Sat july issue 2013 final final

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CELEBRATING 10th YEAR OF PUBLICATION

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South Asia Times

ILAYARAJA LIVE IN CONCERT

Vol.10 I No. 12 I JUly 2013 I FREE

1, Convention Centre Place, South Wharf 3006 SATURDAY 28 September, 2013 at 6.00 pm

s o u t hasiatimes.com.au Editor: Neeraj Nanda

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Add: PO Box 465, Brentford Square, Victoria 3131

CECA With this issue SAT completes 10 years!

SAT thanks all its advertisers, writers, supporters,readers and printer for their support!

We will remain committed to honesty, fairness, independence and the rights of others!

- EDITOR & STAFF

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Guest Editorial

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SAT

South Asia Times

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

EDITOR (Hindi Pushp)

Dr. Dinesh Srivastava dsrivastava@optusnet.com.au

SAT NEWS BUREAU/Australia (Melbourne) Neeraj Nanda satimes@gmail.com

SAT NEWS BUREAU/South Asia (New Delhi, India) RAJIV SHARMA rajeev.anchor@gmail.com PRASHAT TANDON news.prashant@gmail.com

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South Asia Times (SAT) is a monthly newspaper published in English (2 pages in Hindi) from Melbourne, Australia. Contributors supply material to SAT at their own risk and any errors will be corrected as quickly as possible. SAT does not accept responsibility for the authenticity of any advertisement, text content or a picture in the publication. No material, including text or advertisements designed by the SAT or pictures may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the editor/publisher. Opinions/ stories/reports or any text content are those of the writers/contributors and not necessarily endorsed by the SAT.

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southSouth asia times 5 Asia Times

Political parties seen as most corrupt institutions globally

By Jim Lobe

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ASHINGTON, Jul 9 2013 (IPS) - Political parties are seen by the publics in most countries as the most corrupt institutions in their societies, according to the latest survey by the anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI) released Tuesday.

TI’s Global Corruption Barometer, which was based on interviews with more than 114,000 interviews in 107 countries, also found that a majority of respondents (54 percent) believe their governments are either largely or entirely controlled by a few big entities acting in their own self interest.

Slightly more than one in four respondents (27 percent) reported that they had paid a bribe within the previous 12 months in their dealings with public institutions, such as the police or the courts.

But bribery was far more prevalent in some countries than in others. In Australia, Denmark, Finland, and Japan, for example, one percent of respondents reported having paid a bribe to public officials for services in the past year.

Bribery was far more common in poor countries, particularly in Africa. More than six in 10 respondents reported having paid a bribe in Cameroon, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Nearly three of four respondents in Yemen also said they paid a bribe to officials at least once during the year.

Most respondents said they believed corruption in their countries had gotten worse over since 2011 when the last edition of the Barometer was produced. The new Barometer, which involved more people in more countries than ever before, is the eighth published since 2003.

On the more positive side, two-thirds of respondents said they believed ordinary people can make a difference in fighting corruption in their countries, although those two-thirds are more likely not have paid a bribe.

Majorities range from 51 percent to 72 percent said they would be willing to take one of more of several specific actions from joining an anti-corruption organisation, to taking part in peaceful protests and signing a petition.

“There is a widespread willingness to get involved through these various means which the anti-corruption movement should make the most of to take the fight against corruption to a

"" larger scale,” according to TI, an non-governmental organisations (NGO) which currently has 90 chapters worldwide.

The new survey comes on a wave of international public attention – and mobilisation – against corruption. Most recently, huge public demonstrations in major Brazilian cities have focused popular anger on the persistence of corruption in that country, while India’s anticorruption movement in 2011 continues to reverberate there.

From China to Nigeria, farming communities and poor urban dwellers have found themselves being dispossessed of their land by wealthy and politically well-connected interests that have used those connections to the judiciary and the civil service in land grabs.

Meanwhile, the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States and the popular protests that have broken out in Greece, Spain, and other southern European countries in response to the Eurocrisis have focused attention on the disproportionate power exerted by private corporate and financial interests on governments. The Barometer has been one of a number of indices, such as the Rule of Law Index published by the World Justice Project (WJP) that address issues of transparency and corruption and that are used by global institutions, including the World Bank, bilateral aid agencies, and privatesector organisations, to assess the risks of investment and doing business in countries.

TI also publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, which last year rated 176 countries based on the assessments of risk analysts, businessmen, and other local and international experts.

The Barometer, by contrast, interviews a random sample of people who live in the nations covered by the survey. This year’s edition covers both more respondents and more countries than ever before.

All respondents were asked

to rate on a one-to-five scale (one being “no problem at all”) how serious corruption is a problem for their countries.

The average score across all countries was 4.1, although there were wide variations between countries, particularly between wealthy northern countries and the world’s poorest nations.

Of those who said they had paid bribes during the past year, 31 percent said they had been paid to the police, while 24 percent said the judiciary was the beneficiary. Bribery rates to the police of 75 percent or higher were found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

The services with the nexthighest bribery rates dealt primarily with registration services, mostly in regard to land ownership and transfers.

TI noted that the highest rates were found in post-conflict societies and countries in transition, such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, Liberia, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone – countries which also suffer high levels of hunger and malnutrition.

The next most-common services where bribery was paid included medical treatment (17 percent), and education (16 percent), according to the Barometer.

Beyond the payment of bribes, 64 percent of respondents said they believed that personal contacts played an improper role in getting things done in the public sector. More than 80 percent of respondents Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malawi, Morocco, Nepal, Paraguay, Russia, Ukraine and Vanuatu cited the importance of personal contacts.

In addition, the perception that government is controlled by a few big self-dealing entities, rather than by the public, appears to have become particularly widespread, even among the world’s wealthiest countries, according to the Barometer.

While only five percent of Norwegians hold that belief, 83

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Most respondents said they believed corruption in their countries had gotten worse over since 2011 when the last edition of the Barometer was produced. The new Barometer, which involved more people in more countries than ever before, is the eighth published since 2003.

percent of Greeks, 70 percent of Italians, 66 percent of Spaniards, and 64 percent of U.S. respondents said they believe that their country’s government is run to a “large extent” or “entirely” “…by a few big interests looking out for themselves.”

As for major institutions, political parties were seen as the most corrupt, scoring a global average of 3.8 on a one-to-five scale. The police scored second at 3.7, followed by civil servants, parliament, and the judiciary at 3.6 each.

The private sector and medical services each scored 3.3, followed by the education system (3.2), and media (3.1). Those institutions regarded as least corrupt included the military (2.9), NGOs (2.7), and religious institutions (2.6). Political parties were seen as most corrupt by respondents in 51 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the U.S. and Uruguay.

Police were seen as most corrupt in 36 countries, including Bangladesh, Bolivia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela, and Vietnam, among others.

Some countries were listed more than once because respondents rated more than one institution as the most corrupt. *Jim Lobe’s blog on U.S. foreign policy can be read at http://www.lobelog.com.

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Uttrakhand tragedy Indian Army’s biggest ever successful rescue mission

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he last of the pilgrims stranded after the recent floods in the Indian state of Uttarakhand have been evacuated, bringing to an end one of the world's largest air rescue operations. This was one of the biggest rescue operations of the Indian Army for which it has been praised all over the world. More than 100,000 people were rescued from the Himalayan mountains after floods and landslides that left more than 800 dead. At least 3,500 people have been officially confirmed as missing. But authorities say the exact number of deaths may never be known. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said more than 11,000 were feared missing. This year's early monsoon rains in the Uttarakhand are believed to be the heaviest in 80 years. Swollen rivers swept away entire villages in the state, where there were many travellers in what is peak tourist season. Some 4,200 villages are

thought to have been affected by the rains and floods, according to the NDMA.. Tens of thousands of people, mostly tourists and Hindu pilgrims, have been evacuated by military helicopters in the last 17 days. One Indian air force rescue helicopter crashed during the operation, killing all 20 people on board. Officials say many bodies may have been washed away or remain buried under debris. Some of the bodies were recovered in rivers downstream from the flood zone. Distraught relatives clutching photographs of missing family members have been waiting for days in the state capital, Dehradun, hoping for news. Meanwhile, the administration is struggling to provide relief to the local communities in remote areas where thousands who have lost their homes are living in temporary camps. —BBC, 2 July All pictures courtesy PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU (PIB), New Delhi.

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asia times 9 Asia Times EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW southSouth

T. J. Rao

The reluctant but successful

Consul General

By Neeraj Nanda

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"

ou can achieve a lot in life even if you start off with $ 4.50,” says Mr. T. J. Rao, former Consul General of India in Melbourne, Australia of his life journey in the book, ‘A Surgeon & Consul General- A Migrant Experience’ to be launched in Melbourne on 15th August, 2013. Dr. Rao, who migrated to Australia in the late Sixties to take up practice as a surgeon, was later invited to become Honorary Consul in Melbourne by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during her visit here — an assignment about which had no clue about, barring some friendly advice to “keep your eyes and ears open but mouth shut.” The book is his life story and makes interesting reading. It was released in India in January 2013 in Chennai by Mr. D.R. Karthikeyan, Official Representative of City of Melbourne (Australia) and the former Director of Central Bureau of Investigation and National Human Rights Commission. I personally know Dr. Rao for many years and did many stories on him including the time he decided to quit as the Indian Consul General’s position in Melbourne. I caught up with him at his residence in Toorak and had a short but lively interview.

Excerpts from the interview: Q: What made you to write this book?

A: I had an active life as a Consul General and Surgeon for 25 years. Why waste time?

Tell your life story.

Q: So, how did it go about?

A: I did not have a plan to write a book, no documents, and few photos. I had two letters from Rajiv Gandhi and I realised I lost them.

Q: Were you able to remember everything?

A: I had worked as a Surgeon all over Australia and had many more experiences.

I put my experiences on 12 tapes starting from my childhood to my retirement. They were transcribed and edited.

I tried the Victorian Archives but did not get anything.

Q: It must have been an interesting experience going into the past.

A: Yes, it was. One of my early ancestors fought with

the British against Tipu Sultan who was supported by the French.

Q: Your becoming India’s Consul in Melbourne forms an important part of the book.

A: In fact, I had no intention of becoming the Consul.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was on a visit to Australia offered me the Hon. Post at the airport. I said, thank you. My family was against it.

Q: But you later agreed, how?

A: I talked about it to my great confidant Dr. Mitrand Joshi. The then Indian High Commissioner Mr. Kamtekar also pressed me to take up the assignment. Finally, Dr. Joshi convinced me to take up the honorary position. A career diplomat could only become a Consul General and a visa could be signed only by a career diplomat.

But rules were changed and it was a world first.

Q: So, you started signing visas.

A: Yes, I did and $ 10 was taken extra from each visa signed to run the Consulate.

But slowly expenses went up and I was paying from my pocket.

Q: What was that made you happy in the Consulate?

A: I took it as a community work. It had faith in me. And I did my best. As Consul I met the British Queen two times,

with each other. They had differences. Mr. Kalmadi was at the Sofitel Hotel and was not interested in Mr. Shukla.

I was sandwiched between the two. Here I was helping them and my wife was lying injured in Chennai. Anyway, Mr. Kalamdi wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommending ‘Padmashree’ for me. But it did not happen because the two did not see eye to eye.

met the Dalai Lama and many form India.

Q: Anything negative happened that you have mentioned in the book.

A: I have been open and frank in the book about ‘bada sahib’ types. Local politicians told me that the Indian community was not united and I tried to unite it. When the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) was setup, the Australia India

Society of Victoria (AISV) refused to join it. I was very disappointed.

Q: Were you ever treated roughly by the Indian government?

A: I had excellent ties with all the High Commissioner’s in Canberra. But during the time of the Commonwealth Games the then High Commissioner Mr. P. P. Shukla and CWG head Mr. Suresh Kalmadi were uncomfortable

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

Q: Anything else you want to tell about what happened towards the end of your tenure as Hon. Consul General?

A: As the transition from Hon. Consul General to a full time Indian Government run Consulate was taking place something unusual happened. The Indian Govt. had nothing to start off and it was decided to pay me $ 2,000 per month for all facilities at the Consulate. Mr. Butshikan had taken over as Consul General. For nine months no payment was made and I was forced to get a legal notice issued. Subsequently, the matter was settled. Unfortunately, the transition was not smooth.

Q: But there must have been more juicy stuff you know?

A: Yes, there were many controversial incidents that happened but I have not written about them.

—SAT News Service

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Tony Abbott attacks 457 visa changes, wants students for education not immigration

By our community reporter

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elbourne: Opposition leader Mr. Tony Abbott today attacked the Government’s tightening of 457 visas and felt, in fact, 457 visas were strengthening Australia. He said the 457 visas were not an attack on skilled migration. On a question by SAT that 457 visas were being abused by some employers, Tony Abbott said there might be individual cases but the Government’s case against it was unacceptable.

On the question of fall in international student enrolments, Mr. Tony Abbott talking to SAT said, “Australia welcomes international students for education but not immigration”.

The Opposition leader was addressing a media conference specially organised for the ethnic media in the city.

On a question by Mr. Ravi Raghupathy (Tamilsaru) about cuts in government spending at the federal and state levels, Tony Abbott said, the government in Canberra was spending more and earning less revenue. Australia should have a strong economy which is in the interest of the community, he said.

On a question about Australians not knowing foreign languages like Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the Opposition leader felt it was good to engage with other cultures and languages.

In response to a question on subsidies to the car industry, Mr. Abbott said, “I want a car industry in Australia which should have a viable production system. They can be helped if they show boost in their export volume. We support a long term sustainable car industry.”

—SAT News Service

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Daniel Andrews:

No problem fixed in Victoria

By our community reporter

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elbourne: It’s always a treat to go to the Parliament House. This time it was leader of Opposition, Mr. Daniel Andrews’s interaction with the South Asian media that made an informative media conference. In his initial address, Mr. Andrews blasted the Liberal led State Government for not doing anything for jobs, education and health.

“I have not seen a problem fixed or a challenge accepted and it is time the Victorian Premier accept there is a crisis in the State”, he said.

Mr. Andrews was concerned about TAFE cuts and the decline in ambulance services. He felt the coming State elections will be quite competitive and the Victorian voters will have a real choice.

On questions regarding the troubles faced by ethnic and South Asian media, Mr. Andrews said he valued multicultural

media and would look into its issues. He agreed to meet and discuss with Mr. Raj Dudeja (IMAA) and Mr. Neeraj Nanda (SAJAA) to discuss how the South Asian media can be assisted.

SAT Editor raised the issue of the suffering of the’ Little India’ traders in Dandenong, to which Mr. Andrews said, the Labor party always supported and took up the cause of the ‘Little India’ traders and it was not the end of the matter. The sustainability of ‘Little India’ future needs action and he was ready to sit with all concerned to discuss the issue, he said.

He concluded, “The future of ‘Little India’ traders is important and the place is an asset to multicultural Victoria.”

Mr. Manoj Kumar, ALP leader and SAPAC Secretary helped organise the gathering and those who attended the conference included MR. Raj Dudeja (Indian Voice), Mr. Neeraj Nanda (SAT), Mrs. Preeti Jabbal (Indian Link), Mr. Virosh Perera (Sarandeep),

Australia loosing India education market: Report By our community reporter

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elbourne: Australia has been urged by a report commissioned by the Melbourne based Australia India Institute (AII) to fulfil India’s fast growing education needs emanating from its fast growing young population to stem social problems which could emerge if the potential remains untapped. India’s education market is linked to its projection by 2020, of having 25 per cent of the world’s work force with an average age of 29 years.

The report “Skills Challenge: Australia and India’s Skills Training Needs” is authored by Prasenjit Kaundu. In 2012, he was an Australia India Institute Emerging Leader Fellow based at The University of Melbourne, where he spent two months researching and developing a sustainable business model for Australian skills training in India.

The report is of the view that 80 per cent of India’s corporations will have to invest in in house

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vocational education and training (VET). Australia has world class VET providers but lacks in competition, says the report.

To overcome this, it feels, Australia needs a new VET model for India which is low cost, of high quality, has India specific packages, E-learning, awareness plan and show case centres.

The report proposes a Centre of Excellence (COE) to be set up in India by Australia with focus on standards with public sector effort. This, it opines, will provide more amenable environment for Australian VET providers in India.

The report wants the focus on Engineering and Service skills, early childhood education, construction, heath and aged care. It has proposed a three year government funding leading to free – for- service system.

READ FULL REPORT AT: http://www.aii.unimelb. edu.au/sites/default/files/Skills%20Challenge.pdf —SAT News Service

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

""

Mr. Andrews was concerned about TAFE cuts and the decline in ambulance services.

He felt the coming State elections will be quite competitive and the Victorian voters will have a real choice.

Mrs. Natasha Chaku (PTI), Mr. Ravi (Tamilsauru) and Mr. John Kumar. Mr. Jude Perera, State member for Cranborne and parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs was also present.

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Multilingual online video explains new laws for employers By our community reporter

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elbourne: The government has launched a multilingual online video to inform employers about new laws around hiring overseas workers, the Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship, Tony Burke announced today.

The online video will help businesses understand, in their own language, new penalties for employing, referring or contracting people who are not allowed to work in Australia.

Under the new laws, which took effect from 1 June, businesses using illegal workers can be issued with an infringement notice or be liable for civil penalties for employing, referring or contracting non-citizens who do not have valid visas that allow them to work.

The new penalties range from $3060 to $76 500 per illegal worker, says a media release.

“Most businesses want to do the right thing so we want to ensure that businesses are not caught unaware by these new law changes,” Mr Burke said.

“To ensure businesses across the country are informed about the reforms, the government has committed to an awareness campaign in several languages to educate employers

"" about their responsibilities to use legal workers.

“These reforms are an essential part of the government’s effort to stamp out illegal work practices.

“Some employers seek to exploit vulnerable workers. This undermines fairness in our workplaces and community confidence in our migration program.

“The focus of the new laws is to stop businesses wilfully engaging illegal work, not to penalise businesses which act in good faith,” Mr Burke said.

The video, which has been translated into Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi and Vietnamese, along with more information about the reforms and simple steps businesses can take to make

sure they are not using illegal workers, can be found at www.australia.gov.au/ legalworkers, the media release says.

Mr Burke said businesses can check if non-citizens are allowed to work by using the government’s free Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) system.

“The government helps employers ensure anyone they’re considering hiring has the right visa through an online system called Visa Entitlement Verification Online, or VEVO. “It’s an online service that allows visa holders and registered Australian organisations -such as registered migration agents, employers, labour suppliers, education providers, financial institutions and government agencies - to check the details and entitle-

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

The online video will help businesses understand, in their own language, new penalties for employing, referring or contracting people who are not allowed to work in Australia.

ments of a visa which a prospective employee has been granted.

“VEVO is free and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Mr Burke said.

VEVO is a secure government webbased service and is the preferred method of checking if noncitizens are allowed to work.

“VEVO checks can be used as evidence that reasonable steps have been taken to check that a noncitizen is allowed to work,” Mr Burke said.

To use VEVO visit www.immi.gov. au/vevo

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South Asian Public Affairs Council (SAPAC) inaugurated By our community reporter

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elbourne: The South Asian Public Affairs Council (SAPAC) is Australia’s newest organisation that intends to unite people of South Asian origin in Australia. It came into being on 13 June, 2013 at the parliament House in Melbourne.

The official launch was attended by all office bearers including Mr. Donald Betts, Mr. Aloke Kumar, Mr. Manoj Kumar, Dr. Noel Nadesan, Mrs. Kaushaliya Veghela, Dr. M. Shabaz Chaudhry, Mr. Shanaka Fernando, Mr. Prince Mashil, Mr. Ryle J. Moldrich, Mr. Neeraj Nanda, Dr Ramanathan, Mr. Narendranathan and Mr. Amandeep Singh. Others present included Patrons Mr. Jude Perera, MP and Mr. Bandu Dissanayake. Others attending included supporters and well wishers of SAPAC. There were speeches by the President Mr. Donald Betts, Patron Mr. Jude Perera, Secre-

tary Mr. Manoj Kumar among others. The new body was introduced and there was a lively question-answer session.

The SAPAC is an non-partisan think tank devoted to preserving South Asian culture by promoting education, health, cultural awareness, youth development and policy initiatives within Australia. It’s vision being to enhance and assist with the integration of South Asian people in the mainstream Australian society.

The SAPAC has constituted many committees to look after issues that affect the South Asian community in Australia.

The beautiful brochure was released with important messages and pledges of support from different South Asian bodies and businesses.

MORE INFORMATION AND HOW TO BECOME A SAPAC MEMBERSHIP are available at : www.sapac.org.au.

—SAT News Service

Air India Australia flights from August By our community reporter

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elbourne: After a 16 year absence the Indian flag-carrier Air India is to start three flights each week and would run from Delhi direct to Melbourne, then back up to Sydney and onwards to Delhi. A media release from The NSW Premier’s office today says the Air India flights will resume from Australia in August .A spokesman in the Indian Consulate here told SAT the Air India flights were coming but no dates were available.

“Listings provided by Air India to the global distribution system (GDS) used by travel agents,

and spotted by the AirlineRoute website, show a daily Boeing 787 service (tagged as AI312/311) between Delhi and both Sydney and Melbourne starting from August 29,” reports Australian Business Traveller website.

The site further says, “On the other four days the Boeing 787 would fly from Delhi into Sydney, then continue to Melbourne, before heading back directly to Delhi.

The flights would leave Delhi around 1pm and reach their first Australian port in the early hours of the following morning; the return journey would see a midmorning departure from Sydney or Melbourne to reach Delhi around 6pm that day. www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

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southSouth asia times 13 Asia Times

Precision Hearing clinic @ Healesville completes one year of service By our community reporter

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elbourne: If you have a hearing problem then ‘Precision Hearing’ clinic at Healesville is the best place to go. Run by the couple team Vinay and Aparana, the place is very friendly and you are looked after well. The clinic has completed one year and the day was celebrated in a big way and SAT was there.

Vinay has been providing hearing services to Auatralia since 2003. He has worked extensively in Victoria and Western Australia. Before migrating to Australia Vinay worked as a senior audiologist in India for 13 years. He has been in the profession for 22 years and has great passion and knowledge in the field.

We drove for an hour through beautiful greenery on Maroondah Highway to the clinic in Healesville. The clinic was full of Vinay’s regular and new clients and later we were joined by Manoj Kumar.

Talking to SAT Vinay disclosed that in one year the clinic had about 400 regular clients in the area and many of them drive to him from far

"" flung rural communities. The clinic base is solid and ever increasing.

Snacks, tea and coffee were handy and photo opportunities were not missed. The first year of a business was being celebrated with joy, passion and a commitment to serve the community.

The clinic offers a full range of evaluation and rehabilita-

tion services in Audiology, Hearing Aida, Tinnitus Assessment, Customised Hearing Protection and Swimming Earplugs.

The comfortable clinic is a friendly place where they hear ably your hearing issues.

The clinic is located at 1/416420 Maroondah Highway, Healesville, Victoria 3177.

If you are in the South-

Eastern suburbs then you can come at - 2 Tweed Street, Vermont 3133; Ph: (03) 9884 8035; Fax: (03) 5962 1160.

For bookings and enquiries: Ph: (03) 5962 1190 (Business Hours) & (03) 9884 8035 (After Hours). Mobile: 0413 970 179.

Site: www.precisionhearing. com.au - SAT News Service

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

The clinic offers a full range of evaluation and rehabilitation services in Audiology, Hearing Aida, Tinnitus Assessment, Customised Hearing Protection and Swimming Earplugs.

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IEC hosts ‘women in business’ panel discussion M "" By our community reporter

elbourne: On 21 June, more than 70 business executives, owners and members of the Indian Executive Club gathered at the Thornbury Theatre, for a panel discussion on Women in Business.

The event, organized by IEC, saw four women panelists take the stage - Vijaya Vaidyanathan, Chief Executive Officer of the Yarra City Council, Australia; journalist Sushi Das; psychiatrist Dr Manjula O'Connor; and Sheba Nandkeolyar, CEO of Multicall Connexions. The discussion was hosted and moderated by Nesan Naidoo, Global President of Mars Venus Executive Training.

Last year’s winner of IEC’s Young Executive of the Year award Sanjeev Singh and Executive of the Year Rakesh Raizada spoke of how life has changed for them after winning the awards.

They also encouraged people to nominate themselves and their businesses for the awards.

The event was sponsored by Naturalizer and Brainwave Solutions. Naturalizer even organized prizes for the lucky draw and gifts for all the women attendees.

A highlight of the evening was the stand-up act by comedian Dan Nainan. An American comedian of Indian and Japanese origin, Dan has over a million Youtube views and has toured with Russell Peters.

Participants said they found the event both insightful and educational as it highlighted not just the challenges faced by women in business but migrant women as well.

Vijaya Vaidyanath has extensive international experience in local government spanning over 18 years. She was earlier in the banking sector, having worked in the Reserve Bank of India for 14 years. Vijaya brings her long history of local government experience as Chief Executive of Rodney District, New Zealand’s fastest growing council and Waitakere City, New Zealand’s fifth largest Council, to her current role as CEO of the City of Yarra.

Dr O'Connor is (Hon) Senior Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, and director of 100 Collin Street Medical Centre.

She is the founding director of Australasian Centre for Human

Rights and Health. In 2009, she founded the ‘AISV Taskforce Against Domestic Violence in Indian Ethnic Community’ and was recognized for her work by the President of India in January 2013. She was recently appointed to the Executive Board of ‘South Asian Community Link Group ’ as Secretary. Dr O'Connor writes regularly for Indian Ethnic Media and mainstream media. In December 2012, she received the Victorian Government Multicultural Award of ‘Excellence in Women’s Health’.

Sheba Nandkeolyar is the CEO of Multicall Connexions, a full service multicultural marketing, advertising and communica-

tions company striving to create limitless access to a diverse market of 10 million Australians.

She is also the president of the Australia Indian Business Council NSW (AIBC) and a director of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Australian Chapter.

Award-winning British/ Australian journalist Sushi Das is currently holds a position of opinion editor. Educated and raised in London, she migrated to Australia in 1991 and began her career as a news reporter at the Australian Associated Press. Her work has been recognized with two Melbourne Press Club Quill awards, in-

Kalavishkar staging Aaroh & Mayajaal By our community reporter

M

elbourne: Kalavishkar was formed a year ago, to promote Theatre and Folk Dance on the Australian- Indian horizon. Kalavishkar is a movement of cultural unity amongst performing art lovers in Melbourne. People from all walks of life participate in the Academy workshops and learn new skills in acting, speaking, dancing, singing, stage performances and management.

AAROH Kalavishkar upcoming charity event “Aaroh” will be held on 31st August and 1st September 2013 at the Chandler Community Centre, 28 Isaac Road, Keysborough, Time: 4:00 PM to 9:00PM. $2.00 from every ticket on the 31 August will be donated to the Salvation Army and to the Indian Tribal Fund on the September first.

A Fusion of Drama and Dance Musical in English3:45 PM ‘Dreams’

by Roy Kossena. Dreams is a wonderful story of parents and their kids, a journey of creation and love.

Dreams comprises of 35 participants and 10 melodious English songs written and composed by Roy Kossena, a noted lyricist and performer. This performance is a combination of Dance, Drama and Music and promises to hold the audiences spell bound.

MAYAJAAL Two Act Hindi Play 5:15 PM ‘Maayajaal’ Based on a Marathi play ‘Tuze Aahe Tujapashi’ by P. L. Deshpande Adapted by Satyendra Mishra. Maayajaal is a beautiful, light family drama. The drama highlights the dilemma between the human desire to enjoy life and giving up, a contrast between “living the life” and renunciation. Like the objects on the chess board, the various characters in this play portray the vividness and difference s in personalities, opinions and thinking. This play will entertain and get the thought process going.

Full day ticket (Dreams and Maayajaal) is $15.00 each and individual tickets are $10.00 each.

Tickets are on sale at Amba Bazaar Indian grocery stores in Glen Wa-

verley and Murrumbeena. Tickets can also be ordered by contacting Reshma Parulekar 0432 738 217 or Mandar Vaidya 0430 666 898, or email admin@kalavishkar.com.au.

Site: www.kalavishkar.com.au.

—Supplied

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cluding best columnist.

Moderator Nesan’s expertise lies in the fields of gender intelligence, coaching and leadership. He is currently the global president of Mars Venus Executive Training – a North Americabased company. The company was made famous by bestselling author Dr John Gray who wrote the book ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’. Nesan has over 25 years of experience in executive management and leadership roles and has worked with some of the largest blue chip companies in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Participants said they found the event both insightful and educational as it highlighted not just the challenges faced by women in business but migrant women as well.

—Supplied

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A philatelic celebration of 100 years of Indian cinema By our community reporter

F

ilm fans can now preserve the memories of legendary artistes of the India cinema in the form of attractive commemorative stamps, with the India Posts coming out with a set of such stamps depicting 50 iconic personalities of reel life. Released on May 3, 2013 in the form of six miniature sheets as a philatelic tribute to the centenary of Indian Cinema, these stamps portray all-time greats from the fields of acting, direction and music.

The first two miniature sheets consist of nine stamps each and comprise winners of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema for lifetime achievement, while the other four with eight stamps each depict other noted and respected personalities in the world of cinema.

Acting legends such as Prithviraj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar, Durga Khote, Dev Anand and Mehmood and Ruby Myers, acclaimed directors like Bhalji Pendharkar, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Nitin Bose, Tapan Sinha, Yash Chopra and noted musicians including Majrooh Sultanpuri, Naushad, R D Burman, O P Nayyar and Madan Mohan have been featured on the stamps.

Commemorative stamps themed on cinema, was first a stamp on the 'father of Indian film industry' Dadasaheb Phalke in 1971. In 1989, India Post issued a commemorative stamp to mark the 75 years of Indian cinema. In mid-90s, it had released a special stamp to mark the centenary of world cinema. In between, it released commemorative stamps on noted film personalities like Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan, Satyajit Ray, Madhubala and Nargis. A special series of commemorative stamps themed on yesteryear actresses too became famous in 2011.

Six miniature sheets with a print order of 8.1 lakh each are being issued by the India Post, and the number is believed to be largest so far, according to philatelist community.

While the denomination of each stamp is Rs 5, it will be made available to all philatelic bureaux in the country, including the one in Pune, for sale in June.

Source: Indian Express story

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Pak acid survivors say theirs is a fate worse than death

By Ashfaq Yusufzai

""

P

eshawar, Pakistan , Jun 28 2013 (IPS) - Women in Pakistan are no strangers to horror. In this country of 176 million, about 90 percent of women have experienced domestic violence; every year, over 1,000 women are murdered in so-called ‘honour killings’. Two years ago, the Thomson Reuters Foundation named Pakistan the most dangerous country in the world for women and girls.

Perhaps the most appalling of these many forms of violence against women are acid attacks, which have become increasingly frequent, particularly in the rural parts of the Northern provinces.

The attacks themselves are brief, with the perpetrator needing nothing more than a bottle of hydrochloric acid and a few seconds to fling it on the face and body of his victim; but for the women who endure it, the effects last a lifetime.

Searing pain, lengthy and costly medical procedures, permanent disfiguration and intense social stigma are among the most obvious impacts. Less visible are the trauma and loneliness that follow this crime.

Just last week, an 18-year-old Pashto actress named Shazia Begum from the Pabbi village in Nowshera, one of 25 districts that comprise the country’s northern Khyper Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, sustained severe burns after being doused with acid by a suitor.

Shazia’s mother, Shamim Begum, told IPS that the attacker, a local film producer named Shaukat Khan, went into a rage when she rejected his offer of marriage. The next day, he scaled the wall of the family’s house and poured acid on the sleeping girl.

Shazia was rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital in KP’s capital, Peshawar, where she was anaesthetised before doctors set to work sterilising her wounds. Like many victims, she was dangerously dehydrated, and as medics daubed antibiotic cream on her burns, she was fed a steady stream of fluids through an IV. Doctors in the hospital told IPS that most burn victims experience sufficient blood loss to warrant a transfusion. Though Shazia did not require this procedure, she will likely suffer from anaemia until her wounds are completely healed, they said.

After two days of intense treatment she was sent home with painkillers, vitamins, and warnings that constant and long-term medical attention would be a requisite for survival.

“We have received about 12 burn

The attacks themselves are brief, with the perpetrator needing nothing more than a bottle of hydrochloric acid and a few seconds to fling it on the face and body of his victim; but for the women who endure it, the effects last a lifetime.

cases so far this year; eight of them had burns covering 50 percent of their bodies,” Dr. Abuzar Khan, a specialist at the hospital’s burn ward, told IPS. In 2012, 27 acid attack victims were admitted here but only four survived. Most die as a result of septicaemia caused by severe infections.

The few that survive endure a veritable catalogue of medical problems: acid destroys the soft cartilage of noses and ears, causing deafness and loss of smell; lips dissolve, leaving teeth exposed and victims unable to speak or eat; eyelids are quickly and easily burned away, leading to blindness; even the skull is affected, particularly when the layers of dermis and fat burn away, leaving bones exposed.

These effects do not only induce extreme, sometimes unbearable, pain, they also wipe out a woman’s chance of finding a husband, starting a family, or leading a normal life.

Disfiguration, particularly in the face, neck and shoulders, is so intense that many victims end up as complete recluses, either hidden away by their families or too ashamed to step out in pubic.

Earlier this year, 22-year-old Razia Begum divorced her husband in order to marry another man.

Furious, her husband followed her to her new home in the Charsadda district of KP and threw acid in her face.

She has since developed a burn scar contracture, a shortening of the muscles, tendons and tissues, for which she will now have to undergo reconstructive surgery.

“Nobody is willing to look at my face,” she told IPS. “It is disgusting and shameful. Death would be far

better that what I am facing now.”

Few survivors can afford reconstructive surgery, which is made more expensive by a shortage of plastic surgeons in the region: according to Abuzar Khan, only 20 qualified plastic surgeons serve a population of 2.5 million people.

A basic skin grafting procedure for a small area of the face costs 500 dollars, though the chances of subsequent infections are very high. Most of the men who experience acid burns – about 20 percent of all burn victims – sustain such injuries while working in factories that produce matches, he said, while almost all the women are victims of attacks by suitors or family members.

A strict patriarchal culture governs all social interactions in this part of Pakistan, with both men and women forced to conform to rigid gender roles. Shame occupies a large part of the public imagination, including among men who are unable to find wives.

This perhaps explains why most perpetrators are men whose marriage proposals have been rejected, said Noor Alam Khan, chairman of Voice of Prisoners, an NGO providing free legal services to acid survivors and juvenile prisoners.

“Men want to deface those women who turned them down, and deprive them of their natural beauty so no one else will look at them… or marry them,” Khan told IPS. Valerie Khan, chairperson of the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF), told IPS that her organisation recorded about 150 attacks in Pakistan last year, of which only 49 were reported to the police.

A long history of indifference to domestic and gender-based vio-

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lence dissuades a majority of victims from lodging complaints with the police, and allows innumerable perpetrators to get off scot-free.

Now, experts say, new laws and increased awareness about the situation could act as a powerful deterrent to such crimes.

In 2011 the government passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act, tweaking section 332 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to make acid throwing a crime punishable by anything from 14 years to life imprisonment.

Police officer Muhammad Javid told IPS that in addition to the minimum 14-year sentence, attackers would be slapped with a milliondollar fine.

Noor Alam Khan believes that strict implementation of the law, which effectively makes acid throwing a non-bailable offense, would send a strong signal to perpetrators that Pakistani society no longer tolerates such actions.

But although “the conviction rate rose to 18 percent in 2012, from six percent in 2011 as a result of the law,” according to Valerie Khan, a concerted effort must be made to prevent high acquittal rates.

Others say the government should regulate the availability of acid, currently available in general stores for about two dollars per litre.

A draft law that would have banned over-the-counter sales of substances like hydrochloric acid lingered in Parliament but eventually failed to go through due to arguments that the product was crucial for everyday items like toiletries and batteries, and for mechanics and goldsmiths.

But until strong measures are put in place, Pakistani women will live with the perpetual fear of meeting a similar fate as hundreds of their countrywomen.

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Malala Yousafzai (right), the young education rights campaigner from Pakistan, speaks at the “Malala Day” UN Youth Assembly. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

The power of education frightens the Taliban: Malala U

By Sudeshna Chowdhury

NITED NATIONS, Jul 13 2013 (IPS) Malala Yousafzai and Muhammad Qasim have a lot in common. Both of them hail from the remotest areas of Pakistan, which have been battling extremism and terrorism for many years now.

Yousafzai is from Pakistan’s northwestern Swat valley, and Qasim comes from the Chakwal region of Punjab.

Yousafzai stood against the Taliban in her pursuit for education. Like Yousafzai, Qasim was determined to educate himself as well as his sisters. He and his friends constructed a secondary school for girls in his village by collecting funds through charity and donations.

In her speech at the United Nations Friday, Yousafzai said, “The extremists were and are afraid of books and pens.

“The power of education frightens them,” she added.

Qasim seconds that.

“Those living in cities cannot be targeted by the Taliban because they are educated, unlike in rural areas where there is illiteracy,” he told IPS. The main commonality between 16-year-old Yousafzai and 23-year-old Qasim is that both of them are children of conflict and education is their passion.

The attack on Yousafzai,

who was shot in the head by the Taliban but heroically recovered from her injuries, made headlines all over the world.

Qasim was informed of the attack after receiving a text message from a friend, he said. Since then he and his friends have organised protests, and used social media to raise awareness about girls’ education in Pakistan.

Qasim and Yousafzai came face to face a few days ago in New York. Qasim’s excitement knew no bounds when he spotted her at the airport.

“I inquired after her health,” Qasim said. “She said she was doing fine and that she is planning to select geography and history as her main subjects.”

Dressed in a yellow T-shirt and a pair of jeans, Qasim exudes an air of confidence.

Growing up in a remote area of Pakistan, Qasim had just one dream. “I wanted to become an engineer,” he said.

Qasim is one of the 1,000 youth leaders who arrived at the U.N. in New York City to mark “Malala Day”.

To honour Yousafzai’s courage for standing up against the Taliban and insisting that girls have a right to go to school, SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon has designated Jul. 12 as “Malala Day.” And on this occasion, Qasim is here to lend his support towards education for girls.

According to a report titled “The State of Pakistan’s Children 2012,” launched by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), a well-known child rights organisation in Pakistan, almost 25 million children and adolescents are out of school in the country.

For Qasim, too, the education he wanted did not come to him easily. After studying for five years in a primary school, Qasim’s father enrolled him into a madrassa (an Islamic religious school).

“Those at the madrassas would tell us not to go to government schools to pursue a normal education,” Qasim told IPS. “There was pressure on my father from the madrassa. And my father also insisted that I give up my normal education and pursue religious education at the madrassa.”

Qasim was not ready to compromise, he said. Initially, he would juggle his religious and academic education.

“Friday, being the Muslim religious holiday, I would go to school and catch up with the assignments, and the rest of the six days I would be studying in the madrassa,” he said.

Life in the madrassa was tough, recollects Qasim. It was a few months before 9/11 when he enrolled into a religious school in his village.

“I was 11 or 12 years old then,” he said. “At that time

the Taliban were our heroes and we would honour them.

“It was only later that I realised that the Taliban were not pro-humanity and proPakistan.

They were killing innocent women and children and this is when people realised that the Taliban were not the right people to support,” Qasim said. “They are not even Muslims,” he added.

However, life in a madrassa did not appeal to him.

“The perception outside is that students are tortured and they go crazy in madrassas,” he said. “I must say that the situation is exactly not the same as being portrayed.

But these things do exist where children are beaten and brainwashed. But I was clear from the very beginning that this is not what I wanted for myself.”

Qasim fought with his parents and finally convinced his father to allow him to pursue his studies in a government school.

“This is the only way I could become an engineer,” Qasim said.

Until tenth grade he studied in a village school and then he shifted to a nearby city. He won a merit-based scholarship and is currently studying at an engineering college in the capital, Islamabad. Qasim now works part time for a company. He has extensively worked in floodhit areas in the country. But he strives to achieve some-

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thing bigger in his life.

“I want to build a good college in my area and then convert it into a university after a few years so the children from my village can study.”

Not only has he managed to educate himself, Qasim is determined to educate all his sisters, too.

His trip is an inspiration for the members of his community, but coming to the U.N. might pose a huge risk, he admitted.

“I am concerned when I return home to Pakistan,” he said. “But this is a lifetime opportunity and I wanted to express myself before the world.”

As far as the role of Pakistani government is concerned, Qasim said that the government is trying but corruption has been a major deterrent when it comes to education. Also, changes needs to be implemented at a policy level, along with funding, which continues to be a huge challenge, Qasim said.

According to a new policy paper by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 28.5 million children, who constitute half of the world’s out-of-school children, live in conflict-affected countries.

The paper further claims that humanitarian aid for education has declined to 1.4 percent, down from 2.2 percent in 2009.

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U.S. retailers unveil contentious Bangladesh safety agreement

By Carey L. Biron

W

ASHINGTON, Jul 11 2013 (IPS) - An alliance of 17 major U.S. brands and retailers, including Walmart and the Gap, has unveiled a five-year agreement aimed at strengthening conditions and worker rights at garment factories in Bangladesh.

The new alliance, announced here in Washington on Wednesday, received cautious initial approval from some sectors. Yet the response from labour rights groups has been excoriating, with advocates particularly warning that the agreement’s enforcement provisions are too weak to ensure robust implementation.

“The so-called Global Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety was developed without consultation with workers or their representatives and is yet another ‘voluntary’ scheme with no meaningful enforcement mechanisms,” Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, one of the largest labour unions in the United States, told IPS in a statement.

“Companies that sign onto the alliance but fail to meet a commitment face no adverse consequences beyond expulsion from the scheme. Instead, workers will continue to pay.”

Indeed, according to a joint response by a half-dozen labour rights groups (not including the AFL-CIO) shared with IPS, companies that decide to withdraw from the alliance are only penalised by being forced to pay their share of administrative costs. For large companies, this would work out to around five million dollars – while Walmart alone brings in more than 400 billion dollars annually.

“For a company with billions of dollars in revenue, such a penalty is a minimal cost of doing business, not a serious deterrent,” the groups, which include the International Labor Rights Forum, the Worker Rights Consortium and others, stated.

“This confirms what labor rights advocates have long predicted: that Walmart, Gap and companies like them simply do not want to make any promises they actually have to keep. What they want is to be able to make promises now, at a time of major public and media scrutiny, that they can walk away from whenever it suits them, at a token cost.”

The creation of the new alliance follows a five-week process of negotiations among the companies and two and a half months after a factory collapse in Dhaka killed more than 1,100 people, the worst disaster in the garment industry’s history.

Fear of liability But the agreement also comes after nearly 70 other companies, primarily in Europe, agreed to support a new fire and building safety accord that has won widespread approval from labour groups. Nearly all major U.S. and Canadian companies refused to sign onto the accord, however, saying it would open them up to too much legal liability.

“The main … reason we couldn’t

Twenty-five-year-old Razia is one of 2,500 survivors of the factory collapse in Bangladesh. Credit: Naimul Haq/IPS

sign the accord, is Europe has a different legal environment than we do in the United States and Canada,” Jay Jorgensen, Wal-Mart’s senior vice president and global chief compliance officer, said at the public unveiling of the new agreement here on Wednesday.

“The accord had some provisions that under the U.S. and Canadian legal system would subject us to potentially unlimited legal liability and litigation … These companies here have put up around 146 million dollars so far to fix the situation in Bangladesh – we don’t want one dollar of that to go to lawyers; we want every cent of that to go to the factories.” The alliance also includes such major retailers as Target, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Kohl’s, Sears, L.L. Bean and J.C. Penney. Under the terms of the new agreement, by October a common set of safety standards will be created for all factories producing products for alliance members. After one year, those factories will have to undergo an external verification process, by auditors chosen by the companies.

The alliance also says that worker empowerment will play a key role in its new approach, promising to institute, among other things, new worker representation committees. Yet critics point out that the alliance agreement makes no provision under which workers can refuse to do dangerous work.

Further, while an alliance hotline for worker complaints is to be set up by November, the European accord goes much farther, allowing workers to initiate enforcement proceedings.

Thus far, alliance members have pledged 42 million dollars to a worker safety fund, and have said they will provide more than 100 million dollars in capital for improving factory infrastruc-

ture. Those contributions are to continue for the next five years, though critics warn that this aspect of the plan is only voluntary.

Aligning goals Initially it had seemed as though the North American companies, in refusing to sign the European accord, would simply proceed with individual plans for remediation in Bangladesh and public relations elsewhere.

Yet as analysts were suggesting that Bangladeshi-made clothing might soon become taboo to consumers, in early June several of the largest companies here agreed to negotiations hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank.

Over the past five weeks, these talks were led by two widely respected former U.S. senators, George Mitchell and Olympia Snowe. While both Wednesday offered their support for the results, the spectre of the European accord clearly remains foremost in many minds.

“Before they began this process, the members of the alliance decided that they would not join the accord, so this was not and is not a question of the alliance versus the accord,” Mitchell said Wednesday.

Yet he noted in closing: “My hope, and here I speak personally, is that the members of the alliance and the accord will one day soon make their efforts common to the extent possible. The criterion should be simply, what’s the best way to improve worker safety.”

Indeed, harmonising the two approaches appears to remain an important medium-term goal, at least for some. Also speaking Wednesday, Snowe noted that the new agreement was “designed to work in conjunction with the

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""

Companies that sign onto the alliance but fail to meet a commitment face no adverse consequences beyond expulsion from the scheme. Instead, workers will continue to pay.

accord”, including though the establishment of a joint advisory board that “can hopefully align their goals”.

That sense is shared by some U.S. lawmakers, many of whom in late June withdrew lucrative trade concessions to Bangladesh – though not those that would impact on the massive garment industry, which is expected to be valued at some 21 billion dollars this year.

“The creation of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety is an important first step toward addressing the dismal plight of Bangladeshi garment workers,” Senator Robert Menendez, chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesday. “[But] North American and European retailers, which often source from the same factories, must now closely coordinate efforts on their various initiatives to ensure that there is a common unified safety standard going forward.”

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When children give birth to children

By Mallika Aryal

C

HAMPI, Nepal, Jul 11 2013 (IPS) - Radhika Thapa was just 16 years old when she married a 21-year-old boy three years ago. Now, she is expecting a baby and is well into the last months of her pregnancy. This is not the first time she has been with child – her first two pregnancies ended in miscarriages.

“The first time I conceived I was just 16, I didn’t know much about having babies, nobody told me what to do,” Thapa tells IPS in between assisting customers at the vegetable store she runs with her husband in the small town of Champi, some 12 km from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.

The second time I wasn’t ready either, but my husband wanted a baby so I gave in,” she admitted.

After the second miscarriage, Thapa’s doctors urged her to wait a few years before trying again, but she was under immense pressure from her in-laws, who threatened to “find another woman for her husband if she kept losing her babies”.

What might seem like a horror story to some has become an accepted state of affairs in Nepal, the country with the highest child marriage rate in the world.

On average, two out of five girls are married before their 18th birthday. The legal age for marriage in Nepal is 18 years with parental consent, and 20 without, a law that is seldom observed, least of all in rural parts of the country.

Studies show that child marriages occur most frequently among the least educated, poorest girls living out in the countryside.

According to the 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), 17 percent of married adolescent girls between 15 and 19 years are either pregnant or are mothers already. In fact, research shows that adolescent mothers give birth to 81 out of every 1,000 children in Nepal.

The survey also shows that 86 percent of married adolescents do not use any form of contraception, meaning that few girls are able to space their births.

“You are talking about a child giving birth to another child,” Giulia Vallese, Nepal’s representative for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS. Disturbed by trends in countries like Nepal, the UNFPA spotlighted teen pregnancy as the theme for this year’s World Population Day, observed annually on Jul. 11.

“Globally there are 16 million girls aged 15-19 who give birth each year – they never had the opportunity to plan their pregnancy. It is a developmental issue that goes beyond health,” Vallese stressed.

In reality, teen pregnancy can be a matter of life and death. Adolescent girls under the age of 15 are up to five times more likely to die during

Teen mothers give birth to 81 out of every 1,000 children in Nepal. Credit: Mallika Aryal/IPS

childbirth than women in their 20s.

The number one cause of death among girls aged 15-19 relates to complications in childbirth. Young mothers are at a high risk of suffering from complications such as obstetric fistula and uterine prolapse.

Furthermore, “the first child born to a mother aged 12-20 is at greater risk of being stunted or underweight, suffering from anaemia or even of dying before the age of five,” says Vallese.

Less visible, but equally troubling, is the host of social complications that teen mothers must navigate.

“When girls get pregnant their education stops, which means a lack of employment opportunities and poverty,” says Bhogedra Raj Dotel of the government’s family planning and adolescent sexual reproductive health division.

According to the UNFPA, 37 percent of married adolescent girls are not working and 76 percent of those who are employed are not paid in cash or kind for the work they do.

Menuka Bista, 35, is a local female community health volunteer in Champi, assisting about 55 households in her area. Bista has been advising Thapa, to ensure that the girl has a safe pregnancy.

“Radhika (Thapa) is educated, she knows she needs to go to the doctor and eat nutritious food for her baby to be safe, but she doesn’t make decisions about her body: her husband and in-laws do,” Bista told IPS. This observation finds echo in research carried out by various experts: according to Dotel, husbands

and in-laws make all the major decisions about a woman’s reproductive health, from what hospital she visits to where she will deliver her child.

For this reason, Vallese believes it is important to train husbands and family members on reproductive health and rights.

Another problem, experts say, is that almost all national policies have been designed with the assumption that adolescent pregnancies affect only married women, with little acknowledgement of the fact that unmarried teenaged girls also engage in sexual activities, said Vallese.

The penetration of the Internet and mobile phones into every aspect of daily life, coupled with a massive wave of migration of young rural men into urban areas, has created “a significant teenage population that engages in pre-martial sex,” she stressed.

Whether the teenaged girls are married or unmarried, sex educationplays a major role in decreasing the number of pregnancies.

Sex education is a part of the national school curriculum from Grade 6 upwards, but teachers are not trained, and are uncomfortable talking about it. When the subject comes up in a classroom, most teachers simply skip that chapter, or defer to a health worker to explain the process of reproduction.

“There’s a general (perception) that teaching about sexual health makes girls promiscuous, but we have found it to be exactly the opposite,” says Shova KC, chair of a local cooperative that works with

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""

The penetration of the Internet and mobile phones into every aspect of daily life, coupled with a massive wave of migration of young rural men into urban areas, has created “a significant teenage population that engages in pre-martial sex,” she stressed.

women in Champi.

Public health experts, meanwhile, have criticised the government for not implementing existing policies that could spare thousands of young girls from the trauma of complicated pregnancies so early on in life.

For instance, “more than 500 youth friendly service centers have been set up but progress is about more than just ticking boxes,” UNFPA Assistant Representative Latika Maskey Pradhan, told IPS. In the future, she said, advocates must keep a close eye not only on how policies are designed but also on how they are implemented.

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s'i=Pt sm;c;r

a;ŽS$^eily; me' ihNdI-ix=; kI rjt jy'tI

a;ŽS$^eily; me' SkUlI bCco' ke ilye sbse phlI k=;² 1986 me' ¾sw$@eR SkUl a;Žf¹ m;@nR lw'Gvejej¹¾ áab

ivK$oiryn SkUl a;Žf¹ lw'Gvejej¹¾â ke b[Nj¹ivk keN{ me' 1986 me' a;rM. hué qI a*r 11vI'-12vI' k=; me'

ihNdI ko Ek ivWy ke åp me' a;ŽS$^eily; me'² a;j se 20 vWR pUvR² 1993 me' m;Nyt; imlI qI) ”s vWR ihNdI ix=; s‹` áa;ŽS$^eily;â ne ihNdI-ix=; kI rjt jy'tI mn;ne k; inXcy iky; hw) ”s avsr pr nE-pur;ne ihNdI

iv´;iqRyo' tq; ihNdI a?y;pko'Ö a?y;ipk;ao' k; punimRln a;yoijt krne a*r s;'SkOitk k;yRÞm p[Stut krne kI yojn; hw) ijn VyiKtyo' ne ipzle 20 vWo| ke d*r;n a;ŽS$^eily; me' h;é-SkUl aqv; ivXviv´;ly Str pr ihNdI ivWy le kr yoGyt; p[;Pt kI hw y; a;ŽS$^eily; me' ihNdI k; a?y;pn iky; hw y; kr rhe hw'² ve ihNdI ix=; s‹` áa;ŽS$^eily;â se inMnili%t pte pr sMpkR kr skte hw'- hssangh@gmail.com

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southSouth asia times 31 Asia Times

1³ Svr-s'?y; áxinv;r² 6 jul;éâ² s'gIt s'?y; áxinv;r² 3 agStâ Sq;n - vevlIR me@oj¹ p[;”mrI SkUl² 11 kUliMby; @^;”v² ×IlsR ihl² ivK$oiry; ámeLve s‹d.R-71 jI-11â smy - r;t ke 8³00 bje se a;rM.) p[vex in"xuLk hw) ai/k j;nk;rI ke ilE s*r. imÅ; á f¹on - 0402 326 232â aqv; ivvek p;'@e áf¹on-0402 438 654â se sMpkR kIijye aqv; inMn vebs;”$ dei%ye - http://www.sharda.org/

ne .I iky;) a\g[ej¹ srk;r ne ve‹k$suBb; r;v ko 1936 m‹e ˜sr ˜kI ¬p;i/ se iv.UiWt iky; a*r a;j¹;dI iml j;ne ke b;d .;rt srk;r ne a‹@;l ve‹k$suBb; r;v ke yogd;n kI sr;hn; krte huE ¬Nhe‹ 1957 me‹ ˜pµ .UW, ˜se sMm;int iky;) m{;s sev; sdn¾ kI jb lokip[yt; b!¹ne lgI to ifLmk;ro‹ k; .I ?y;n ”s aor gy;) ifLm indeRxk Ö inm;Rt;² ke³ sub[m<ym ne m{;s yun;”$e@ a;i$RS$ k;rporexn ke bwnr tle ¾sev; sdnm¾ n;m se 1938 m‹e Ek if¹Lm bn;”R ijske kq; le%k ke åp m‹e p[emc‹d k; n;m idy; gy;) timl ifLm ¬´og m‹e yh yug‹;trk;rI ifLm is« hu”R) y´ip åi!¹v;dI logo‹ ne ”sk; jm kr ivro/ iky;² pr if¹Lm bhut sfl hu”R) Es³ suBbul+mI á1916-2004â yo‹ to g;iyk; qI‹² pr ¬Nho‹ne kuz ivixã$ ifLmo‹ m‹e y;dg;r ai.ny .I iky;) ¾sev; sdnm¾ hI vh if¹Lm qI ijsse ¬Nho‹ne apne ifLmI kwiryr kI xu¨a;t kI qI) ve‹k$suBb; r;v a*r a‹‹@;l aMm; ne jo SvPn de%; q;² vh ¾m{[;s sev; sdn¾ a*r ábe‹glu¨ m‹e ¾a.y inketn¾â ke åp m‹e s;k;r hua;) vh;\ yh a;j Ek /m;RqR s‹Sq; ke åp m‹e rijS$@R hw a*r ”ske a‹tgRt Ek djRn se ai/k s‹g#n n;rI ¬Tq;n Ev‹ sm;j kLy;, ke ilE k;yR krke n kevl ¬nkI yxkIitR kI pt;k; fhr; rhe h‹w² biLk p[emc‹d ke .I aiÃtIy Sm;rk bn gE h‹w)

kh; - ®mere dF¹tr me' Ek ny; KlkR a;y; hw) ¬se Ek kmr; c;ihE ik¹r;ye pr) Ek hj¹;r tk dene ko twy;r hw) m;lUm krn; muhLle me' agr koé³³³® ®Ek hj¹;r ¨pyeÚ³³³® pTnI socne lgI² ®Kyo' n ¬se hm apn; zo$; v;l; kmr; de de'À® ®vh jo ipt;jI se %;lI krv;y;

hwÀ® hirb;bU socte huE se bole ®vh to bCco' kI p!¹;é ke ilE³³³® ®ajI bCco' k; Ky; hwÚ® pTnI bolI - ®jwse ab tk p!¹te a; rhe hw'² vwse ab .I p!¹ le'ge) ¬Nhe' alg se kmr; dene kI Ky; j¹årt hwÀ® agle idn vh kmr; ikr;ye pr c!¹ gy;) ál`ukq;³k;m se s;.;râ

ab h\sne kI b;rI hw mohn a*r b;j¹;r xo/kt;R

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Events.htm; 2³ s;ihTy-s'?y; - apne log² apnI b;te' áxinv;r² 20 jul;éâ Sq;n - KyU áKEWâ me‹ koqm ro@ a*r isivk @^;”v ke nuKk@¹ pr) ámeLve s‹d.R-45 @I-6â smy - x;m ke 7³30 bje se 10³30 bje tk) p[vex in"xuLk hw) ai/k j;nk;rI ke ilE¾ p[of¹esr niln x;rd; áé-mel" nalinsharda@gmail.com f¹on" á0402â 108 512â aqv; hirhr Z; áé-mel" hariharjha2007@gmail.com f¹on" á03â 9555 4924â se sMpkR kIijye) 3³ ÅI s'k$ mocn mhoTsv 2013² .;rt me' b;!¹-pIi@¹to' tq; ivXv-x;'it ke ilye p[;qRn; áxinv;r² 27 jul;éâ Sq;n - a;r-1² ro$u'@; iqye$r² mon;x ivXviv´;ly² veil'g$n ro@² Kle$n) smy - dophr ke 2 bje se x;m ke 7 bje tk)

hw'À mohn - bjr'g k; j@¹I-bUi$yo' v;l; xwMpU) xo/kt;R - a*r b;lo' me' k*n s; tel ”Stem;l krte hw'À mohn - bjr'g k; a;ml; kex-tel) xo/kt;R - mw'ne bjr'g b[;<@ k; n;m phle k.I nhI' sun;) Ky; yh koé Sq;nIy lokip[y b[;<@ hwÀ mohn - jI nhI'² bjr'g mere doSt k; n;m hw) hm dono'² Ek s;q Ek kmre me' rhte hw') áp[eWk- @;³ surex guPt;² meLbnRâ

k;yRÞm me' sh;yt; krne tq; Sp;'srixp ke ilye² vIn; .;i$y; se 0412 771 779 pr sMpkR kIijye) aNy j;nk;rI ke ilE² r;kex a*pilx se 0408 381 487 pr aqv; @;Ž³ idneex sUd se á03â 9800 4940 pr sMpkR kIijye aqv; inMn pte pr é-mel .eijye - sankatmochansamiti@gmail.com 4³ Sv;mI ivvek;n'd kI 150vI' jy'tI pr @;Ž³ sub[;mi,ym Sv;mI k; ¾ihNdU nvj;gr, a*r Sv;mI ivvek;n'd¾ ivWy pr a\g[ej¹I me' Vy;:y;n itiq² Sq;n v smy - ákâ xuÞv;r² 12 jul;é² 6³30 bje se a;rM.² f¹edrb[uk kMyuin$I seN$r² 33-35 ivn@or; áWindorah) @^;”v² Pv;”'$-kuk) á%â 13 jul;é² subh 9³30 bje se a;rM.² iqye$r é-7² ibiLi@'g nMbr 72² mon;x ivXviv´;ly² Kle$n) ai/k j;nk;rI ke ilye² r;kex a*pilx se 0408 381 487 pr sMpkR kIijye)

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info@melbournejainsangh.org http://www.melbournejainsangh.org MUSLIM Melbourne West Mosque 66-68 Jeffcott Street, Melbourne Ph: 03 9328 2067 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 Australian Islamic Cultural Centre 46-48 Mason Street, Campbellfield Ph: 03 9309 7605 Coburg ISNA Mosque 995 Sydney Road, Coburg North 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 Glenroy Musala 1st Floor, 92 Wheatsheaf Road, Glenroy Heidelberg Mosque Corner Lloyd & Elloits Streets, West Heidelberg 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 Al Nur Mosque 34-36 Studley Street, Maidstone Meadow Heights Mosque Hudson Circuit, Meadow Heights Springvale Mosque 68 Garnworthy Street, Springvale

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Sri Lanka Consulate 32A Brunswick Street ,Walkerville 5081 Melbourne , Phone: 9898-6760, 9248-1228 Email: rodney@techno.net.au

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

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

Readymades 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 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 Essence of India 76 Foster St., Dandenong 3175 (03) 87744853; 0413707685 Accountants & Loans Deepak & Associates Suite 4 & 6, Bldg.6, Hamilton Place, Mont Waverley 3149, (03) 9807 5992; 0402459174; 0411733737

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contd from previous page All Banking Needs Rakesh Raizada Commonwealth Bank (Indian Banking) Ground Floor, 378 Burwood Highway Burwood East 3151 Mobile: 0434470095 Email: rakesh.raizada@cba.com.au Immigration iVisa Consulting Level 5, 45 William St. Melb.

Mobile: 0409504094 www.ivisaconsulting.com.au 1st Migration PL, Suite 110, Level 1, 672 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn Vic 3122 Travel Agents Gaura Travels 1300 FLY INDIA or 1300 359 463 info@gauratravel.com.au Supa Cheap Travel 381 Burwood Road, Hawthorn 3122 Ph: (03) 98194656; Mobile: 0420201155 info@supacheaptravel.com.au www.supacheaptravel.com.au Mann Travel 329 Clayton Road, Clayton 3168 info@manntravel.com.au www.manntravel.com.au Travel House 284 Clayton Road, Clayton 3168 Ph: (03) 95435123, Mobile: 0425803071 mail@travelhouse.com.au Solicitors/Barristors Vernon Da Gama & Associates 28 Fromer St. Beltleigh 3204 Ph: (03) 95038046; Fax: (03) 95038047 Mobile: 0401407280/042193100 Email: vernondagama@msn.com

Indian Restaurants Hot Gossip 143 Boronia Road, Boronia 3155 Ph: (03) 97610733 Kadai Curry Kitchen 5 Canterbury Road, Blackburn 3130 Ph: (03) 98909782 Phoolwari 7 Murry Place, Ringwood 3134 Ph: (03) 98769111 Curry Bazaar Cafe 361 Burwood Road, Hawthorn 3122 Curry Bazaar Cafe-2 77 Swan Street, Richmond 3121 Ph: (03) 94259401 Tandoori Junction 29 Railway Parade North Glen Waverley 3150

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Cinnamon Club 1291-1293 Nepean Hwy, Cheltenham 3192

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Rich Maha 499, Shop 5, Vermont South (Burwood Hwy) 3133

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EdX Institute Ph: 1300 933 922, Mobile: 0433354401 Email: edx@optusnet.com.au www.edxinstitute.com.au

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Music Groups/DJ/Cultural Om Music Group (Amitaabh Singh), Mobile: 0422028076 Email: amitabh_om@yahoo.com.au

Punjab Cafe 143 Carnish Road, Clayton 3168 Ph: 95444218, Mobile: 0432536683 Haldirm’s Indian Restaurant Shop 28, Stuart Ave., Hampton Park 3976, Ph/Fax: 97994790, Mobile: 0433259369 Email: haldiramfoods@yahoo.com.au Sinage & Printing Sign*A*Rama Box Hill 895B Canterbury Road, Box Hill 3128Ph: (03) 98988564, Mobile: 0412639703 Mobile Car Mechanic Tony Zahlan (Repairs all models), Mobile: 0402466599 ltzahlan@primusonline.com.au Bollywood Mandaps Office: Nunawading, Showroom: Dandenong North, Call: 1300 851 137 Email: info@bollywoodmandaps.com.au Site: http://www.bollywoodmandaps.com. au/

INDIAN CONSULATE (MELBOURNE) Address : 344, St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia , P.O. Box No: 33247 Domain LPO Vic 3004 General phone: +61-3- 96827836 Fax No: + 61-3- 96968251 Web site: www.cgimelb.org PHONE NUMBERS Phone Number for General Consular Enquiries(operational only during Consular Working Hours i.e. 0930 hrs to 1230 hrs, Monday to Friday) For PCC and PCC and Driving License Verification enquiries 03- 96825800 02 8223 9908/ 1900 969 969 Email ID for General Consular Enquiries consular@cgimelb.org Visa enquiries: visainfo.inau@vfshelpline.com Passport/Police Clearance Certificate/ Driving License Enquiries passportinfo. inau@vfshelpline.com, OCI/PIO Enquiries

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Business

South Asia Times south asia 34 South Asia Timestimes

Coal India to acquire $4 billion worth of Australian assets

j u l y

The Chinese culinary queen of Kolkata

By Arup Chanda

K

A

n Indian coal company is looking to acquire two Australian companies in a deal worth more than $4 billion.

According to reports by the Economic Times, the move would enable state-owned Coal India to import 28 million tonnes of high quality thermal coal a year.

A senior minister of the India’s coal ministry said CIL had sent proposals to acquire majority stakes for $2 billion each in the two companies to the company’s foreign acquisition committee.

"After the committee's clearance, the proposals will be forwarded to the board and CIL will be ready to take them over. The entire process is likely to take at least three months because CIL will conduct a due diligence through its merchant bankers on the assets to make sure the return on investment is in stipulation with the government norms," said the official. The official did not name the Australian coal miners but said they were large companies that had been in operation for a number of years.

CIL recently received 32 propos-

als when it floated an expression of interest for acquiring assets from countries including Indonesia, Australia, USA, Mozambique, Chile and Columbia.

"We need to be fast. If we delay the process the assets offered to us may not be available after some time because these companies also have the compulsion of engaging with other parties for selling them," CIL chairman S Narsing Rao had earlier told ET. Increasing demand for high quality coal, and delays in delays in government permits in India is said to be behind the move by CIL. A recent report highlighted that demand for Australian coal would be increasingly sought by India.

The report states that "India has seen its coal import demands increase annually due to inefficient domestic production.

SOURCE: Australian Mining

olkata: Sixty-year-old Monika Liu is a hard taskmaster with an eye for perfection, sharp business acumen and a fearless attitude which belies her age. “I’m a Cantonese Hakka woman. We’re known across mainland China for our unconditional hard work,” she says with pride.

These formidable qualities have helped her build a successful restaurant business from scratch over the last 20 years.

Liu is the proud owner of four Chinese restaurants in Kolkata — Kim Ling, Beijing, Tong Fung and Mandarin. Two of these, Kim Ling and Beijing, are in fact China Town’s most popular eateries.

Liu, like the majority of Kolkata’s Chinese, is from the Hakka region of Canton (now Guangdong). She opened her first restaurant, Kim Ling, in 1992 after her husband’s tannery business collapsed. “I knew I had to do something for a living,” she says.

“I had little money to afford help.

So the entire family got on the job with only two helps in the kitchen and one service boy.”

But what was it that made people travel miles to the dingy alley on the fringes of the city where Liu’s restaurant is located?

“Cantonese Hakka cuisine blends beautifully with the Bengali palate,” says Liu. She did have to give a local twist. “Hakka cuisine is mostly boiled or cooked in little oil with less spices. But I know that Bengalis love their chilli, so I would use a sauce prepared from green chilli to make it more acceptable to my Bengali customers.”

With the hot and spicy Szechwan dishes on the menu, she would do the opposite and temper down the spices.

Liu believes in being handson at all times. The chefs in her restaurants have all been personally trained by her. “For the

first five months they are trained only in chopping vegetables.

Once they master this art, only then are they taught to prepare the dishes,” she says. “I reward my students with ‘chilli chicken with bamboo shoots’ when they make mistakes,” she says with a laugh. She is also known to pull her students’ ears if they don’t pay attention to their teacher.

It’s not just Chinese food that Liu serves. She sells the China experience. Everything in her restaurants, down to the table napkins, speaks of China. Liu travels to China five times a year to buy tablecloths, napkins and accessories for her restaurants. She also travels to Thailand to buy the spices and special powders needed to prepare crispy chicken and prawn, two of the most popular dishes in her restaurants.

“I also get the seeds of vegetables such as spring onion from China and then ask local farmers to grow them. It’s a better variety of spring onion that you don’t get locally,” she explains.

For the sauces, she relies on the local Chinese sauce factories.

The rest of the raw materials are sourced from the local market.

Liu does not serve beef or pork, keeping the religious sentiments of her customers in mind, and

also uses only halal meat, which is acceptable to Hindus a well as Muslims.

Ask her about her journey as an entrepreneur and she says it has been anything but easy. “Initially I had to resist the interference of the local goons. Once, around 15 people from a local political party came to my restaurant and demanded an exorbitant sum as chanda [contribution],” Liu says. She was alone at the cash counter. But instead of paying up, she says she chased the gang away with a vegetable chopper.

Liu, like others of her community, is not unfamiliar with such challenges. Before the 1962 war with China, the Indian Chinese population lived in the Tirethi Bazaar area in the heart of Kolkata. After the war, the Congress state government encouraged the community to relocate to China Town in Tangra on the outskirts of the city.

The sense of isolation still persists. “The Chinese are never encouraged to move and settle down in other parts of the city and are confined to China Town.

Because of this many of the younger generation Chinese have left India and settled in Canada and Australia,” says Liu. Children still get the traditional training at the local Chinese school, Ling Lang. Overall, however. the lack of opportunities has confined Kolkata’s Chinese to the tannery, sauce-making, restaurant and beauty-parlour businesses. Today, there are over 35 Chinese restaurants in China Town. The cheap yet authentic Chinese food they serve is such a big draw that long queues can be seen outside these eateries on weekends and during festivals.

Liu say only around 2,000 people of Chinese origin are now left in Kolkata, the city which once had the largest Chinese population in South Asia.

Tata Consultancy Service accused of misusing 457 visas

By Melbourne News Desk

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eading Indian IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been accused of misusing 457 visas to bring foreign workers into Australia.The TCS has IT contracts with some of Australia’s largest companies, including Qantas, Woolworths, Telstra and AGL. Current and former employees of TCS say the company relies on foreign workers, even in areas where

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there are no skills shortages,, says a report by ABC News.

TCS employs 300,000 worldwide and makes billions, with clients including Qantas, Woolworths, Telstra and AGL. Company accused of flying in workers without advertising for Australian workers. The ABC report says the TCS refused to comment.

Read full original report at – www.abc.net.au (457 visa rorting: Workers accuse Indian IT giant Tata Consultancy Services of visa abuse) —SAT News Service www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

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Celebrating 125th Birth Anniversary of Jamini Roy

Jamini Roy: A versatile experimental artist

By Alok Deshwal

""

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ew Delhi: Jamini Roy (1887 – 1972) was one of the earliest and most significant modernists of 20th century Indian art who played a prominent role in breaking away from the art practices of his time. His career spanning over nearly six decades had many significant turning points showcasing the versatility in his visual language.

Trained in the British academic style of painting in the early decades of the 20th century, Jamini Roy became well-known as a skilful portraitist. He received regular commissions after he graduated from the Government Art School in what is now Kolkata, in 1916. However, the first three decades of the 20th century saw a sea-change in cultural expressions in Bengal. The growing surge of the nationalist movement prompted all kinds of experiments in literature and the arts. In visual arts also the experiments were clearly manifest with the founding of the Bengal School by Abanindranath Tagore rejecting European naturalism and the use of oil as a medium.

Jamini Roy also rejected the style he had mastered during his academic training and from the early 1920s searched for forms that stirred the innermost recesses of his being. He sought inspiration from sources as diverse as East Asian calligraphy, terracotta temple friezes, objects from folk arts and crafts traditions and the like. From 1920 onwards Roy brought a joy and élan to the representation of village scenes and people, reflecting the innocence and romanticism of his childhood upbringing in a rural environment. It was perhaps an instinctive step forward for him, given that he was born in Beliatore village in Bankura district of what is now West Bengal. There was no denying that he sought to express his kinship with his roots from this period onwards.

Sometime around 19191920, Jamini Roy turned away from the commissioned portraits. He would paint a little and then something deep

down made him obliterate what he had painted earlier.

This went on for a good few days till he suddenly expressed radically different visual ideas germinating in his mind. For the next few years, he did a suite of paintings featuring Santhal women. These sensuously painted women were engaged in their daily chores in their village settings. Using firm angular lines, he painted romanticised images of figures that hinted at increasing stylisation.

These paintings were stepping stones to even more dramatic changes in his visual language. From the mid-1920s, his images were executed with sweeping, calligraphic lines showing the artist’s strong control over the brush. Colour was leached out of the paintings resulting

in series of monochromatic pictures that hinted at inspiration from both East Asian painting styles and Kalighat pats. The images were drawn from everyday life—mother and child figures, women, bauls and so on.

By the end of 1920s, Jamini Roy turned for inspiration towards the folk arts and craft traditions of his own district.

He painted ordinary rural people, scenes from Krishnaleela, scenes from the epics, icons from the folk cults of the region, witty representations of animals. Perhaps, one of the boldest experiments in figuration and narrativisation was the series from the life of Jesus Christ. The episodes from Christian mythology were visualised in a way that could communicate itself easily to the ordinary Bengali

villager.

Jamini Roy’s engagement with modernity lay in his search for the essence of form. He found what he wanted in the folk art idioms.

Something of this search can be seen in the carved wooden sculptures that he made in the early 1940s. And yet Jamini Roy’s methods were not that of the folk artist.

There was no spontaneous naivéte in his visualisation.

He made meticulous and detailed drawings of his images.

He was rooted in the village culture that shaped his early years and he shared with the villagers an uncomplicated world-view and a belief in the certainties of tradition. Another feature to be noted in Jamini Roy’s modernism was the use of bold, vibrant, dazzling colours that negated the

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

Trained in the British academic style of painting in the early decades of the 20th century, Jamini Roy became well-known as a skilful portraitist.

He received regular commissions after he graduated from the Government Art School in what is now Kolkata, in 1916. However, the first three decades of the 20th century saw a sea-change in cultural expressions in Bengal. The growing surge of the nationalist movement prompted all kinds of experiments in literature and the arts. In visual arts also the experiments were clearly manifest with the founding of the Bengal School

by Abanindranath Tagore rejecting European naturalism and the use of oil as a medium.

naturalistic colour palette.

It is interesting that till the 1930s, along with his folkstyle paintings, Jamini Roy also continued to paint portraits with impressionist and even pointillist brushstrokes.

The medium in the later years was however tempera.

Amazingly, he also made wonderful copies of European masters. Obviously, these were tools for honing his visual language.

—PIB

Sports

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India win U19 International Series

By our sports correspondent

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arwin,July 12: India has taken out the U19 International Series after demolishing Australia by eight wickets in the Series final at Marrara Oval in Darwin today. India never looked troubled in their run chase today and reached Australia’s total of 75 in only the 16thover to finish the Series unbeaten. India 2/76 (15.3 over’s) defeated Australia 75 (24.4 over’s).

The Aussie players may have spent last night watching one of last year’s Australian U19 representatives, Ashton Agar, bat his way into history over in England.

But they were unable to use that inspiration to produce any Agar-like heroics with the bat today.

Indian captain Vijay Zol won Player of the Series after a dominant tournament with the bat. Australian fast bowler Matt Fotia was the only player to snare a five-for during the tournament and finished top of the bowling table with 10 scalps at an average of 17.20. Fellow teammate Cam Valente was also impressive over the Series and finished second on the bowling table

with nine wickets at 15.89.

Sixteen-year-old Jake Doran was the best of the Aussie bats throughout the tournament with a spectacular average of 195 and an aggregate of 195 runs (second behind Zol’s 284 runs).

The U19 International Series is part of Cricket Australia’s (CA) Under 19 high-performance program and has a decorated history of producing the next generation of Australian players including Michael Clarke, James Pat-

tinson and Agar.

CA’s National Talent Manager Greg Chappell has worked in the last three U19 programs, including identifying and nurturing the talent of Agar and Pat Cummins, and has watched the U19 Series in Darwin closely.

Chappell said Australian cricket fans had a lot to look forward to in the coming years. “Doran is the quintessential all-round cricketer for the modern era for he is an accomplished wicket-keeper

who also bowls some handy left-arm seamers. “[He] shows enormous potential as a left-hand middle order player in the mould of Michael Hussey,” Chappell said.

Chappell also identified opener Matthew Short as another batsman to watch, and said he had been impressed by young bowlers Fotia and Valente. “[Short] has shown enormous potential as a stroke player and is also a prom-

ising off-spin bowler who fields well. He has already been recognised by Cricket Victoria with a rookie contract for next season. “[Fotia] is a strongly built young man who likes to bowl fast and who loves a chat. “[Valente] is a clever medium fast bowler and lower middle order batsman from South Australia. Cam is a competitive young man who has a good understanding of the tactical requirements of the game and is a proven wicket-taker,” Chappell said.

Australia underperformed with the bat this Series but Chappell said it was up to the players to use these experiences as a good learning opportunity.

“Early signs suggest that talent is not the problem.

It will come down to how much is learnt from the experiences; then it is down to commitment, desire and execution,” Chappell said.

Australia is currently preparing for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, to be held in Dubai in February 2014. The next test for the Aussie U19s ahead of next year’s World Cup will be an U19 quad seriesagainst India, South Africa and Zimbabwe in India during September.

I am proud to be part of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag: Sonam Kapoor

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haag Milkha Bhaag is directed by BAFTAnominated director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Rang De Basanti) and stars Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor and British actor Art Malik. The film is presented by Mr Deepak Kuntawala from the international private equity and commodity trading company DVK, which is the Global Partner for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The film was releasesd worldwide on 12th July 2013. Following is an interview with Sonam Kapoor.

Excerpts from the interview: Q: The response for your latest film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has been great, how do you feel?

A: I feel great actually, I’m really proud to be a part of this film. I love working with Rakeysh

me open up. I went through a bad patch after Saawariya. When I went on the sets of Delhi 6 he made me feel beautiful and made me feel talented. I was a young kid and wasn't confident about who I am and he gave me the confidence and I will always be grateful for that. I did Bhaag Milkha Bhaag for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Even if he asked me to walk backwards in the frame I would do it.

pivotal role, and it was an honour to play the part.

Mehra, so to be a part of Milkha is amazing because it’s such an inspirational story, and the inspiration for Milkha is my character, so I think its beautiful being a part of the story.

A: For me the reason I did Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was because it was an outstanding script, I wanted to work with Farhan Akhtar and I wanted to again work with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. My role is a

Q: You only charged RS.11 for your role in the film, what led you to make this decision?

A: They had a budget and they told me they can't give money and that's why I said give Rs 11 and I will do the film. I love Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. For me he is somebody who gave me a lot of confidence and helped

www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

Q: It seems you appeared teary eyed at the promo of the film. How were you feeling at that moment?

A: The promo shows the blood, sweat and toil of everyone who has worked on the film. This is why I started crying. You guys have seen the trailer and you must have understood the kind of work we have done in the film.

—Supplied

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We provide excellent family day care services for your child please talk to us today

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