) and Christchurch (14.2 percent). 

Meanwhile, the fall in the rate of arrests during the same period is around 23 per cent. 

The Labour Party had stormed in the government in 2017 with a firm conviction that the 

current criminal justice system was skewed and dysfunctional and the high incarceration 

rates were not helpful in reforming or preventing the rate of criminal offending. 

It had an overt abnegation towards the three strikes law that was brought by the previous 

National government, which meant that if someone was caught three times for similar 

nature of the crime, they would then has to bear the consequences of their actions and be 

prosecuted. The law is being repealed now by the current government, sighting that there 

was no clear international or NZ evidence to suggest that the law has reduced serious 

offending. 

At the heart of the government’s thinking while repealing that law was the “unfairness 

of sentences handed down.” 

Many in the community, especially those at the forefront of experiencing the spate of 

retail criminal offending, argue that the “concerns of victims” remain amiss from this 

government thinking. 

They argue that while it is okay for the government to repeal a law that seems to have 

not worked in preventing repeat offending, it is not okay to repeal a law and not come up 

with measures that it thinks will eventually reduce the rate of crime. 

If high rates of incarceration is not the answer to fixing the systemic issues facing the 

judicial system, then what is the alternative? 

How does the government propose to quell the rising tide of retail crime, that has seen 

an audacious explosion in the last two years, when the government has been largely seen 

distracted in managing a global pandemic and the police had been spread out too thin on 

the ground to make a meaningful impact? 

Till now, the stories of ram-raids were less reported from the heart of CBD areas and 

confined to dairy stores located a bit remotely, thereby reinforcing a perception that there 

was enough deterrent of law enforcement agencies in those areas. 

Now, it seems that that pretence is also being removed and laying bare the government’s 

perceived confusion on how to respond to the rising spate of crime without shedding their 

ideological baggage. 

This government is already appearing as a third term government – tired, jaded and 

lacking in motivation to act energetically after having exhausted the option of hoping that 

any emerging issue will automatically self-fix by itself. 

The latest decision to change the traffic light system (moving the country into the 

orange light setting) ahead of the Easter break and school holidays seems to be another 

decision coming late and without any consistency. 

However, the issue of the rising crime-graph cannot be left till late and should not be 

left with the hope that it will be fixed on its own. 

It’s time for the govt to take the fast deteriorating law and order situation across the 

country seriously. 

Thought of the week 

"If we take care of the moments, the 

years will take care of themselves." 

- Maria Edgeworth 

15 April – 22 April 2022 

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This week in New Zealand’s history 

15 April 1868 

First Māori MPs elected to Parliament 

Indian Weekender : Volume 14 Issue 4 

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Publisher: Kiwi Media Publishing Limited 

Editor: Dev Nadkarni | dev@indianweekender.co.nz 

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Christchurch Reporter: Mahesh Kumar | 021 952 218 | mahesh@indianweekender.co.nz 

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 

Kiwi Media Publishing Limited - 133A, Level 1, Onehunga Mall, Onehunga, Auckland. 

Printed at Horton Media, Auckland 

Copyright 2020. Kiwi Media Publishing Limited. All Rights Reserved. 

Send your suggestions and feedback to editor@indianweekender.co.nz 

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The Maori Representation Act 1867 established four Māori seats in the House of 

Representatives, initially for a period of five years. The act gave the vote to all Māori 

males aged 21 and over. 

15 April 2018 

Black Ferns Sevens win Commonwealth gold 

New Zealand rugby sevens team turned the tables on 2016 Olympic champions Australia, 

winning a thrilling final at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast in extra time. It was the first 

occasion women’s rugby sevens was contested at the Commonwealth Games. 

16 April 1892 

NZ Rugby Football Union founded 

As rugby grew in popularity in New Zealand, it became necessary to standardise the 

administration of the game in the colony. Despite some opposition, a New Zealand Rugby 

Football Union was founded. 


Samuel Revans prints first newspaper 

The first newspapers published in New Zealand were printed by Samuel Revans a month 

after he arrived in Port Nicholson (Wellington). Revans had published the first issue of 

the New Zealand Gazette in London in August 1839, just before the New Zealand Company’s 

emigrant ships departed. He was also secretary to the colonists’ council, and the news in the first 

New Zealand issue was semi-official. 


First royal honour for New Zealand woman 

The Royal Red Cross was awarded to Miss Annie Alice Crisp, Lady Superintendent of 

Auckland Hospital, in a ceremony at Government House, Auckland. 


Rātana and Labour seal alliance 

The alliance between the Rātana Church and the Labour Party was cemented at a historic 

meeting between Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana and Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage.


NEW ZEALAND 13 

Fiji losing skilled 

workers to poaching 

Fiji is losing a lot of skilled 

employers in different fields 

due to poaching and lucrative 

offers from overseas and the private 

sector. 

This was highlighted by Attorney 

General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum 

in parliament today, who says the 

government has now allocated $50, 

000 to carry out a scarce skills review 

in the civil service. 

Sayed-Khaiyum says the money 

will fund research to identify 

World Bank. He has not become the contracts have come to an end and 

highly skilled positions across the 

regional expert for them and laying civil servants have been given shortterm 

contracts.” 

government and the underlying 

out projects across the Pacific.” 

reasons contributing to the scarcity 

Opposition MP Ro Filipe Tuisawau Sayed-Khaiyum dismissed these 

of those skills. 

claims that some civil servants are claims, saying Ro Filipe should not 

“Recently the Head of our Climate 

resigning because of a lack of job use one or two examples to shoot 

Change Division was poached by a 

security. 

down the entire system, which is 

UN Agency. We had for example the 

“Staff retention can also be affected working well. 

head of our Communications system 

by leadership and management “All of you are going out, trying 

– the guy who rolled out all the 

issues. Some of the major complaints to create this disquiet among civil 

groundbreaking work we did a few 

that have been coming through is servants. As any civil servant 

years ago has been poached by the 

the management of contracts, where would know, if you initially take up 

PM wants 

parents and 

guardians to 

stay involved in 

their children’s 

education 

Prime Minister Voreqe 

Bainimarama is urging 

parents and guardians to stay 

involved in their children’s education 

and ensure that they are keeping out 

of trouble. 

With the start of the 2022 

academic year today, Bainimarama 

is reminding students to be kind and 

respectful to each other and also to 

teachers. 

He says schools are not a place to 

bully other students. 

Bainimarama adds that COVID-19 

protocols will be in place in schools. 

The Prime Minister has also 

thanked teachers for their dedication 

to the education of students, as some 

of them took the teaching materials 

to the doorsteps of their students. 

Term 1 of the 2022 academic year 

will be from today to July 8th, Term 

2 will be from July 18th to October 

6th and the final term will begin from 

October 17th to December 16th. 

Diaspora urged to invest in Fiji 

Fiji engages with Fijians abroad through the 

diplomatic missions which includes creating 

opportunities to participate in socio-economic 

development back home. Prime Minister, Voreqe 

Bainimarama says the recent launch of a national digital 

transformation programme has made it easier for diaspora 

communities to invest in Fiji. 

Bainimarama says Fijians living abroad bring 

experiences, new perspectives and even skill-sets. 

The Prime Minister, at the same time, reinforced the 

Government’s stand in welcoming any citizen who wants 

to stay fully engaged with Fiji. 

He adds no Fijian who becomes a citizen of another 

country needs to give up their Fijian citizenship. 

Bainimarama has encouraged Fijians living abroad to 

vote in national elections. 

While opening the Global Diaspora Summit 2022 in 

Dublin, Ireland Bainimarama highlighted that remittances 

are now Fiji’s second-largest source of foreign exchange. 

Staff retention can 

also be affected 

by leadership and 

management issues. 

Some of the major 

complaints that have 

been coming through 

is the management 

of contracts, where 

contracts have come 

to an end and civil 

servants have been 

given short-term 

contracts 

a position you given a three-year 

contract. At the end of three years 

after the assessment if you perform 

above a particular level you given a 

five years contract. There were some 

issues with some of the ministries but 

that has been rectified. 

Bainimarama says remittances supplement the incomes 

of family members in normal times and they increase 

during emergencies, such as pandemics, natural disasters 

and conflicts. 

The Head of Government reiterated that Fiji fully 

supports the vision of the Summit to promote a wholeof-government 

and whole-of-society approach to diaspora 

engagement. 

India donates PPE, medicine for tuberculosis 

and Anti-Retroviral drugs for HIV patients 

India continues to support our health sector with 

medical supplies as they handed over more 

than $325,000 worth of Personal Protective 

Equipment, medicine for tuberculosis and the 

second batch of the Anti-Retroviral drugs for HIV 

patients today. 

While handing over the supplies, the Indian High 

Commissioner to Fiji, Palaniswamy Subramanyan 

Karthigeyan says they have always been with Fiji 

and are privileged to assist. 

Karthigeyan says the world is one family and 

this became much more evident in the last 2 years. 

Exams removed for Year 1-3; no external exams for Years 6-10 

Exams for Year to Year 3 

students in Fiji have been 

removed starting from this 

new academic year. 

Minister for Education Premila 

Kumar confirmed this was one of a 

number of changes the ministry was 

implementing in this new school 

year. She said for other classes, they 

would only have to sit the mid-year 

and annual exams. 

“Additionally, there will be no 

external exams for Years 6 to 10,” 

Mrs Kumar said. 

The Minister She said other 

changes were curriculum-oriented 

– Years 1-4 in 90 selected schools 

from around the country would be 

trialling the revised Literacy and 

Numeracy Curriculum. 

She said Years 1 to 3 students 

would be trialling the new Moral 

and Civic Education curriculum. 

The Ministry is also rolling out its 

new Year 11 Life Math curriculum 

this year after last year’s successful 

trial, she adds. 

“We are introducing some changes 

this year, which I am sure students, 

parents and teachers will find to be 

positive and helpful. 

“We will continue to bring 

about reforms in education, and 

we will improve the learning 

experience for our students, so as we 

leave 2021 behind. 

He says when global supply was disrupted due 

to the pandemic, India provided critical medical 

supplies to over 150 counties including Fiji. 

Karthigeyan has once again reaffirmed India's 

support to Fiji in times of need. 

Health Minister Doctor Ifereimi Waqainabete 

thanked India for the support. 

The Health Minister says this assistance 

will complement the work of our health care 

professionals as we do not know when the next 

variant or the next wave will hit us. 

Turmeric 

among Fiji’s 

top non-sugar 

agricultural 

exports 

Turmeric is among Fiji’s 

top non-sugar agricultural 

exports. Minister for 

Agriculture, Waterways and 

Environment Dr Mahendra Reddy 

said while kava was on the top of the 

list, it was interesting that turmeric 

was third on the list. 

“The 2021 data shows kava exports 

were $41.9 million followed by dalo 

$30.1 million and interestingly, 

followed by number three is turmeric 

$22.9 million exports only,” he said. 

“Then ginger $13.9 miilion, then 

assorted vegetables $5.7 million, 

cassava $1.7 million, chicken meat 

and eggs $4.7 million, these are the 

top seven.” He said turmeric had a 

competitive advantage. 

“Our turmeric has a particular 

cumin component, which is much 

higher than turmeric from other 

countries and so for this reason 

turmeric is high in demand in US. 

Turmeric is not only used for food 

purposes, but also for medicinal 

products.” He said they had spent 

$100,000 in this year’s budget on 

promoting turmeric expansion and 

they had seen that turmeric grew 

33.3 per cent last year compared with 

the previous years. With kava on the 

top of the export list, Dr Reddy said 

kava made an extremely important 

contribution to exports. 

“And we see the kava export in 

terms of volume and value will 

increase.” 

PM assures FNPF 

members their savings 

are safe and the 

Fund sits in a strong 

financial position 

Prime Minister Voreqe 

Bainimarama has assured 

Fijians that due to 

government’s reforms and Fiji 

National Provident Fund’s prudent 

management, their savings are 

safe and the FNPF sits in a strong 

financial position. 

Bainimarama says one question he 

has been asked before is whether the 

FNPF will run out of money. 

The Prime Minister says FNPF’s 

total assets are more than $8 billion 

which includes more than $600 

million worth of cash and deposits. 

He says the FNPF Act allows the 

Board under certain conditions to 

assist its members in times of need 

and it has done so during serious 

cyclones and other disasters. 

Bainimarama says as of 4th April 

2022, 141,377 FNPF members have 

been assisted through the COVID-19 

relief scheme where the members 

received a total of $368.3 million. 

He says out of this amount, $185.6 

million was paid by the government 

and $182.7 million came from the 

general accounts of the individual 

FNPF members. 

The Prime Minister says it is 

important to remember that members 

receiving relief could only access 

funds from their general accounts 

and their preserved accounts were 

not touched.

14 INDIA 


After UAE and Australia, EU 

eyes trade deal with India 

India’s successful free-trade 

also met executive vice president 

agreements with the United Arab 

Valdis Dombrovskis and EU director 

Emirates and Australia in the last 

general for trade Sabine Weyand. 

two months have encouraged the 

The second person said it’s 

country and the European Union to 

possible that the India-UK FTA 

plan three rounds of talks, all within 

may happen before the EU deal as 

this year to conceptualise a basic 

Both FTAs – the 

both New Delhi and London may 

frameworks under which the partners 

UAE and 

not insist on a two-stage trade deal; 

will negotiate a comprehensive deal 

Australia – have been 

this is because the UK is keen to 

conclude a full free trade agreement 

to raise bilateral trade to over $220 

concluded by 

(FTA) without resorting to an interim 

billion in five years, two people 

respecting mutual 

deal, this person explained. 

aware of the development said. 

sensitivities in an 

The current value of bilateral 

The development is significant 

environment of trust. 

India-UK trade is $ 50 billion (both 

because India-EU trade negotiations 

Successful FTA with 

goods and services). 

have been halted since 2013 over the 

discussions that developed country in an environment Negotiations on the FTA are set 

movement of Indian professionals 

may conclude [Australia] has of trust. Successful to start before the end of the year 

and high Indian tariffs on European 

within this year,” energised both the FTA with developed and the British side has indicated 

farm produce. The UK, too is keen to 

this person added. 

expedite bilateral trade negotiations 

EU and the UK, country [Australia] that it prefers that the talks lead to a 

Commerce 

with India and separate formal 

especially when has energised both comprehensive pact, he said. Since 

ministry officials 

the EU and the UK, 

discussions with it could also happen 

India has emerged as 

its exit from the European Union, the 

did not respond 

especially when UK has concluded trade deals with 

with the year, in addition to the talks 

a reliable partner and 

to an email query. 

India has emerged as 69 countries and one with the EU. 

with the EU, the people added, asking 

a significant factor in 

On April 2, 

a reliable partner and However, deals with 63 countries 

not to be named. After its exit from 

after signing the global supply chain a significant factor in are “rollover” arrangements similar 

the EU, the UK is keen to conclude a 

India-Australia 

global supply chain,” to those it had when it was an EU 

trade agreement, they said . 

Economic Cooperation and Trade the second person said. 

member. 

The EU recently expressed its 

Agreement (ECTA), commerce The India-EU FTA is expected “The conceptualisation [with EU] 

intent to a team of Indian government 

minister Piyush Goyal said New to double bilateral trade between is a great step forward which will 

officials led by commerce secretary 

Delhi is working on FTAs with the the two partners from the existing make it easier to start negotiations for 

B.V.R Subrahmanyam, one of the 

UK, Canada, Israel, Gulf Cooperation $110 billion, the first person said. a comprehensive trade deal within 

people said. “The EU has agreed to 

Council, and the EU. 

Subrahmanyam, who recently this framework,” said Federation 

start formal negotiations soon after it 

“Both FTAs – the UAE and visited Europe, met key officials of Indian Export Organisations 

will conceptualise a basic framework 

Australia – have been concluded of both the EU and the UK. During (FIEO) director general & CEO 

to proceed on this matter with New 

by respecting mutual sensitivities his visit to Brussels last week, he Ajay Sahai said. 

Delhi. It may take three rounds of 

India desires peace 

and stability in a region 

free of terror: Modi to 

Shehbaz Sharif 

Pr i m e 

Minister 

Narendra 

Modi congratulated 

Shehbaz 

Sharif on his 

election as the 

23rd Prime Minister 

of Pakistan. 

Shehbaz Sharif 

Modi said that India desires peace 

and stability in a region free of terror 

so that both countries can focus on its 

development challenges. 

"Congratulations to H.E. Mian 

Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on his 

election as the Prime Minister of 

Pakistan. India desires peace and 

stability in a region free of terror, so 

that we can focus on our development 

challenges and ensure the well-being 

and prosperity of our people," Modi 

tweeted. 

Earlier, PML-N President Shehbaz 

Sharif was elected as the 23rd 

Prime Minister of Pakistan with 174 

lawmakers voting in his favour after 

the MNAs of Pakistan Tehreek-e- 

Insaf boycotted the election. 

AICTE urges institutions to consider admitting Indian students returned from Ukraine 

The All India Council for Technical 

Education (AICTE) has asked technical 

institutions across the country to 

consider admitting students who have to leave 

their studies in the middle due to the Russia- 

Ukraine war. There were about 20,000 Indian 

students pursuing MBBS and engineering in 

Ukraine who had to return back due to the war. 

AICTE has written a letter to technical 

US conveys full support to India's upcoming G20 Presidency 

The United States has 

conveyed its full support 

to India's upcoming G20 

Presidency, starting December 1 this 

year till November 2023. 

India and the US held the 2+2 

Ministerial Dialogue in Washington 

with the Indian side led by Defence 

Minister Rajnath Singh and External 

Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the 

American side was represented by 

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken 

and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin 

on Monday. 

The joint statement issued after 

the fourth India-US 2+2 Ministerial 

Dialogue stated "the United States 

conveyed its full support to India's 

upcoming G20 Presidency from 

December 2022 to November 2023". 

In this context, the Ministers 

reiterated their commitment to 

work closely on international 

security, social, and economic 

issues of global interest and impact, 

added the statement. 

Earlier, on Thursday, responding to 

a question in the Rajya Sabha on the 

manner in which India is preparing 

to assume the responsibility of 

the Presidency of G20 this year in 

December, the Minister of State for 

External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan 

educational institutions while keeping in 

mind the future of these students. In the letter, 

the council has said, "Around 20,000 Indian 

students have returned to the country from 

war-torn Ukraine, where they were studying 

medicine and engineering at various universities 

in Ukraine. These students who returned from 

Ukraine are in deep despair." 

Indian students from Ukraine have left 

the course midway and returned home under 

Singh had elaborated upon the role 

of India as the G-20 Presidency 

and responsibilities and power the 

position would bring for 

the country. 

"As the G20 

Presidency, 

India will set 

the agenda 

for the year, 

identify the 

themes and focus 

areas, conduct 

"As 

the G20 

Presidency, India 

will set the agenda for 

the year, identify the 

themes and focus areas, 

conduct discussions and 

work out outcome 

documents." 

discussions and work 

out outcome documents. 

"The G20 Secretariat will be 

responsible for a smooth transition 

from the previous Presidency, 

preparations and conduct," the 

Minister of State had said. 

He said the hosting of the G20 

deliberations would also result in 

"economic opportunities in different 

sectors such as tourism, hospitality, 

IT and civil aviation among others, 

during our Presidency year". 

"India will be in a 

position to identify, 

highlight, develop and 

strengthen international 

support for priorities 

of vital importance to 

developing countries 

in diverse social and 

economic sectors, ranging from 

energy, agriculture, trade, digital 

economy, health and environment to 

employment, tourism, anti-corruption 

and women empowerment, including 

in focus areas that impact the most 

vulnerable and disadvantaged," he 

had said. 

compulsion. For now, their future seems to be 

hanging in the balance. Students aspiring to do 

MBBS prefer to go to Ukraine because the cost 

of studies there is less and on the other hand the 

competition for admission in medical colleges 

in India is very high. According to the rules 

issued by the National Medical Commission 

(NMC) in 2021 for those pursuing medical 

graduates (FMGs) abroad, there is no provision 

for transfer from a foreign university to an 

India, US call 

on Pakistan 

to ensure its 

territory is not 

used for terror 

attacks 

India and the US have called 

on Pakistan to take immediate, 

sustained, and irreversible 

actions to ensure that no territory 

under its control is used for terrorist 

attacks. 

In a joint statement issued on the 

fourth India-US 2+2 Ministerial 

Dialogue, Defence Minister Rajnath 

Singh, External Affairs Minister Dr 

S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State 

Antony J Blinken and Secretary of 

Defense Lloyd J Austin III welcomed 

the convening of the 18th Meeting of 

the India-US Joint Working Group 

on Counter-Terrorism and the 4th 

Session of the India-US Designations 

Dialogue in October 2021. 

Expressing strong condemnation 

against the use of terrorist proxies 

and cross-border terrorism in all its 

forms, the ministers called for the 

perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai 

attack, and Pathankot attack, to be 

brought to justice. 

They called for concerted 

action against all terrorist groups, 

including groups proscribed by the 

United Nations Security Council 

1267 Sanctions Committee, such 

as al-Qa'ida, Islamic State (Deash), 

Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), and Jaishe-Mohammad 

(JeM), and Hizb ul 

Mujahideen. 

The two sides committed to the 

continued exchange of information 

about sanctions and designations 

against terror groups and individuals, 

countering violent radicalism, use of 

the Internet for terrorist purposes, and 

cross-border movement of terrorists. 

They also emphasized the 

importance of upholding international 

standards on anti-money laundering 

and combating the financing of 

terrorism by all countries, consistent 

with the Financial Action Task Force 

(FATF) recommendations. 

The ministers also reaffirmed their 

support for the early adoption of 

a UN Comprehensive Convention 

on International Terrorism (CCIT) 

that advances and strengthens the 

framework for global cooperation 

and reinforces that no cause or 

grievance justifies terrorism. 

Both sides also looked forward 

to the next India-US Counter 

Narcotics Working Group meeting 

in 2022 and enhancing cooperation 

through a bilateral Counter- 

Narcotics Framework to combat 

drug trafficking, illicit narcotics 

production, and precursor chemical 

supply chains. 

Indian university in the middle of an MBBS 

programme as both the admission guidelines 

and the selection criteria are different. The 

issue was also raised in the Parliament.AICTE 

has urged various institutions to consider the 

candidature of students returned from Ukraine 

for the vacant seats available in the respective 

years so that the students can continue their 

studies.


WORLD 15 

Biden will speak to Modi 

as US warns India on 

imports of Russian energy 

President Joe Biden will meet 

virtually with Indian Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi on 

Monday, the White House said, at 

a time when the United States has 

made clear it does not want to see an 

uptick in Russian energy imports by 

India. 

“President Biden will continue 

our close consultations on the 

consequences of Russia’s brutal war 

against Ukraine and mitigating its 

destabilizing impact on global food 

supply and commodity markets,” 

Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a 

statement on Sunday. 

Daleep Singh, U.S. Deputy 

National Security Adviser for 

International Economics, who visited 

India recently, said the United States 

will not set any “red line” for India 

on its energy imports from Russia 

but does not want to see a “rapid 

acceleration” in purchases. 

Lured by steep discounts following 

Western sanctions on Russian 

entities, India has bought at least 13 

million barrels of Russian crude oil 

since the country invaded Ukraine in 

late February. That compared with 

some 16 million barrels for the whole 

Sri Lanka temporarily 

suspends foreign debt 

payments 

Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry 

said the government has 

decided to suspend normal 

debt servicing of all affected debts 

for an interim period till it puts 

together an orderly and consensual 

restructuring program supported by 

the International Monetary Fund 

(IMF). The Ministry added that debt 

repayments would be restructured 

in a manner consistent with an 

economic adjustment program 

supported by the IMF, which will 

apply to all debt repayments. 

However, it said credit facilities 

and any amounts disbursed under 

existing credit facilities are not 

subject to this policy and would be 

serviced normally, Xinhua news 

agency reported. The Finance 

Ministry added that creditors, 

including foreign governments that 

had lent to the South Asian nation, 

were free to capitalise any interest 

payments due to them from Tuesday 

afternoon or opt for payback in Sri 

Lankan rupees. 

of last year, data compiled by Reuters 

shows. This meeting will precede 

the “U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial” 

meeting between U.S. Secretary 

of State Antony Blinken, U.S. 

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, 

India External Affairs Minister 

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and India 

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, the 

White House said. 

Biden, who last spoke to Modi 

in March, recently said that only 

India among the Quad group of 

countries was “somewhat shaky” 

in acting against Russia over its 

invasion of Ukraine. The South 

Asian nation has tried to balance its 

ties with Russia and the West but 

unlike other members of the Quad 

countries – United States, Japan 

and Australia – it has not imposed 

sanctions on Russia. Russia has 

long been India’s biggest supplier of 

defence equipment despite growing 

purchases from the United States in 

the past decade. Defence analysts 

say Russian supplies are more cost 

competitive and vital for India as it 

faces a superior Chinese military. 

Daleep Singh during his visit said 

the United States was ready to help 

India diversify its energy and defence 

supplies. India is the world’s thirdbiggest 

oil importer and consumer. 

He also warned that the United 

States does not want its allies helping 

resurrect the rouble, which nosedived 

immediately after the war began but 

has recovered in recent days. 

Ukraine on Sunday said it was 

seeking another round of European 

Union sanctions against Moscow and 

more military aid from its allies as it 

braces for a major Russian offensive 

in the east of the country. 

Russia has failed to take any major 

cities since it launched its invasion 

on Feb. 24 but Ukraine says it has 

been gathering its forces in the east 

for a major assault and has urged 

people to flee. 

Moscow has rejected accusations 

of war crimes by Ukraine and 

Western countries. It has denied 

targeting civilians in what it calls a 

“special operation” to demilitarise 

and “denazify” its southern 

neighbour. Ukraine and Western 

nations have dismissed this as a 

baseless pretext for war. Biden and 

Modi will also discuss cooperation 

on a range of issues including ending 

the COVID-19 pandemic, countering 

the climate crisis, strengthening the 

global economy, and upholding a 

free, open, rules-based international 

order to bolster security, democracy, 

and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, 

Psaki said. 

Australian election campaign begins, 

polls show opposition ahead 

Australia Prime Minister Scott 

Morrison extended his lead 

as the country’s preferred 

leader but his government could still 

lose the federal election to be held 

next month, a poll showed, the first 

day of the official campaign. 

A Newspoll conducted for The 

Australian newspaper showed 

Morrison gaining a point to 44%, 

while opposition leader Anthony 

Albanese falling 3 points to 39%, the 

largest lead the prime minister has 

held over his rival since February. 

Australia will hold a general 

election on May 21, Morrison said 

on Sunday, triggering a campaign 

expected to be fought over cost-ofliving 

pressures, climate change and 

questions of trust and competence of 

the major parties. 

Even as Morrison’s personal 

ratings remained steady, his 

conservative Liberal National Party 

coalition could lose 10 seats and 

the election to Albanese’s centreleft 

Labor, which leads 53-47 on a 

two-party preferred basis, the poll 

said. The government has a oneseat 

majority in the lower house of 

parliament. A separate survey done 

for the Sydney Morning Herald 

newspaper out on Monday predicted 

the ruling coalition could lose at least 

14 seats including ones deemed safe 

in resource-rich Queensland and 

Western Australia states. 

Labor could return to power for 

the first time since 2013 should it 

win some of the key electorates with 

Morrison kicking off his election 

campaign from the marginal seat of 

Gilmore as he prepares to spend six 

weeks on the road before the vote. 

“This election … is about a 

choice,” Morrison said during a 

media briefing on Monday, and 

described Albanese’s leadership as 

“untested and unknown.” 

“It’s a choice between strong 

economic management and strong 

financial management … that 

contrasts to a Labor opposition who 

Australians know can’t be trusted to 

manage money.” 

Albanese dismissed Morrison’s 

attacks on his experience as a leader 

saying he was “ready to govern”. 

“We saw a government only 

concerned about cost of living only 

until the election,” Albanese told 

Channel Seven. 

Twitter staff ‘super stressed’ over Elon Musk board chaos on day off 

Twitter Inc. employees were scheduled 

to have Monday off, for the company’s 

monthly “day of rest.” But Elon Musk 

made it hard not to think about work. 

Musk, the billionaire who disclosed this 

month he’d become the largest individual 

Twitter shareholder, backed away from a plan 

to join the company’s board over the weekend. 

Days earlier, Chief Executive Officer Parag 

Agrawal had laid the groundwork for a friendly 

relationship by inviting Musk to join the board 

The company was so confident he’d accept 

that it listed Musk as a board member on 

Scott Morrison 

its investor relations website. Agrawal also 

organized a question-and-answer session with 

Musk and employees this week. For some 

employees, the reversal signaled chaos: Musk 

was going to keep tweeting his critiques of 

Twitter to more than 80 million followers on 

the site, without any requirement to act in the 

best interests of the company. The Q&A was 

cancelled. 

In his announcement late Sunday, Agrawal 

framed Musk’s surprise decision as good for 

Twitter, but warned of “distractions ahead.” 

The whiplash is overwhelming, employees 

said. The vibe among workers at Twitter is 

“super stressed,” with employees “working 

B'desh PM Hasina 

orders to maintain 

a risk-free foreign 

debt limit 

Bangladesh Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday 

directed all concerned to 

take necessary measures so that the 

country could maintain its current 

position in the future regarding 

the foreign debt, as the amount of 

foreign loans is still "far below" the 

risk limit. 

The premier issued this directive 

while witnessing a presentation on 

"offshore tax amnesty" and "review 

of Bangladesh's macroeconomy 

against the backdrop of Sri Lankan 

economic crisis" at her official 

residence Ganabhaban. 

During the presentation made 

by the National Board of Revenue 

(NBR) and Finance Division, the 

reasons for the ongoing economic 

crisis in Sri Lanka and its response 

were discussed in detail alongside 

reviewing various indicators of 

Bangladesh's economy compared to 

other countries in South Asia. 

"Analyzing various indicators of 

the economy, it was seen that there is 

no risk of repaying the foreign debt of 

Bangladesh in the medium and long 

terms. Almost all the indices indicate 

that the economy of Bangladesh is 

relatively stable," said a statement. 

However, special emphasis was 

given to the implementation of 

an integrated revenue policy and 

monetary policy to control inflation 

in the domestic market in the context 

of abnormal price spiral of fuel, food 

products, and other items. in the 

international market. 

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa 

Kamal, Prime Minister's Power, 

Energy, and Mineral Resources 

Affairs Adviser Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi 

Chowdhury, Prime Minister's 

Principal Secretary Dr. Ahmad 

Kaikaus, Bangladesh Central Bank 

Governor Fazle Kabir, Finance 

Secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, NBR 

Chairman Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul 

Muneem among others were present. 

together to help each other get through the 

week,” some said, asking not to be named 

discussing internal company details. 

In recent days, Musk has tweeted product 

ideas from eliminating advertising for members 

of Twitter’s subscription service to turning 

part of its San Francisco headquarters into a 

homeless shelter. Without a board seat, there 

are no longer restrictions on how many shares 

he can buy, or on his tweeting; one employee 

expressed concern that Musk was “just getting 

started, which is unfortunate.” Multiple workers 

described the situation as a “sh-t show.”

16 

WORLD 


Ratna Pathak Shah: Don’t 

know why I didn’t get much 

work when I was younger 

Our filmmakers haven’t been very 

adventurous when it comes to 

casting. They always chose the ones who 

grabbed eyeballs. In art cinema, it was 

all about (actors) Naseeruddin Shah, Om 

Puri, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. 

Jr NTR completes 25 years in Telugu 

film industry 

RRR' actor Jr NTR, who shone as 

Komaram Bheem, has completed 

25 years in the Telugu film industry. 

April 11 marks the 25th anniversary of 

Jr NTR's first movie 'Ramayanam', better 

known as 'Bala Ramayanam'. 

Jr NTR had made his debut as a child 

actor with 'Bala Ramayanam', which was 

released on this date in 1997. NTR, who 

was a classical dancer, had grabbed the 

attention of the casting team, who had him 

on board to essay the role of Rama. 

'Shakuntalam' director Gunasekhar 

wielded the megaphone for this 

mythological drama which showcased Jr 

NTR as Lord Rama. 

The film had bagged two Nandi Awards 

- Best Children Film (Gold) and Best 

Child Actress (Swathi as Ravana) in 

1998. Featuring more than 3,000 children, 

'Bala Ramayanam' was produced under 

Shabdhalaya Theaters. 

With an illustrious career of 25 years, Jr 

NTR has worked in over 30 films, some 

of which are blockbuster hits. His career 

is replete with massive hits such as 'Aadi', 

'Simhadri', 'Temper', 'Janatha Garage' and 

'Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava'. 

'RRR', which marks S.S. Rajamouli's 

fourth collaboration with Jr NTR, is the 

actor's first pan-India movie. 

Known for his multi-linguistic 

approach, Jr NTR will be next seen in 

'NTR30' directed by Koratala Siva. He 

will also be starring in Prashanth Neel's 

upcoming directorial. 

Actor Ratna Pathak Shah, who has been a part of critically 

acclaimed films like Mandi (1983) and Mirch Masala (1987), 

says that star system was not only a part of the commercial 

cinema space but it also penetrated the art film circuit back in the 

1980s. And that, she believes, is what kept her from working 

frequently back in the day. She elaborates, “Our filmmakers haven’t 

been very adventurous when it comes to casting. 

"They always chose the ones who grabbed eyeballs. In art cinema, 

it was all about (actors) Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi 

and Smita Patil. Then came (actors) Farooq Shaikh and Deepti Naval; 

they were thought of after these four names.” Shah rues the dearth 

of opportunities for her other contemporaries too, who feels couldn’t 

explore their potential to the fullest, despite their talent: “It was much 

later that (actors) Pavan Malhotra and Pankaj Kapur got the parts that 

they deserved. 

Much like Deepti, Supriya (Pathak; actor and Shah’s sister) never 

got the parts she deserved. And I was just not looked at, maybe 

because I was Naseer’s wife, and they thought I was just not interested 

in working. Thankfully, that’s done with and dusted.” The 65-year-old 

adds, “I don’t know why I didn’t get much work when I was younger. 

There was something about me that wasn’t acceptable. The only thing 

I can do about it is I can reflect on that time and think if I was worth 

being employed. Maybe I wasn’t.” 

But she heaves a sigh of relief as she’s getting to work at a time 

when most people have already retired. Talking about the shift, Shah 

says, “I certainly know that my skill as an actor has improved hugely 

in the last 20 years or so. Maybe that’s why I’m getting the kind of 

roles across languages that you see me doing. And I’m enjoying every 

minute of it. I’m not complaining anymore,” says the Kapoor & Sons 

(2016) and Thappad (2020) actor. 

Satish Kaushik: Young filmmakers have faith in their actors 

Satish Kaushik explains 

what he likes about the 

new-age directors and 

how their approach differs from 

their senior counterparts 

Actor Satish Kaushik has 

worked across films and web 

shows helmed by various newage 

filmmakers, including 

Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta 

Punjab (2016), Shaad 

Ali’s Soorma (2018) and Bloody 

Brothers, Raj & DK’s Guns And 

Gulaab, Raj Singh’s Thar, Shefali 

Bhushan’s Gulity Minds, Hitesh 

Bhatia’s Sharmajee Namkeen and 

Tejas Deoskar’s Chhatriwali. He 

enjoys working with the younger 

makers for many reasons. 

“What I like about them is 

that they know the importance 

of time and have faith in their 

actors. They offer you a complete 

script before the shoot begins and 

conduct workshops and readings 

with actors before the film goes 

on floors. 

"All this ensures that they 

don’t waste time during the shoot 

in explaining what they want,” 

says Kaushik, who has also 

directed over 15 Hindi films. 

Kaushik goes on to highlight 

the key difference between the 

younger makers and senior 

ones: “I have worked at a 

time when films were shot 

leisurely in 18 months. 

"But nowadays, filmmaking 

is pacier and more systematic. I 

love this new way of working. 

Filmmakers today have a strong 

team of DOPs and assistant 

directors, and their duties are 

divided perfectly.” 

He adds that gender parity is 

also a highlight, as far as the film 

industry of today is concerned. 

“There’s inclusion of women 

across all the departments. From 

DOPs to production assistants -- 

you see strong-minded girls who 

believe in giving their best to the 

film and working passionately. 

This inclusivity is great to see,” 

says Kaushik. 

Being a senior filmmaker 

himself, does it ever become 

difficult when a younger maker 

asks him to do something? 

“Not at all,” says the 65-yearold, 

adding, “In fact, when they 

ask me to do something new, it’s 

like a learning process for me. At 

the time of shoot, the director is 

the captain, no matter what his 

age is.” 

RRR box office day 16 collection: SS Rajamouli's film enters Rs1000 crore club worldwide 

SS Rajamouli's film RRR has entered 

the Rs1000 crore club worldwide just 

after two weeks of its release. So far, 

only Dangal and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, 

had crossed Rs1000 crore globally. The film 

features Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Alia Bhatt, and 

Ajay Devgn among others. 

Taking to Twitter, trade analyst 

Manobala Vijayabalan wrote on Saturday 

evening, "#RRRMovie enters the 

PRESTIGIOUS Rs1,000 cr club." 

He also tweeted, "Rs1000cr+ club Indian 

movies. #Dangal #Baahubali2 #RRR." 

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh also tweeted 

on Saturday, "[Week 3] refuses to slow down, 

RRRock-solid on [third] Fri... Continues to 

attract substantial footfalls in mass circuits... 

Expect higher numbers today and tomorrow 

[third Sat and Sun]... Fri 5 cr. Total: Rs213.59 

cr. #India biz." 

On Saturday, Ram Charan thanked fans 

in Britain for the success of RRR, which 

registered strong numbers at the UK box office 

during its opening weekend. 

"A special thank you to our UK fans for 

showering us with so much love and support. 

It is this love and affection that makes us who 

we are and drives us to work harder and present 

you all with good films. 

"I have both vacationed and filmed in the 

UK several times and it has always been a great 

experience,” he told news agency. 

Book on yesteryear actress Priya 

Rajvansh to be adapted for screen 

National Award-winning filmmaker Pradeep 

Sarkar is all set to helm a film based on Subodh 

Lal's book 'Priya Interrupted' which documents 

the life of late actress Priya Rajvansh and her filmmaker 

husband Chetan Anand. However, the makers have not 

made any official announcement yet regarding the cast 

and movie's shoot schedule. 

Commenting on the development, Author Subodh 

Lal says, "Priya and I were very close. She shared a lot 

of information about herself, her schooling, her years 

outside India (especially in England) and of course her 

association with Chetan Anand and his brothers Dev 

and Vijay. I could see that she really wanted to remain 

truthfully frank. Most details and episodes in the book are 

based on these conversations." 

"Then, of course, being a frequent visitor to Chetan 

Anand's house, conversations with the extended 

Anand family helped. She, of all persons, was much 

misunderstood, which pained her. 

"Thus, her going away was very painful for me and my 

wife. Hence the book 'Priya Interrupted'. I feel so good 

that her story will now reach a wide audience", he adds. 

On collaborating with producer Deepak Mukut, 

Subodh shares, "I first met Deepak during my term with 

Zee Telefilms in the early '90s. 

"I was, as Executive President of the company, required 

to meet a lot of people - including so many from the film 

world. Among those people was this young man in his 

twenties - clear headed, correct and persuasive. He made 

a fine impression on me. To once again work with Deepak 

after a gap of a quarter of a century is really such a good 

feeling!" 

Deepak, who will be producing the film, said he wanted 

to acquire the rights of the book because of its "mystery, 

thrill and suspense element". 

Talking about the film, Deepak says, "It's a very unique 

and untold story of the journey of the yesteryear actress 

Priya Rajvansh. The mystery and suspense associated 

with her life really attracted me to make a movie. 

RRR is a multilingual action movie that 

narrates a fictional tale based on the lives 

of two freedom fighters in the early 20th 

century – Alluri Sitarama Raju and Kumram 

Bheem, played by Ram Charan and Jr NTR, 

respectively. 

"The film became one of the fastest 

to enter the Rs100 crore club at the 

Indian box office. 

According to the RRR team, the film is 

also making waves in the UK, amassing 

USD 1.20 million at the box office during 

its opening weekend. 

In the US and Canada, the film 

earned $11 million, while it minted 

1.89 million in Australia.


ENTERTAINMENT 17 

FASHION AND BEAUTY 

THE TREND 

DENIM- 

ON-DENIM 

OUTFITS 

ARE TRULY 

EASY TO 

PULL OFF 

Denim on denim: a style choice that's had its fair share of shade. 

From referring to the look as a Canadian tuxedo to Britney and 

Justin's infamous 2001 matching-denim situation, the concept 

of pairing one jean item with another is the epitome of a fashion Don't 

for those people who still think “rules” matter. 

The truth is few other materials can define America and 

its storied subcultures better than denim: rockers, bikers, 

cowboys, farmers, hippies, rappers—they all put their own 

very different stamp on the same staple, intentionally or 

not. 

And today we’re just as connected to our own 

interpretations of denim, which often means pairing 

pieces up for a vibe that's, in a word, cool. 

As you'll see below, some of the world's most 

stylish women are fans of the double-denim look 

but have put their own spin on it. 

From dark jeans paired with a light jean shirt 

or buttoned jacket to a frayed denim skirt with 

an oversized chambray top, the options 

are pretty endless—and infinitely 

easy to pull off. You can wear 

whatever wash you like, of course, 

but as a general rule, lighter shades 

of denim draw attention to the body 

parts they cover, while darker washes 

create a slimming effect. For many 

people, this means that dark denim 

jeans paired with and a lighter denim top 

or jacket is the most flattering way to 

go. 

Forget what you think about denim 

on denim: This belted shirt, culottes, 

and overcoat are chic as hell. 

Fashion trends come and go, but denim jeans are one item 

of clothing that will always be a staple in many closets. 

Adding a turtleneck to a 

buttoned denim jacket never 

fails to be chic. Just add 

jeans. 

Adding a turtleneck to a 

buttoned denim jacket never 

fails to be chic. Just add 

jeans. 

The definition of classic. 

A denim corset, a 

ruffled denim mini, and 

a denim jacket create 

an unexpectedly chic 

ensemble. 

Add a plaid blazer to your 

light-denim look. 

A belted denim trench 

and wide-leg jeans have a 

distinct ’70s vibe, especially 

paired with a turtleneck and 

gold pendant.

18 

FEATURES 


Healthy cooking every day 

MYSORE MASALA DOSA 

Mysore masala dosa is a delicious dosa recipe with potato masala and spicy chutney. If 

you have dosa batter handy this dosa is easy to make in a few mins. 

Ingredients 

• 2 cups dosa batter 

• 1 no potato (medium sizes) 

• 1/2 cup onion (sliced thinly) 

• 2 no green chillies 

• 1 tbsp oil 

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 

• 1 tsp urad dal 

• 1/2 tsp ginger grated 

• 1 tbsp coriander leaves raw 

• 1 tsp salt (to taste) 

• 1 cup onion chopped 

• 2 tbsp coconut shredded 

• 2 tbsp channa dal 

• 15 gms garlic 

• 1/2 tsp Tamarind 

• 1 tbsp oil 

• 6 red chillies raw 

Instructions 

• For spicy chutney: In a pan heat a tbsp of oil, add 

channa dal, red chilies and roast until the channa dal 

color changes to golden brown. 

• Add garlic, chopped onion and cook until the onion 

becomes soft. Add grated coconut, tamarind and saute 

until the nice coconut aroma comes out. Allow to cool 

and grind to a smooth paste by adding water little by 

little. 

• For potato masala: Peel the potatoes and cut them 

Pepper Chicken 

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 lb Chicken 

• 1 tsp pepper black 

• 1/2 cup oil 

• 10 no curry leaves 

• 2 cup onion chopped 

• 1/2 tbsp salt Table 

• 1/2 tbsp red chilly powder 

• 1/2 tbsp coriander powder 

• 1 1/2 tbsp garam masala 

• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste 

• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 

• 1 tsp fennel seed 

• 1/4 cup coriander leaves raw 

• 4 green chillies 

Instructions 

• Chop the chicken into small 

pieces and slice the onions thinly. 

In a pan heat oil, add in the fennel 

seeds, curry leaves, green chilies, 

sliced onion and cook until onion 

becomes soft. 

• Add the turmeric powder, ginger 

garlic paste mix well and cook 

until the ginger garlic paste loses 

its raw smell. 

• Add the chopped chicken 

pieces, coriander powder, red 

chili powder, salt, black pepper 

powder, garam masala and mix 

well. 

• Cover and cook, until chicken, 

get cooked thoroughly over a 

medium heat. Make sure to stir 

in between to avoid burning the 

onions and spices. 

• Take off the lid and mix in the 

crushed whole black pepper. 

Garnish it with chopped 

coriander leaves. 

roughly. In a saucepan add water, chopped potatoes 

and boil until the potatoes become tender. Mash the 

potatoes using a fork or potato masher. 

• In a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds and allow to 

splutter. Add urad dal and saute until the color changes 

to golden brown. 

• Add asafoetida and mix well in the oil. Add grated 

ginger, chopped onion, chopped green chilies and cook 

until the onion becomes soft. 

• Add turmeric powder and cook until the turmeric 

powder loses its raw smell. 

• Add water and cook until the onion becomes soft. 

Add mashed potato, salt and mix well. Garnish with 

chopped coriander leaves. 

• For Mysore masala dosa: In a non-stick skillet, pour 

a laddle full of batter and spread into a thin circle. 

Drizzle oil on the corners of a dosa and cook until the 

dosa get cooked completely. 

Fenugreek rasam (vendhaya rasam) with rice is an easy meal ideas in 25 mins. It is a 

healthy South Indian rasam recipe using fenugreek seeds and Indian spices. 

Ingredients 

• 2 no tomatoes 

• 1 tbsp fenugreek seed 

• 1/2 tbsp channa dal raw 

• 1/2 tbsp pepper black 

• 1 tsp cumin seed 

• 8 gms garlic raw 

• 1 tsp tamarind 

• 1 tsp oil 

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 

• 1/2 tsp urad dal 

• 1/4 tsp hing or asafoetida 

• 3 no red chillies 

• 4 cup water 

• 10 no curry leaves 

• 1 tsp salt (to taste) 

Chicken satay salad 

Marinate chicken breasts, then drizzle with a punchy peanut satay sauce 

for a no-fuss, midweek meal that's high in protein and big on flavour. 

Ingredients 

• 1tbsp tamari 

• 1tsp medium curry powder 

• ¼tsp ground cumin 

• 1 garlic clove, finely grated 

• 1tsp clear honey 

• 2 skinless chicken breast fillets (or use 

turkey breast) 

• 1tbsp crunchy peanut butter (choose a 

sugar-free version with no palm oil, if 

possible) 

• 1tbsp sweet chilli sauce 

• 1tbsp lime juice 

• sunflower oil, for wiping the pan 

• 2 Little Gem lettuce hearts, cut into wedges 

• ¼ cucumber, halved and sliced 

• 1 banana shallot, halved and thinly sliced 

• coriander, chopped 

• seeds from ½ pomegranate 

Method 

• Pour the tamari into a large dish and stir in 

the curry powder, cumin, garlic and honey. 

Mix well. Slice the chicken breasts in half 

horizontally to make 4 fillets in total, then 

add to the marinade and mix well to coat. 

Set aside in the fridge for at least 1 hr, or 

overnight, to allow the flavours to penetrate 

Instructions 

• Dry roast fenugreek seeds, black 

pepper, cumin seeds, and channa 

together until the fenugreek seeds 

Lighter Takes 

& Easy Tips 

Quinoa salad with eggs & dill 

Quinoa is a complete protein that contains all eight essential 

amino acids. Enjoy it here as part of a salad 

Ingredients 

• 120g quinoa, rinsed 

• 6 eggs 

• 320g asparagus, woody ends 

trimmed and halved if too long 

• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar 

• 6 spring onions, finely chopped 

• 2 tbsp chopped dill 

• 2 tbsp chopped basil, plus a few 

leaves to serve 

• 15g capers, rinsed 

• 320g cherry tomatoes, halved 

cider vinegar with the chopped 

Method 

spring onions, herbs and capers. 

• Boil the quinoa in plenty of water 

• Tip the quinoa into a bowl and 

for 20 mins. 

toss through three-quarters of the 

• Leave for 5 mins, then rinse and 

dressing and the tomatoes. Spoon 

drain well. Meanwhile, boil the 

half onto plates and the rest into 

eggs for 7 mins in another pan 

two containers. 

with the asparagus above in a 

• Arrange the asparagus on top of 

steamer. 

the salads with three egg halves 

• If the eggs are ready and the 

on each one, then spoon over the 

asparagus isn't quite tender, 

remaining dressing and scatter 

remove the eggs from the pan and 

with the basil leaves. 

put in cold water while continuing 

• Seal and chill the packed 

to cook the asparagus for a few 

salads. Will keep in an airtight 

more minutes. Peel the eggs. 

container in the fridge for 

• To make the dressing, mix the 

up to a day. 

extra virgin olive oil and apple 

Fenugreek rasam with rice 

color changes into golden brown. 

Allow to cool and grind it to a 

coarse powder. 

the chicken. 

• Meanwhile, mix the peanut butter with the 

chilli sauce, lime juice, and 1 tbsp water to 

make a spoonable sauce. 

• When ready to cook the chicken, wipe a 

large non-stick frying pan with a little oil. 

• Add the chicken and cook, covered with a 

lid, for 5-6 mins on a medium heat, turning 

the fillets over for the last min, until cooked 

but still moist. 

• Set aside, covered, to rest for a few mins. 

• While the chicken rests, toss the lettuce 

wedges with the cucumber, shallot, 

coriander and pomegranate, and pile onto 

plates. 

• Spoon over a little sauce. 

• Slice the chicken, pile on top of the salad 

and spoon over the remaining sauce. 

• Eat while the chicken is still warm. 

• Crush garlic and red chilies 

together coarsely. I used mortar 

and pestle to crush. 

• In a pan heat oil add mustard 

seeds and allow it to splutter. Add 

urad dal, curry leaves, asafoetida 

and mix well in the oil. 

• Add chopped tomatoes, turmeric 

powder, salt and mix well. 

• Cover and cook until the tomatoes 

become soft (keep stirring in 

between to avoid burning). 

• Add water, tamarind concentrate, 

salt, and mix well. 

• Boil until the form started forming 

on top. 

• Add grounded fenugreek seeds 

and spices powder, crushed garlic 

and red chilies to the rasam and 

turn off the heat. Garnish with 

chopped coriander stems.

intervals. 

Chandra said. 

added. 


FEATURES 19 

Rajasthan 

lead Royally in 

week three! 

RAHUL PATIL 

After a poor start to the 

tournament Sunrisers 

Hyderabad managed to 

register back to back wins and 

Chennai Super Kings registered 

their first win in the tournament after 

four straight losses. Cricket analyst 

Rahul Patil analyses all the action 

from Week 3. 

Game 15 

Lucknow Super Giants 155 for 4 

(de Kock 80, Lalit Yadav 1/21) beat 

Delhi Capitals 149 for 3 (Shaw 61, 

Bishnoi 2/22) 

This game was a story of two 

brilliant batters from either side. 

In the first innings, point to prove 

cricketer Prithvi Shaw scored a 

fluent 61. Shaw reminds me a lot of 

Virender Sehwag due to his ability 

to hit good balls to the boundary and 

completely demoralize the bowlers. 

For Lucknow Ravi Bishnoi once 

again bowled economically and 

picked up wickets. Chasing 150 for 

a win Quinton de Kock scored more 

than 50% of the runs with a stroke 

filled 80 ensuring Lucknow’s third 

win in 4 matches. It was interesting 

that apart from Shaw & de Kock 

all the other batters from both sides 

struggled on this pitch. 

Game 16 

Gujarat Titans 190/4 (Gill 96, 

Tewatia 13*, Rabada 2/35) beat 

Punjab Kings 189/9 (Livingstone 64, 

Jitesh 23, Rashid Khan 3/22) 

Although there were a number of 

brilliant individual performances 

the game of the tournament so far 

will be remembered for one person; 

Rahul….naam to suna hoga…. 

Tewatia! Faced with a situation of 

requiring 12 of the last two balls of 

the game to win Tewatia dispatched 

both out of the ground to script a 

fairytale finish. 

White ball cricket has seen its fair 

share of cool calm finisher’s and 

Tewatia is fast building a reputation 

for himself in that category. Other 

notable performances included 

a power packed 64 by Liam 

Livingstone and a classy 96 by 

Shubhman Gill. In a match where 

both teams scored @ 9.5 runs/over 

Rashid khan gave less than run a 

ball and picked up 3 wickets. In T20 

cricket Rashid is the equivalent of a 

Swiss bank; secure and reliable. 

Game 17 

Sunrisers Hyderabad 155 for 2 

(Abhishek Sharma 75, Rahul Tripathi 

39) beat Chennai Super Kings 154 

for 7 (Moeen Ali 48, Jadeja 23, 

Washington 2/21, Natarajan 2/30) 

Defending champions CSK are in 

deep trouble with four losses out of 

four and if this trend continues their 

chances of qualifying for the playoffs 

this year might be over pretty quickly. 

Coach Stephen Fleming accepted 

that they have been poor in all three 

departments of the game and will 

need to pull up their socks to turn 

The 

Thir teenth 

Man 

around the results. Man of the match 

was young left hander Abhishek 

Sharma who in his fifth IPL season 

has started repaying the faith shown 

in him by the Sunrisers. 

Game 18 

Royal Challengers Bangalore 152 

for 3 (Anuj Rawat 66, Virat Kohli 48, 

Unadkat 1/30) beat Mumbai Indians 

151 for 6 (Suryakumar Yadav 68, 

Harshal Patel 2/23, Hasaranga 2/28, 

Akash Deep 1/20) 

RCB paid a lot of money (INR 3.2 

crores) on potential for youngster 

Anuj Rawat and in his fourth innings 

at the top of the order he finally 

delivered a return on investment 

for them with a match winning 68. 

It also meant a fourth straight loss 

for five time champions Mumbai in 

this year’s tournament. At the start of 

the season if someone had predicted 

that two teams with nine IPL titles 

between them would be at the bottom 

of the points table without a single 

win after four matches then nobody 

would have believed it. 

A quick word on Suryakumar 

Yadav (Sky) who missed the first 

couple of games for Mumbai this 

year due to injury. From 79 for 6 

in the 14th over the only reason 

Mumbai reached 151 was due to 

Sky’s brilliance. For a while now Sky 

has been batting at a level which is 

far superior to any of the other Indian 

batters and if he can reproduce this 

on an international stage then it’s a 

mouthwatering prospect for team 

India. 

Game 19 

Delhi Capitals 215/5 (Warner 61, 

Shaw 51, Narine 2/21) beat Kolkata 

Knight Riders 171 all out (Shreyas 

Iyer 54, Kuldeep Yadav 4/35, 

Khaleel 3/25) Another day, another 

opposition, another pitch and another 

aggressive Prithvi Shaw innings. 

This time David Warner came to the 

party as well and batting first Delhi 

put on the highest total of this year’s 

tournament so far. With the pressure 

of having to score at almost 11 an 

over from ball one KKR were never 

in the hunt and fell shot by 44 runs. 

Like Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine too 

is a safe deposit vault in T20 cricket. 

2022 

Indian Weekender Update 

Rahul Tewatia 

While the opposition scored at 11 

an over he bowled his four overs 

for only 21 runs and picked up 2 

wickets. Just brilliant stuff. Delhi 

bowler Kuldeep Yadav proved a 

point to his ex-franchise KKR by 

picking up four wickets and was ably 

supported by left arm seamer Khaleel 

Ahmed who picked up three. Due to 

the huge loss KKR’s net run rate took 

a beating and they lost their top spot 

on the points table. 

Game 20 

Rajasthan Royals 165 for 6 

(Shimron Hetmyer 59, Chameera 

0/22) beat Lucknow Super Giants 

162 for 8 (de Kock 39, Stoinis 38, 

Chahal 4/41, Boult 2/30) 

Apart from Shimron Hetmyer’s 

swashbuckling innings and 

Yuzvendra Chahal’s four wicket 

haul which led the Royals to victory 

this game will be remembered as 

the first IPL game where a team 

chose to retire a player out so that 

someone else more capable of power 

hitting can take his place. And guess 

who the player was to use such an 

innovative approach. None other 

than Ravichandran Ashwin himself. 

Ashwin often faces the heat for 

toeing the line as far as the spirit of 

the game is concerned but whatever 

he does is always within the rules. 

It’s just that he is bold enough to use 

the rules to his advantage which is 

fine by me. 

Game 21 

Sunriers Hyderabad 168 for 

2 (Williamson 57, Sharma 42, 

Pandya 1/27) beat Gujarat Titans 

162 for 7 (Pandya 50, Manohar 35, 

Jansen 1/27) 

The unbeaten Gujarat Titans tasted 

defeat for the first time and after a 

poor start SRH look like they are 

finding their mojo with two back 

to back wins. Their bowling looks 

like it’s coming together nicely and 

restricting oppositions to reasonable 

scores which makes setting totals or 

chasing them down easier for their 

batters. The injury to Washington 

Sundar though is a huge blow 

to their chances. 

Game 22 

Chennai Super Kings 216 for 4 

(Dube 95*, Uthappa 88, Hazlewood 

1/33) beat Royal Challengers 

Bangalore 193 for 9 (Shahbaz 

41, Prabhudessai 34, Karthik 34, 

Theekshana 4/33) 

When you are down in the dumps 

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EVENTS 

like CSK were you need a spark of 

brilliance to turn your season around 

and CSK got just that when Robin 

Uthappa and Shivam Dube put 

on 165 in 74 balls. At the 10 over 

mark CSK were 60 for 2 but what 

happened next was absolute carnage. 

156 runs came in the last ten overs 

and RCB were chasing a mammoth 

target of 217 for a win. 

At 50 for 4 in the run chase there 

was a chance that this game would be 

horribly one sided and RCB’s net run 

rate would take a pounding but runs 

in quick time from the RCB middle 

and lower order meant that they 

only fell short by 23. The target was 

just too much even for man in form 

Dinesh Karthik to chase down. 

A round of applause for IPL 

debutant Suyash Prabhudessai who 

played an attractive cameo in a 

pressure cooker environment. Suyash 

(whose name means good success) 

like me is from Goa and it’s been a 

long time since a cricketer from Goa 

has arrived on the national stage. I 

will be following his journey in the 

tournament keenly and hopefully 

he emulates the success of his 

predecessors from Goa like Swapnil 

Asnodkar and Shadab Jakati. 

Points Table as at 13/04/2022 

NEW ZEALAND 

Over a ton of colour to be used at 

Krishna Holi 2021 event in Kumeu 

The Indian Weekender Friday, February 12, 2021 11 

RIZWAN MOHAMMAD 

T 

he biggest Holi event in the country 

on Sunday, February 14 at ISKCON 

Temple in Kumeu wi l put over one 

ton of colours for 10,000 visitors to play with 

celebrating the annual Hindu festival. 

Holi is one of the most popular and widely 

celebrated festivals for the Indian community 

after Diwali that is celebrated by the diaspora 

and the adjoining communities acro s the globe. 

The annual festival of colour fa ls on March 

28-29 this year, and the religious element of the 

festival signifies the triumph of good over evil. 

It is observed a the end of winter and advent of 

spring month (in the Indian subcontinent), and 

spiritual part of the festival starts with Holika 

Dahan (burning demon Holika) also known as 

Chhoti Holi and the fo lowing day as Holi. 

In its 9th year, Krishna Holi event at the 

iconic Hare Krishna Temple in Kumeu, West 

Auckland a tracts thousands of people from a l 

walks of life, di ferent ethnicities and faiths to 

be a part of a colourful and joyous event. 

Speaking with the Indian Weekender, 

Krishna Chandra from the temple said they are 

excited to see the festive season of Holi back 

after a gloomy year of Covid-19 in the country. 

“Holi at the Krishna Temple is one of the 

most vibrant events in our calendar- we see 

families dre sed white clothing visi the temple 

and then dance and drench in dry and wet 

colours from noon ti l early evening,” Krishna 

Chandra, secretary and spokesperson of Hare 

Krishna Temple said. 

The temple spread over 100 acres start the 

fre event at 11 a.m. and wi l have sta ls that 

distribute at least ten to 12 colours, and there 

wi l also be watercolours for the visitors. 

A giant LED screen is also insta led on the 

stage with a DJ and live music for the a tendees 

to dance and have fun. 

“It’s a family-friendly- tobacco and alcoholfre 

event. People of a l ages can have fun as 

there wi l be colour sta ls, water stations, food 

sta ls, changing rooms, showering stations for 

people drenched in colour,” Mr Chandra said. 

He added tha the temple stocks colours to be 

used at the festival at least 2-3 years at a time. 

The temple wi l be used over a ton of colour at 

the event both in its dry form and with water. 

“We have given 200 kgs of colour to fire 

brigade who wi l mix it in their water tank 

and then splash it on the visitors at di ferent 

“Since this year’s event coincides with 

Valentine’s Day, we have kept valentine theme 

gifts and gift station too at the venue for the 

public to celebrate the occasion there,” Mr 

Chandra added. 

Mr Chandra says a l a rangements in 

terms of Covid QR Code scanning and hand 

sanitisers are in place for people, a rangements 

for children activities, so that everyone gets to 

enjoy the even to its fu lest. 

“We have volunteers, security to usher 

vehicles to park in the appropriate places, 

manage the oncoming and returning traffic, 

and make sure visitors feel comfortable at the 

event,” Mr Chandra added. 

The event organisers have appealed the 

visitors to come in white dre s as colours tend 

to exhibit its vibrancy on white clothing, get 

spare clothing to change after playing with 

colour and food and water a rangements have 

been made a the venue. 

“Hol is always a fun event and Krishna Holi 

event like previous years wi l be high octane, 

fu l of energy and good vibes,” Mr Chandra 

ISKCON Temple is located on 1229 

Coatesvi le-Riverhead Highway, Kumeu, West 

Auckland, and the event starts at noon to 5 p.m. 

Hare Krishna temple to host ‘Saatvik food festival’ 

RIZWAN MOHAMMAD 

T 

he Hare Krishna Temple in Kumeu, West Auckland 

is hosting its annual food festival event on Saturday, 

February 13, for the community. 

More than 3000 people are expected to a tend the event 

where they wi l be served saatvik vegetarian food, tour the 

temple premises and have a relaxing family-fun day. 

“Our Hare Krishna Food Festival is very popular amongs the 

wider Kiwi community in Auckland, people from a l faiths and 

ethnicities come to the temple, take a tour of the place knowing 

abou the deities, the ISKCON establishment, its works for the 

community and have snacks and food during the day,” Krishna 

Chandra, secretary and spokesperson for Hare Krishna temple 

told the Indian Weekender. 

The event is said to be quiet, and exhibit a relaxing 

environment where people get to meet new people, make 

friends, experience the calmne s being with nature, have 

Saatvik (pure) vegetarian food and have good family day. 

“This event is happening just one day before our most 

popular Krishna Holi event which is wi l be loud, fu l of energy, 

playfulne s, music and dance,” Mr Chandra added. 

The events wi l start at 2 p.m. and end at seven in the evening. 

Besides the food festival, Krishna Temple organises lunch 

event every Sunday at its premises where 300-400 people 

come, chant mantras, meditate, spend some time with nature 

and dine with the community members. 

“It is a soothing atmosphere a the temple, chanting mantras 

with the community, knowing more about the religion, what 

can they do a the temple and how can they make a di ference in 

the community by serving others and the le s privileged. 

“There are also children’s activities 

organised so that they engage themselves 

and also have a good time at the temple,” Mr

Crystal Realty 

Licensed Agent REAA 2008 

To take part in this competition simply colour the above photo and 

you can either drop or email or post or even whatsapp your finished 

coloured drawing. This competition exists till 30th April 2022. 

Winners will be announced on 2nd of May 2022 at 5:00pm through 

our facebook page. 

Please do fill up the form correctly so that winner can be contacted. 

Address: 2 White Swan Road, Mt Roskill, 1041 

(Office Hours - Mon to Fri 10am to 3pm) 

Email: mtroskill@harcourts.co.nz 

Whatsapp Number: 021 229 6969 

PO Box 49101 Mt Roskill South, Auckland 1041 

Winner will get a Gift Hamper worth $100 

By entering into the competition your parents agree that the information concerning ourselves may be used by Harcourts Mt Roskill and agents associated with that company for 

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The Indian Weekender, 15 April 2022

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