INDIA NEWS
Nov 16-30, 2020 - Vol 1, Issue 10
Australia India Women in Business chapter launched in Victoria
Dreams now a nightmare for many international students in Victoria Melbourne, 4 November: Victoria’s coronavirus lockdown has turned many international students’ dreams of studying and working in Melbourne into a nightmare. Cut off from federal government payments like JobSeeker and JobKeeper, losing their existing jobs or unable to find new ones; and switching to digital learning, has left many international students lonely and anxious about their uncertain futures.
Melbourne, 4 November: Motivating speeches from a panel of women change-makers marked the launch of AIBC’s Australia India Women in Business Victoria chapter, recently.
The Australia India Business Council is a membership-based group that was formed in 1986 to foster bilateral relationships between India and Australia. Their newly formed Women in Business Chapter not only recognises the economic case for gender equality, it also aims to support its members to promote their brands, expand their referral network and catapult their business. According to chairperson Reet Phulwani, the Victorian chapter will involve a variety of discussions, special speakers, resources, and fun activities. The intent is to create a community of like-minded and passionate women in business. “At AIBC we have collectively come to the conclusion that by strengthening visibility, collective voice and representation, the Australian Indian Women in Business can be our most promising area of investment,” said Reet during the webinar. Moderated by Sheba Nandkeolyar, National Chair AIBC Women in Business, the webinar started with an opening address from Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria. The Governor also formally launched the Victorian chapter
Courtesy_governor.vic.gov
With a blend of social purpose and business acumen, these women have made their mark in the field of entrepreneurship, activism, and leadership. Grit and passion were evident as the panellists shared their resilience strategies during the challenges of COVID-19 and discussed post-pandemic opportunities for economic recovery.
Governor of Victoria, Linda Dessau AC of Australia India Women in Business. She expressed her pleasure at attending the event as it celebrated and further enhanced the very warm relationship between Victoria and India and it recognised the absolute crucial role of women in that relationship and skills and experience they bring to the table in terms of business activities between Australia and India. According to Sheba when she formed the Women in Business National chapter, she had a strong vision to try gender diversity in a bilateral business space. Her objective was to facilitate a 50/50 proportion of women’s participation in this space, be it as an entrepreneur, a business owner or a woman leader leading a professional company. Sheba went on to invite the audience to hear about the best practices observed by the powerful panel of speakers as they shared their experience on how they navigated the COVID-19 disruptions.
For Sai Srushti Kasturi, getting admission to study in Monash University was a dream come true, but having to transition to online study as soon as she came, she never got to study in the campus she admired and underwent a hard time being in lockdown with roommates who bullied and harassed her. Srushti, who never got the chance to meet her classmates in person, had a difficult time making friends in a whole new environment and didn’t have anyone she knew that she could stay with. Fighting to keep her morale high, Srushti found a new place to move to and shifted there soon, but went back to India after the bond ran out. Srushti is happy to be reunited with her family and dog in Hyderabad. Ahnaf Yousuf Piash, who had finished his bachelor’s degree from Deakin University last November, is stuck in Melbourne while studying for his master’s degree in the University of Tasmania. Piash, who had originally planned to go back home to Bangladesh before coming back to start his course in July, is glad he didn’t. ‘If I had gone back I’d have ended up being stuck there,’ he said. Although he struggled with his mental health and lack of social life and was unable to get any shifts from his job, Piash says that he is lucky his parents supported him and that the situation of temporary residents in Australia is much worse than that of international students. Most of them are doing Uber Eats
or delivery jobs because that’s all they can do; if they go home they’d have a difficult time coming back and that time would use up their TR so that wastes a lot of time and money.’ Sudharsun Venkatesan is one such student, who has resorted to a delivery job after recently completing his master’s degree. Sudharsun, who arrived in Melbourne to finish his last semester just a day before the international travel ban, says that the change was ‘a rude shock’ to him. ‘I took a bank loan for the degree, and for my living expenses I was working part-time in a restaurant and interning for this company which helped me make some money for rent, but the pandemic collapsed that completely. I got a grant which helped me sustain myself for the three months of the first wave, but now I’ve just been doing Uber Eats delivery which is the only thing that’s helping me out,’ said Sudharsun, who was planning to pursue a PhD, but missed out on it due to funding cuts, and is currently looking for other opportunities. ‘This was supposed to be my gallery submissions year, we had to go for exhibitions and get our own personal studios and gallery which never happened because of the pandemic. It’s hard to do a studio-based degree like visual arts from home because you don’t get enough resources and I thought of deferring but that wastes time and delays everything, and you have to apply for a visa,’ said Pooja. ‘I was very depressed when this started but later on I made a routine where I’m getting up, working out, cooking every day, and it really helps if you’re doing activities all day and talking to your friends. At the end of the day, I just think of the bigger picture where people don’t have basic amenities like shelter or food, so you need to be grateful if you have a house and job,’ said Pooja, whose freelance graphic design work had picked up as she could
IFFM 2020- a mind-blowing experience Melbourne, 2 November: Besides going online, the Indian Film Festival Melbourne (IFFM) 2020 has again raised the bar this year by offering diverse and fresh content with great entertainment value. It was a fabulous viewing experience for the Indian film lovers of Australia and that too from the privacy of their homes and for free to enjoy. In COVID times it has forced all of us to up our game. Melbourne was facing its toughest lockdown, and ‘hope’ seems to be on everyone’s mind. But, then the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne happened and the welcoming news- ease of
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restrictions. Thanks to IFFM and Mind-Blowing Films Team for saving the rest of 2020. The film festival went online from the 23rd Oct – 30th Oct. Festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange, proudly not only brought 60 films in 17 languages including 34 International Premieres and 56 Australian Premieres, but also supports the Mental Health Foundation Australia (MHFA). IFFM encourages festival participants to donate to MHFA when booking. Film lovers across Australia have enthusiastically embraced this year’s online presentation
of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne with over 22,000 film views achieved in just the opening weekend. The festival closed with the closing night South Indian Malayalam film ‘MOOTHON ‘(The Elder One) available to stream from 6 pm 29th October till midnight on 30th October. Another highlight of the closing night is the announcement of the 2020 Short Film Competition winner. The announcement will be made in an online event in partnership with Mental Health Foundation Australia. ‘Together’ is the theme of the 2020 IFFM Short Film Festival Competition
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NEWS FROM VICTORIA
do it all from home, and earn some income on the side. For Deepak Mallya too, it was his mental health that took a blow during this time. ‘I was already stressed about my research because it’s highly competitive, but once lockdown started it increased. My sleep cycle and eating patterns got completely disrupted, I wasn’t able to sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning, so I used to overthink and got depressed because I’m all alone here. I can’t call up and talk to my parents or friends every hour. I was not motivated to do anything, it was a war from within, but I’m recovering now. I started to follow a routine, and drew strength from my spirituality and it’s helped me get better,’ said Deepak. ‘The university gave hardship payments and there were charities and gurudwaras that were donating groceries and food,’ he said. Studies by the Department of Home Affairs showed that over 70% of Australian international students have chosen to stay back here, which means the majority of students have put their hopes into our country and community, not wishing to lose the chance of coming back here. Contributing $37.6 billion to the Australian economy in the last financial year, international students have poured not only their dreams and aspirations, but also their finances into the country, and the least we can do in return is to support and help them during this time, so that their journeys now are not marked by hunger, loneliness, and desperation.
which this year received a remarkable and unprecedented 3000+ entries indicating people’s creativity during the lockdown. The winning film is being judged by Varun Sharma, the Festival’s 2011 Short Film Competition winner who is making his directorial debut this year with a Bollywood mainstream film, starring Rani Mukherji and Saif Ali Khan, produced by Yash Raj Studios. Proudly supported by Film Victoria, it has been such a joy to view some unique films that we could ponder over. Thank you IFFM for bringing the community closer, giving us the
South Indian Malayalam film ‘MOOTHON closed the IFFM future of Indian cinema with such promising talents and stories.
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