SAT February issue 2018

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South Asia Times

Vol.15 I No. 7 I february 2018 I FREE s o u t hasiatim es.com .au Editor: Neeraj Nanda

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CELEBRATING 15TH YEAR OF PUBLICATION

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GUEST EDIT PG 03 COMMUNITY PG 04 SOUTH ASIA PG 21 MUSINGS

PG 20 MODERN SLAVERY PG 26 hindi pushp pg 30 SPORTS

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Daniel Andrews moves ahead with India Strategy

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GUEST EDITORIAL

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Sexual Harassment:

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South Asia Times

PUBLISHER/EDITOR Neeraj Nanda M: 0421 677 082 satimes@gmail.com

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At Least 2 Billion Women

By Joseph Chamie*

N

EW YORK, Feb 1 2018 (IPS) - Most of the world’s women have experienced sexual harassment. Based on available country surveys, it is estimated that no less than 75 percent of the world’s 2.7 billion women aged 18 years and older, or at least 2 billion women, have been sexually harassed (Figure 1).

Estimated Proportions and Numbers of Women Worldwide Aged 18 Years and Older Who Have Experienced Sexual and/ or Physical Violence and Sexual Harassment: Around 2015 Source: WHO for violence and author’s estimate for harassment based on available country surveys.

In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 35 percent of women, or approximately 930 million women, have experienced physical and/ or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. WHO considers this level of violence against women a major public health problem as well as a serious violation of the human rights of women.

Although definitions of sexual harassment of women vary globally, they generally center on unwelcome behaviour, unwanted conduct and coercion of a sexual nature that violates a woman’s dignity and personal wellbeing and creates an intimidating, humiliating or hostile environment. Sexual harassment includes many things, including sexual assault, unwanted pressure for sexual favours and dates, unwanted deliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, stalking, sexually lewd comments and unwanted communications of a sexual nature.

The estimated proportion of women who have experienced sexual harassment varies considerably across countries from lows of around 50 percent to highs above 90 percent (Figure 1).

In addition to shortcomings in statistical measurement, survey design and sample coverage, the broad range of sexual harassment

Most of the world’s women have experienced sexual harassment.

Based on available country surveys, it is estimated that no less than 75 percent of the world’s 2.7 billion women aged 18 years and older, or at least 2 billion women, have been sexually harassed.

among nations reflects to a large extent differences in interpretation, reporting, policies and culture.

Some governments claim that sexual harassment is a Western problem and is virtually non-existent in their countries. In a number of instances, government censors are hobbling anti-sexual harassment campaigns, blocking the use of phrases about sexual harassment and warning activists against speaking out. However, despite such efforts, it is widely recognized the sexual harassment of women is a global problem that exists in all societies and across classes.

It is important to note that sexual harassment can occur between persons of the opposite or same sex and both males and females can be either the victims or the offenders. However, most sexual harassment victims are women and the

overwhelming majority of the offenders are men.

It is often the case that women are reluctant and even afraid to report sexual harassment due to embarrassment, humiliation, social stigma, victim blaming, job loss and retaliation. Young women are frequently afraid of the consequences of a sexual harassment complaint on their education, jobs, careers, future promotions and personal lives, especially when it takes place at the workplace or an educational institution.

Moreover, women generally recognize that by and large there are little or no consequences to the men who have sexually harassed them, particularly when it tends to be one person’s word against another. In many instances, the burden of proof placed on women is considered too high and the legal recourse is seen as too low as well as lengthy and

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entangling.

The impact of sexual harassment on women can be serious, depending on a variety of factors, in particular the nature and extent of harassment, the cultural setting, social support and the personal circumstances of the victim. In addition to feelings of anger and embarrassment, sexual harassment can result in serious health effects, including depression, distress, anxiety, muscle aches, headaches, negative self-esteem, sleeplessness and even symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD). The toll on women can also result in quitting a job, losing a promotion, stigmatization, disrupting schooling, unemployment, less income and damaged careers.

Sexual harassment of women also has economic costs for employers and countries. Workplace harassment can result in absenteeism, increased turnover, lower job satisfaction, decreased productivity and a barrier to women’s labour force participation, retarding the growth of GDP. In addition, sexual harassment Contd. on pg 18

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Daniel Andrews India visit step ahead to translate ‘India Strategy’ into a reality

By Neeraj Nanda

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ELBOURNE, 14 January: In a major announcement to boost trade ties with India, Premier Daniel Andrews announced his government’s action plan to boost exports of food and manufacturing goods to the country. This along with attracting more international students and visitors to Victoria is likely to create jobs and grow the Victorian economy.

Premier Daniel Andrews unveiled Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future ahead of his first official visit to India.

The Premier said, “This blueprint is all about expanding our footprint in one of the world’s leading economies, which will boost Victorian businesses and create jobs for locals.

We have a plan and we’re getting it done.

Our tourism, international education, sport and cultural and innovation offerings are the envy of the world. We want India to experience for themselves the best of everything Victoria produces.”

“We’ve worked closely with leaders and industry experts from the Australian Indian community on ways we can make our state’s bond with India even stronger,” he said.

A media release from the Premier’s office says the strategy will create jobs and grow the Victorian economy by: “Doubling the value of goods exports – such as food and manufacturing goods – to India from a five-year annual average of $500 million to almost $1 billion by 2027, increasing the number of Indian postgraduate research students in Victoria by 25 per cent doubling the number of Victorian businesses engaged in India from 150 to 300 and nearly tripling the expenditure by Indian visitors to Victoria to $885 million.”

Mr Andrews travelled to India, where he showcased Victoria’s strengths as a world-class destination for international education, tourism, sports, culture and innovation. The Premier will visit New Delhi and Bengaluru and is expected to meet Indian Government Ministers and officials apart from other functions.

Others who addressed the function at the Melbourne University included Prof Robin Jaffery (Australia India Institute), HE High Commissioner of India to Canberra, Dr. A. M. Gondane, MituBhowmick Lange (Mind Blowing Films) and the Acting VC of Melbourne University.

Visit to India Victorian school students will soon have the opportunity to travel to India on a new cultural exchange program as part of an ambitious Andrews Labor Government strategy to strengthen Victoria’s economic and cultural ties withIndia.

Contd. on pg 5

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Daniel Andrews India visit...

Contd. from pg 5

Premier Daniel Andrews visited the Bluebells School International in Delhi and participated in a school lesson conducted via skype with Bluebells’ Victorian sister school, Rangebank Primary School in Cranbourne.

The visit, part of Mr Andrews official tour to India, follows the launch of the Government’s new strategy – Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future – in Melbourne on Sunday.

Education is a key focus of the strategy, with Mr Andrews today announcing three new initiatives to strengthen Victoria’s relationship with India by engaging with the next generation of young people. These include: • A new two-year Victorian Young Leaders to India pilot which will see up to 200 Victorian Year 7-9 students and 25 teachers travel to India and complete two to four-week immersion programs • A two-year Women in School Leadership Program that helps female school leaders, including principals and senior teachers, from Victoria and India to share knowledge related to school leadership, change management and Education State priorities • A two-year Victorian Schools and Indian Diaspora Partnerships Program to deepen Victorian schools’ engagement with India by harnessing the knowledge of the Indian diaspora to develop and support partnerships between schools in India and Victoria.

Premier Daniel Andrews said, “Victoria is proudly home to the largest number of people with India heritage in Australia – it’s only right our students understand the significance of Indian culture, and the economic contribution India makes to our state.

This will give our up and coming young leaders the chance to showcase Victoria’s strengths to other Indian young people, while at the same time immersing themselves in Indian culture and

building their leadership skills.”

Earlier, Mr Andrews presented Victoria’s ten-year India Strategy: Our Shared Future to senior India government officials and business leaders in Delhi.

Gandhi Fest & Boxing Day Indian festival at MCG During his India visit Premier Daniel Andrews announced a Gandhi Exhibition and a new community festival to be held during the Australia versus India Magellan Boxing Day Test at the MCG this year.

Premier Daniel Andrews also joined Cricket Victoria CEO Tony Dodemaide and cricketing legends BishanBedi and Dean Jones in Delhi today to announce the new festival that will be held outside the iconic MCG. The free festival will feature all the colours, sounds, sights and flavours that are quintessentially India. Food vans and stalls will offer up the best Indian cuisine, while fans will have a chance to play some cricket, sing and dance and try their hand at other cultural activities.

“The Boxing Day Test is always one of the biggest dates on our sporting calendar. This year, we’ll use the occasion to celebrate the close bond we share with our Indian friends. This free festival outside the MCG will offer the very best culinary delights India has to offer, as well as a range of activities that everyone can enjoy,” Daniel Andrews said.

Also, touring the Mahatma Gandhi Exhibition at the PravasiBhartiya Kendra in Delhi, Premier Daniel Andrews announced the Andrews Labour Government was supporting Victoria’s Immigration Museum to show the unique exhibition – which will run from April to July 2018.

“Mahatma Gandhi was an inspirational leader and I’m thrilled that Victorians will be able to enjoy this incredible exhibition at the Immigration Museum,” the Victorian Premier said.

During his India visit the Victorian Premier also visited the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara in New Delhi and later visited Bangalore.

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Foreign diplomats in Australian slavery allegations

By SAT News Desk

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ELBOURNE, 13 February: The Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Philippines missions are involved in slavery allegations against its diplomats on labour abuses after horrifying revelations about the treatment of domestic staff on the ABC’s 4 Corners program telecast on 12 February 2018.

The ACTU has called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to intervene on these labour abuses by diplomats. The firsthand accounts were telecast on the program of domestic staff working in these embassies and the residences of diplomats detailed treatment that amounted to slavery.

Diplomatic impunity makes things difficult for Australian authorities to take action in such matters.

Four Corners has spoken to three workers who were kept in conditions they liken to slavery by diplomats in these three different

embassies in Canberra.

The first case relates to Shahid Mahmood, the ABC program says, who was employed by the current Pakistan High Commissioner NaelaChohan and lived in a basement for 18 months, worked 18 hours daily, slept 4 to 5 hours only daily and had no days off.

Shahid was promised a $625 per week salary but not paid that and later in a new contract offered Australian legal wages. But instead $100 was sent to his family every few months, 18 or 19 months he worked there.

Shahid escaped from there and is now fighting a case to get back his past wages, the report says.

The Pakistan High Commissioner NaelaChohan declined to speak to the ABC. Instead the Pakistan High Commission, Canberra in a response to the ABC issued a statement saying, “The High Commission has not received any formal or informal communication in this regard from any Australian Authority. I can assure you that all and each

of the allegations mentioned in your email are baseless, unfounded and motivated.”

The two other cases involve two Filipino women who worked with Saudi and Philippines diplomats.

The Saudi Embassy has not responded to the ABC’s story.

The ABC 4 Corners program (Behind Closed Doors) with all these and more details can be accessed at - http://www. abc.net.au/4corners/behindclosed-doors/9424204.

The Salvation Army's Jenny Stanger has worked with exploited domestic workers for a decade told the 4 Corner’s program, "We've had over 20 cases coming from the diplomatic households, primarily in Canberra.”

ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus says, “People who subject others to what amounts to slavery should not be beyond the reach of the law. There should be no exceptions.

To have our own government departments approving the hiring of

people who are later subjected to such appalling treatment is sickening.”

They included working seven days a week, up to 18 hours a day, with no or very little pay.

The workers lived in cramped, confined conditions, were not allowed to leave their place of work, and in some cases had their passports confiscated.

“We should be ensuring that diplomats who’ve already abused workers are accountable for their actions and cannot employ further domestic workers.

The Government should work with other countries to charge and convict those who have committed criminal abuses,”Sally McManus said.

Actions available to the Government include instructing DFAT to not approve further employment requests for diplomats alleged to have perpetrated labour abuses.

“The Government may also invoke Article 32 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,

We should be ensuring that diplomats who’ve already abused workers are accountable for their actions and cannot employ further domestic workers. requesting that the sending state revoke diplomatic immunity – a step the Turnbull government has not yet taken despite more than 30 cases of labour abuse uncovered by the Salvation Army since 2007, “the ACTU media release says.

Greater Dandenong Australia’s most culturally diverse

By SAT News Desk

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ELBOURNE, 12 February: Greater Dandenong is now Australia’s most culturally diverse community.The latest Census figures reveal the level of diversity in Greater Dandenong is thehighest in the country – closely followed by the Sydney areas of Strathfield, Burwood and Cumberland.

Greater Dandenong has long held claim to being the most culturally diverse city in Victoria but this is the first time in the city’s history it has ranked number one nationally.

Its diversity is also enforced by the presence of ‘Little India’ at Foster Street and the nearby Afghan Bazar. The state government has already decided to make Little India into an Indian Prescient with a big grant and a task force is already looking into its feasibility.

Greater Dandenong Mayor Councillor YouhornChea said in Greater Dandenong the probability of two people coming from different birthplaces is 78 per cent.

“The latest census data shows the City of Greater Dandenong

The latest census data shows the City of Greater Dandenong has residents from 157 different birthplaces and more than half of our residents are born overseas. has residents from 157 different birthplaces and more than half of our residents are born overseas,” Mayor Chea said.

“More than four in five residents in Greater Dandenong have at least one overseas born parent.”

The latest Census data also re-

vealed the following interesting facts about the City of Greater Dandenong: In 2016 more than 70 per cent of residents spoke a language other than English – the largest in Victoria and more than double the metropolitan average of 31 per cent.

The top birthplace countries recorded in Greater Dandenong are Vietnam, Cambodia, China, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, New Zealand and Great Britain.

Widely spoken languages in Greater Dandenong include Vietnamese, Khmer, Chinese,

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Greek, Punjabi and Sinhalese.

There are almost 2,000 asylum seekers in Greater Dandenong – the highest of any Victorian Municipality.

In Victoria the most diverse municipalities after Greater Dandenong are Melbourne, Monash, Brimbank and Wyndham.

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The idea of India is being challenged: Sam Pitroda

By Neeraj Nanda

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ELBOURNE, 26 January: Former advisor on Technology Missions to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, telecom inventor, entrepreneur and telecom inventor, Sam Pitroda today lashed out at the current regime in New Delhi saying “the idea of India is being challenged”.

Sam was addressing a crowd of Congress supporters and others at a reception organised by the Indian Overseas Congress, Australia.

Sam who recently helped the Congress in the Gujarat elections minced no words in admitting that the Congress Party has seen “ups and downs” and today it is “not in the best of best

times”.

“But what comes down, comes up and what goes up, comes down”, he said.

Explaining about his Australia visit, Sam said, “Our aim is to build momentum for the party in India and with its friends overseas.”

“India got independence and we had a clear idea of what we want. It was not just democracy but inclusion also. The idea to rebuild a strong diverse, inclusive and democratic nation. This is being challenged now,” Sam said.

Sam rubbished the view being propagated that no development took place in the last 60 years of Congress rule and detailed the strides made by India in scientific, educational and agriculture fields in those years. This

propaganda “is a lie”, he says.

Sam nostalgically described the humble beginnings of his life in a tribal village in Orissa and his journey through education to America where he became a businessman and subsequently helped usher in India’s telecom revolution in the 80s.

Mr. Pitroda who established several

companies in the US, holding around 20 Honorary Phd’s, close to 100 worldwide patents and published five books remains passionate about India and says, “my journey is the journey of India”.

A Q-A session at the end of his talk further revealed his passion to revolutionize India’s development philosophies and policies focussing on access to

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technology as was done when he helped spread public telephones all over India.

He with David Chanoff published his autobiography ‘Dreaming Big – My Journey to Connect India’ in 2015 and believes his destiny was shaped by his parent’s decision to send him to Gujarat for education which instilled Gandhian values in him.

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I don’t want to attack anyone for engaging India: Mathew Guy M

By Neeraj Nanda

ELBOURNE, 18 January: In an obvious reference to the latest India Strategy launched by the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, leader of Opposition Mathew Guy today said, “I don’t want to attack anyone for engaging India”, Mathew guy said this while addressing the South Asian media here today.

Guy announced that if elected, a Liberal Nationals government will further deepen ties with India

through the establishment of a sister-state relationship between Victoria and an Indian state.

The Opposition Leader’s views come amidst Premier Daniel Andrews India tour and he announcing plans to boost Victoria’s exports – such as food and manufacturing goods to India from a five-year annual average of $ 500 million to almost $ 1 billion by 2027.

Though supporting the initiative Mathew Guy said, “The Strategy does not have specifics.”

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in Victoria Mathew Guy proposed the Indian Community Centre to cater to the social and cultural needs of the community.

Answering to a pointed question about the law and order situation in Victoria, Mathew Guy said the situation was bad because of the “weakness of the criminal justice system” and urged ‘mandatory sentencing” for “most violent offenders”. About the African gangs he said it was not that all these people were in crime but “they were overrepresented in crime.

Sankat Mochan Festival of Colours -Rang Barse’ 2018

T

hird year in a row, Sankat Mochan Samiti Inc. (SMS) is once again celebrating the festival of Colors in conjunction with City of Monash and for the second time with Monash University on Sunday 11 March 2018 from 11.00 am till 6.00 PM at the Monash University Sports Fields in Clayton Campus located on Wellington Road, Clayton. This festival complements the theme of a week long Monash University’s Summer Fest designed to createa feeling of togetherness for staff, students and the community by providing them with a first class experience close to home. City of Monash, is also committed to encourage and support the multi-cultural aspect of the residents by supporting the celebrations of the adverse diversities, to developbetter understanding and acceptancenecessary for peaceful, harmonious and enjoyable ambience of social togetherness.

Everybody participates in the Festival of Colours regardless of the social status, cast, creed and gender with passion of zeal. This is one of the

most vibrant festivals of India and these days it has become an International Festival, known as Festival of Colours. The spirit is about hope, happiness and peaceful existence. It brings

communities, nationalities and different religious, ethnic groups together by assisting in understanding of richness in diversities, necessary to build a harmonious multicultural

society.It is one of those rare festivals where people forget about their differences and inhibitions and come together to have real fun SMS has organised variety entertainment program with Indian touch, food and drink stalls, general stalls, entertaining rides for young ones, youths and seniors young at heart.

On the top of it all, the colour stall shall provide safe dry powder colours to share with each other. The world class and attractive facilities at the sports fields at the Clayton Campus of Monash University provides an ideal location for this celebration. This is easily approachable by public transport and there

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is adequate free parking available on the day.

Contact Arvind Shrivastava on 0427 274 462 or e-mail: sankatmochansamiti@ gmail.comfor any further information related to the festival. The prospective stallholders and sponsors can use this opportunity to expose their business to a very large gathering expected to come and enjoy the function. Please see the accompanying Flyer for more details.

Make it a date, Sunday 11 March 2018, anytime between 11.00 AM till 6.00 PM. Come and enjoy one of the rare lifetime experiences.

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THE JOHNSTON COLLECTION: THE ART OF INDIA SERIES MARCH 2018 The themes of India and the British Raj will be explored in our new Study Series, THE ART OF INDIA, beginning in March 2018. In this series of five lectures, leading art, social and cultural historians will consider Indian themes while exploring the artistic, social and cultural worlds where art, fashion, interiors and design meet.

T

he Johnston Collection is a multi-awardwinning and critically acclaimed museum, that invites creatives from the broader visual arts and design communities to re-interpret the Collection. The museum offers special tours, study days and lectures throughout the year, sharing stories and inspiring communities.

Since 1990 the museum has provided visitors, from near and far, with transformative exhibition and learning experiences enabling them to discover, experience and engage with artists, objects and ideas through dynamic temporary programs based on its permanent collection.

The Johnston Collection was bequeathed by William Johnston (1911-1986) as a gift to the people of Victoria and is administered as an independent not-for-profit, for cultural value museum by The W R Johnston Trust.

ANOTHER LOOK Monday 12 February 2018 – Tuesday 22 May 2018 WILLIAM JOHNSTON: His Residence & Collection will for the first time, present the sumptuous Green Drawing Room as a grand Indian-inspired Durbar room.

After exhausting his sources in England, antique dealer William Johnston turned his sights and travels to India, and especially Calcutta, which became his favourite place to replenish his shop stock.

Of the many significant items Johnston acquired, the Durbar room will include the splendid ‘salon suite’ purchased from the sale of vice-regal furniture from Government House, Calcutta (now known as Raj Bhavan, Kolkata).

A concept to create a sumptuous Indianinspired ‘Durbar Room’ was proposed when the museum first opened in 1990. This room, which became known as The Green Drawing Room, is a stunning formal reception space in which to display a gentleman’s collection.

ANOTHER LOOK will also re-present the original arrangement of William Johnston’s collection in Fairhall. This tour will continue exploring one of the themes underpinning The Johnston Collection, that ‘Old is New’.

Join artist, writer and educator, Sophia Errey, as she explores the influence of the sub-continent on European fashion from the 16th century to the present in CLOTHED IN THE EXOTIC | India's influence on European Fashion.

Wednesday, 14 March 2018 10.00 am BIJI DINING MEETS BIJOUX MUSEUM Contemporary Indian food meets Colonial Indian grandeur Monday 19 March 2018: 7.00pm to 9.30 pm SOLD OUT Tuesday 20 March 2018: 7.00 pm to 9.30 pm SOLD OUT Harry Mangat of Biji Dining takes inspiration from his roots to create a contemporary Indian banquet that celebrates the rich and unique culture of the sub-continent. Guests will enjoy delicious bites as they tour the elegant rooms of The Johnston Collection - culminating in an Indian inspired Grand Drawing Room for a four course dinner. Harry will present his dishes and share how he incorporates the concept of Samaj, Hindi for community, in his cooking, foraging, and locally sourced produce. Aidan Raftery of Persillade will excite with thought provoking beverage matches.

Bookings can be made through the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival webpage http://www. melbournefoodandwine.com.au/program/bijidining-meets-bijoux-museum-6841

In her talk, IMAGINING INDIA | Queen Victoria's Durbar Room at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, Susan Scollay, an independent art historian specialising in Islamic art and culture and historic textiles, explores the luxurious, Indian themed room at Queen Victoria's summer retreat, Osborne House.

Wednesday 11 April 2018 10.00 am THE EAST INDIA COMPANY & INDIAN INDEPENDENCE

IMAGINING INDIA

CLOTHED IN THE EXOTIC

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THE JOHNSTON COLLECTION...

Helen Webberley, a lecturer on art, architecture and history, looks at the London-based East India Company which as well as serving merchants, also acted as a mini-state with the power to fight, issue regulations and make treaties with foreign powers.

Thursday 3 May 2018 10.00 am

Jeweller Adrian Dickens focuses on the jewels and jewellery of India including the Koh-i-Nur diamond presented to Queen Victoria in 1849 by the eleven-year old Indian prince Duleep Singh in A JEWEL IN THE CROWN | The Indian influence on early 20th century jewellery.

Tuesday 15 May 2018 10.00 am.

A JEWEL IN THE CROWN

THE TIGER & THE LION

Join Kate Brittlebank, former Senior lecturer in Asian History at the University of Tasmania for her lecture, THE TIGER & THE LION | Looted objects in British collections from the court of Tipu Sultan of Mysore (d. 1799) looking at some of the items looted by the British from Mysore after the fall of the capital Srirangapattana in 1799.

Wednesday 16 May 2018 10.00 am BIJI DINING MEETS BIJOUX MUSEUM Contemporary Indian food meets Colonial Indian grandeur Monday 19 March 2018: 7.00pm to 9.30 pm SOLD OUT Tuesday 20 March 2018: 7.00 pm to 9.30 pm SOLD OUT Harry Mangat of Biji Dining takes inspiration from his roots to create a contemporary Indian banquet that celebrates the rich and unique culture of the sub-continent. Guests will enjoy delicious bites as they tour the elegant rooms of The Johnston Collection - culminating in an Indian inspired Grand Drawing Room for a four course dinner. Harry will present his dishes and share how he incorporates the concept of Samaj, Hindi for community, in his cooking, foraging, and locally sourced produce. Aidan Raftery of Persillade will excite with thought provoking beverage matches.

Bookings can be made through the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival webpage http://www. melbournefoodandwine.com.au/program/bijidining-meets-bijoux-museum-6841 ALL INFORMATION & BOOKINGS: www. johnstoncollection.org/house_museum_tours

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COMMUNITY

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community roundup AUSTRALIA DAY & INDIAN R-DAY PARTY @MCG

MIND BLOWING PADMAN PREVIEW

AISV R-day & A-day event

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COMMUNITY

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community roundup AICCI at the A-day parade

Premier’s India Strategy launch

Band-Ish in action at St Kilda Festival

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GUEST EDITORIAL

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Sexual Harassment: At Least 2 Billion Women

Contd. from pg 3 settlements and court damages awards can amount to substantial payouts for employers.

In many societies there is a general tolerance of sexual harassment, being viewed as part and parcel of daily life, with many shrugging it off just as another unpleasant fact of a woman’s life, especially at the work place. Also, some women have come to recognize the pervasiveness of quid pro quo sexual harassment and sadly concluded that in order get what you want, you need to give them what they want.

In Nigeria, for example, it has been reported that if women chose to call out sexual harassment, they would be quarrelling with their male counterparts all day. A notable instance of sexual harassment tolerance was observed when a Russian judge threw out a woman’s harassment case, ruling, “If we had no sexual harassment we would have no children”.

Tolerance of sexual harassment is now being challenged more actively than the past, especially through the use of social media. Growing numbers of women from all walks of life are sharing their sexual harassment experiences and frustrations with others and calling for accountability.

The recent anti-sexual harassment campaign has spread rapidly worldwide to no less than 85 countries with the rallying expression:

Me Too, Я тоже, BalanceTonPorc, YoTambién, . An important consequence of the campaign is more women are coming forward and speaking up about having been sexually harassed, resulting in a growing number of men resigning, stepping down, falling from power, paying hefty settlements or going to jail.

However, there has also been a backlash to the anti-sexual harassment campaign. In France, for example, 100 prominent French women wrote a letter accusing the recent antiharassment campaign of censorship and intolerance.

According to them the movement to tackle sexual harassment represents a “puritanical … wave of purification” and they draw a strong distinction between rape, which is a crime, and attempts to seduce a woman. They reject the image of women as “as poor little things, this Victorian idea that women are mere children who have to be protected”.

Some prominent men in the entertainment industry have also played down the media attention to the harassment campaign. The Russian film director Andrei Konchalovsky, for example, expressed a view popular among men who brush aside this issue, saying said that the whole world has been built on sexual harassment, with men making passes and women resisting. In light of all the accusations of sexual

harassment, he joked, “It turns out that all men must be taken to court”.

Countries have taken a variety of steps to address the sexual harassment of women. For example, 189 countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Many national, regional and international legal systems have made sexual harassment illegal. Some 122 countries, including China, India, the United States, member countries of the European Union, and the entire United Nations system have laws and statutes prohibiting sexual harassment against women in the workplace with most providing mechanisms for victims to file a complaint with their employer and/ or authorities. In contrast, 68 countries with 424 million working-age women, including 235 million who are employed, have no explicit legal prohibitions against sexual harassment at the workplace.

To avoid the sexual harassment of their female family members, some communities have gone to extremes with the practice of “purdah”, or the seclusion of women from public observation behind high-walled enclosures, screens and curtains within the home. Others have taken steps to segregate or separate the sexes in private and public places, including schools, offices, religious

institutions, sport stadiums, social clubs and even public transportation.

Some societies have instituted concealing clothing or strict dress codes for women. However, conservative dress or authorized clothing, including the hijab, chador, the veil, burqa, and sleeved and long dresses, fails to protect women from unwanted attention and sexual harassment.

Paradoxically, it seems that the more women cover their bodies, the more women are sexually harassed by men.

Some countries are taking additional steps to protect women from sexual harassment in public places. In France, for example, a parliamentary working group is preparing a proposal that will penalize men with fines who harass women on the street, including infringing on women’s freedom of movement. Mexico, which recently hosted a global forum in its capitol focusing on making urban public spaces safe for women and girls, has launched campaigns in its transit system and elsewhere aimed at changing the thinking and behaviour of men about sexually harassing women.

In recent years businesses, offices and institutions have provided, and sometimes made mandatory, anti-sexual harassment training programs to their staff.

However, the effectiveness of such programs has not

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been demonstrated and may even backfire.

In addition, the training programs coupled with antiharassment policies seem more aimed at shielding employers from liability, litigation and costly jury awards than protecting female employees from sexual harassment. Aiming to limit the costs of sexual harassment claims and settlements, a growing number of businesses are purchasing employee practices liability insurance.

Based on available data, official reports and personal accounts of women, one cannot avoid concluding that the sexual harassment remains a major global problem impacting most of the world’s women.

While laws, policies and programs against the sexual harassment of women are certainly necessary, they in themselves are insufficient.

Societies and cultures will need to change attitudes, norms and behaviour of both men and women concerning the treatment of women at the work place and in public spaces.

Women and men boldly speaking out, organizing support networks and taking effective action against the sexual harassment of women are critical ingredients for realizing the needed societal changes. *Joseph Chamie is an independent consulting demographer and a former director of the United Nations Population Division.

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musings

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DOG-WHISTLE CAMPAIGN

By Rashid Sultan

M

ALREADY IN FULL SWING

ELBOURNE: The next parliamentary electionsare not due until next year but the SanghParivaar has already done spring cleaning and unearthed some expected and some not soexpected ‘ skeletons ‘ from their cupboards.

Some background stuff would not be out of tune if we go a bit earlier.

In 1993 Samuel Huntington essayed his theory of clash of civilizations after the collapse of Soviet Union. He hypothesised, that the next clash would be between the West and Islam (powerful nations always need an enemy).The western leaders accepted this theory docilely and,predictably, a boost occurred in the armament sector (a very important part of economic growth in the West). We are seeing the outcomes of this philosophy since 2001 with millions of deaths in the Islamic world and tens of millions more, wounded, displaced and turned into refugees.

But, some Indians were far ahead than the US philosopher, at least, in this field. They had already formed the RashtriyaSwayamsevakSangh(RSS) 70 years before, and their core philosophy, apart from other sham goals, in the name of preserving culture, was nothing but hatred of Muslims and other minorities.

They have been successful so far in their goals. The bureaucracy, the police, the judiciary - their ranks have been filled with people of the same thinking.

How else would you account for former army and police officers contesting elections on the BJP ticket and becoming ministers at both the central and state governments.

In 1999 the party mainly fought on the Ram Temple to be built on the site where Babri Masjid had been demolished by karsewaks of the Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad et al. Provoking Hindus against Muslims. They indeed won the election on this premise but, as the case was sub judice the BJP government was not able to

achieve thisin this term.

In 2004, instead,the mantra was ‘India Shine’ but, this slogan proved fruitless as fruits had not reached the common man during their term Between 2004 and 2014, while in opposition, they did their best to consolidate their hold on the public services et al.

Finally, in 2014 the BJP came to power; they did not win in their own right but, the Congress gave them victory on a platter thanks to the number of financial scams, the onslaught of fake news and vile propaganda from call centres working 24/7 from the foreign soil combined with the incumbency fatigue.

In between 2014 and 2018 came a few state elections. Let us see what happened.

In Goa and Mizoram, despite not achieving a majority, they were able to form governments, with buying MLAs from other parties and partisan backing from governors. This was one accusation for which they had all along accused the Congress, when they were in opposition.Honest governance!

In Uttar Pradesh, when they found themselves underwhelmed by the incumbent Samajwadi party’s achievements, they harped on Hindu Muslim theme and accused the incumbent government favouring Muslims on the qabrustan vs shamshan and Eid vs Diwali issues. This was enough to polarise Hindu vote.

Comfortable victory!

In Bihar, the Hindu voters were warned that fire crackers would be lit in Pakistan if the BJP did not winin the elections. Enough to polarise votes on religious grounds, again!

In Gujarat elections, on receipt of internal poll, which informed of the impending demise of the BJP, Mr Modi came on the stage andtold the audience that Pakistan (read Muslims) was trying to rig elections and referred to a dinner meeting between a former Pakistani diplomat and Mr Man Mohan Singh, former Prime Minister, in Delhi (how low can you stoop?).

Hindu Muslim trump card,

again!

Next day our Prime Minister literally cried in a rally and begged for votes for the BJP.This, coming from a Prime Minister who has not held a single press conference in his tenure. Must have learnt some acting techniques from his idol- Amitabh Bachchan as AtlalBehariVajpey had learnt from his icon, Dilip Kumar.The message was clearly seen on the horizon.

They realised that Hindu Muslim card was proving hard as a vote gatherer.

So a new strategy needed to be adopted. From now it would not be Hindu Muslim shout. It would have to be Patriotism. Shouting and screaming that Muslims are not patriots and, in heart, are Pakistanis.

Religion, now, is being replaced

by Patriotism.

Some change!

The new strategy is to come in Muslim localities on motorbikes – 50 to 100 riders with two or three on the pillions with the tricolour and shouting anti Pakistani slogans.

If you are not singing or standing at VandeMatram, if you are not offering your obeisance to the Sun God (Surya Puja) or if you are eating beef, you are not Indian but Pakistani. Coming from people whose Vedas describe in detail about the cow/bull slaughter in the rituals! Strange!

Now to Kasgunj.

A small town in Uttar Pradesh (U.P).

On 26th January local residents (mainly Muslims) were holding a flag- hoisting ceremony on Abdul Hamid square (named after the decorated soldier of 1962 war). Amidst the festivities, a gang of about 100 bike riders with the Tricolour as well as Bhagua flags raided the square, shouting anti Pakistani slogans ( since when Bhagua flag has replaced theTricolour in Republic Day’s festivities?).

It is interesting to know ShriGolwalker , the then chief of RSS had opposed the adoption of the Tricolour as our national flag and insisted on the Bhagua.

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To which Mahatma Gandhi said, “the Tricolour is a symbol of nonviolenceand humility”. The bikers ransacked chairs and other furniture on the chaurahaand burnt some Muslim shops also. In the violence oneChandan Gupta was killed and many others injured including some Muslim motorists passing by on their way to Aligarh.

The autopsy of the incident reveals that this was preplanned and that a member of the group had already informed the police force five days earlier (police reached 90 minutes after the incident, though only 5 minutes away from thehot spot).

A Muslim has been arrested but, the pistol, seized from his house doesn’t correspond to the bullet which killed Chandan Gupta. The ‘TirangaYatra’ was attempted to be replicated in Agra and Mainpuri and some other towns but, was stopped by the police.

There is an allegation by Abhishek Shrivastava of the National Dastak that the local Sheshnath temple, associated with Gorakhnath temple (whose chief mahant is the current chief Minister of U.P) has been frequented by some of the processionists.

In response, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is asking why permission is needed to stage ‘ TirangaYatra’.

It is interesting that the district magistrate (D.M) of Bareilly, RaghvendraVikram Singh posted on the Facebook which goes like this, “It has become a trend to pass processions in Muslim dominated areas raising Pakistani slogans to provoke Muslims, why no one says ‘China Murdabad’.”

According to The Wire, the M.P of Bareilly would complain against the D.M. I am really feeling sorry for the D.M. But, one thing is sure. Kasganj was an experiment, which proved successful, and we should be prepared for more to come until next elections in 2019.

These are author’s personal views

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Budget 2018: A new record for cynical dissimulation

By Prabhat Patnaik*

N

EW DELHI: The Union Budget for 2018-19 sets a new record for cynical dissimulation. To be sure there is a certain amount of “window dressing” in all budgets, but the announcement of fantabulous schemes with scarcely a paisa earmarked for them, as has happened this year, is quite unprecedented in the annals of budget-making in India.

Consider for instance the muchhyped “World’s Largest Healthcare Programme” announced in this budget, which is supposed to provide insurance cover for up to Rs.5 lakhs per family to 10 crore families constituting 40 percent of India’s population. The total sum allocated for this programme is a paltry Rs.2000 crores, which is only Rs.672 crores more than the amount earmarked for its precursor (which provided insurance cover for up to Rs. 1 lakh per family) in last year’s budget (and that sum too was not fully spent).

Commentators have rightly noted that the insurance route to providing healthcare is totally counter-productive: it simply enriches private hospitals and insurance companies. The only sensible way for the government to provide healthcare is through public facilities, such as under the National Health Service in several European countries. Ironically, the U.S. which spends a larger proportion of the federal budget on healthcare than Europe, has an abysmal healthcare system compared to the latter because it follows the insurance rather than the NHS route.

But let us for a moment set aside this issue. Even for an insurance scheme, the amount the government has budgeted is trivial compared to requirements. When the RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojana (RSBY), the original version of this programme was launched, the maximum annual benefit for a family was Rs.30000. But the insurance premium paid per family in most states was around Rs.500, i.e. onesixtieth of the maximum benefit.

On this reckoning, and assuming the same level of participation as in the original RSBY, the premium for a maximum benefit of Rs.5 lakhs should be Rs.8300; and for 10 crore families, the total premium should be Rs.83000 crores. Assuming that there is a 60:40 sharing of this premium between the centre and the states (and ignoring the fact that for the North- East the ratio is actually 90:10), and that all state governments agree to such a ratio and come on board, rather than going their own individual ways, the central budget’s provision for this scheme should have been Rs. 50,000 crores.

The fact that only Rs.2000 crores have been provided instead of

Rs.50000 crores, suggests that the central government expects the enrolment under this scheme to be extremely meagre. It assumes in other words that the scheme will be a non-starter anyway and hence will need very little funding; and yet it hopes to derive considerable mileage from it for showing solicitousness towards the poor.

It is of course being argued that the provision of Rs.2000 crores is only for the first year, when the programme would not have taken off anyway because of the lead time required for it. But the fact that the government is simply dissembling is obvious from the figures mentioned by officials of both the Health Ministry and of the NitiAyog. They reckon the annual insurance premium for this programme to be only around Rs.11-1200 per family, i.e. just over twice the amount paid when the maximum benefit was Rs.30000.

This is so ludicrous a figure that they either have no idea what they are talking about, or are already proceeding on the assumption that the scheme will be a dud one, even while tom-tomming it as the “World’s Largest Healthcare Programme”.

The other talking point about the budget has been its supposedly pro-agriculture bias. The main promises here have been: an increase in the institutional credit to agriculture from Rs.10 lakh crores last year to Rs.11 lakh crores in the coming year, and a minimum support price for the Kharif crop that is 50 percent above the cost of production.

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Asma Jahangir, the truly phenomenal woman

By Seema Mustafa

A

sma Jahangir is no more. Death (cardiac arrest) was sudden, dramatic almost taking away Asma at a time when this region needed her the most. As warmongers dominate and the language of hate between India and Pakistan holds sway, even as civilians and soldiers die by the dozens, Asma’s voice for peace remained firm and uncompromising.

No one could buy her, no government entice her, as she stood like a beacon and an inspiration for all in her quest for peace.

Asma emerged as a strong critic of Pakistans military governments, and would often chide me for even thinking that a non-civilian government could deliver the goods. “We need democracy, we know it is weak, we need it to become strong and that cannot happen under the uniform”, she would say. We used to sit in her house---nay live in her house in Lahore--having long discussions into the night, discussing the differences, and finding solace in the similarities between India and Pakistan.

She would laugh at New

Delhi, that would welcome her with open arms, the embrace being directly in poportion to her criticism of the government in Islamabad.

There were times when she was a top favourite of the Indian Foreign Office that would lay out the red carpet for Asma, so that she could travel across India criticising military rule in Pakistan that she had always consistently opposed. When we pointed

it out, she would laugh and say, “I know, you think I don’t but that’s all right, we need a civilian government in Islamabad.”

Asma suffered like those who opposed the military in her country did. She would worry about her family, and was determined that those closest to her found a life outside Pakistan. She loved her country, was clear that she would not leave, but

fearful for the safety of those associated with her would tell us that while she was prepared to face the bullet, she would not be able to bear anything untoward happening to those she loved. She was torn between pride and fear when her girl entered journalism, as she knew that the wrath of the state had overturned many a life in Pakistan. As indeed in India.

Yes, Asma won several awards. She was celebrated by peace lovers across the world. She was a celebrity.

But her two feet remained firmly on the ground. She would smile her way through adversity and fame with equal measure and was clear that for her life was not an affair with the drawing room, but an experience in the field, where she did not hesitate to speak out regardless of the attack on her. She took on the military and the fundamentalists both despite the threats. For her both were the enemy, and had to be fought for a strong, democratic Pakistan.

I spoke to her, but did not meet Asma as the situation in India turned, and worsened with the democracy that we had taken for granted

under threat. I wonder what she would have said, as she did admire the progress India had made, away from the military, and away from fundamentalism to embrace a secular, democratic order.

She was disillusioned I know, but she would have urged us to fight, and pointed out that while in Pakistan she was one of few, in India we at least had the advantage of being one of the many.

For the cynics, let me add that Asma’s quest for peace might not have convinced those who feed on war, but it has institutionalised peace in the region. There is a constituency for peace, as consistent and as determined as she was. Uncompromising, relentless, and optimistic that will survive the canons of war, and be there to mop up the mess and usher in peace. One day, soon.

One can still see Asma’s petite figure, alert flashing eyes, a tentative smile playing on her lips as she argued passionately for peace. What a truly phenomenal woman, who we took for granted while she was alive. And are now crushed by the loss.

Source: The Citizen Is Hopeful, 11 February, 2018.

Budget 2018: A new record for...

Contd. from pg 21

Now, neither of these are matters involving the budget. The increase in credit to agriculture is a matter for the banks to decide. The government cannot micromanage bank lending, other than through setting “priority sector” norms, which the banks supposedly have been meeting anyway. But, as the case of “priority sector” lending suggests, what constitutes agricultural credit is defined so widely that even if Rs.11 lakh crores do go to “agriculture” this year, not much of it would actually get to the peasantry.

As for the minimum support price, simply announcing such a price that happens to be 1.5 times the cost of production means nothing, unless the peasants are actually paid that price through government procurement. Ironically, even though there have been protests against farm-price crash all over the country recently, and potato farmers in U.P. have been dumping their crop in front of Yogi Adityanath’s residence, Jaitley claimed that the peasants in the rabi season were already given an MSP that was 50 percent above the cost of production; this only underscores the vacuity of the budget’s MSP promise for the Kharif season.

This vacuity is compounded by

the Modi government’s concept of “cost of production”. There are two quite distinct concepts here: one refers to the actual paid-out costs (in cash or kind) plus the cost of family labour; the other refers to this concept plus imputed rent on own land and imputed rental on own fixed capital.

The Modi government’s promised MSP is with respect to the former concept, while the M.S. Swaminathan Committee which had recommended an MSP 50 percent above the “cost of production” had the latter concept in mind. Since the latter cost in the case of paddy (a kharif crop) can be as high as 50 percent above the former, the Modi government’s MSP can still even fall short of the latter cost. And even if it does happen to exceed the latter, this MSP may still not cover the interest foregone in buying fixed capital, and the transport cost.

Besides, if the peasants have to be paid a higher price but its impact is not to be felt by the poor consumers, then there has to be an expansion in government subsidy and in the scope of the public distribution system. There is no evidence that the government has even thought about issue, even as it blithely talks about doubling the farmers’ income, or giving them a price 50 percent above cost of production. Clearly, these are just

throwaway remarks which signify nothing.

In any case however this MSP promise has nothing to do with the budget. In the budget, compared to the revised estimate for last year, there is only a 7 percent increase in nominal terms in the allocation for the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare, which means a decline in allocation relative to the GDP. The “pro-farmer bias” in short is just hype.

When in addition we consider the fact that the provision for MGNREGS has been kept unchanged in absolute terms at Rs.55000 crores which does not even take into account the wage arrears, let alone the rise in prices; and that the allocation for ICDS has been slated to increase by only 7 percent compared to last year’s budget (i.e. to fall relative to GDP), it is clear that social sector expenditure, as in previous NDA budgets, will continue to languish.

In fact the strategy of the current budget is simple: make immense noise about “helping the poor”, “helping the peasants”, “helping the women” and so on; do not give an extra paisa from the budget towards these ends, but promise the moon from off-budget sources; and carry out an expenditure squeeze to reduce the fiscal deficit in the face of subdued receipts caused by the

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switch to GST. This squeeze on expenditure is clear from the fact that the total spending is to go up by only 10 percent in nominal terms compared to last year’s budget, which is even below the assumed nominal GDP increase. The share of central government expenditure in GDP in other words is budgeted to fall.

Such a contractionary budget in the midst of a slowing down of GDP growth may appear odd; but that is what the neo-liberal regime which the NDA government assiduously upholds demands of it; and it has dutifully obeyed.

The one area where it has strayed a little is in re-imposing the longterm capital gains tax; and already the stock-market has shown its displeasure at such temerity in no uncertain terms, as indeed it had done when Pranab Mukherjee as Finance Minister had tried to plug the “Mauritius route” for corporate tax evasion. No doubt, the present government will backtrack on this move, as its predecessor had done then. A government under the neo-liberal regime after all has the freedom to victimize minority communities, but not to tax corporate gains.

• The author is an economist of repute in India.

Source: The Citizen Is Hopeful, 3 February, 2018.

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Climate change impact on Karachi may be one of Pakistan’s biggest threats

By Rabiya Jaffery

K

ARACHI, Pakistan, Feb 2 2018 (IPS) Historically a small fishing village, Karachi has now turned into Pakistan’s biggest commerce and industrial center that generates about half of the country’s tax revenue.

The city also accounts for at least 42 per cent of its total gross domestic product (GDP), houses its stock exchange, central bank, and the headquarters of most banks, along with major foreign multinational corporations.

The former capital has an ethnically and religiously diverse population that exceeds 17 million, and according to a 2015 report

by Express Tribune, a million people from other cities and rural areas migrate there every three years due to its high employment opportunities.

According to World Wildlife Federation (WWF-Pakistan), an increasing proportion of these migrants include those that have been displaced due to an increase in catastrophic floods caused by melting glaciers or those that have been impacted by the rising droughts in the warmer regions.

German Watch, a German think-tank in its recent Global Climate Risk Index 2016 report listed Pakistan number five in the list of top 10 countries most affected by climate change.

Karachi, Pakistan’s main portal city is also far from immune to the impacts of global rising temperatures.

In fact, urban cities – such as Karachi – are usually more susceptible to heat waves due to a phenomenonknown as the “heat island effect” which causes temperatures to be 5-8 °C higher than the countryside.

“Deforestation, miles of asphalt roads and vertical building structures increase heat absorption and limit air circulation,” says ZainubAlRustamani, a sustainable urban planning consultant and architect.

“The vehicular and industrial emissions as well as the increased energy consumption of an unchecked growing population in poorly planned yet densely populated settlements also factor in.”

In 2015, the severe heat wave that struck Southern Pakistan had temperatures as high as 49 °C and in

“The vehicular and industrial emissions as well as the increased energy consumption of an unchecked growing population in poorly planned yet densely populated settlements also factor in.”

Karachi alone claimed the lives of almost 1,200 people, according to local newspapers – a first in the country’s recent history.

Karachi is also close to the Indus River Delta, where the Indus flows into the Arabian Sea. Due to rising sea levels, the delta is now almost at-level with the Arabian Sea. “This threatens the stability of the ecosystem because it leads to land erosion and increases the salinity of creeks flowing from the Indus,” says Dr Amir Inam of Pakistan’s Institute of Oceanography.

Sea intrusion increases temporary and permanent flooding to large land areas, which limits fresh water supplies and food security, he adds. This also creates an inhospitable environment for aquatic creatures and mangrove trees that depend on fresh water.

In fact, the area of Pakistan that is covered by mangrove forests has decreased from 400,000 hectares in 1945 to 70,000 hectares, according to a report by Climate Change News, due partly to the rising sea levels and partly to land grabbing. Some 205 acres had been razed to make way for several coal-fired power plants.

The repercussions of the upset in the balance of the ecosystem are vast.

According to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), these mangrove trees play a critical role in buffering the coastline from erosion caused by waves and storms.

“Mangrove trees cannot stop cyclones and tsunamis.

But they do act as the first line of defense against these natural calamities, minimizing their damage,” adds Dr.Inam.

With the mangroves gone, the Karachi coastline has become more prone to natural disasters such as cyclones and tsunamis.

While no major tsunami has struck Karachi since 1945, a drill stimulating a major earthquake in the Indian Ocean conducted by United Nations warned that the tsunami waves could reach Karachi in just one and a half hours and “wipe out the entire city”.

So far, no tangible evacuation plan exists to prepare the city’s residents in case of an emergency.

An additional strain to Karachi’s stability is the Port Qasim Power Project, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor program, currently in development along the coastline of the Arabian Sea. Though created to alleviate Pakistan’s energy crisis, the project has wreaked havoc on the lives of people in close proximity to it, and damaged one of Pakistan’s most critical

ecosystems that many living along the coastal belt replied on, to farm and fish.

These changes have already displaced as many as 80 percent of the five million Pakistanis who once lived along the banks of the Delta.

Policy making on climate change have so far lagged in the country and the first major bill to “fasttrack measures needed to implement actions on the ground” was passed just last year.

Measures had been passed earlier address climate change, but most have been little implemented, critics charge.

“The Pakistani government must prioritize its response to climate change in order to mitigate environmental threats and prevent future calamities,” says Sarfaraz Khan, an environmental activist based in Pakistan.

And much like the government, the Pakistani public finds it difficult to prioritize climate change when the average citizen is deprived of life’s most basic necessities and the immediate and clear hazards

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to livelihood trump longterm, still somewhat largely invisible threats.

However, this perception is changing as global warming starts to impact everyday life.

In 2007-2008, a Gallup poll found that only 34 percent of Pakistanis were aware of climate change, and only 24 percent considered it a serious threat but by 2015, Pakistan had joined a list by Pew Research Center of the top 19 countries where the majority of the population now considers climate change a top global threat.

“For decades, Pakistan has struggled to manage urgent crises, ranging from infrastructure woes to terrorism,” adds Khan.

“There is no downplaying the severity of those threats but, at the same time, it is vital to acknowledge that another potentially devastating danger lurks in the shadows.”

Karachi was named among the least safe cities of the world in a 2017 report of 60 cities published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Only five cities across the globe were placed above Karachi in the category of deaths from natural disasters.

Annually, more than four people among one million lost their life in Karachi due to natural disasters.

If actions are not taken to combat the impact of climate change, environmental factors will continue to worsen the political and economic instability in Pakistan and one of their biggest threats, in the long term, is the stabilization of Karachi, the country’s economic backbone.

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For millions of Indian women, marriage means migration

By Neeta Lal

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EW DELHI, Jan 28 2018 (IPS) RekhaRajagopalan, a 26-year-old schoolteacher, migrated to the Indian capital city of New Delhi from southern Chennai in 2015 after her marriage. The reason was simple. Rekha’s husband and his family were based in Delhi, so like millions of other married Indian women, she left her maternal home to relocate to a new city with her new family.

But problems began soon after. Used to Chennai’s hot and balmy weather, Rekha hated Delhi’s severe cold in winter. The stress played on her mind; her periods became erratic. She also missed her younger sister and confidant Sumathi and her mother’s food.

“It was a big cultural shock for me to shift to Delhi,” Rekha told IPS. “I love my husband, but it’s tough to cope with the pressure of living in a city so far away from my parental home. The cuisine, the language, the weather, everything seems so alien.

It’s almost like living on a different planet.”

Nor is Rekha alone. As per the last census in 2011, over 217. 9 million Indian women had to migrate from their natal homes across the country due to marriage. These numbers reflect a significant surge from the year 2001 when 154 million of them shifted to a new city or town post marriage. In contrast, the corresponding numbers for men are staggeringly lower — 7.4 million and six million for those same years respectively.

Women’s migration across India is driven primarily by marriage, as pointed out

by IndiaSpend, a public interest journalism website.

In absolute numbers, a whopping 97 percent of Indians migrating for marriage were women in Census 2011, a marginal drop from 98.6 percent in Census 2001.

In fact surveys point out that women — whose place of residence is dictated by their marriage — form the single-largest category of migrants in the country.

During the last decade, 69 percent Indian women moved out of their place of residence after marriage – either to shift to their husband’s place or to move elsewhere with them.

Comparatively, only 2.3

Marriage migration is by far the largest form of migration in India and is close to universal for women in rural areas. percent women relocated for work or employment and 1 percent for education.

Employment and education overall constituted 10 percent and 2 percent of migration movement respectively.

Unfortunately, despite the colossal number of women who have had to migrate because of marriage, the implications of female migration have not been sufficiently studied.

“The lack of attention to marriage migration means that very little is known about its extent, geographical distribution, how it has changed over time, and its relationship with age, distance, caste, household consumption, and geography,” says Scott L. Fulford in a 2015 research paper titled “Marriage migration in India: Vast, Varied, and Misunderstood”.

Fulford writes that marriage migration is by far the largest form of migration in India and is close to universal for women in rural areas. It also varies substantially across India, and little appears to have changed over the decades. But rather than an independent phenomenon, this type of migration is part of a “larger puzzle of low workforce participation, education, and bargaining power of women in India.”

“Although there are significant regional differences, most of India practices some form of patrilocal village exogamy in which women are married outside of their natal village, joining their husband’s family in his village or town.

Across India three quarters of women older than 21

have left their place of birth, almost all on marriage,” writes the author.

Experts opine that apart from testing a woman’s capability to overcome daunting challenges in a new environment, marriage migration also triggers a sense of being uprooted and displaced from usual habituated places and established homes to new locations, which requires considerable reorientation and adjustment.

Demographer K. Laxmi Narayan from the University of Hyderabad, who has tracked the levels of ruralurban migration in India, says in the essay “India’s urban migration crisis” that the reason for marriage migration across India is mostly cultural and social.

“In north India, women are not supposed to marry a man from the same village.

So invariably marriage means migration,” he says.

However, as traditionally feared, marriage migration doesn’t necessarily result in women falling off the workforce map. Many of the women who migrate for marriage do join the labour force, says a January 2017 housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry report on migration. Migration for work usually results in relief from poverty even if it means a rough life in India’s cities, IndiaSpend reported on June 13, 2016. A migrant from Maharashtra’s droughtstricken Marathwada region, for example, triples her income temporarily after moving to Mumbai, according to the report.

Women’s gainful employment, however, doesn’t discount the

fact that displacement extracts its own pound of flesh. According to Kavita Krishnan, social activist and secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, the condition of women who migrate for marriage is analogous to migrant labourers.

“Such women feel vulnerable and socially isolated as they are not native to the place they shift to. They are often exploited by the husband and his family, not allowed to contact their natal families and their mobility is restricted.

Domestic violence or abuse isn’t uncommon in this demographic either,” she says.

What emboldens the perpetrators of such abuse is the fact that the victim’s proximity to her family has been eliminated. Krishnan explains that the rampant cultural phenomenon of “bride purchase” — when women are bought from other regions to marry men in places where women are scarce (due to a skewed sex ration) — only makes the situation worse.

“These women are brought in from remote corners of the country and are mostly illiterate.

With their near and dear ones living far away, their situation in an alien land is especially precarious.”

RanjanaKumari, chairperson of the Centre for Social Research, a New Delhi-based think tank, believes that an out-ofwhack sex ratio in India exacerbates the problem of women’s marriage migration.

“In states like Haryana,

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which have one of the world’s worst sex ratios (914 girls to 1,000 boys), brides are forcibly brought in from other states, which leads to their cultural isolation and maladjustment. We’ve seen cases of illiterate women in Bundelkhand (Madhya Pradesh) being sold to men in other states for as little as 500 dollars,” she says.

“This practice comes under the phenomenon of forced migration and is prevalent across many states.”

Such women, adds the activist, are also more likely to stay in abusive marriages as compared to those who live near natal homes and feel empowered to walk out due to emotional and monetary support extended by friends and natal families.

“If the women seek a divorce, which is rare, the prospect of courts taking several years to settle a case breaks them. Often these women cannot afford the several rounds of litigation involved and are dependent on others for sustenance. So she ends up compromising and living with her abusive families, especially if there are children involved.”

Where does the solution lie? Experts agree that due to lack of detailed studies on the subject, and not enough debates and discussions in public forums on it, no policies are in place to fix specific problems arising out of marriage migration.

“Normal divorce rules apply in such cases,” says AbhaRastogi, a senior High Court lawyer. “But often there are nuances involved which get overlooked due to lack of data and research on the subject. We need to address this lacuna promptly.”

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Pakistan, facing military aid cuts, one step ahead of US

By Thalif Deen

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EW YORK, Jan 16 2018 (IPS) - When the United States abruptly cuts off military supplies to its allies for political or other reasons, the reaction has been predictable: it drives these countries into the arms of the Chinese, the Russians and Western European weapons suppliers.

So, when the Trump administration decided recently to withhold about $2.0 billion in aid to Pakistan, the government in Islamabad was one step ahead: it had already built a vibrant military relationship with China and also turned to UK, France, Sweden, Turkey and Italy for its arms supplies.

In the Middle East, some of the longstanding US allies, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt and Kuwait, are known not to depend too heavily on American weapons systems—and their frontline fighter planes include not only F-15s and F-16s (USsupplied) but also Rafale and Mirage combat jets (France), the Typhoon (a UK/France/ Italy joint venture) and Tornado and Jaguars (UK), all of them in multi-billion dollar arms deals.

The primary reason for multiple sources is to ensure uninterrupted arms supplies if any one of the suppliers, usually the US, withholds military aid – as it did in the 1990s when Washington suspended security assistance to Pakistan under the so-called Pressler amendment which called for a certification that Pakistan did not possess nuclear weapons. (It did) According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) latest data for 20122016, the US accounted for about a third of the entire global market in major conventional weapons.

SIPRI reports that Pakistan has received significant quantities of weapons from both the United States and China in recent years. Deliveries from China in the last several years reportedly include combat aircraft, tanks, submarines, and other naval vessels.

US deliveries have included armoured personnel carriers and systems to modernize US F-16s that were previously

supplied to the Pakistani military.

Derek Bisaccio, Middle East/ Africa & Eurasia Analyst at Forecast International Inc., a USbased defence research company, told IPS the two primary arms suppliers to Pakistan are the United States and China.

American arms agreements with Pakistan, he said, have totalled between $5-6 billion since 2001; much of this stems from the sale of F-16 fighter planes.

“Although Chinese arms sales to Pakistan are more difficult to put a dollar figure to– owing to a lack of transparency on both sides– it is expected that Chinese arms sales have eclipsed American arms sales on an annual basis in recent years as Pakistan and China have deepened their military-technical cooperation,” he noted.

In the past decade, China has sold naval patrol vessels, submarines, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and surfaceto-air missile (SAM) systems to Pakistan. The two have partnered on projects like the JF-17 fighter jet, assembled and manufactured locally by the Pakistanis.

Other arms suppliers include Ukraine, with whom Pakistan has partnered on its fleet of battle tanks, and Turkey.

Pakistan and Turkey have negotiated in the past few years over Pakistan’s possible purchase of attack helicopters and corvettes. Pakistan has purchased airborne early warning & control aircraft from Sweden and may well acquire more in the coming years, Bisaccio said.

In the past, Pakistan has contracted the United Kingdom, France and Italy for some of its purchases; many naval vessels and aircraft operated by Pakistan are French-origin, he added.

According to a report in the Washington Times last week, China is planning to build a military base in Pakistan, which would be its second overseas military base, after Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

The naval installation will be erected in a key strategic location: the Pakistani town of Jiwani, a port near the Iranian border on the Gulf of Oman and near the Straits of Hormuz,

which resides at one of the six proposed economic corridors of the One Belt One Road Initiative, commonly called the Silk Road Economic Belt, the Times said.

Dr. Natalie J. Goldring, a Senior Fellow with the Security Studies Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, told IPS: “The Trump administration’s decision to halt military aid to Pakistan is long overdue. Pakistan’s human rights record is deplorable, as documented in annual reports from the State Department.”

However, that decision was not justified on human rights grounds, she noted.

Instead, the administration argues that the Pakistani government is not doing enough to combat terrorism.

“This argument that Pakistan is harbouring terrorists is not new. The US-Pakistani relationship frequently features policy cycles that include critical statements by US officials, attempts to reduce or halt aid, and an eventual return to the status quo,” said Goldring, who also represents the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy at the United Nations, on conventional weapons and arms trade issues.

“Ironically, the Trump decision to put a hold on military assistance to Pakistan comes at the same time as Reuters reports that the administration is planning to be even more aggressive in pursuing global arms sales. Embassy staffs are apparently going to be asked to promote US arms sales more actively to their host governments.

This is reminiscent of similar moves during the Reagan administration.”

She also pointed out that advocates of arms sales often argue that countries can find other suppliers if the US government refuses a sale.

“Yet by avoiding selling sophisticated US weapons to unstable regimes, we may significantly reduce the risk that members of our armed forces will end up fighting our own weapons.

And in the end, the US government needs to set ethical standards for arms sales, not merely economic ones.”

Reacting to the US aid cuts, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja

Muhammad Asif was quoted as saying: “We do not have any alliance” with the US. “This is not how allies behave.”

Trump said on Twitter that Pakistan had “given us nothing but lies and deceit” and accused Islamabad of providing “safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan.”

But Islamabad may still retaliate by closing down US supply routes to Afghanistan which goes through Pakistan. Currently, there are over 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan.

Bisaccio of Forecast International Inc. told IPS that due to decades of partnership, the Pakistani military has a large amount of U.S.-supplied equipment, either provided directly from the U.S. or a third party, in its force structures, either in active use or in storage.

Much of the Army’s aviation wing is composed of Western-supplied aircraft, with a lot of American systems.

Asked if the Pakistani military can survive if the US suspends military aid– and halts maintenance, servicing and spares to USmade equipment—Bisaccio said it can certainly survive, but in some areas of the military such moves to end cooperation would be painful.

He said the suspension of maintenance, servicing, and the provision of spare parts– should the U.S. decide to enact such a move– would be particularly problematic for the Pakistani F-16 fleet.

Pakistan has already encountered difficulty acquiring new F-16s, as the U.S. Congress blocked Pakistan from using foreign military financing to purchase eight jets in 2016. Inability to acquire maintenance or armaments would impact fleet readiness, especially over time as the F-16s face attrition. Posturing against rival India would suffer as a result, he added.

Moreover, the ability of the Army to carry out counter-insurgency operations could be impacted should Pakistan not be able to obtain servicing for the Army’s aviation assets, especially the AH-1 attack helicopters.

“Pakistan, in recognition that reliance on one supplier could create vulnerability, has over

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Trump said on Twitter that Pakistan had “given us nothing but lies and deceit” and accused Islamabad of providing “safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan.” the years diversified its supplier base and worked to build up its own defence industry, which does have the effect of lessening its military dependence on the U.S,” Bisaccio pointed out.

The dispute with President Trump, he pointed out, is a symptom of the longer-running tension between the U.S. and Pakistan, but, in Pakistan’s view, the latest row with the Trump administration provides further validation for this policy.

In an interview with the Financial Times in September 2017, Prime Minister ShahidKhaqanAbbasi reiterated that his country would like to purchase F-16s from the U.S., but could seek alternatives from France or China if need be.

Pakistan’s missile deterrent against India is a key element of the country’s national security and Pakistan was able to develop its missile program without American assistance.

“The gradual fraying of relations between the U.S. and Pakistan has occurred amid a deepening of relations between China and Pakistan. Their joint cooperation on a range of matters, including militarytechnical issues, will help blunt the impact of the U.S. cutting off aid to Pakistan.”

The volume of security assistance provided to Pakistan from China is unknown but is likely to increase moving forward, offsetting to some extent the temporary or permanent loss of American assistance, he added.

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MODERN SLAVERY

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Dark Sites of Indian Granite Quarries: Modern Slavery, Child Labour and Unsafe Work

By Neeraj Nanda

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ew research, commissioned by the India Committee of the Netherlands and Stop Child Labour, reveals that modern slavery, low wages, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions are rampant in granite quarries in South India. In some quarries, especially in waste stone processing, child labour is found.

There is an enormous gap in working conditions between permanent workers (mainly supervisors) and casual workers (70% of the workforce). The first group receives safety equipment, insurance and an employment contract, while the casual labourers doing the dangerous manual work, lack those fundamental labour rights.

The research shows that granite sourced from the investigated quarries is imported by 33 natural stone companies and 3 banks from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Spain, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and the USA*.

China is also a major importer, processor and reexporter of Indian granite for the international market.

Only a few companies are member of a sustainability initiative aiming to improve working conditions in the

natural stone sector, but these initiatives still hardly tackle the deplorable working conditions in granite quarries. The draft report was sent to all 36 companies and banks, but only 5 reacted.

Focus on links between quarries and importers India is a top exporter of granite, widely used for wall and floor tiles, tomb stones and kitchen tops in western countries.

Western governments are an important end-buyer of granite for buildings, pavements, public squares etc. Half of the total world exports of raw granite comes from India.

The research was conducted in 22 quarries and 6 waste stone processing sites in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka in South India. These three states account for 75% of the granite production in India.

Almost half of the sampled quarries have direct linkages with foreign importers.

Other quarries also produce granite for export markets, but this is traded through intermediaries.

Modern slavery More than 70% of the workforce in granite quarries are casual labourers employed on a daily wage or piece rate basis. With wage advances of one to three months wages and high interest

loans, the quarry owners are tying workers to the job. Nearly 25% of the workers are recruited by providing loans, with annual interest rates of 24% to 36%. More than half of the migrant workers owe large amounts to quarry owners or contractors. This creates debt bondage, as workers must clear the amount before they can change employer. In nine quarries this form of modern slavery is prevalent.

Middlemen are recruiting worker, mostly migrants, but offer them no contract and do not respect legal requirements. Migrants constitute around two third of the total workforce in granite quarries. Workers are mostly from so-called ‘lowest caste’ of Dalits or Adivasi (tribal people). They are extra vulnerable due to their low social status in Indian society.

Health and safety in great danger None of the workers hired through middlemen have access to a mandatory retirement scheme nor are they covered under health insurance, while these workers are most exposed to health risks.

Quarry workers face many occupational hazards and often get injured. Deadly accidents often remain unreported. Workers are also exposed to noise and dust causing work-related

illnesses, like the incurable lung disease silicosis.

Around 62% of the workers report that they are not receiving safety equipment such as a helmet, goggles, boots, respirator/mask and gloves, except during labour inspections.

Less child labour but still present Child labour (below 18 years) used to be rampant in granite quarries in the early 2000s, but declined because of interventions by the government, industry and civil society organisations. However, the research revealed instances of child labour in main quarry operations in seven of the sample quarries.

None of the investigated sites have a prevention and rehabilitation system for child labour in place.

Child labour is still rather prominent in waste stone processing. Nearly 80% of waste stone processing is done by women and children. Children below 14 years account for nearly 3% of the waste stone processing workforce and 5% of this workforce is between 15 and 18 years old.

Low wages, grossly inadequate housing and no active workers’ organisations Considering the long working hours, wages in half of the researched quarries do not meet the legal requirements.

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Overtime is sometimes paid by providing snacks and alcoholic drinks. Daily wages are fixed, depending on work classification, between €3.55 and €6.19 a day. Housing provided for the workers is grossly inadequate. They share small rooms, with little ventilation, water or sanitation facilities and no privacy. Half of the quarries lack clean drinking water while toilet facilities were only observed in four big quarries. In none of the researched quarries an active labour union is present.

Recommendations The report is offering recommendations to companies, sustainability initiatives, the Indian government and the European Union and its member states. Human rights due diligence by granite companies is needed to systematically eradicate rights violations, increase transparency, conduct risk assessments and implement improvement plans. The Indian government has to enforce existing labour laws and European member states should strengthen their public procurement policy (e.g. for granite).

FULL REPORT AT - www.indianet.nl/ TheDarkSitesOfGranite.html Source: India Resists, August 24, 2017

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south asia 28 South Asia Timestimes

finance

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Estate Planning Matters – Part 4

BY Balki Balakrishnan

I

In the last few article in this newspaper we identified briefly the persons (super dependants) eligible to receive the money in super upon the death of the member and how the member can make sure that the super money is distributed to intended recipients.

In this article we will describe briefly how a member’s super death benefit paid to beneficiary(ies) are taxed.The Australian Tax Law governs how a death benefit is taxed.

On payment of a super death benefit, the trustee of the super fund must determine whether the beneficiary is a super dependant and also a Tax dependant. This exercise is undertaken in order to withhold appropriate amount of tax. In general Tax dependants include spouse (including same or opposite sex, de facto) or former spouse of the deceased, the deceased’s child under the age of 18, any person who was financially dependant on the deceased just before he or she died, or any other person with whom the deceased had an inter dependency relationship just before he or she died.

The definition of a spouse for the purpose of tax law depends on the definition of ‘registered relationship’ under a law of a State or Territory. Similarly there are strict definitions as to who is considered a Child, was in an interdependency relationship etc.

As we have seen before, the death benefit can be paid as a lump sum or as an income stream (pension). The form of the death benefit payment is usually decided by the beneficiary(ies) and the super fund trustee following the death of the member.

We will see now how the death benefit paid as a lump sum is treated for tax purposes.

Lump sum death benefits paid to tax dependants are totally

tax free. Tax non-dependants may pay tax on the lump sum death benefit depending on the tax components of the funds.

The member’s money in super may consist of two components – Tax-free component and taxable component. The taxfree component as the name suggests is tax free. The taxable component may further be split in to Taxed and Untaxed element.

Tax non-dependants may pay tax 15% tax on the taxed element and 30% on the Untaxed element plus Medicare levy where applicable.

As we have seen before, the death benefit can also be paid to the member’s estate as a lump sum. In this case, no tax is withheld by the super trustee.

The trustee of the estate will determine the tax to be paid according to the tax status of the ultimate beneficiary(ies) of the lump sum.

We will now see how the death benefit paid as an

income stream is taxed. Provided a super fund’s trust deed and rules allow, an income stream can be commenced following the death of a member in the accumulation phase.An income stream death benefit can only be paid to certain dependants, with special restrictions on payments to children. In general, earnings on the underlying assets backing the income stream are tax-free compared to an individual’s marginal tax rate outside of super.

The pension withdrawn by the beneficiary is either tax-free or the taxable portion of the pension are taxed at the beneficiary’s marginal tax rate depending on the age of the deceased and the beneficiary at the time of death.

It should be noted that income stream death benefit can be commuted and cashed by the beneficiary. The tax paid on such a cash out depends on whether it was executed within or outside death benefit period as defined in

super laws.

Where a super fund trustee has been claiming a tax deduction for the cost of insurance premiums and the death benefit is paid to a non-tax dependant as a lump sum, insurance held within super creates an untaxed element in the death benefit. When paid directly to a tax non-dependant, this untaxed component is taxed at a maximum of 31.5 per cent.

Note that the untaxed element of the lump sum death benefit bears no relationship to the amount of insurance in the fund. Rather, it is calculated using a formula under the tax law.

We could see that Estate Planning or Personal Succession plan from a taxation perspective can be complex and therefore requires professional advice at the time of preparing an Estate Plan It is also important to review the plan periodically and upon changes to personal and other circumstances to keep it relevant.

Opes Financial Solutions Pty Ltd trading as Opes Financial Planning ACN618 122 795 is an Authorised Representative of Merit Wealth Pty Ltd AFSL 409361.

Balki Balakrishnan

Director | Financial Advisor Authorised Representative Number: 409415 Merit Wealth Pty Ltd. AFSL No: 409361 M: 0419 506 560

This article contains information that is general in nature. It does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. You need to consider your financial situation and needs before making any decisions based on this information. Please contact us at 0419 506 560 if you want more information or need to review your insurance covers.

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special article

southSouth asia times 29 Asia Times

Billionaires, fiscal paradise, the world’s debt, and the victims

By Roberto Savio*

R

OME, Jan 2 2018 (IPS) - Among Bloomberg’s many profitable activities is a convenient Bloomberg Billionaires Index that has just published its findings for 2017. It covers only the 500 richest people, and it proudly announces that they have increased their wealth by 1 trillion dollars in just one year.

Their fortunes went up by 23% to top comfortable 5 trillion dollars (to put this in perspective, the US budget is now at 3.7 trillion). That obviously means an equivalent reduction for the rest of the population, which lost those trillion dollars. What is not widely known is that the amount of the circulation of money stays the same; no new money is printed to accommodate the 500 richest billionaires!

In fact, Forbes, the magazine for the rich, states that there are over 2.000 billionaires in the world, and this number is going to increase and increase fast. China has now overtaken the US, by having 594 billionaires as compared to the US’s 535 – and every three days a new millionaire is born.

There is even an exclusive club of billionaires, the China Entrepreneur Club, which admits members only by the unanimity of its 64 members at present. Together they have 300 billion dollars, the 4.5% of the Chinese GNP. As a norm, the Chinese wealth is a family affair, which means that in 10 years they will leave a heritage of 1 trillion dollars, most probably to their sons; and the amount of inherited wealth is going to rise to three trillion dollars in 20 years.

We know from a large study by the French economist Thomas Piketty covering 65 countries during modern times, that the bulk of wealth comes from inherited money. That because, as we all know, money begets money.

And Reagan started his campaign: “Misery brings misery, wealth brings wealth”: therefore, we must tax rich people less than poor people.

But Trump’s tax law just adopted in the US, cuts taxes to companies, increasing the US deficit by 1.7 trillion dollars over ten years. Nobody is noticing that the US deficit is already at $18.96 trillion or about 104% of the previous 12 months of the Gross Domestic (GDP).

This tax reform will have a deep impact on Europe, by shifting there many of the costs of the reform, through balance of payments and trade. The five most important ministers of finance of Europe, UK included, have written a letter of protest, obviously much to the glee of President Trump, who perceives only the US as winner, and all others as losers.

All this staggering amount of money in a few hands (8 people have the same wealth as 2.3 billion people), brings us to three relevant considerations: a) what is happening with the world debt b) how are governments helping the rich to avoid taxes; c) the relation between injustice and democracy. None of those perspectives gives space for hope, and least of all trust in our political class.

Let us start with the world’s debt. I do not remember to have seen a single article on that in the closing year. Yet the International Monetary Fund has alerted: gross debt of the non-financial sector has doubled in nominal terms; since the end of the century to 152 trillion dollars. This is a record 225% of the world GDP. Two thirds come from the private sector, and one third from the public sector. But this increased from below 70% of the GDP last year now to 85%, a dramatic rise in such a short time.

In fact, the respected Institute for international Finance estimates that at the end of this year the global debt, private and public added, would have reached a staggering 226 trillion dollars, more than three times global annual economic output…

This doesn’t seem to interest anyone. But let us take the state of the American economy, and a proud President boasting about the index of growth, now estimated at 2.6%. Well, this shows the inadequacy of the GDP as a valid indicator. Growth is a macroeconomic index. If 80% goes to a few hands, and the crumbs to all the others, who pay most of taxes, it is not an example of growth, it is just a problem waiting to explode.

What is more, nobody is thinking about the increase in deficit. The total private debt at the end of the first quarter of 2017 was 14.9 trillion, with an increase of 900 million dollars in three months. While salaries increased from 9.2 billion dollars in 2014 to 10.3 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2017, the debt of families rose from 13.9 billion dollars to 14.9, an increase of one billion dollars, in just four months.

Which growth are we talking about? In fact, we have 86% of the population facing an increasing debt, but poorer at the same time, because of the concentration of wealth in just 1% of the population’s hands. This should be a cause of concern for any administration, left wing or rightwing: in fact, it is not surprising that the 400 richest men of the US, led by Warren Buffet, have written to Trump telling him that they are doing fine and that they do need a tax rebate; and that he should worry about the poorest part of the population.

Now a favourite way of avoiding

taxes, is to place money in tax havens, where between 21 and 30 trillion dollars are ensconced. The Tax Justice Network reports that this system is “basically designed and operated” by a group of highly paid specialists from the world’s largest private banks (led by UBS, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs), law offices, and accounting firms and tolerated by international organizations such as Bank for International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the OECD, and the G20.

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The amount of money hidden away has significantly increased since 2005, sharpening the divide between the super-rich and the rest of the world.

And this is why there was a lot of pressure to oblige banks to open their accounts to fiscal inspector, and pressure on the Bahamas, Hong Kong, Panama and other third world countries.

Now, another good example of the reigning hypocrisy: The last meeting of the Ministers of Finance of the European Union (Ecofin), has not been able to take a decision on something heinous: several member countries (Luxemburg, UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Malta and Cyprus), host tax havens on their territories.

The Queen of England has invested 10 million pounds in an English tax heaven. And two US states, in particular Delaware, have tax havens that are impenetrable even to the CIA and FBI. Tax havens such as the Cayman Islands, Jersey and the Bahamas were far less permissive, researchers found, than states such as Nevada, Delaware, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and New York. “[Americans] discovered that they really don’t need to go to Panama”, said James Henry of the Tax Justice Network. Ecofin has decided that they will continue to bang Third World countries, until they decided what to do at home.

Contd. on pg 33

South Asia Times south asia community 32 South Asia Timestimes

quick community guide Radio GUIDE

www.ekantipur.com/en THE RISING NEPAL: www.nepalnews.com.np

SBS Radio's South Asian

SUNDAY Language Programs Hindi..................................9 am to 10 am – 93.1 FM BANGLA Urdu................................10 am to 11 am – 93.1 FM Sydney 97.7 FM & SBS Radio 2 Tamil...............................11 am to 12 pm – 93.1 FM Melbourne 93.1 FM & SBS Radio 2 Hindi.................................8 pm to 10 pm – 88.3 FM Monday & Saturday Singhalese.......................8 pm to 11 pm –97.7 FM 6-7 PM GUJARATI MONDA Y Sydney 97.7 FM & SBS Radio 2 Hindi....................................3 to 4 pm – 93.1 FM Melbourne 93.1 FM & SBSPm Radio Bengali...............................4 pm to 5 pm – 93.1 FM Wednesday & Friday 4-5 PM Hindi...................................6 pm to 8 pm – 88.3 FM Indian (Fiji)..................................6 pm to 8 pm 88.3 HINDI Punjabi........................1 1 am to 12 Sydney 97.7 FM & SBS Radio 2 noon 92.3 FM Melbourne 93.1 FM & SBS Radio 2

Daily TUESDAY 5 PM Hindi.....................................

6 am to 8 am – 97.7 FM Hindi....................................

2 pm to 4 pm – 97.7 FM kannada Sydney SBS Radio 3

Melbourne SBS Radio 3 WEDNESDAY Tuesday 3-4 PM Hindi.................................... .6 am to 8 am – 97.7 FM Hindi.........................................

12 to 1 pm – 93.1 FM Nepali Sydney 97.7 FM & SBS1Radio 2 12 pm - 92.3 FM Punjabi............................

1 am to Melbourne 93.1 FM & SBS Radio Hindi................................... .8 pm to 92pm – 97.7 FM Saturday & Sunday 4-5 PM

THURSDAY PUNJABI Hindi...............................

5.30 am to 7 am – 97.7 FM Sydney 97.7 FM & SBS Radio 2 9 pm – 92.3 FM Tamil....................................

8 pm to Melbourne 93.1 FM & SBS Radio 2 Sinhalese..........................

Monday & Saturday 1 1 pm to 3 am –92.3 FM Punjabi.............................

9 pm to 10 pm – 93.1 FM 9-10 PM SINHALESE FRIDAY Sydney 97.7 FM & SBS Radio 2 Indian.................................. .8 am to 92am – 88.3 FM Melbourne 93.1 FM & SBS Radio Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri

11AM-12 PM SATURDAY Sinhalese............................ 7 am to 8 am – 92.3 FM TAMIL TSydney amil.....................................

12-12.30 97.7 FM & SBS Radio 2 pm – 88.3 FM Indian....................................

5 am to 62am - 92.3 FM Melbourne 93.1 FM & SBS Radio Sun, Mon, Wed, Sat Punjabi..........................................

12-2 am – 92.3 FM 8-9 PM Indian................................

9 pm to 10 pm – 92.3 FM Punjabi..................................................

11 pm to 1 am urdu Sydney 97.7 FM & SBS Radio24/7 2 Radio stations Melbourne FM & SBS Radio (Subscription) 2 Indian Link93.1 Radio Wednesday & Sunday 18000 15 8 47 6-7 PM Radio Santa Banta (Internet) Santabanta.com.au WORLD NEWS AUSTRALIA RADIO SydneyJhankar 1107AM88.6 & SBSFM; Radio 1 Thursday; 8 to Radio Every Melbourne 1224AM & SBS Radio 1 10 pm; Contact: 94668900 or 0411247320 or Monday & Friday 9404 2111 6-7 am & 6-7 PM

South Asian websiteS India TEHELKA – www.tehelka.com OUTLOOK – www.outlookindia.com FRONTLINE- www.flonnet.com THE HINDU: www.hinduonnet.com TIMES OF INDIA: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com HINDUSTAN TIMES: www.hindustantimes.com Pakistan DAWN: www.dawn.com THE FRIDAY TIMES: www.thefridaytimes.com THE NEWS INTERENATIONAL: www.thenews.com.pk Sri Lanka DAILY MIRROR: www.dailymirror.lk DAILY NEWS: www.dailynews.lk THE ISLAND: www.island.lk Nepal THE HIMALAYAN TIMES: www.thehimalayantimes.com KANTIPUR NATIONAL DAILY:

PLACES OF WORSHIP HINDU Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple 57 Boundary Rd, Carrum Downs, Melbourne, Vic 3201, Ph: 03 9782 0878; Fax: 03 9782 0001 Website: www.hsvshivavishnu.org.au Sri Vakratunda Vinayaka Temple 1292 - 1294, The Mountain Highway, The Basin, Vic 3154, Ph: 03 9792 1835 Melbourne Murugan Temple 17-19 Knight Ave., Sunshine VIC 3020 Ph: 03 9310 9026 Durga Temple (Durga Bhajan Mandali) Neales Road, Rockbank, Vic 3335 Ph: 03 9747 1628 or Mobile: 0401 333 738 Hare Krishna (ISKCON) Temple 197 Danks Street, Middle Park Vic 3206 Ph: (03) 9699 5122 Email: 100237.354@compuserve.com Hare Krishna New Nandagram Rural Community Oak Hill, Dean’s Marsh Rd., Bambra VIC 3241, Ph: (052) 887383 Fax: (052) 887309 Kundrathu Kumaran Temple 139 Gray Court, ROCKBANK Victoria 3335 Ph: 03-9747 1135 or M: 0450 979 023 http://www.kumarantemple.org.au/

f e b r u a r y

SHEPPARTON Gurdwara Sahib Shepparton 240 Doyles Road, Shepparton VICTORIA 3603 PH: (03) 5821 9309

JAIN Melbourne Shwetambar Jain Sangh Inc 3 Rice Street, Moorabbin, Vic - 3189, Australia. Phone: +61 3 9555 2439 info@melbournejainsangh.org http://www.melbournejainsangh.org

Melbourne West Mosque 66-68 Jeffcott Street, Melbourne Ph: 03 9328 2067

Indian Consulate Address: 344, St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia P.O. Box No: 33247 Domain LPO Vic 3004 Consular Enquiries: +61-3-9682 5800 (9.30am-12.30noon only) General Enquiries (other than Consular): +61-3- 9682 7836 Fax No:+ 61-3- 9696 8251 Email: consular@cgimelb.org Web site: www.cgimelb.org

Broadmeadows Mosque 45-55 King Street, Broadmeadows Ph 03 9359 0054 Islamic Call Society 19 Michael Street, Brunswick Ph: 03 9387 7100 Islamic Centre of Australia 660 Sydney Road, Brunswick Ph 03 9385 8423

Indian Consulate Consular services are handled by VFS Global Visa / Passport / PCC / IDLV / PIO / OCI services contact VFS +61 2 8223 9909.

Address: Part 4 Suite, Level 12, 55 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Site : www.vfsglobal.com/india/australia/

Australian Islamic Cultural Centre 46-48 Mason Street, Campbellfield Ph: 03 9309 7605 Coburg ISNA Mosque 995 Sydney Road, Coburg North

Services handled by Indian Consulate Melbourne itself: OCI Misc. services, Registration of Birth, Birth Certificate, Renunciation of Indian Citizenship, Surrender of Indian Passport, New Passport Details on PIO, Transfer of Valid Visas, Marriage Certificate, Affidavit for Applying Child’s Passport in India, Documents Attestation.)

Coburg Mosque (Fatih Mosque) 31 Nicholson Street, Coburg Ph 03 9386 5324 Deer Park Mosque 283 Station Road, Deer Park Ph 03 9310 8811 United Migrant Muslim Assn.

72 George Road, Doncaster Ph 03 9842 6491, Footscray West Mosque 294 Essex Street, Footscray

SIKH

Heidelberg Mosque Corner Lloyd & Elloits Streets, West Heidelberg

CRAIGIEBURN Sri Guru Singh Sabha 344 Hume Highway, Craigieburn VICTORIA 3164 (see map), Ph: (03) 9305 6511 KEYSBOROUGH Gurdwara Sri Guru Granth Sahib 198 -206 Perry Road, Keysborough VICTORIA 3073 (see map) LYNBROOK Nanaksar Taath, 430 Evans Road, Lynbrook VICTORIA 3975, (03) 9799 1081 HOPPERS CROSSING Sri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha 417 Sayers Road, Hoppers Crossing VICTORIA 3029, Ph: (03) 9749 2639 WERRIBEE Gurdwara Sahib Werribee 560 Davis Road, Tarneit VICTORIA 3029 PH: (03) 8015 4707

Gas escape...........................................

132 771 Poisons information........................

13 11 26 Maternal and Child Line................

13 22 29 Parentline...........................................

13 22 89 Kids Help Line.........................

1800 551 800 Lifeline (provides confidential telephone counselling).................

13 11 14 Suicide Help Line....................

1300 651 251 Animal Emergencies..................

9224 2222

INDIAN CONSULATE

MUSLIM

Sankat Mochan Temple 1289 A North Road. Huntingdale Morning: 10.30 am – 12.30 pm daily Evening: 4:30 pm – 8.00 pm daily Site: http: www.sankatmochan.org.au Contact: 0427 274 462

BLACKBURN Sri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha 127 Whitehorse Road, Blackburn VICTORIA 3130, Ph: (03) 9894 1800

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Glenroy Musala 1st Floor, 92 Wheatsheaf Road, Glenroy

Islamic College of Victoria (Mosque) 201 Sayers Road, Hoppers Crossing Ph 03 9369 6010 Huntingdale Mosque 320-324 Huntingdale Road, Huntingdale Ph 03 9543 8037

HIGH COMMISSION FOR PAKISTAN,CANBERRA

Al Nur Mosque 34-36 Studley Street, Maidstone Meadow Heights Mosque Hudson Circuit, Meadow Heights

4 Timbarra Crescent, O’Malley ACT 2606 (Australia), Tel: 61-2-62901676, 61-2-62901676, 62902769, 62901879 & 62901031, Fax: 61-262901073 Email: parepcanberra@internode. on.net, Postal Address: PO Box 684, Mawson ACT 2607 (Australia)

Springvale Mosque 68 Garnworthy Street, Springvale

EMERGENCY CONTACTS EMERGENCY CONTACTS Police, Fire & Abulance ........................

Victoria State Emergency Service (SES).......................................

Traffic hazards and freeway conditions..........................

Student Welfare Officer in the Indian Consulate Melbourne Consulate General of India, Melbourne Address: 344, St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC – 3000 Phone: 03-96826203 Fax: 03-96968251 Email: cgo@cgimelb.org Website: www.cgimelb.orgExternal website that opens in a new window Contact person for Students welfare: Mr. Nirmal K. Chawdhary Designation: Deputy Consul General Mobile: 0430020828

Sri Lanka Consulate 000

132 500 13 11 70

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

Suite 536, No 1 Queens Road, Melbourne VIC 3004 Telephone: +61 3 9290 4200 Fax: +61 3 9867 4873 Email:mail@slcgmel.org Web: http://www.slcgmel.org

southSouth asia times 33 Asia Times

quick community guide

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VIEW POINT

South Asia Times

contd from previous page Bangladesh High Commission, Canberra 43, Culgoa Circuit, O’Malley, ACT-2606 Canberra, Australia, Ph: (61-2) 6290-0511, (61-2) 6290-0522, (61-2)6290-0533 (Auto hunting).

Fax : (61-2) 6290-0544 E-Mail :hoc@bhcanberra.com

Consulate of Nepal, Melbourne Email: cyonzon@nepalconsulate.net.au Level 7, 28-32 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Ph: (03) 9650 8338 Email: info@nepalconsulate.net.au

TV GUIDE SBS1 – Daily NDTV News - 11:05 am - Monday to Saturday. (From New Delhi, India).

Urdu news SBS1 - PTV News – 9.30 am - Every Sunday – (From Pakistan).

SOUTH ASIAN Garments Roshan’s Fashions 68-71 Foster Street, Dandenong, Vic 3175 Ph: (03) 9792 5688 Raj Rani Creations 83-A Foster Street, Dandenong, Vic 3175 Ph: (03) 9794 9398 desi estyle 76 Foster St., Dandenong 3175 (03) 87744853; 0413707685 Heritage India 54-56 Foster Street, Dandenong, Vic 3175, Ph: (03) 9791 9227 Site: heritageindia.net.au

DVDs, Music CDs & Film Stuff Baba Home Entertainment 52C Foster St., Dandenong 3175, (03) 97067252

Travel Agents Gaura Travels 1300 FLY INDIA or 1300 359 463 info@gauratravel.com.au Travel House 284 Clayton Road, Clayton 3168 Ph: (03) 95435123, Mobile: 0425803071 mail@travelhouse.com.au

lAWYERS

MLG Lawyers Ronny Randhawa 144 Sydney Road, Coburg Vic Ph 9386 0204 & 138 Walker Street, Dandenong Vic Ph: 9793 9917 Mobile : 0402 256 712 Vera Lawyers Kusum Vaghela Level 1, Suite 2, 373 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong Vic, Mobile: 0433 827 124

Jewellery Bhadra Laxman Jewellers 22ct Gold Jewellery / Silver Pooja (03) 9846 7661

Billionaires, fiscal paradise, the world’s debt, and the victims

Contd. from pg 29

So, the West proclaims principles of transparency and accountability, as long as it can impose these on others.

But there is a paradox for the western governments: if those tax havens were closed, as the majority of the deposit comes from the West, they would be able to get much more taxes. To take just the case of the US: Reed College economist Kim Clausing estimates that inversions in tax havens and other income-shifting techniques reduced Treasury revenues by as much as $111 billion in 2012. And, according to a new Congressional Budget Office projection, the corporate base erosion will continue to cut corporate tax receipts over the next decade. It must be clear therefore that if governments let their revenues from the corporations and high earners shrink, they are not acting in the interest of the average citizen.

So, let us draw our conclusions. Nobody is paying attention to the world debt. It is increasing beyond control, but we are leaving the problem to the next generations, hoping that they will address it. We are mortgaging them with debt, with climate change, and whatever else is possible, to avoid any sacrifices on our part now. Our motto seems to be: Let us protect the riches, and expect less from them and more from the others.

In 1952, corporate income taxes funded about 32 percent of the US government. That shrank to 10.6 percent by 2015. While tax havens aren’t the sole cause of this shift, it’s worth noting that the share of corporate profits reported in tax havens has increased tenfold since the 1980s.

And now comes from Trump the giant tax gift for companies.

This policy, hidden to citizens, and never legitimized by any formal act of law, is now becoming evident because of the giant increase of inequality, which has no precedence in history. According to Oxfam, Great Britain will have more social injustice in 2020, that at the times of Queen Victoria. The world is moving faster to financial investments and transactions, and not the production of goods and services, which do not fetch instant rewards. It is estimated that with one trillion dollars you can buy the world production of a day of goods and services.

That same day, the financial transactions reach 40 trillion dollars. That means, that for every dollar generated by human hands, there are 40 dollars created by financial abstractions.

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

Globalization is obviously rewarding capitals, not human beings. Well, this is having an impact in politics, and not the best one. There is everywhere an increasing number of losers, especially in rich countries, also because of technological development, and shift in consumption. A classic example are the coal mines that Trump wants to resurrect, to make America great again. But coal is inexorably being phased out because of climate concerns (even if not fast enough), and automatization reduces considerably the number of workers to be employed. Robots will in 2040 be responsible for 42% of production of goods and services, up from the present 16%. Which means around 86 million of new unemployed, in the West alone, according to the International Labour Organization. Those left out from the benefits of globalizations look at the winners, whom they see well connected to the system.

This results in the globalization of resentment and frustration, which in a few years has led to the rise of the rightist parties in all European countries, triggered Brexit, and Trump. Once upon a time, the left was the bannerbearer of the fight for social justice. Now it is the right!

Finally, globalization has lost its shine – but not its power. Now, the debate is about how to deglobalize, and what is worrying is that the debate is not about how to bring the process to the service of humankind, but how to deploy populism and nationalism, and xenophobia, to “let us make US great again”, to the increase in clashes and conflicts.

International organizations like the IMF and the World Bank – who have been claiming for two decades that market is the only basis for progress, that once a totally free market is in place, the common man and woman would be the beneficiary – have switched the reverse gear. Now they are all talking about the need for the state to be again the arbiter for regulations and social inclusion, because they have found out that social injustice is a brake not only for democracy, but also economic progress. But despite all the mea culpa, they are rather late in the day. The genie is out of the bottle, and the powers that be do not even try to put it back. Utter hypocrisy, vested interests, and the lack of vision have regrettably replaced policy. *Roberto Savio is founder of IPS Inter Press Service and President Emeritus

south asia 34 South Asia Timestimes

sports

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Eight Australian cities to host ICC World T20 2020, MCG to host women’s and men’s finals

By SAT Sports Desk

M

ELBOURNE, 30 January: The venues and host cities for the ICC World T20 2020, which will be hosted by Australia, were announced today at events throughout the country.

The eight Host Cities are Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

For the first time, the women’s and men’s competitions will be held as stand-alone events in the same host country and in the same year. This will give the best female and male cricketers respective opportunities to capture the attention of the country and the world.

Women’s matches will run from 21 February to 8 March 2020 and the men’s matches will run from 18 October to 15 November 2020.

The world’s 10 best women’s teams and 16 best men’s team’s will come to Australia to battle it out for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket.

The ICC World T20 will see 13 venues throughout Australia host matches, with both competitions having broad national footprints, meaning as many Australians as possible will have the chance to see the most talented players in the world.

Both the women’s and men’s finals will receive equal billing, with both matches taking place at Australia’s biggest stadium, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The women’s semi-finals will be hosted on consecutive days at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), while the men’s semi-finals will take place at the SCG and Adelaide Oval.

The women’s final will take place on International Women’s Day 2020, Sunday 8 March, with the aim of creating a world-record attendance for a women’s sporting match.

David Peever, Chairman of Cricket Australia and the ICC World T20 2020 Local Organising Committee said, “Australia is extremely privileged to be hosting the ICC World T20 tournaments in 2020.

“On behalf of Cricket Australia and the Local Organising Committee, I would like to sincerely thank

Government at both Federal and State and Territory level, host cities, venues and State and Territory Cricket Associations for their exceptional support, which is so critical for delivering the best possible events in 2020.

ICC World T20 2020 provides a unique opportunity to engage the whole community and inspire the next generation to love cricket,” Mr Peever said.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said, “I’d like to thank Cricket Australia and their partners in Government at all levels for their commitment to the ICC World T20 in 2020. The ambition they have shown firstly in delivering standalone men’s and women’s events and then in the venue selection that will, I hope set a record for the biggest ever attendance at a women’s sporting event, is exciting for the sport.

“Australia has a proven track record of delivering world-class events in worldclass stadiums and we know we can rely on the fans to provide great support for all of the competing teams.”

Speaking in Melbourne, ICC World Twenty20 2020 Local Organising Committee Chief Executive, Nick Hockley highlighted the benefits that would come from hosting T20 cricket’s showpiece event.

“Australia is a sporting nation, with diverse and passionate fans who love cricket. We’ve designed ICC World T20, comprising standalone women’s and men’s events, to be more inclusive, more accessible and more connected than ever before, so that everyone can join in.”

Mr Hockley added, “Major events of this scale are all about partnerships.

We look forward to working with host cities, their communities, and all partners to deliver a spectacular celebration in 2020, including welcoming thousands of international visitors to attend matches and be part of it.”

The ICC World T20 2020 takes place against the backdrop of a hugely successful ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which featured record crowds, broadcast audiences and visitors and the ongoing success of the Women’s and Men’s Big Bash.

For details about the ICC World Twenty20 2020, and to register for tournament updates, fans encouraged

to visit icc-cricket.com/ worldt20.

Fixture and ticketing information for the ICC

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

World Twenty20 2020 will be released in due course, says a media release.

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southSouth asia times 35 Asia Times

Smith, Perry claim top honours at Allan Border Medal awards

By SAT News Desk

M

ELBOURNE, 12 February: Steve Smith and Ellyse Perry have claimed Australian cricket’s highest individual honours, winning the Allan Border Medal and Belinda Clark Award respectively on Monday night in Melbourne.

Both Smith and Perry are second-time winners, joining an exclusive group to have won either the Allan Border Medal or Belinda Clark Award on multiple occasions.

Smith, the Australian Men’s Cricket Team captain, also won the Test Player of the Year award, and joins Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductee Ricky Ponting (four times), Michael Clarke (four times), Shane Watson (twice) and David Warner (twice) as multiple winners of the Allan Border Medal.

With 246 votes, Smith was a clear winner ahead of runner-up David Warner (162) and third-placed Nathan Lyon (156).

Perry becomes the fifth multiple winner of the Belinda Clark Award, following in the footsteps of Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductee Karen Rolton (four times), Shelley Nitschke (four times), Meg Lanning (three times) and Lisa Sthalekar (twice).

The star all-rounder comfortably took out the award with 116 votes, ahead of Beth Mooney (78) and Megan Schutt (65).

David Warner was named

the ODI Player of the Year for the second year in succession, while Aaron Finch won the T20I Player of the Year Award.

Warner claimed the ODI award with 24 votes, ahead of joint runners-up Smith and Marcus Stoinis on 18 votes, while Finch (11 votes) pipped Adam Zampa and Moises Henriques (10 votes) for the T20I award.

In the Test award, Smith (32 votes) edged out Lyon (26 votes) and Warner (15 votes) to win for the second time.

Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes captain George Bailey was named the Men’s Domestic Player of the Year, with Queensland and Brisbane Heat wicketkeeper Beth Mooney winning the Women’s Domestic Player of

the Year award.

Western Australia and Perth Scorchers fast bowler Jhye Richardson received the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year award, while Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes wicketkeeper Georgia Redmayne was named the Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year.

The Allan Border Medal awards ceremony began in 2000. Named after one of Australia’s greatest players and the man who, in 1987, became the first Australian to lift the ICC Cricket World Cup, it recognises the country’s leading players.

The awards for international cricket are based on votes from players, umpires and the media on a 3-2-1 basis from each match.

For the domestic awards,

the votes are collected from all players.

To be eligible for the Young Cricketer of the Year awards, players must be 24 years or less prior to the commencement of the award period and have not won the award previously.

Prior to the award period, male players must have played 10 or less first-class matches and 25 or less combined List A and BBL matches and female players 10 or less matches.

Audio from a post-event press conferences with Steve Smith and Ellyse Perry is available here Award winners • Allan Border Medal – Steve Smith • Belinda Clark Award – Ellyse Perry

• Test Player of the Year – Steve Smith • ODI Player of the Year – David Warner • T20I Player of the Year – Aaron Finch • Men’s Domestic Player of the Year – George Bailey • Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year – Jhye Richardson • Women’s Domestic Player of the Year – Beth Mooney • Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year – Georgia Redmayne • Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees – Karen Rolton, Norm O’Neill and Ricky Ponting Allan Border Medal – Steve Smith (246 votes) 2nd: David Warner (162) 3rd: Nathan Lyon (156) Belinda Clark Award – Ellyse Perry (116 votes) 2nd: Beth Mooney (78) 3rd: Megan Schutt (65) Test Player of the Year – Steve Smith (32 votes) 2nd: Nathan Lyon (26) 3rd: David Warner (15) One-Day International Player of the Year – David Warner (24 votes) Equal 2nd: Steve Smith (18) Equal 2nd: Marcus Stoinis (18) Twenty20 International Player of the Year – Aaron Finch (11 votes) Equal 2nd: Adam Zampa (10) Equal 2nd: Moises Henriques (10) —Based on Cricket Australia Media release.

Interactive art set to surprise and delight at Festival 2018 Gold Coast

By Neeraj Nanda

M

ELBOURNE, 13 February: An enormous moon sculpture, an interactive playground of illuminated musical seesaws and beach karaoke are among the public artworks set to surprise and delight everyone from 4-15 April at Festival 2018, the arts and cultural program of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018).

Festival 2018 Gold Coast Co-Creative Director Kate Fell says the public art program - featuring the work of internationally leading artists - strikes a balance between playful interaction

and artistic integrity.

“All of the artworks have an element of fun; they pop up in unexpected places and involve the audience in some way. At the same time, these are works that inspire you to think,” Ms Fell said.

Australian premieres include Museum of the Moon, a seven-metre-wide replica of the moon by acclaimed UK artist Luke Jerram; and Impulse, 15 giant see-saws that light up and play music in a dynamic composition by award winning Canadian Companies Lateral Office and CS Design.

Mass karaoke event Giant Sing Along also makes its Australian debut with a

field of microphones on the beach - courtesy of Canadian company Daily Tous Les Jours - and a songlist as voted by the people of the Gold Coast.

Famous for his surrealist photoshoots that feature the likes of politicians and Dachshunds, Andrew Baines will stage a quirky mass photoshoot on the beach in the world premiere of Water Cooler Games.

The Australian artist will bring together 40 suited participants for a race and an award ceremony featuring a surprise guest.

Urchins, a series of giant sea urchin shells crafted from hand-crocheted lace, will float along the

waterway. Designed by internationally awarded architects and artists Choi+Shine, and created in collaboration with the Gold Coast’s own SWELL, the urchins embody the spirit of the coast.

After travelling the world, Richard Bell's Embassy visits the Gold Coast for the first time. With talks running throughout the day, the installation pays homage to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the world’s longest running protest assembled in 1972 by activists at Canberra’s Parliament House.

In Weaving Water Stories, local Indigenous artists share water stories and

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

traditional techniques to create a large-scale installation under the vision of curator Freja Carmichael and designer Lisa SorbieMartin. Weaving workshops will invite audiences to add their own creations to the artwork.

An array of public art features at Festival 2018, 12 action-packed days of free culture taking over the Gold Coast from 4-15 April to celebrate GC2018.

For full program details and more information on Festival 2018 visit gc2018. com/festival2018 —Source: medianet.

south asia 36 South Asia Timestimes

cinema

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‘Padmaavat’: Technological marvel; fit for today’s political climate?

By Neeraj Nanda

M

ELBOURNE, 24 January: From ‘Padmavati’ to ‘Padmaavat’, Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial cinematic marvel is a milestone of sorts. Its technological dazzle dominates the screen amidst the drama of Delhi’s Muslim SultanAllauddinKhilji (Ranveer Singh) invading Chittor, ruled by a Hindu (Rajput) King Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor) to get hold of his beautiful Queen Padmaavati.

Allauddin lays siege of Chittor after Ratan Singh’s royal priest Raghav Chetan defects to Allaudin and inflames him about Padmavati’s beauty. An agreement allows Allaudin to meet Ratan Singh and have a glance of Padmavati. Ratan visits Allauddin and is taken prisoner but freed by Padmavati with the help of Allauddin’s wife Mehrunisa.

Allauddin attacks Chittor and breaches the fort but Padmavati commits Jauhar (self-immolation) with many others.

One cannot but

condemn the portrayal of Jauhar in this big star cast movie despite the producers in a disclaimer declaring they do not support such an act. They also declare the movie is not intended to hurt any community. In fact, there is no question of hurting anyone as the movie has enough stuff which hypes one community and their pride. One wonders what is all the Karni Sena fuss about. The soft Hindu Raja and the bad Muslim Sultan is evident as the movie progresses. This fits well in India’s current political climate.

Having said this, I feel, despite all this the movie is technologically superior to similar films made in India. Though there are people who feel ‘Bahubali’ was as good. The Ghoomar (Rajashani folk dance) song with Deepika on the screen (sung by Shreya Ghoshal) laced with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s mesmerising music and a glittering magnificent set reminds one of K. Asif’s Mughal e Azam. Interestingly, at one place it is said Padmavati will dance only in front of her King husband but later we see her dancing in an www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

open court.

Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor do justice to their roles, it is Ranbir Singhas Khilji who steals the show. One has to see the movie to get a feel of that. Allauddin’s attraction for his slave Malik Kafur acted by Jim Sarbh (Hijacker in Neerja), is a high point of the controversial film.

One would also have liked the English subtitles done properly. ‘Loha Lohae Ko Katta Hi’ is translated as ‘Diamond cuts Diamond’.

The movie now released is racing fast to become a blockbuster in India and worldwide. I saw the movie during a media preview one day before the release on 25 January 2018. I had mixed feelings.

Malik Md. Jaysi wrote the fictionalized poem ‘Padmaavat’ (15401541) and created Padmavatiwhich most historians doubt never existed. Still, the legend is considered a true tale and being used as a political handle. No doubt, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has consolidated this legend.

I give it three out of five stars.

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asia times SAT EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWsouthSouth 37 Asia Times

I hope people enjoy the Padmaavat experience: Deepika Padukone D

By Neeraj Nanda

irector Sanjay LeelaBhansali’s ‘Padmavaat’ is releasing on 25 January 2018 in cinemas across Australia and worldwide. It is the first Indian film that will have a global IMAX 3D release.

Starring DeepikaPadukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as MaharawalRatan Singh and Ranveer Singh as AlauddinKhilji. Based on the 16th century Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s epic poem Padmavat, the movie faced resistance from its early stages due to a misinformation campaign but managed to overcome

all odds. I caught up with DeepikaPadukone (in Mumbai) on the phone from Melbourne a few days back where she candidly talked to me about her role and the film.

Excerpts from the interview: Q-1: Do you call this movie a historical or what?

A-1: I would call it inspiring. It’s an inspiration, historic or not.

I find Padmavati’s journey incredible.

Q-2: How was it like being Padmavati in the movie?

A-2: The fact that I have

done this movie means at some level I have connected. The story needs to be told. I am glad we made this film.

Q-3: What’s the special thing about your dresses in the movie?

A-3: The dresses are suited to the culture and Sanjay LeelaBhansali’s vision.

They bring to life my character in the film.

Q-4: How tough was it to shoot wearing this heavy stuff?

A-4: Not difficult at all.

At that time, you are not thinking of how heavy your dress or jewellery are but

to be true to the moment.

Q-5: What difference the 3-D version of the movie makes?

A-5: It’s a visual difference. The 3-D experience is a visual treat.

People also enjoy watching a movie in 3-D. Q-6: Somewhere you said the movie was an emotional journey.

Explain it.

A-6: Every film is an emotional experience at the creative level spendingtime on the film sets and spend so much of your energy creating these characters. It’s emotionally demanding.

Q-7: What makes the

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Ghoomar song and its picturisation so special?

A-7: It is exciting for me as an actress to have learned a new dance form. It is a tribute to Rajasthani folk culture and it is a visual delight. As an audience think what it will be on the big screen.

Q-8: What is your message to people waiting for Padmavaat?

A-8: We made it with lots of love and passion and we enjoyed the experience and hope all of you enjoy the experience.

—THE INTERVIEW WAS TAKEN BEFORE THE RELEASE OF PADMAAVAT

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Will those perusing only profits for health goals accept Padman Akshay’s message?

By Neeraj Nanda

M

ELBOURNE, 8 February: In a nutshell, Padmanis the story of a mechanic (Akshay Kumar) who invents affordable sanitary padsand tries to influence his wife (Radhika Apte) and his two sisters to use them but is shunned by them as the taboo product clashes with their conservative cultural values. He pushes his vision of women’s hygiene (mensural periods) with his product through others but faces hurdles and his marriage get estranged. The second half (after the

intermission) shows his struggle to make the product as a cottage industry with cheap technology and make it a mass product. He is finally recognised with the help of a Delhi girl (Sonam Kapoor) who joins his mission. The end is happy with the product (Pari) moving ahead and Akshay Kumar addressed as the Padman.

This rather unusual but educational movie sets the tone to confront a culturally sensitive subject of a woman’s mensural cycle, its consequences and to be hygienic in those days (five) in a typical fast forward Bollywood style script. The movie starts and does not slow down till Akshay Kumar’s mission is successful and he is honoured with a ‘Padam Shri’.

No doubt, Padman breaks the barrier of a taboo subject and brings it into public domain but is this enough to liberate women in a country where child marriages, teenage pregnancies, sexual harassment at workplace, plight of widows, prostitution, female infanticide and honour killings are reported daily.

Women’s hygiene (mensural or other) is firmly connected to one’s socioeconomic status. A woman in a poor family struggles for the basics of life.

How much can she spend on branded stuff during her mensural cycle? It is here Padman’s message of affordable sanitary pads is relevant.

Akshay Kumar acts in his typical style but age seems to be catching

up with him. Radhika Apte’s acting is mature and composed. Sonam Kapoor steals the show as the happy go lucky girl helping out Akshay. The locations of Maheshwar, a town in the Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, 90 km from Indore are beautiful and give a rustic feeling.

Wish Akshay Kumar’s speech at the United Nations was shorter. The movie tells us there are only 12 m women in rural India with hygienic protection during mensural periods. But, in his speech, Amitabh Bachchan (guest role) says this figure is 18 m. Not sure which statistic is correct. Sonam Kapoor’s infatuation (or love) for Akshay does not fit well. Feel tighter editing could have cut the movie’s unnecessary length.

The Padman story is based on Twinkle Khanna’s book on the real life experiences of Arunachalam Muruganantham and his mission. A documentary on his life ‘Menstrual Man’ by Amit Virmani has won many accolades.

Despite shortcomings this is a different movie (in the Mumbai style) with a positive message. It’s relevance for India is enormous. Health issues are important for both women and men. It is this sector which is getting more and more privatised. Medical and health products have become quite expensive.

One wonders those only perusing health goals for profits will accept Akshay Kumar’s message?

I give Padman three out of five stars.

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