Indian Newslink July 1 2018 Digital Edition

More documents

Recommendations

Info

JULY 1, 2018 12 Viewlink The English Fortnightly (Since November 1999) ISSUE 395 | JULY 1, 2018 Are Indian students naïve and vulnerable? Alastair McClymont has been our friend since Indian Newslink was established 19 years ago. We consider him one of the finest and most experienced barristers and solicitors and immigration lawyers in the country. His passion to get justice for the wronged is laudable and often he undertakes legal work on pro bono basis. His crusade against Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has our support since we too believe that the Department is often myopic and discriminatory. However, his observations on the decision of the Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier not to proceed with the complaint he filed against the decision of INZ to deport a large group of Indian students in 2017 and 2018 necessitate a closer analysis. We have carried Mr McClymont’s press statement in full in our web edition as well as social media and a redacted version under Homelink of this issue. That INZ does not get it right many a time, creating serious inroads into the life and career of people could be testified by our frontpage story in this issue. Deportation of Indian students In arguing against the deportation of the group of Indian students, Mr McClymont said that they were victims of fraud perpetrated by education agents in India. It has also been reported that these agents were in collusion with some banks in providing false documents. Following are some of the points that he raised in his Complaint to the Chief Ombudsman: 1. The dodgy education agents in India represent education providers in New Zealand who manage and pay them; they do not represent the students 2. Students choose from a selection of agents, but do not pay them 3. The students signed blank forms – “a practice in the Indian cultural context” strongly encouraged by the agents of education providers 4. INZ has uncovered in parallel investigations, cases in which Indian education agents have created fake email addresses on behalf of students for purposes such as averification of information and undertaking interviews Exploitation by agents It is trite knowledge that some education agents in India demand large sums of money from prospective students making wild promises such as assured employment upon arrival, reduced term of study to take up full time jobs and permanent residence status in less than a year. While it is true that education agents should act on behalf of education providers, they often double dip and entertain false promises and engage them in fraudulent behaviour. It is hard to believe that students, who go overseas for tertiary studies would be so naïve as to sign blank forms, allowing education agents to fill them as they please. Signing blank forms may have been a practice some years ago in some families because of the implicit and inherent trust between siblings, parents and other close relatives, but not any more. Indians today, for the most part, do not sign blank documents, and commercial banks do not and cannot give false statements. It is however possible that a ‘temporary statement of available funds’ is issued but only when such monies are actually lodged in to the account. Such an act would require the full knowledge and consent of the account holder. Rogue agents It is true that students choose from a pool of agents and do not pay them in the case of a large number of such operators who have established a reputation. This newspaper is aware of a large number of such honest agents. But the problem is that of a small number of rogues who rot the system. They exploit students who want to go overseas by any means and extort money. We often hear of reports parents having mortgaged their land, jewellery and other assets to pay large sums of money to the agents. On arrival, the students face the harshness of reality. INZ cannot be blamed for the plight of some of these Indian students and the Department must apply its stringent character standards. However, we agree with Mr McClymont that there is an urgent need to regulate education agents in Indian and make them accountable. A thorough overhaul of the system and procedures relating to the functioning of overseas education agents is long over due. We will support Mr McClymont and others in their pursuit of this objective Indian Newslink is published by Indian Newslink Limited from its offices located at Level 1, Number 166, Harris Road, East Tamaki, Auckland 2013 and printed at Horton Media Limited, Auckland. All material appearing here and on our web editions are the copyright of Indian Newslink and reproduction in full or part in any medium is prohibited. Indian Newslink and its management and staff do not accept any responsibility for the claims made in advertisements. Managing Director & Publisher: Jacob Mannothra; Editor & General Manager: Venkat Raman; Marketing & Sales Manager: Ronny Kumaran; Production Manager: Mahes Perera; Assistant Editor: Ratna Venkat; Financial Controller: Uma Venkatram CA; Phone: (09) 5336377 Email: info@indiannewslink.co.nz Websites: www.indiannewslink.co.nz; www.inliba.com; www.inlisa.com Trump-Kim Summit high on glow but slow on substance Dr Marc Lanteigne The watershed Summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held in Singapore on June 12, 2018 was a mixed success, topheavy with imagery and ‘smile diplomacy’ but light on concrete initiatives and promises. Although the Summit was ground-breaking, in the sense that this was the first time a sitting American president has ever met directly with a North Korean head of state, the work ahead in ensuring that relations between the two states do not deteriorate to levels seen last year will be amuch more difficult and time-consuming task. Shedding the past After a short one-to-one session between the leaders and their interpreters, larger meetings with American and North Korean officials followed, and by mid-afternoon the two leaders emerged to sign a document which the President called ‘pretty comprehensive’ while the North Korea (officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - DPRK) Chairman stated that meeting served to ‘leave the past behind.’ Trump suggested at the end of the meeting that the process of denuclearisation could proceed ‘very quickly’ and that the door was potentially open for Kim to visit the White House. The four main points of the agreement included (a) A promise by both sides to establish a new relationship in order to create ‘peace and prosperity’ (b) The pacification of the Korean Peninsula (c) North Korea would work towards ‘complete denuclearisation’ as stated in the Panmunjom Declaration struck in April between Mr Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (d) Both states would work to recover prisoners of war and the remains of those missing in action from the 1950-53 Korean conflict. Lack of detail The document was unusually light on specifics. Critical questions remain, such as how the initiatives will be carried out and under what timeframe, and what will be the role of South Korea in future talks. The meeting was a considerable victory for the Kim regime, given that it finally, after several decades, received the degree of recognition that it had been seeking from Washington, and was US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un (Picture from Wikimedia Commons) treated as an equal to the United States in the course of the talks. Of note was the North Korean leader was not taken to task for his country’s human rights record and previous belligerent behaviour. As well, the negotiations which will follow will likely need greater international participation and engagement, which may be difficult given the frosty relations between the US and several key friends and allies in the wake of the failed G7 meeting and opposition to the tearing up of the Iranian nuclear deal by the Trump government last month. Permanent Peace? Both sides have talked about establishing a ‘Permanent Peace.’ This could mean some sort of document affirming the formal end of the Korean War, which technically is still going as no peace treaty was ever signed between the North and South, but only an armistice in 1953. However, any peace treaty would also need to involve South Korea, and likely China given that Beijing has maintained that it wishes to be part of the peace process. Tokyo is also concerned about any peace agreement since Japan has been frequently threatened by North Korea in the past. A future outcome of the talks could be a revival of the Beijing-backed ‘Six-Party Talks’, which included the two Koreas along with China, Japan, Russia and the United States. President Trump surprised many by suggesting that further US-South Korean military exercises would be suspended as a gesture of goodwill, a move which was reportedly not discussed with Seoul beforehand. This decision ran counter to previous US vows that it would not accept a ‘freeze-for-freeze’ option, meaning a promise to suspend these exercises in exchange Emergency at Hawke’s Bay DHB Hawke’s Bay DHB may have to activate its emergency plan if a nurses’ strike goes ahead while it deals with an increasing number of winter illnesses and influenza cases. “The health system is likely to come under greater strain through the winter as the expected increase in acute activity occurs, with the added complexity of influenza and the threat of a nurses’ strike,” Chief Executive Kevin Snee said in a report. We are likely to be on a major incident footing throughout July and August as a minimum. However, we have undertaken for a continued halt to DPRK missile and warhead testing. While the South Korean government continues to throw its support behind US-led peace initiatives, there remains the question of whether the United States and South Korea are completely on the same page as the peace process continues. The China equation China, too, will be essential to any lasting peace and denuclearisation of North Korea, given its great power status in the region and its strong overreaching economic relationship with the DPRK. Beijing was largely left on the side-lines in this process, but the [Chinese] Xi Jinping government has made it clear that it supports the nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula but also wishes to be directly involved in the peace process to come. As a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated at the end of the Singapore Summit, ‘no one will doubt the unique and important role played by China; a role which will continue.’ Persisting uncertainty There is still much uncertainty about what can be accomplished in a single meeting despite its high profile. The foreign policy team of President Trump is still greatly untested and has showed numerous signs of being divided and prone to posturing, as the G7 Summit in Québec this month illustrated. As for the North Korea side, the regime has already won a victory of sorts given that it is receiving international recognition on levels never before seen, and there is the possibility of future international contacts not only with the United States but also with other major countries. Dr Marc Lanteigne is Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at the Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies. considerable planning to put ourselves in a good state of readiness,” he said. It came as the hospital remained under financial pressure, with the DHB now forecasting a $3.1 million deficit for the financial year ending June 30, 2018. It had previously been expected to make a $1.5 million. -Anusha Bradley (Courtesy: www.rnz.co.nz)
JULY 1, 2018 The government’s flagship KiwiBuild housing project could save millions of dollars if homes are built sustainably, a Report says. Commissioned by Green Building Council, a not-for-profit building organisation, the Report said that all 100,000 KiwiBuild homes should include factors such as energy efficiency, warmth, and the amount of building waste. The Report’s author, Economist Shamubeel Eaqub, estimated that if KiwiBuild homes were built to the ‘Homestar 6’ standard, New Zealanders could benefit by up to $330 million in the next 30 years. National Rate Tool The Council has described ‘Homestar’ as an independent national rating tool that measures the “health, warmth and efficiency of New Zealand houses.” A home is rated on a scale from 6 to 10, it said, and houses with a rating of six or higher were “warmer, drier, healthier and cost less to run.” “If we are really building houses for first home buyers and low-income households, then we want to make sure that the houses we are building for them are not expensive to operate and expensive to keep healthy. Right now New Zealand is doing exactly that,” the Report said. “We build homes that are not Businesslink Economist says KiwiBuild should be sustainable Tom Furley Construction starts on the Kiwibuild project (Picture for RNZ by Sophia Duckor-Jones very healthy, that are difficult to heat, difficult to keep warm, difficult to get dry. We need to break the cycle and this is one way of doing it.” Encouraging private developers The Report also noted that building KiwiBuild homes sustainably could spur private developers to go green and decrease the additional cost. “In the UK, what we have seen is when the standards first come in, they tend to be quite expensive to build because it is new, it is hard to source material, all those sorts of things. But over time, that premium tends to shrink, generally over the course of five years.” Over time, Mr Eaqub said savings could be as high as $680 million if the costs decrease and 10,000 extra homes were built. “Despite knowing that these higher standard, higher quality homes are good for your wallet and good for the community, it is not happening. “The take-up rate is quite slow. I think there’s a real opportunity with KiwiBuild to just show how quickly you can move the industry in terms of building up capability, to bring down those costs. And also to show the market this is something that people value.” In the next decade, Auckland’s Councilowned Panuku expects to build 10,000 homes to Economist Shamubeel Eaqub (RNZ Picture) Logistics is the line between Order and Disorder 13 Homestar 6 standard. Monumental Opportunity The Green Building Council said that had pushed other large developers to also consider the standard, with 25,000 houses currently in the works. Chief Executive Andrew Eagles said KiwiBuild was a massive opportunity for the government to live up to its emission promises and change the country’s thinking about housing. “With KiwiBuild, we have a monumental, once in a lifetime opportunity to shift how we think about homes. So when you see 100,000 homes built to Homestar it clearly signals that this is possible and that others could be doing.” He acknowledged that the government was being pressed to produce quantity but said quality was equally important. “Wouldn’t it be sad if in 10 years time we look at the homes we’re building through KiwiBuild and we’ve got mouldy homes that have high energy bills and that are significantly behind where we could be?” The Report said that New Zealand’s Building Code was “recognised as being behind international standards,” citing criticism from the OECD and International Energy Agency. Progressive Standards Mr Eagles said that progressing standards could start with KiwiBuild for now. “Then, what happens is everyone sits up and says if this is possible why are we putting up with a sub-par building code because people can do this. Then, you set a trajectory to a decent building code which considers overheating, which gives us good insulation in our homes. Housing Minister Phil Twyford said that it was too early to say whether the government would decide to build to the Homestar efficiency. “Our big focus at the moment is on getting homes built initially and making sure that they are affordable. But we would be nuts if we did not use this opportunity to build better quality homes, to increase the thermal efficiency, to reduce the lifetime cost of living in these houses.” “In all of those areas, there is an opportunity to set new standards and I certainly want us to be at least better than code but let’s see how ambitious we can be. “We have to improve the quality and standard of housing in New Zealand and this whole area about thermal efficiency is central to it.” While being noncommittal about the Homestar standard, he said that the built environment was one of the main ways the government could reduce carbon emissions to meet its net zero target by 2050. Tom Furley is a Reporter at Radio New Zealand. Indian Newslink has published the above Report and Picture under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz Link2 Group is an Auckland-based Logistics Contract ServiceProvider,comprising Link2 Services (established in 2000) and Link2 Solutions (formerly knownas Apparel Solutions). We arethe only Logistics Contract ServiceProvider offering clients the flexibility to choose aUnit PriceoranHourly Rate forservices; and the location –either at their premises or at our Wearhouse in East Tamaki. OurServices include all Warehousing needs,including Pick-Packing,Labelling, Container Devanning,Creating Promotion Packages,Rework, Stocktaking and Production. Awards over the Years Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards 1. Supreme Business of the Year 2016 (Winner) 2. Best EmployerofChoice2016 (Winner) 3. Business ExcellenceinCustomer Service2015 and 2016 (Winner) 4. Best Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Rahul Sirigiri, CEO)2013 and 2016 (Winner) Westpac Auckland Business Awards (South) 1. ExcellenceinStrategy &Planning 2017 (Winner) 2. Employerofthe Year 2016 and 2017 (Finalist) 3. ExcellenceinCustomer ServiceDelivery(Finalist) The Link2 Group was the Winner of the ‘Supreme Business of the Year’Award at the Ninth Annual Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards 2016. Chairman Indra Sirigiri (third from right) with Mansa Sirigiri, the then Prime Minister Sir John Key, BNZ Chairman Dough McKay, the then Managing Director &Chief Executive Anthony Healy and Rahul and Jaya Sirigiri. Job opportunities!! TheLink2 Group has multiple Casual,Full Time and Part-Time jobs available for: ● General Warehousing (Pick-Packing,Labelling,Sorting,Rework) ● Forklift, Reach and Hoist Drivers ● Container Devanning ● Truck Drivers: Class 2and 4 Office Address:47Allens Road,EastTamaki, Auckland2013 PostalAddress: POBox 217206, Botany Junction,Auckland Phone:(09) 2724700;Fax: (09)2724699;Mobile:027-5460480 Email: office@link2services.com;Website: www.link2group.com
Page 1 and 2: The English Fortnightly (Since Nove
Page 3 and 4: JULY 1, 2018 The world welcomes ‘
Page 5 and 6: JULY 1, 2018 Offensive Bacon advert
Page 7 and 8: JULY 1,2018 Educationlink 07 Rrahul
Page 9 and 10: JULY 1, 2018 Rabuka ruffles feather
Page 11: JULY 1, 2018 Bank of Baroda has No
Page 15 and 16: JULY 1, 2018 Businesslink Migrants
Page 17 and 18: JULY 1, 2018 Businesslink ‘Let Me
Page 19 and 20: JULY 1, 2018 Mortgage Brokers-Racha
Page 21 and 22: JULY 1, 2018 Model of the Fortnight
Page 23 and 24: JULY 1, 2018 Entertainmentlink Chic

Indian Newslink July 1 2018 Digital Edition

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?