The Indian Weekender, 12 March 2021

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8 NEW ZEALAND Kiwi Indian women post photos with right-hand up on International Women’s Day RIZWAN MOHAMMAD On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Kiwi Indian women took onto social media posting a photo wearing a headgear, raising their right hand and sharing the name of a woman, helping achieve a more gender-equal world. On Monday, March 8, as the world observed the IWD2021, Kiwi Indian women shared their photos and thoughts on how they choose to challenge gender bias in our society. " We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality, o seek out and celebrate women’s achievements and we can all help create an inclusive world,” the campaign poster floating on social media read #ChooseToChallenge, a campaign theme initiated by the United Nations on the occasion of International Women’s Day, asking millions of women globally to join the virtual campaign for raising their hand for gender equality. “In line with the UN theme, let’s acknowledge the tremendous efforts made by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. “We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality, o seek out and celebrate women’s achievements and we can all help create an inclusive world,” the campaign poster floating on social media read. Among Kiwi Indian, prominent faces posting photos and videos promoting the #ChooseToChallenge campaign were Hansa Naran, Nanette Nathoo, Pratima Soma, Nivedita Sharma Vij, Vanisa Dhiru, Rupal Solanki and more. Friday, March 12, 2021 The Indian Weekender Vodafone, Spark, 2degrees agree to Commerce Commission changes RNZ Three big telecommunication companies have agreed to make it simpler for people to compare and choose between providers. Vodafone, Spark and 2degrees have agreed to implement changes drawn up by the Commerce Commission to improve choice. The operators will now have to: Provide 12-months usage and spend information to customers Provide an annual usage and spending summary to customers, including a prompt to consider whether they are on the right plan Promote the development of a comparison tool which will allow consumers to choose between providers and plans “Consumers want easy access to their information so they can choose the best provider and plan, and they want tools to help them do that,” Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson said. “This is a big step in the right direction for competition and consumer choice.” The Telecommunications Forum said the industry was committed to continual improvement. “We agree with the Commerce Commission that as an industry we can make further improvements,” chief executive Geoff Thorn said. “We’re pleased the Commerce Commission has agreed to leave the specific design to individual providers about how usage and spend information is provided to their customers. “This information is part of the overall customer service package - an area in which providers are vigorously competing and innovating to provide the best for their customers, and it’s important that this continues.” He said the industry was committed to invest, innovating and improving. Gilbertson said this would not be the last change. “This is the first initiative in the Commission’s new drive to improve retail service quality in telecommunications. We’ve worked with the industry to identify improvements that will make a real difference for consumers. “There is more work to do in this space but I’m really delighted that we are off to such a positive start.” Take a wild ride to paradise with Indian Ink’s dazzling new one-man show IWK BUREAU Indian Ink has announced an 11 centre national tour of their new work Paradise or the Impermanence of Ice Cream. With the company’s immediate international travel plans on hold, Kiwis all over the Aotearoa can enjoy their latest production, in this, their most ambitious national tour ever playing in Wellington, Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Upper Hutt, Kapiti, Nelson, Ōamaru, Dunedin and Christchurch from May 20 to September 2. This large-scale NZ tour precedes a confirmed North American tour in 2022. “Our lives are but melting ice cream and the transition between this world and the next is never easy, but it’s made profoundly more difficult when your guide is a vulture,” a press release about the new production read. A man trying desperately to avoid death is flung between limbo and his past where a rebellious young woman from Mumbai’s enigmatic Parsi community – a people whose faith is entwined with the vulture - holds the key that may deliver him to paradise. Selling out its 2-week preview season in 2020, Paradise showcases the incredible talents of one of New Zealand’s most treasured actors – Jacob Rajan (MNZM) as he delivers a dazzling solo performance channelling seven characters, while weaving the afterlife and a dash of Bollywood disco into the reallife mystery of India’s vanishing vultures. True to the beloved Indian Ink style, Paradise is rife with mischief, intelligence, exquisite puppetry, inspired sound design and comic originality. “Thoroughly engaging, beyond anything I’ve ever seen” - Theatrescenes Inspired by Ernest Becker’s Pulitzer prize-winning Denial of Death, and the vibrant, life–filled chaos of India’s most cosmopolitan city, Indian Ink had the idea for this script after a trip to Mumbai in 2019. “Justin and I and got inspired by the city, its people and its secrets. In particular, the mystery of India’s "We’re lucky to be in one of the few places in the world where live performance is still possible and we can’t wait to share this premiere season with you before we take it to the world" vanishing vultures. "The fastest mass extinction of all time and we’d never heard about it. It pricked our curiosity and the more we delved into it, the more wonderfully strange it got. “We originally started writing about Mumbai, vultures, and immortality but discovered we were actually writing about impermanence. "It’s a word that resonates with the strange times we’re living in”, says Indian Ink co-founder, Jacob Rajan said. “Some of the best theatre in the World” - NZ Herald Indian Ink has been lighting up the boards at home and abroad for over two decades and the company is one of our most successful theatrical exports. This new work has been created by the team behind many of their past hit shows – including Krishnan’s Dairy and Guru of Chai. It was in fact Krishnan’s Dairy that first put them on the map and this return to the oneman show format with Rajan at the helm, will be incredibly satisfying for Indian Ink audiences – both new and old. “We’re lucky to be in one of the few places in the world where live performance is still possible and we can’t wait to share this premiere season with you before we take it to the world” – Indian Ink co-founder, Justin Lewis said. For more information visit: indianink.co.nz
The Indian Weekender Friday, March 12, 2021 NEW ZEALAND 9 Community organisation puts up ‘Thank you, New Zealand’ billboards around the country leading to March 15 second anniversary RIZWAN MOHAMMAD Since February last month, a community organisation is running a billboard campaign, thanking New Zealanders for their love and support after two mosques attacks in Christchurch in 2019. The billboards that carry different messages and values propagated by Islam religion and thanks New Zealand for their support since the attacks two years ago. The large outdoor billboards with the messages have been put up in four locations in three cities by the charitable community organisation, Voice of Islam, as a campaign leading to the Christchurch attacks’ second anniversary. These billboards put up on Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland’s busy roads caught the eyes of the public and were also widely circulated via photos and messages on social media. The campaign has received positive feedback from the New Zealanders and has conveyed Islam’s true beauty, says Mohammad Thompson, chairman of Voice of Islam. Speaking more about the campaign, Mr Thompson said the organisation has been in existence in New Zealand since 2004 and works towards spreading the message of the religion via short programmes, organising talks, discussions, school visits, interviews and various other activities. “When we established in 2004, we would broadcast programmes about Islam via TV as there were no social media, but now with the advent of smartphones and especially during Covid-19, our work has mostly become through online platforms and social media,” Mr Thompson told The Indian Weekender. Mr Thompson adds that the Christchurch attacks that killed 51 innocent lives and injured many were devastating for the Muslim community and every New Zealander. It became more pertinent to clear misconceptions about Islam that stemmed from the terrorist’s hatred of Muslims in the first place. “It is clear that the terrorist’s hatred of Muslims was based on a lack of understanding of Islam and a false idea that Muslims are the ‘enemy’, the ‘others’ and not a part of this society. “VOI decided to counter this by providing more education on Islam. For that reason, in 2020, we held a tour (Togetherness/Kotahitanga Tour) around New Zealand, including small exhibitions on Islam and lectures by guest speakers. “The objective was to allow people to know what Islam really is about and to meet Muslims. We wanted to build bridges and stop hate,” Mr Thompson added. In the tour, Voice of Islam met many Kiwis from different cities and conducted deep and meaningful conversations and realised that the horrific attacks had a massive impact on the New Zealanders as a whole and not just Muslims. “Thorugh our conversations, we realised how badly New Zealanders as a whole were impacted and hence in 2021; we decided to give Police announce next steps in efforts towards safe and responsible use of emergent technologies IWK BUREAU Police on Thursday, March 11 has announced its next step in ensuring that any potential significant new technology is well considered first – through a new, independent, expert panel. “In September 2020, we announced the development of a Police policy to ensure appropriate consideration ahead of the trial or use of new technology capabilities. “We also committed to establishing an independent expert panel to advise on technology matters. “A six-member panel has now been established,” says Mark Evans, Deputy Chief Executive Insights and Deployment. The panel will be chaired by Professor Colin Gavaghan from Otago University, who is the Director of the Centre for Law and Policy in Emerging Technologies. The research centre is based at the University of Otago and examines legal, ethical, and policy issues around new technologies. Professor Colin Gavaghan says leading the panel is a responsibility he takes very seriously. “Emergent technologies offer great benefits in terms of accuracy and efficiency”, says Professor Gavaghan. “But particularly in high stakes areas like policing, it’s so important that we watch out for potential pitfalls. Before any new technology is deployed in those sorts of contexts, we need to make sure that we’ve thought through what it might mean for privacy, fairness and human rights,” says Professor Gavaghan. The panel’s primary role is to provide advice and oversight from an ethical and policy perspective of emergent technologies. While advice will be received and considered in confidence, Police is committed to making the expert panel’s advice public wherever possible - acknowledging this may not be possible in every case, for example where disclosure would breach commercial obligations. The first meeting of the panel is expected to take place in April. “Our Police staff increasingly use new technology in their day-to-day work, such as CCTV or Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Technology is essential to our business as it enables us to police more effectively, and supports innovation in our work,” says Mr Evans. “While innovation is critical to delivering an effective police service, it is our duty to ensure that privacy, ethical, and human rights implications have been taken into account before deciding to pilot or introduce new technology capabilities. “The creation of this panel is the next step, following the introduction of our test and trial policy, in ensuring we understand and assess potential technology and its implications before testing or adopting it,” Mr Evans added. Mortgages: • Home loans • Commercial Property loans • Business Loans • Top up & Debt consolidation • Re-Finance and Refixing • Investment Property loans • Restructuring of loan • Construction & Renovation Nimish Parikh Registered Financial Adviser M. 021 236 7070 nimish@saffronfinance.co.nz New Zealanders a chance to express how these attacks had affected them. “We had volunteers asking a series of questions related to the attacks on people in different cities throughout New Zealand. We started releasing these interviews in a series of short videos every day for the first 15 days in March. We should also be mindful that Islamophobia and the ‘othering’ of Muslims are still present. This is evident from the incident that occurred with the relatives of a victim of the Christchurch shootings at a shopping store and the recent anti- Islamic posters left at the Queenstown mosque. This shows the need to further create awareness of Islam and Muslims,” Mr Thompson added. Earlier this year, VOI also launched a website to make information on Islam accessible to all and hopefully help remove misconceptions that still exist. The website can be accessed at https://islamic-awareness.com/, and visitors can download small booklets & leaflets about Islam. “Visitors can also request a FREE copy of the Quran from the site as well,” Mr Thompson added. Mr Thompson, via Voice of Islam, said they want to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their incredible and overwhelming support of the Muslim community. “People here and even overseas have often commented on how amazing the response of New Zealanders were to these attacks. We wanted to say ‘Thank you! New Zealand’,” Mr Thompson said. Are you looking to Buy or Sell a Business? Shaun Khanna has a business, sales and marketing experience of more than 25 years and is a specialist in selling businesses such as Service Stations, Lotto Stores, Dairies, Supermarkets and Liquor Stores. He also has vast exposure in the hospitality sector. Shaun has sold many businesses and has helped hundreds of buyers and sellers of petrol stations and convenience stores throughout New Zealand. Shaun understands both sides of the transaction from the perspective of both the buyer and the seller as he is a former successful business owner as he had owned and successfully run a big BP Service Station & thoroughly understands how it works. Shaun offers the degree of professional service that effectively brings business buyers and sellers together to experience successful and desirable outcomes. Shaun has a nationwide network of contacts and a track record of success, receiving many referrals from satisfied buyers and sellers. For a confidential, no obligation discussion about the sale of your business please give me a call on 029 770 9767 or send an email to shaunk@abcbusiness.co.nz 2017 SALESPERSON OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP 029 770 9767 2017 MOST DYNAMIC HI-VIZ VIDEO LISTER 2015/2016 LISTER OF THE YEAR 2014 SALESPERSON OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP Shaun Khanna 029 770 9767 www.businessesforsale.co.nz Licensed REAA 2008 Trust Saffron Finance for expert Mortgage/ Insurance advice backed by years of experience 2013 RISING STAR Risk Insurances: • Life & Trauma • Key Person Cover • Medical / Health • TPD and Income Protection • Mortgage Repayment cover • New to Business & • Business Continuity Cover • Redundancy Cover Contact for free assessment 18B Kirby Street, Glendene, Auckland 0602 P O Box - 69263 , Glendene, Auckland 0645 www.saffronfinance.co.nz shaunk@abcbusiness.co.nz
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The Indian Weekender, 12 March 2021

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