INDIA NEWS
Oct 16-31, 2020 - Vol 1, Issue 8
INDIANS IN AUSTRALIA
AISECS webinar for international students promises hope post Covid-19 The Australian Indian Sports Educational and Cultural Society’s (AISECS) webinar “Envisioning career pathways and support services out of Covid-19 for International students” conducted on 7th October offered a valuable insight into the career prospects that international students can look forward to now that the mist of uncertainty stemming from the Covid-19 crisis has started lifting to some extent. AISECS, a non-profit organization founded by Gurnam Singh, a sports entrepreneur and educational activist in 2018, is dedicated to fostering and strengthening the bilateral relations between India and Australia by organizing sports, educational and cultural programmes; and maintains a close relationship with the governments of both countries. On 7th October, 2020, AISECS hosted the webinar titled, Envisioning career pathways and support services out of Covid-19 for international students to allay the uncertainties and apprehensions plaguing international students regarding potential career opportunities, study pathways and sports services available to them post Covid-19. The panel of guest speakers comprised Manish Gupta, Consul General of India, Sydney; Craig Foster, former Socceroo, human rights advocate and pioneer of the PlayForLives campaign; Peter Mackey, Director of Study NSW and Gurnam Singh, founder of AISECS. Narasimhan Ravi, one of the international
students acted as the moderator for this webinar. Rational thinking and objectivity key to recovery Highlighting the wave of anxiety and mental health issues among the international students during the initial phases of nationwide lockdown prompted by the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic, Manish Gupta, Consul General of India, Sydney talked about the clamour among the panic-stricken Indian students in Australia who wished to go back home. He went on to acknowledge how the coordinated efforts of various community organisations, AISECS being one of them, in bringing the situation under control by providing requisite support to the students facing financial hardships and accommodation related crisis. Exhibiting optimism, he commented upon the much improved ability of the global community to navigate its way through the pandemic by being better equipped now as compared to six months back. With some universities having moved back to face to face learning, testimony to the fact that people have begun to adjust to the new normal, the Consul General feels that rational thinking and objectivity are the keys to recovery. Lauding the efforts of organisations such as Study NSW that have come up with their own support packages for international students, he encouraged existing and potential students to look at the current adversities as a door to new avenues. He also assured the students that
both the Indian government and the Australian government were working towards feasible steps facilitating the return to Australia of the Indian students who had gone back to India. The Indian government having proposed an air bubble agreement between the two nations is looking forward to its materializing in the imminent future. Expanding roles and scope of Sports industry “Sports have a profound ability to help lots of people both internally and externally through inter-cultural and inter-faith collaborations. It helps to break down barriers and provides a safe place for people of different ethnicities and religions to collaborate,” said Craig Foster, former Socceroo and pioneer of the PlayForLives Campaign. He is also the Adjunct Professor of Sports and Social Responsibility at Torrens University. Having realized that the Sports industry would be closed down for a considerable time, he started the PlayForLives campaign urging sports professionals to get off the bench and devote themselves into working as volunteers to pack hampers containing essentials for vulnerable members of the community, refugees, homeless people and the elderly. He has also been working with multicultural communities like AISECS as well as the Department of Health and the Federal Government of Australia to connect and engage with culturally and linguistically diverse communities to ensure that everyone has access to the
guidelines for Covid safety. Emphasising on the radical transformations that the arena of sports has experienced in the wake of the pandemic, he said that the sports industry had to adapt to the new reality and sports organisers and sports professionals even at the grassroots level came up with new ways to interact with their supporters to continue giving them value for their investments. According to him, students need to stay abreast of the innovations in sports industry and learn new skills; digitization of sports which was already very significant has accelerated and students in the future will need to have a clear understanding of these. New levels of professional competitions were seen in sports without the presence of fans as artificial intelligence was used to provide crowd sounds at precise moments thus, making it evident that the influence of AI and other sophisticated technology will continue even in the post Covidera. He also stated that sports professionals and organisers were bound to become more actively involved in social issues such as human rights which according to him, is another area in which students can have a potential career. Study NSW’s support packages providing relief to students Study NSW, a government organization, has taken several initiatives such as providing assistance in transitioning to online studies, temporary crisis accommodation support and providing food packages,
to soothe the worries of international students who would otherwise have been left in the lurch. Study NSW Director Peter Mackey gave an overview of the NSW government unit’s crisis accommodation scheme which was initially launched for 12 weeks but now has been extended to 20 weeks. So far, almost 4000 students have received accommodation support under this scheme. Also, 10,000 food packages have been delivered to the students and a recent government approval of 1.2 million dollars will help them in rolling out an additional 50,000 packages. Peter Mackey also explained the procedure and the eligibility criteria to apply under this scheme. AISECS unique remote internship programmes AISECS founder Gurnam Singh who himself came to Australia as a student and had to face several hardships. Reiterating the essence and the core idea behind the genesis of AISECS, he talked about the five different remote internship programmes launched by the community organization which are open for all aspirants across the group. Spanning 12-15 weeks, these web-friendly internship programmes relating to sports and youth development, information technology, entrepreneurship and leadership programmes, media and marketing, and government and public relations aim to equip the interns with an understanding of management skills by providing one-to-one support.
Queensland remembers India’s father of nation on his 151st birth anniversary The 151st Gandhi Jayanti was celebrated on October 2, at Gandhi Statue, Roma Street, Parkland. The celebrations started at 9 am. Despite Covid restrictions, the celebrations took place smoothly and the guests participated enthusiastically. Shyam Das, President, Federation of Indian Communities of Queensland (FICQ) welcomed the guests and addressed the gathering. The occasion was live streamed on India News TV, Facebook and other social media platforms. Speaking on the occasion the FICQ President emphasized the importance of this occasion. He said,“Mahatma Gandhi practised what he preached. He changed the course of history. Mahatma Gandhi believed in truth, nonviolence, peace and love, and that is what we are celebrating today. Peace, love and harmony are very important.” On the occasion, Honorary Consul of India, Brisbane, Archana Singh said,“We are celebrating the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,
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of whom India can be justifiably proud,and to whom humanity will be eternally grateful as a messiah of hope and peace, humanity and non-violence. He has been an inspiration to so many freedom struggles and civil rights movement throughout the world. Addressing the gathering, Jim Varghese AM, National Chair, Australia India Business Council, said,“Mahatma Gandhi influenced civilizations, from South Africa to the United States to Europe and Australia to India. His fans include Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Barak Obama, and others, particularly over the last 100 years that have acknowledged Mahatma Gandhi’s importance. His importance in this Covid-19 period is more important because as we are in this period we have to connect with each other. We have to see each other as humanity. We have to help each other.” India News and the Institute for Australia India Engagement also participated in the proceedings. In the evening an online global event ‘Embrace an evening on love-based toleration with
Mahatma Gandhi on Gandhi Jayanti 2020’ was organized. Gandhi Salt March Limited (GSML) hosted the event, which was supported by AIBC, FICQ, and other associations. The keynote speech at the celebrations was delivered by former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden AM. The speech was delivered after the opening ceremony of the 151st Birth Anniversary celebrations, where the whole world was invited to join the online event as one world family. The event was dedicated to emergency and health workers around the world, who serve humanity daily amidst the COVID19 pandemic. In his address Mathew Hayden highlighted Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of peace and harmony with oneself and surroundings. He said that the spirit of gratitude brings happiness and serenity. To mark the celebrations, two panel discussions were held. Jim VargheseAM, National Chair, Australia India Business Council, hosted the discussions. In the first panel discussion Mathew Hayden, High Commissioner of
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India to Australia A GiteshSarma and Steven Coghill, aboriginal elder, participated. Speaking about Mahatma Gandhi’s message of love, High Commissioner GiteshSarma said that Gandhi practised what we preach. “Gandhi was a global figure and our foreign policy is influenced by Mahatma Gandhi,” he said. “India was one of the first in the UN to speak against Apartheid. Countries like India and Australia have independently and together given a death blow to systems like Apartheid,” he further said. SonamKalra, a famous Sufi singer, gave a beautiful rendition of‘Abide with me’ based on Sufi saint Kabirdas. In the second panel discussion on the topic ‘love and love can transcend hate, Janet Deen AM, Community Volunteer at Muslim Charitable Foundation, Steven Coghill, aboriginal elder, Swami Sadhyojathah, a disciple of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Frank Bennan, a priest, human rights lawyer and academic, participated. Speaking at the discussion Janet said that the Indian subcontinent was all
Gandhi Jayanti celebrations at Gandhi Statue, Roma Street, Parkland India before, but the Partition brought so many hardships. But Mahatma Gandhi was never in favour of the Partition. About Mahatma Gandhi Frank Bennan said that he found Gandhi inspirational in his own way while looking at him through his Christian faith. He also quoted Pope John Paul II when he went to India the second time many years ago, saying, “Gandhi points us to a future where our deep longing to pass through the door of freedom will find its fulfillment because we will pass through that door together.”
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