The University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington have been successful in their bids to host new Centres of Asia-Pacific Excellence (CAPEs), Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Paul Goldsmith has announced today at an event at Victoria University.
The CAPEs will be cross-institutional centres of excellence specialising in the language, culture, politics and economics of countries or groups of countries within the Asia-Pacific region.
“They are an important and strategic investment in New Zealand’s future. So much of our trade, tourism and migration is focused on the Asia-Pacific region. It makes sense to deepen our understanding of it,” Mr Goldsmith says.
As well as teaching about and researching these countries, each CAPE will be mandated to help learners, exporters, and government agencies improve their understanding of the countries and their languages.
“The new CAPEs will provide initiatives and programmes of use to small and medium enterprises wanting to grow their understanding of the Asian and Latin American markets.”
“The centres will also help individuals better prepare to do business and connect with the Asia-Pacific region.”
CAPEs will further develop New Zealand’s Asia-Pacific rim knowledge and language skills, facilitating collaboration between tertiary education providers and stakeholders to enhance our partnerships with the Asia-Pacific region.
The CAPEs programme was allocated $34.5 million over 4 years in Budget 2016. It is part of the Government’s comprehensive Business Growth Agenda, and a major initiative in the internationalisation stream of the Tertiary Education Strategy.
Notes:
Three CAPEs will be set up in total, the first led by the University of Auckland in partnership with the University of Otago, the University of Waikato and the Victoria University of Wellington. This CAPE will specialise in North Asia.
Two more centres will be led by Victoria University of Wellington in partnership with the University of Otago, the University of Auckland and the University of Waikato. These two CAPEs will specialise in countries or groups of countries in South East Asia and Latin America.
The North Asia and South East Asia focused CAPEs will utilise the expertise of the Asia New Zealand Foundation as one of their key delivery partners.
| A Beehive release | March 09, 2017 ||
Qatar Airways has launched its revolutionary business class product – Qsuite. The patented, flexible suite can be adapted to suit the needs of different passenger types, ranging from individual travellers to families and groups.
The Qsuite features the industry’s first-ever double bed in business class. Privacy panels stow away, allowing passengers in adjoining seats to create their own private room. In addition, adjustable panels and movable TV monitors on the centre four seats allow colleagues, friends or families travelling together to transform their space into a private suite.
Speaking exclusively to Future Travel Experience, Rossen Dimitrov, Senior Vice President Customer Experience, Qatar Airways, said: “We’ve brought the elements of first class into business and that is not only in the service, but in the comfort we’re providing to our customers. We know what customers want today and we’ve looked at all the groups of travellers who travel with us in business class today.
“As you know, at Qatar Airways our premium focus has always been in business class, with the exception of the A380s (which also has a first class cabin). What is very important for us is what we’ve designed can cater to everyone, whether it’s a family, business travellers, people going on celebrations like honeymoons and so on, or whether it’s an individual who is travelling alone with us. It has been designed all around the different types of customers we know we have travelling with us in business class.”
Farmers, families and more than 550 agribusinesses and organisations are readying for ‘the best day off the farm’ as the opening of Central Districts Field Days, New Zealand’s largest regional agricultural field day event, approaches on Thursday 16 March.
Manfeild Park in Feilding will come to life as a temporary city during the three-day event. Set to host more than 30,000 visitors from across the country, it provides an opportunity to soak up a cross-section of heartland New Zealand farming all in one place.
Topically interesting attractions
For the first time, the event will feature the new ASB Innovation Zone offering a unique window into the future of New Zealand’s agri-industry. A collaboration with New Zealand AgriFood Investment Week and sponsor ASB, the new zone represents one of the ways focus in the industry is shifting.
Nathan Guy, Minister for Primary Industries, is set to open the ASB innovation zone on Thursday 16 March and it will come to life with exhibitors demonstrating their future-focused products and technology, while also playing host to thought-provoking discussions in the seminar room.
Argentine Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Ricardo Negri, will arrive later on Thursday morning ahead of signing an Agricultural Cooperation Agreement with Minister Nathan Guy. This will take place in the Manfeild media suite at Central Districts Field Days with an opportunity for questions and photos following the signing.
A seminar highlight will be the youth debate on genetic modification, scheduled for 10am, Friday 17 March. Led by four of the New Zealand’s brightest young minds and chaired by John Hart, an organic sheep and beef farmer, and the Green Party candidate for Wairarapa,they will explore the contentious topic and how there could be a future for genetically modified food in New Zealand.
Central Districts Field Days, in its 24th year, rounds out New Zealand AgriFood Investment Week. Held annually in the Manawatu, New Zealand AgriFood Investment Week
delivers a dedicated programme of events designed to connect, challenge and grow the agrifood industry.
Visually intriguing attractions
One of the exhibitors inside the innovation zone is Sheep Milk NZ, who will have a chef on Thursday cooking up three dishes using a range of different sheep milk products (yoghurt, cheese, ice cream and milk powder) sourced from specialised suppliers located in different regions across the country.
Visitors will also be attracted by the big farming machinery and tools that congregate competitively at the event. The CCNZ National excavator operator championship is guaranteed to wow spectators by performing tasks like pouring a cup of tea with the heavy machinery, and the tractor pull competitions draw crowds.
There will be more tricks performed at the ultimate canines dog show running daily, and the black falcons display from the NZ Air Force drawing attention to the sky around midday on Saturday 18 March.
Central Districts Field Days runs from Thursday 16 March - Saturday 18 March. For a full programme of events and guide to the seminar series, visit www.CDFieldDays.co.nz.
| A Central districts Fieldays release | March 08, 2017 ||
ravellers flying with SWISS now have access to more than 250 digital newspapers and magazines. The digital content is available to all customers, regardless of travel class.
Available in multiple languages, the digital content can be downloaded from swiss.com/ejournals. Passengers just have to provide their booking or ticket number.
The number of downloads will vary per passenger, with premium customers able to download more free content than those travelling in economy. The passenger’s Miles & More frequent flyer status will also be taken into consideration.
SWISS’s new eJournal range will gradually replace the selection of print newspapers and magazines that are currently carried on board.
The airline said this “will produce tangible savings in the flight’s weight and, in turn, deliver further ecological benefits, including a reduction of some 450 tonnes in SWISS’ annual carbon dioxide emissions”.
| A Future Travel Experience release | March 08, 2017
TeenAg, an agriculture sector youth programme run by New Zealand Young Farmers, will receive $146,000 of support under a new partnership announced today by Youth Minister Nikki Kaye.
“This is about supporting more young people to develop skills such as leadership and learn about potential career opportunities in the primary sector, which is such a vital part of our economy,” says Ms Kaye.
“TeenAg aims to promote a positive picture of agriculture and raise awareness of agricultural careers from an early age.
“The funding announced today will support around 500 more young people to participate in the programme.”
TeenAg consists of two core elements:
TeenAg Clubs, which provide a context to learn about agriculture and develop leadership and broader life skillsTeenAg Competitions, which extend and challenge competitors outside of their comfort zones to build character and leadership skills.
“It’s great to be able to support TeenAg to extend its reach, including into urban centres, and provide additional youth development opportunities for more young New Zealanders in such a pivotal sector as agriculture,” says Ms Kaye.
“This investment is being made under the Partnership Fund, which sees the Government co-invest with business, philanthropic, iwi and other partners to grow youth development opportunities.
“The Government is contributing $50,000 towards the programme, alongside $96,000 cash and in-kind support from partners including Red Meat Profit Partnership, DairyNZ, Lincoln University and Southfuels & Northfuels.
“More than $2 million of partnerships for a range of youth development opportunities have been announced so far in 2017, which shows the partnership model is delivering great results.”
| A Beehive release | March 08, 2017 ||
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Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon meets US Secretary of Transport
Fight to keep Dunedin's Cadbury factory goes global
Finding opportunity in adversity best way ahead
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon is today in Washington DC where he met with United States Secretary of Transport Elaine Chao, a member of President Trump’s Cabinet.
Mr Luxon also met senior officials in the Transport Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
The meetings were an opportunity to identify the importance of the United States as a source market for visitors to New Zealand and as a destination for New Zealand travellers. United States visitors to New Zealand are up 19.8%, with almost 300,000 visitors arriving in the year to January 2017. The success of Air New Zealand’s new Houston service, which makes travel easier for visitors from the mid-west, east and south of the United States is a key factor in this growth.
Today’s high level meetings were also an opportunity for Air New Zealand to seek improvements to its customers’ experience in US airports. Particularly, the airline is seeking a streamlined process for its passengers transiting Los Angeles (LAX) to London on NZ1.
“Air New Zealand is one of only a very few airlines that have an international transit in the United States like NZ1. We think there’s room for an improved process that would benefit customers without compromising security, and would also reflect well on LAX as a major hub airport,” says Mr Luxon.
“It was a privilege to meet Secretary Chao today and to seek her sponsorship for our efforts. We are grateful to New Zealand’s United States Ambassador Tim Groser and his embassy team in Washington DC for facilitating today’s meetings. A great example of New Zealand punching above its weight on the international stage.”
| An Air New Zealand release | March 8,2017 ||
With a few different players now in the game, the race is on to win over governments and get the once seemingly far-fetched Hyperloop up and running. For LA-based startup Hyperloop One, that means rolling into Dubai with photos of its full-scale test track and a few renderings of what the first Middle Eastern Hyperloop terminals might look like.
Hyperloop One has been busy planting its fingers in different continental pies, with a view to one day using its ultra-fast transport system to move passengers all around the world. This has included agreements with governments in Russia, Finland and Dubai to explore the technology's potential on various scales, with the latter possibly growing to embody a new, blazing fast transport network across the Gulf region.
Hyperloop One harbors ambitions of connecting cities across the Middle East
To begin with, Hyperloop One has signed a deal with port operator DP World to conduct a feasibility study exploring the potential of the system to ferry cargo from container ships to a depot further inland.
But it is hoped that this is just the first step, with Hyperloop One harboring ambitions of connecting cities across the Middle East. This would include a 12-minute journey between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, a 139 km (86 mi) trip that currently takes around an hour and a half by road. But that's with little traffic. Hyperloop One reckons that 4,000 vehicles travel this route everyday, with the congestion costing the economy US$800 million in lost working hours.
The Hyperloop One test-track is 500 meters in length
To show how serious it is, Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd accompanied his keynote address at the Middle East Rail conference in Dubai today with images of a full-scale test track in the Nevada desert, along with a few renderings of Hyperloop terminals. Dubbed the DevLoop, the 500-meter long (1,600 ft) test track has a 3.3-meter (11 ft) diameter and sits 30 minutes outside Las Vegas.
Last year Hyperloop One held a public demonstration using a smaller, open air test track, where it showed off the propulsion system that will one day be used to shuttle passenger capsules through vacuum-sealed tubes at close to the speed of sound. It plans on conducting the first public trials using its new sealed test-track in the first half of 2017.
| Source: Hyperloop One | March 09, 2017 ||
The Kuwait Ministry of Defence has appointed the Australian College of Kuwait and its partners Airways International Ltd (NZ) and 3SDL (UK) as its training providers. The Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) will be responsible for overall training management along with Engineering and Flight Training programmes while Airways will be responsible for Air Traffic Control training and 3SDL Fighter Controller training.
The Aviation Department of ACK has established itself a premiere supplier of EASA-based B1/B2 engineering training in the Middle East. The Aviation Department has a long and well established means of compliance with all the regional aviation authorities, including the DGCA, GCAA and ICAO. “Our agreement with Airways and 3SDL for ATC training is a significant step for the Aviation Department into international markets”, says Aviation Director Mr Abdulhameed Al Refai.
“The agreement will see Airways delivering ab-initio ATC training at ACK’s Kuwait Training campus”, says Airways General Manager, Training Sharon Cooke.
“We have similar training partnerships in place in Australia, United Arab Emirates, Puerto Rico and Vietnam and it’s pleasing to be adding Kuwait to that portfolio. Our track record in providing highly effective ATC training, combined with ACK’s wider educational portfolio, means this partnership is well placed for success”, Ms Cooke says.
Airways is able to offer a truly unique program for the Kuwait Air Force, blending the very latest in competency-based training and e-learning technologies. Airways will install Total Control radar and aerodrome simulators which provide students with highly realistic tower and surveillance experiences via three-dimensional high definition graphics. Airways technology solutions Airbooks, Aviation English and Aviation Knowledge On-line (AKO) will also be implemented as part of the total training solution.
“These technologies have been designed to engage and motivate learners; as a result learners unconsciously put more effort into their study as they interact and connect with the knowledge content in a unique way”, says Ms Cooke.
Fighter Controller (FC) training will be provided by 3SDL, as part of a coordinated and complementary programme. A number of candidates will be selected to undertake a short aptitude assessment course, the best of whom will advance to the basic FC training module. Initial training will be conducted using the Airways Simulator, with future modules hosted on upgraded systems.
“Fighter Controllers require most of the radar-based skills of their ATC counterparts, combined with a capacity to support tactical fighter aircraft conducting military tasks. This complementary training method is highly efficient and very low risk; we are delighted to be a part of it”, says Andrew McAleer of 3SDL Ltd.
It is expected that the centre’s first intake of students will commence Air Traffic Control training in mid 2017.
| A AirwaysNZ release | March 08, 2017 ||
Airways New Zealand has today launched a new aeronautical services company called Aeropath.
Aeropath provides aeronautical services with a focus on assisting aviation organisations to make their way along the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aeronautical information management (AIM) roadmap and performance-based navigation (PBN) implementation programmes. Aeropath is also the New Zealand state provider for aeronautical information services.
Aeropath CEO Wayne Smith (pictured) says the industry is facing a pivotal time in air navigation as changes to international regulations gain pace.
“Many countries are embarking on their PBN and area navigation (RNAV) programmes, and discovering their increased reliance on quality-assured procedures and data.
“Now, more than ever, with ICAO mandated deadlines approaching, aviation organisations need to progress their PBN implementation activities and to transition from aeronautical information services (AIS) to AIM, enabling key Aviation System Block Upgrade (ASBU) deliverables to be met.
“These programmes are essential towards establishing an effective System Wide Information Management (SWIM) environment for the future,” says Mr Smith.
The new company offers PBN procedure design training with world class designers, instructors, training material, and software.
It holds certifications from multiple jurisdictions and is a contributing member to ICAO’s Instrument Flight Procedures Panel (IFPP). Aeropath has received ICAO recognition for PBN and conventional procedures and its practices are aligned with the latest ICAO standards and recommended practices (SARPs).
Aeropath provides AIM services to 12 Pacific states, and has provided procedure design, training, and consultancy services to over 20 countries. The team has designed and now maintains over 2300 instrument flight procedures worldwide.
The company has more than 30 staff headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand and also has staff based in Asia and the Middle East to directly service customers in these regions.
Airways New Zealand formerly partnered with GroupEAD Europe to offer aeronautical services in Asia Pacific. The joint venture ended in December 2016.
| An Airways New Zealand release | March 08,2017 ||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242