The Republic of Fiji Military Forces is the military force of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of about 6,500 active soldiers and approximately 6,200 reservists, it is one of the smallest militaries in the world and the third largest in the South Pacific region. The Ground Force is organised into six infantry and one engineer battalions.
A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or, in the United States, multichannel video programming distributors. Until the mid-1980s, broadcast programming on television in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of terrestrial networks. Many early television networks such as the BBC, CBS, CBC, NBC or ABC in the USA and in Australia evolved from earlier radio networks.
Suva is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Division.
Television in New Zealand was introduced in 1960 as a state-run service. The broadcasting sector was deregulated in 1989, when the Government allowed competition to the state-owned Television New Zealand (TVNZ). There are currently three forms of broadcast television: a terrestrial (DVB-T) service provided by Freeview; as well as satellite (DVB-S) and internet streaming (IPTV) services provided nationwide by both Freeview and Sky.
Television New Zealand, more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific region. All of its currently-operating channels are free-to-air and commercially funded.
Laisenia Qarase was a Fijian politician. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment as Prime Minister on 4 July. He won two parliamentary elections, but a military coup removed him from power on 5 December 2006. He was later imprisoned on corruption charges brought by the military-backed regime.
Jai Ram Reddy, CF was an Indo-Fijian politician, who had a distinguished career in both the legislative and judicial branches of the Fijian government. In 1998, he received Fiji's highest honour, the Companion of the Order of Fiji, in recognition of his services to his country.
Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces. Each province has a provincial council.
Lautoka is the second largest city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing region, the city has come to be known as the Sugar City. Covering an area of 32 square kilometres, it had a population of 71,573 at the 2017 census, the most recent to date.
The Fiji Infantry Regiment is the main combat element of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. It is a light infantry regiment consisting of six battalions, of which three are regular army and three are Territorial Force. The regiment was formed with the foundation of the Fijian armed forces in 1920. The regiment, as it is today, goes back to 1978 following Fiji's independence. The Royal Australian Infantry Corps and Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment conduct yearly training seminars and exercises with the Fiji Infantry Regiment
Local elections in Fiji are held for two cities and ten towns. Each city or town has a council comprising between 8 and 20 members, elected for three-year terms, although the government announced legislation on 15 February 2006 to extend the term to four years. Each city or town council elects from among its own members a Mayor for one year. Consecutive terms are permitted.
Kenneth Mang-Kwong Low is a Chinese-Fijian businessman and political leader. He unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary election of 1999 as a candidate for the General Voters Party (GVP) for the Western Central Communal Constituency. He also lost the Fiji national elections in 2001 for the Suva City Communal Constituency, where he was the candidate of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL), but was appointed to the Senate as one of nine nominees of the Fijian Prime Minister, and became Vice-President of the Senate on 28 February 2005, the first Chinese-Fijian to do so, following the appointment of the previous Vice-President, Dr Ahmed Ali to a Government Cabinet position.
SKY Pacific is a Fiji based pay TV service formerly owned by Fiji Television Limited delivering encrypted signals of 27 channels via direct-to-home (DTH) satellite on C-band to subscribers in Fiji and across the South Pacific. It is headquartered in the capital city of Fiji, Suva City with branch offices in Suva, Lautoka, Nadi and Labasa. On April 1, 2016, Digicel Fiji officially acquired the company.
Freeview is New Zealand's free-to-air television platform. It is operated by a joint venture between the country's major free-to-air broadcasters – government-owned Television New Zealand and Radio New Zealand, government-subsidised Whakaata Māori, and the American-owned Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Fiji Football Association is the governing body of football in Fiji. It came into existence in 1961. It is the overseeing body of the Fiji National Team and its leagues.
The Fiji Premier League or the FPL, also called Digicel Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top division men's professional football league in Fiji. Contested by ten teams, it shares a promotion and relegation system with the Fiji Senior League (FSL). The League is controlled by the Fiji Football Association.
Operation Morris Dance was an Australian military operation conducted in May 1987 in response to the first of the 1987 Fijian coups d'état.
The sport of football in the country of Fiji is run by the Fiji Football Association. The association administers the national football team as well as the FPL. The national team has had little international success.
The Reddy Group commenced operation as a small construction company in Suva, Fiji Islands in 1947. This opened the way for it to form a joint venture with Fletcher Construction of New Zealand. The second eldest brother Ram Sami Reddy started Reddy Construction Company in 1947 taking up construction of residential buildings. He was later joined by his other brother Ranga Sami Reddy. Yanktesh Permal (YP) Reddy joined the Company in 1957 and this allowed Ram Sami Reddy to move to Lautoka to open the branch in the West where there was a sudden surge of growth in the building industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case of the disease in Fiji was reported on 19 March 2020 in Lautoka. as of 3 January 2022, the country has had a total of 55,009 cases as of which 2,417 are currently active and 702 deaths, with cases reported on all divisions of the country. Apart from the COVID-19 deaths, 621 COVID-19 positive patients have died from pre-existing non-COVID-19 related illnesses. In March 2021, Fiji became the first Pacific island country to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX initiative with frontline workers and first responders the first to be vaccinated. As of 2 January 2022, more than 600,000 (98%) Fijians have received their first jab of the vaccine and almost 560,000 (92%) Fijians have received their second jab and are fully vaccinated. To date, only the AstraZeneca vaccine, Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine have been deployed in the country. The country have also administered booster shots. Vaccination is mandated, however only to the adult population.
