Ola taxi drivers in Auckland will be decorating their vehicles in colourful displays of lights, flowers and bling to coincide with this weekends' Diwali celebrations.
Diwali - the festival of light - is officially celebrated on October 27, but this year events are being held in Auckland this weekend on October 12 and 13. Crowds of up to 50,000 people are expected over the two days of celebration, which will centre around Aotea Square in the CBD. Ola driver Bankim Patel, of Avondale, immigrated to Auckland from Gujarat, India 17 years ago, and says decorating his car is a fun way to celebrate his culture. "In India – everything is lit up for Diwali, from houses to temples and shops. It’s like Christmas for us," Mr Patel said. "Adding colourful lights to my car is a way to share a little of the festival mood and party atmosphere of Diwali with my passengers. "I hope the lights act as a bit of a conversation starter, because one of the beauties of living in New Zealand is that we celebrate all kinds of cultures." Ola New Zealand Country Manager Brian Dewil said Diwali is a great opportunity to celebrate the diversity of its driver community. "Ola has more than 7000 drivers across the country, who come from a diverse range of cultural and religious backgrounds," Mr Dewil said. "Offering our drivers the opportunity to light up their cars for what is one of the most important festivals of the year for many of them, reflects that."
==========================================================
Poll: Should the government levy industries that contribute to financial hardship?
As reported in the Post, there’s a $30 million funding gap in financial mentoring. This has led to services closing and mentors stepping in unpaid just to keep helping people in need 🪙💰🪙
One proposed solution? Small levies on industries that profit from financial hardship — like banks, casinos, and similar companies.
So we want to hear what you think:
Should the government ask these industries to contribute?
-
59.6% Yes, supporting people is important!
-
26% No, individuals should take responsibility
-
14.4% ... It is complicated
Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
A Neighbourly Riddle! Don’t Overthink It… Or Do?😜
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!
If you multiply this number by any other number, the answer will always be the same. What number is this?
Loading…
