Welcome to Indian Newslink, October 1, 2022, Digital Edition
Venkat Raman
Auckland, October 1, 2022
Indian Newslink Lecture postponed: The Twelfth Annual Indian Newslink Lecture 2022 has been rescheduled to Monday, February 27, 2023. The Lecture will be held at Pullman Hotel, Auckland with Immigration Minister Michael Wood as the Guest Speaker. The change in schedule has been necessitated by the non-availability of some speakers. We will provide more information in due course.
India’s Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar to visit New Zealand: India’s External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will be in New Zealand next week on a six-day visit during which he is expected to engage in talks with his New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This is the first official visit by an Indian Foreign Minister in the last 20 years. The last high-level official visits were that of the Ministers of the Congress government (Kamal Nath in 2008 and Anand Sharma 2011).
Dr Jaishankar’s visit is seen as significant and as a ‘serious opportunity’ for New Zealand to replenish its image and seek closer cooperation with India, which is increasingly being recognised as the ‘Supreme Economic Powerhouse of the World.’
We have not received details of any of the official engagements of Dr Jaishankar in New Zealand (we understand that he will officially inaugurate the new, $90-million Indian High Commission multi-facility complex on Sunday, October 9, 2022), but Simon Bridges, Chief Executive of the Auckland Business Chamber has stolen the thunder by organising a Breakfast meeting at the Residence Room in Park Hyatt Hotel in Auckland CBD at 7.15 am on Thursday, October 6, 2022, at the Residence Room in Park Hyatt Hotel located at 99 Halsey Street in Auckland’s Central Business District. Registration for the meeting will be at 6.45 am.
Dr Jaishankar will speak on ‘India’s Foreign Policy and Economic Outlook’ and tickets, priced at $55 plus GST per person can be purchased from the hotel website.
New regime to punish rogue employers in Parliament: The offence and penalty regime significantly strengthened; New infringement offences for non-compliance; Public register of individuals and businesses that are found guilty of migrant exploitation; New community-led pilot to educate migrants workers and employers about employment rights; Implemented reporting tools successfully bring exploitation out of the shadows; Take-up of protective visa continues to safeguard workers reporting exploitation.
Ashima Singh becomes the first India-born Notary Public: Ashima Singh, Barrister and Solicitor at Legal Associates based in Auckland, has been appointed a Notary Public, reportedly the first India-born woman to receive such an appointment. A notification issued by the law firm said that Ms Singh has been admitted to the Notaries Society of New Zealand, after successfully completing a rigorous compliance process. A Co-Founder of Legal Associates along with her husband Raj Pardeep Singh, she completed her Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Auckland in 2011 and was thereafter admitted to the High Court of New Zealand.
“The new service of Notary Public is now fully operational from our offices located at Level One, 31, East Tamaki Road in Papatoetoe, South Auckland. Ms Singh proudly belongs to all communities and represents migrants, those aspiring to come to New Zealand and anyone needing any type of legal service,” the press note said.
Sikh solidarity to the fore with a new Central body: The formation of the New Zealand Central Sikh Association (NZCSA), bringing together the entire Sikh community in the country will be hailed as a historic moment for Sikhs. For, the 75,000 strong community (expected to be seen at 100,000 in Census 2023) around the world is known for its ability to forge a unique bond with the people of the land and migrants in the case of the advanced countries of the world.
