South Asia Times - October 2018

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Festival Season to Spice Up Multicultural Ethos

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By Neeraj Nanda

M

elbourne: It’s come again and will keep coming.

The last three months of the year are all set to dazzle with the festive season! 2018 is no exception. Big and small events and celebrations are already happening.

Victoria’s multicultural atmosphere will no doubt, add to the festivities.

Different communities will mix with each other and exchange gifts and sweets.

Diwali is on our door step and Christmas not far away.

Some of you will be going overseas and celebrating with friends and relatives.

Those who are here the fun will not be less. And this season we will once more pledge to maintain respect for each other’s faith’s and culture. This is the best bet to preserve multicultural and secular Victoria and Australia.

Diwali (also spelled Devali in certain regions) or Deepawali, popularly known as the "festival of lights", is an important festival in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, celebrated for different reasons, occurring between mid-October and midNovember each year. For Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important festivals of the year and is celebrated in families by performing Laxmi puja and traditional cultural activities in homes.

For Jains, Diwali marks the attainment of moksha or nirvana by Mahavira in 527 BC. For Sikhs, Diwali is celebrated as BandhiChhorDiwas.

In recent times, in India, Australia and other countries, Diwali is celebrated by people of all communities irrespective of region or religion. It reflects the multicultural dimension which unites people into humankind. Diwali fairs are held in all prominent Australian towns by Indian organisations and attended by people of all faiths and communities. It is also known as the ‘Indian X-Mas’ to many Australians.

The name "Diwali" is a contraction of "Deepavali", which translates into "row of lamps". Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas or dipas) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil.

But these days electric lights light up homes and offices. During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends.

Diwali as per belief commemorates the return of Lord Rama, along with Sita and Lakshmana, from his 14-year-long exile and vanquishing the demonking Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen

diyas and by bursting firecrackers.

The festival starts with Dhanteras on which most Indian business communities begin their financial year. The second day of the festival, Naraka Chaturdasi, marks the vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama.

Amavasya, the third day of Deepawali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth in her most benevolent mood, fulfilling the wishes of her devotees. Amavasya also tells the story of Lord Vishnu, who in his dwarf incarnation vanquished the Bali, and banished him to Patala. It is on the fourth day of Deepawali, Kartika Shudda Padyami, that Bali went to patala and took the reins of his new kingdom in there. The fifth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes.

Meanwhile, in Melbourne the festival season has begun and the cultural scene has been picking up.

Big Diwali fairs are taking place soon! The Celebrate India will be having Diwali@ Fed Square on 3 November, 2018 in the city, on 4 November, 2018 AIII Diwali Mela will be held at the Springers Leisure Centre, Keysborough among many other Diwali events.

Diwali related fairs

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and other events are also planned in different suburbs. Many good movies are also gearing up for release in cinemas during this season. Shopping is great fun and has already started. Indian and South Asian shops in Little India, Dandenong and other suburbs are full of Diwali stuff and Indian Sweet shops are gearing up for all those who have a sweet tooth.

Christmas and New Year eve festivities and parties are not far away.

Exciting and fun filled days lie ahead. The community will be active and enjoy the season in a typical multicultural atmosphere.

Living, working and enjoying together will further enhance out togetherness. Next month Victorians will vote for a new government. The Hon. Daniel Andrews led Labor government is seeking reelection and the Opposition Coalition led by Mathew Guy is making all efforts to woo the voters. Looks it’s going to be a good celebration of democracy.

South Asia Times (SAT) will bring you all the reports from overseas and here of the fun filled days ahead in its hard copy, website and social media.

We at SAT wish you all the best of enjoyment and entertainment to you and your family for all festivals and events during the season.

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community DIWALI

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DIWALI DECORATIONS RANGOLI

Rangolis are colourful geometric patterns drawn on the floor to welcome Lakshmi Mata or the Goddess of Wealth. The designs are commonly made with colored sawdust, chalk, flour or rice-grain. Drawing Rangoli patterns in front of the the courtyards or the entrance of the house on religious occassions is a very old custom in India.

A lot of creativity and hard work is involved in the making of Rangoli designs.

This Diwali, you can help your mom by making some Rangoli patterns yourself.

All you have to do is, take a handful of rice grains and soak them in different colors overnight; dry in sun the next day. Next, draw any design you like with wet chalk and simply fill it with the colored rice.

rafters, roof lines, and porch railings of your home.

ADORN YOUR HOUSE WITH FLOWERS

home as well create a divine atmosphere.

DECORATIVE LAMPS

DIYAS AND CANDLES

Diyas and candles are an integral part of Diwali decorations. Adorn every nook and corner of your home with splendid diyas and candles on Diwali.

These days, these items come in varied and artistic designs made specially for the occasion of Diwali. It's even better if you buy some

incensed sticks or aromatic candles with different fragrance. Light it in the place of worship at your home. These will enliven the surroundings of your

Diwali is the ‘Festival of Lights’ and so everyone wants to light up their homes as best as possible.

Decorative lamps are a popular item to brighten every room of your home on Diwali. With a variety of lamps available in the market, you are sure to find a set of them of your choice.

These come in various

shapes and sizes and of materials ranging from glass to brass to marble and the like. Buy a number of these and illumine your home this Diwali.

ELECTRIC BULBS

For outdoor light decorations, you can buy some electric lights. There are electric string lights, lighting pipe, tiny bulbs etc to adorn your yards and gardens. Strings of electric lights are perfect to adorn mantles and doorways,

Flowers are another great item to adorn your home with. Markets offer a lot of floral items for home decorations that you can buy during Diwali. You can also buy flowers like roses, lilies and jasmines in dozens. String some of these into garlands and fix them skillfully in your stair handles, on the wall or on the entrance door as 'toran's. Attach a string of electric light with each floral strand. It will look magnificent. Put some flowers in glasses, penstands or glasses to enhance the beauty of your house.

Your home will look like a living paradise.

MANOJ KUMAR – LABOR Mind Blowing gets 2015 highest grossing FOR FOREST HILL foreign film award for PK

BY NEERAJ NANDA

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elbourne, 12 October: Aamir Khan’s ‘PK’ released this year in Australia by the Mind Blowing Films has won the prestigious Award presented

by Michelle Gater, General Manager - Programming & Content Hoyts Cinemas for the Highest Grossing Foreign Film in Australia’.

“With a total box office collection of $2,110,842 , the award was accepted by Mitu Bhowmick Lange & John Molloy, Mind Blowing Films – this represents back-to-back wins for Mind Blowing Films, who won this category in 2014 with Dhoom 3,” says a AIMC media release.

Talking to SAT, Mitu Bhowmick said, “We are delighted to win the very special award for a second year in a row.

We are deeply grateful to the producers Disney UTV , Raju Hirani for making this wonderful film , Hoyts for all their wonderful support and of course everyone out there who gave the film so much

October 12,2015, Gold Coast, Queensland.

Managing Director of Deluxe Australia, Alaric McAusland led the chat with Director Jocelyn Moorhouse, whose film The Dressmaker earned an enthusiastic reception at a Screen Australiahosted screening last night – and Jeremy Sims, Director of Last Cab to Darwin, which yesterday passed the $7.2 million mark at the Australian box office.

The Australian International Movie Convention (AIMC) is the premier event to showcase the Australian film industry and provides opportunities for industry stakeholders to reflect upon and shape the issues that affect the business of motion pictures and to network Hoyts GM,Programming Michlle Gater, Mitu B Lange & John Mollay at the event. with local and international Photo: Mind Blowing Films colleagues. The Australian International Movie Convenlove “ IN 2009 the award went Dragon Tattoo got the award Grossing Box Office Awards tion is held annually on the Manoj Labor candidate forQueensland Forestand Hill to The Intouchables, in 2010 for 2012 and the 2013 award Kumar in Australia-and New ZeaGold Coast, it went to The Women On The went to the movie Coco land for 2014/2015, the 70th hosted by NACO, the National believes in hardwork and builds a feel-good 6thFloor, the 20111 award Avant Chanel.

AIMC hosted a special dinAssociation of Cinema Operacampaign of the state election. Mr. went to The Girl Who Played To celebrate the presenner witha anhead ‘In Conversation’ tors – Australasia.

With Fire, The Girl With the tation of the key Highest session during the meal on News Service Kumar an engineer by profession—SAT believes in

securing good education, training, jobs and fair go for all.

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$100,000 boost launches countdown to Sikh Games Melbourne 2019

By Neeraj Nanda

M

ELBOURNE, 12 September: The Andrews Labor Government has announced a $100,000 events package to assist with the staging of the 32nd Annual Australian Sikh Games – the premier sporting and cultural event of the Australian Sikh community.

Minister for Sports John Eren today joined DalvinderGarcha, President of the Games Organising Committee, at Casey Stadium to officially launch the countdown to the event and announce the package.

More than 3,000 athletes and up to 90,000 spectators are expected to descend on a range of venues throughout the City of Casey including Casey Stadium during the games.

Competitors from around Australia will compete in

14 sports ranging from traditional games such as kabaddi and tug-o-war to more contemporary sports such as cricket.

The games are a celebration of Sikh culture, promote physical activity and health and well-being, and provide the whole community the opportunity to tap into a unique sporting and cultural experience.

Minister for Sports John Eren said, “Sport plays an important role in the cultural traditions of all Victorians and we’re right behind major sporting events that encourage everyone to get together, keep active and stay involved in their local communities.”

“This is a chance for Victorians to enjoy our state’s strong relationship with India and celebrate all things Sikh.”

Some 135,000 visitors from India visited Victoria

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in the 12 months ending September 2017, spending $373 million – a 29 percent increase on the previous 12 months.

Events like these will boost these figures as the Labor Government implements its ambitious plan – Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future – to nearly triple the expenditure by Indian visitors to Victoria.

The Sikh Games was secured through the Labor Government’s $17.7 million Significant Sporting Events Program, the $20.7 million Regional Events Fund and the Multicultural Festivals and Events Program.

Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott says, “Sikh migrants have had a strong influence on Victoria’s cultural and social development – I encourage everyone to get behind and support the athletes during these Games.”

Mathew Guy announces grants for Sikh events

By SAT News Desk

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ELBOURNE, 12 October: Hon. Matthew Guy MP Opposition Leader of Victoria with his south east team made Sikh Community announcements as follows today, according to the Liberal Party.

1.$ 100k for Sikh games plus $25k for water provision and conveniences 2. Vaisakhi celebrations (concurrent with Sikh Games) $30k 3. Keysborough Sikh Temple for contribution to stage 2 $ 326k 4. BangharaDownunder 2019 – $ 15k to help with hiring of facilities 5. JohrMela Baba Budha Sahib Pakenham announcement – $100k www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

cultural and sports event.

6. Vaisakhi March from Parliament to Fed square Festival / $70k 7. 200k for upcoming celebration in 2019 of 550 Birthday of the First Sikh Guru Nanak dev Ji. This Grant is for the Sikh March from Parliament to the Federation Square.

These announcements are being seen in the context of the upcoming Victorian State elections next month and the recent announcement by the Minister for Sports John Eren announcing $ 100,000 events package to assist with the staging of the 32nd Annual Australian Sikh Games – the premier sporting and cultural event of the Australian Sikh community.

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Light up Melbourne this Diwali!

By SAT News Desk

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ELBOURNE: Going by the tremendous success and appreciation of the 2017 Diwali lights competition from the community throughout Wyndham City in Victoria, Forum for Indian Australians (FIA) is proud to announce the Diwali Lights Competition for 2018 “not only in Wyndham but also to expand it Melbourne wide.”

The competition invites Melbourne residents to light up their front home facades for at least two weeks in the lead up to Diwali. Diwali will be observed on Wednesday 7 November, so participants will be required to light up their homes from 1‐14 November 2018. A $500 cash prize will be

awarded for the winning entry from each Metropolitan region and there will be a $1000 cash prize for the best amongst the final five entries (i.e. one from each region).Further details about the competition and the event entry page can be accessed from the Forum for Indian Australians’ Facebook page (https:// www.facebook.com/fiaforum/).

The FIA team believes thecompetition will enable the Indian community to create an awareness of the importance of Diwali throughout Melbourne. The lights will be an important visual indicator of this important festival.

Cross cultural awareness will also be enhanced as people from other cultures will understand about Diwali and possibly embrace it too, in the lead up to Christmas.

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Melbourne Ganesh Festival 2018

Largest Vinayak Chaturthi Celebrations

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ELBOURNE: With over 4000 plus attendees from various communities, this year’s Melbourne Ganesh festival was one of the significant events of Melbourne’s western suburbs.

This was its 3rd year and it happened on Saturday, 15th September 2018. This Ganesh festival is now the largest Ganesh festival in entire Australia and Asia pacific. Many local media and community groups supported this festival and its now officially supported by state Government’s Victorian Multicultural Commission.People of Indian Asian backgrounds and many local Australians attended this festival.

Dignitaries from local governments also attended this festival.

It was a onedaycelebration from 11am to 6.30pm. at Werribee Indoor sports centre, A massive 3 basketball court stadium.

A big decoration, 2 stage

events slots of 90mins and Maharashtrian DholTasha play were some great attractions of this event.

Many local businesses put their stall in fair at this festival. Variety of Indian food was also catered by DosaHut. This event was non-alcoholic event with presence of security guards and First-Aid providers. It was a complete fun filed family day out to everyone with FREE Entry (no charges to attend).

This year Ganesh idol arrived at 9.30am and then local priest performed pooja and Pratistapana at 11am.

This Ganesh idol is an exact replica of Punes’ world famous Ganesh temple, Shrimant Dagadusheth Halwai’s idol and 4.5 feet in height. After pooja various sweets were offered as parasad and first Maha aarti was performed at 12noon.

Many nearby school kids and locals performed various cultural dances and songs on stage includingseveral dances

from Punjabi Bhangrato Gujrati Garbha to Maharashtrian Lavani to Bharatanatyam.

After that at 2pm Maharashtrian Dhol was performed by a groupcalled Jangarjana making everyone to dance on its tunes. A real Multicultural Australia was showcased when everyone from Indian origin and local Australian danced together

on Marathi rhythms.

Next was a Bollywood orchestra, biggest attractions of this festival.

At 6.00pm last aarti was performed and then volunteers started preparing for Visarjan, an immersion of small idol.

This Ganesh festival was organised by Nonfor-profit organisation, Maharashtra Businesses

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and Professionals council Australia Inc. Festival president, Vinayak Kolape, told us that many local businesses like Maax Real Estate group, Curry king returns, Baysis Migration and Augment real estate sponsored this festival. Many local people also come and help as volunteers.

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Martin Foley inaugurates Mental Health Month

By SAT News Desk

M

ELBOURNE, 8 October: Victoria’s Minister for Mental Health Hon Martin Foley MP in his speech at the opening of the Mental Health

Month at the Supper Room of the Melbourne Town Hall today said, “social harmony and mental health of the people are linked.”

He also gave away the three awards for the Art Competition winners and

was presented a poster of the event. The program attended by a large number of people had entertainment items including a beautiful traditional Chinese dance performance. The Korean Youth Orchestra also gave a

mesmerising performance.

Victorian Schools Creative Writing Competition winners were also awarded by Cr Beverley Pinder.

The event was preceded by the Top 30 Artwork on Display in the Portico Room

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and Balcony.

The leadership of the Mental Health Foundation Australia including Chairperson Jim Goodin and Vice-Chairperson Vasan Srinivasan were present among others.

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Inter-faith prayers for droughtaffected Australian farmers

By SAT News Desk

M

ELBOURNE, 21 September: Supported by the Andrews Labor Government, Victorianbased faith leaders have come together in a show of solidarity for the drought-affected Australian farmers.

Members of the Victoria’s Multifaith Advisory Group (MAG) said the group wanted to come together on the International Day of Peace in a show of faith and offer their prayers to demonstrate and encourage broad support for Australian farming communities.

We understand the plight of farmers in drought affected communities and are helping them through a variety of funding programs which allows farmers to consider their own personal circumstances and seek support.

Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott says, “We understand the plight of farmers in drought affected communities and are helping them through a variety of funding programs which allows farmers to consider their own personal circumstances and seek support.”

Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Baha’i, Muslim and Buddhist leaders and members of their congregations joined the Day of Prayer, and were joined by the Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott, and the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

The faith leaders will continue prayers and encouragement of donations and other support through their respective congregations and communities.

Chaired by Chairperson of the VMC Helen Kapalos, the MAG comprises 27 religious leaders from various Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Baha’i communities. The MAG assists the government to understand and respond to faith-related issues in Victoria, and to support people from a diverse array of cultural and religious backgrounds.

Chair of the Multifaith Advisory Group and the Victorian Multicultural Commission Helen Kapalos says, “While the leaders here today represent several different faiths and denominations, they also represent one humanity, underpinned by the values of compassion, understanding, support and hope.” www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

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Thugs of Hindostan witnesses exclusive trailer launch at the Hoyts Imax, Highpoint

By Neeraj Nanda

M

ELBOURNE, 27 September: To mark the occasion of its founder the late Yash Chopra’s 86th birthday on today, Yash Raj Films and Mind Blowing Films paid homage to the illustrious and visionary film maker, (who literally changed lives through his cinema) - by launching the trailer of their most ambitious film to date, Thugs of Hindostan (TOH).

Mind Blowing Films (MBF) CEO MinuBhowmick Lange addressed those present at the high tech Hoyts Imax dedicating the event to Yash Chopra, icon of the Indian film industry and remembered for his memorable movies. Mitu was confident the TOH is a gigantic movie with iconic actors Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan with prominent roles in it.

Marking a first for the Indian and the Bollywood film industry, Yash Raj Films

launched the trailer of its upcoming screen spectacle, TOH at the Hoyts IMAX here, in line with the film’s worldwide trailer launch. The launch marked the first of its kind to ever take place at the prestigious screen to date.

A select audience clapped and appreciated the 3minute trailer as the giants of Indian cinema made this critic think

as to what was in store in the movie. The tale of an Indian rebel challenging the might of the East India Company sets the tone of this movie Yash Raj Films has also built up the buzz around the imminent and highly anticipated trailer launch through an innovative marketing strategy to introduce the primary

characters of the film through motion posters, prior to the trailer launch.

Thugs of Hindostan is the biggest visual spectacle on the big screen that boasts a larger than life, never seen before cinematic experience for Bollywood audiences. Having pulled off an incredible casting coup by bringing together two of

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the biggest legends of Indian cinema Amitabh Bachchan (who plays the role of the fierce warrior Khudabaksh) and Aamir Khan (as the roguish Firangi) on screen for the first time, this film is most awaited by audiences. It also stars Katrina Kaif as the gorgeous performer Suraiyya and Fatima Sana Shaikh as the daredevil Zafira.

The film is set to treat audiences across age groups with a visual scale like never before. With the most jawdropping action sequences seen on screen to date and an epic war on the seas, the film is set to light up this Diwali.

In yet another first, YRF launched the trailer in IMAX across four continents on the same day, starting in India, Australia, UAE and the UK. Thugs of Hindostan, is set to release on November 8, in time for the Diwali festivity.

The movie is being released in Australia by Mind Blowing Films. www.mindblowingfilms. com.

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New international investigation tackles ‘fake science’ and its poisonous effects N

By SAT News Desk

ew international investigation tackles ‘fake science’ and its poisonous effects Hundreds of thousands of scientists worldwide have published studies in self-described scientific journals that don’t provide traditional checks for accuracy and quality, according to a new journalistic investigation.

Dozens of reporters from media outlets in Europe, Asia and the United States have analysed 175,000 scientific articles published by five of the world’s largest pseudoscientific platforms including India-based Omics Publishing Group and the Turkey-based World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, or Waset. In addition to failing to perform peer or editorial committee reviews of articles, the companies charge to publish articles, accept papers by employees of pharmaceutical and other companies as well as by climate-change skeptics promoting questionable theories.

Some of those publishers send targeted emails to scientists who are under pressure to publish as many articles as possible in order to obtain promotions and improve their curriculum, according to the findings

by NorddeutscherRundfunk

(NDR), WDR and SüddeutscheZeitung.

In addition to the German outlets, a group of more than a dozen media organizations including the New Yorker, Le Monde, the Indian Express and the Korean outlet Newstapa took part in the investigation. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists facilitated the collaboration.

Although the existence of these internet-based pseudo-scientific journals is not new and has been warned against by universities and research institutions, its recent rapid growth — with the number of publications put out by

the top publishers tripling since 2013 and involving some 400,000 scientists – set off alarms among former Nobel Prize winners.

The credibility of science is at stake, said U.S. physician Ferid Murad, the 1998 winner of the prize in physiology or medicine.

Randy Schekman, a U.S. cell biologist who was among the 2013 winners of the Nobel prize, said that he was horrified that scientists were publishing in such journals.

“This kind of thing has to be stopped,” said Robert Huber of Munich, who was awarded the prize in 1988.

“If there is a system behind it, and there are people who aren’t just duped by it but

who take advantage of it, then it has to be shut down,” said Stefan Hell, a Nobel laureate in chemistry.

Those journals contribute to the production and dissemination of “fake science” by failing to uphold basic standards of quality control, the report said. In Germany alone, more than 5,000 scientists — including those supported by public funding — have published their articles in such predatory journals, which have been increasing for the past five years.

While those journals’ publishers claimed that a panel of scientists is in charge of verifying the accuracy of the papers, the

investigation showed that articles are published within a few days of submission without any vetting process.

In one case, an article in the Journal of Integrative Oncology stated that a clinical study had shown the extract of propolis, a secretion that bees use to glue hives together, was more effective than chemotherapy in treating colorectal cancer. The study was fake and the authors were affiliated with a research center that doesn’t exist, Le Monde reported.

After the journalists questioned the journal about those findings, the article was deleted but an archived version is still available online.

Omics, which published the journal in question, claims to have published over 1 million articles and is currently being investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for alleged fraudulent claims, according to the Indian Express. A spokesman has denied any wrongdoing and defended the integrity of its publications.

Reporters from the media outlets involved in the investigation successfully published numerous nonscientific papers with the publishers whose practices they were examining and also participated in several of their conferences.

Source: ICIJ

SBS National Languages Competition 2018 (15 OCT. – 18 NOV.)

By SAT News Desk

Islander languages.

ELBOURNE, Celebrating Australia’s increasing cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity, SBS today launches the SBS National Languages Competition 2018 - a nationwide initiative to inspire and encourage language learning and retention.

In its third year, the competition is expanding to engage Australians of all ages who are learning a language, including English and Aboriginal and Torres Strait

SBS Director of Audio Language and Content, Mandi Wicks, said: “SBS is the world’s most linguistically diverse public broadcaster. In addition to the nearly five million Australians speaking a language other than English at home, we know many people engage with our services to help with language retention or to learn a new language.

m

VISIT sbs.com.au/nlc18 to enter the competition. www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

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community

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$230,000 funding for Melbourne’s Shwetambar Jain Sangh Centre

By SAT News Desk

M

ELBOURNE,24 September: The Shwetambar Jain community here is rejoicing after a funding boost of $230,000 from the Andrews Labor Government for the “cost of the refurbishment of

the existing Community Centre that supports the Jain Indian Community in Moorabbin.

“This funding will strengthen the Indian community participation in our vibrant multicultural society and have an enduring impact on the character and infrastructure

of our state,” Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott says.

A media release from the Minister’s office says, ” The project will ensure the Indian community continues to have safe, functional facilities that enable them to access services, participate in activities and

share their vibrant culture with the wider Victorian Community.”

Member for Oakleigh Steve Demopoulos said, ” We’re investing to support Victoria’s Indian community as it grows.”

Nitin Doshi, who is President of the Melbourne Shwetambar Jain Sangh

said, ” We welcome the funding and hope this will strengthen our community and multicultural Australia.”

Member for Bentleigh Nick Staikos said, ” We are supporting the development and expansion of multicultural infrastructure across Victoria.”

Eat healthy to beat exam stress

By SAT News Desk

N

ew research shows that many Australian students are using an unhealthy concoction of junk food, sugary drinks and caffeine to cope with exam stress, a move that could be putting their marks – and their mental health – at risk.

A survey of more than 1000 young people by Student Edge’s market research arm, YouthInsight, in partnership with frontline youth service ReachOut, found that 45% of students’ diets were less healthy during exam time.

Young people are turning to a mix of junk food (45%), caffeine (41%), sugary drinks (16%) and energy drinks (14%) to help them cope with stress in the lead up to end of year exams.

A poor diet combined with a lack of sleep (36% of students reported sacrificing sleep) and exercise (64% of respondents said they exercised less in the lead up to exams) can put general health and mental health at risk.

ReachOut CEO Ashley de Silva said that while the appeal of comfort foods and drinks was understandable, more nutritious options provided the right fuel for brains and bodies.

“We know that Australian students are more stressed than ever at exam time, with the number of young people seeking professional

mental health and medical help doubling in the last 12 months,” Mr de Silva said.

“It’s tempting to rely on sugar and caffeine for a quick fix, but the reality is without a balanced approach you’re more likely to crash and burn.

“Healthy snacks and drinking plenty of water can have a big impact. It’s also important to be kind to yourself. So enjoy that Tim Tam but remember that cramming in lots of caffeine, sugar and junk food is unlikely to deliver the best results on exam day.”

Student Edge’s Head of

Membership Simon Miraudo said that some of the results of the survey were alarming but there were simple things students could do to help relieve some of their unhealthy exam stress.

“We undertook this research to discover more about the habits of young people when it comes to end of year exams, to see how we can all help students during this super stressful time. Some of the results are quite alarming, especially when we look at the real impacts, like the fact that 37% of respondents reported sickness in the lead

up to exams and 30% reported increased family issues,” he said.

“By sharing these findings in the lead up to exams and partnering with ReachOut we hope to encourage students to ditch the unhealthy habits.”

Lee Holmes, nutritionist and founder of Supercharged Foods, said that good nutrition is vital for a clear head and an energised body, and to help deal with stress at exam time.

“It’s easy to get into the habit of reaching for a coffee or an energy drink instead of water, or munching on chips and chocolate, because there’s little to no preparation time required,” she said.

“But the better the fuel your brain gets, the better you perform mentally. Plus, cooking can be a relaxing activity and a good use of that precious study break time.

Research shows that the best fuel for the brain comes from sources like the antioxidants in berries and other fruit and vegetables and fatty acids like Omega-3 found in things like oily fish.”

The research was conducted by Youth Insight, the full-service market research arm of membership organisation Student Edge, to deliver unique insights into exam habits and stresses of Australian students aged 16 to 24.

Parents and young people seeking tips, articles and more about exam stress can visit

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

ReachOut.com.

For more information about the research data, visit studentedge.org & youthinsight.com.au.

—Source: Reachout *YouthInsight surveyed 1,027 students across Australia with age and gender quotas placed on to ensure a balanced sample. 'Students' refers to people currently studying between the ages of 16 and 24.

Tips for eating to beat exam stress: 1. Try some simple food swaps. Swap a piece of cake for some wholegrain crackers with cheese and tomato, an energy drink for a fruit smoothie, or chips for a handful of nuts.

2. Get a reusable water bottle that you can pop in your bag and refill regularly to make sure you’re drinking plenty of water.

3. Use your study break to prep some healthy snacks.

Cooking can be great for relaxation and mindfulness, plus you’ll create some healthy snacks to help keep you away from the vending machine.

4. Don’t deny yourself the occasional treat!

5. Consider your caffeine intake as too much caffeine can increase your heart rate and create feelings similar to anxiety.

6. Check out ReachOut’s guide to foods that help our brain study.

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Wednesday 7th November

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Celebrate Diwali with specials available at these Coles stores: • Aurora Village • Avondale Heights • Bentleigh • Box Hill • Brandon Park • Brimbank • Broadmeadows • Bundoora • Burnside

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Products only available at above stores, unless indicated otherwise. Not available at Coles Express or coles.com.au. While stocks last. Some products or varieties may not be available at all stores. We reserve the right to limit sale quantities. Savings, single sell prices and unit prices shown off regular selling prices.

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• Tooronga • Tunstall Square • Uni Hill • Vermont South • Village Lakeside • Waverley Gardens • Werribee • Werribee Plaza • Wyndham Village

south asia 24 South Asia Timestimes

finance

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Teach Your Children Well – Part I

BY Balki Balakrishnan

Y

ou were thinking how to invest to fund the education of your children or how to gift them money on an occasion such as when they turn 18. With education and other costs outpacing wages growth and increasing year on year outstripping inflation you need to be confident about making the right choice when it comes to planning for your children’s future.

There are two tax effective ways you can achieve your financial goals – investing using Investment Bonds and Children Education Bonds.

This article will explain what you need to know about Investment Bonds and the next article will cover Children Education Bond.

Investment bonds also known as Insurance Bonds are investments offered by insurance companies and friendly societies. They have features similar to managed funds combined with an insurance policy and can be tax effective to invest for your child. You can invest for yourself or invest on behalf of a child. The rules on passing of the control to the child depends on the child’s age.

Typically persons ages 16 and over, or companies and trusts and children aged 10 to 16 with parent or guardian consent can invest in Investment Bonds. These investments are long term investments, usually 10 years or more and as such you need to plan and maintain the investment over a period of time to provide you with the best opportunity to grow your wealth for yourself or your child.

When it comes to investing you have many choices. It could be savings in banks,

listed securities (shares), managed funds and the like.

Whatever be your choice of investment you should weigh up amongst other things the investment options on offer, growth, flexibility and convenience, taxeffectiveness, estate planning and an assurance that the invested money is available to you when you need it instead of getting locked up to a predetermined time period such as term deposits.

We will now see how an Investment Bond addresses these criteria.

Investment bonds offer the investors a wide variety of investment options to choose from. Each investment option offered invests in an underlying portfolios(s) managed according to the underlying portfolio’s objectives. These objectives are descriptions about what returns the appointed investment manager aims to achieve. Your challenge is to select the investment option(s) that aligns your objectives with that of the investment manager.

The growth you expect from your investment depends on your needs in

conjunction with your risk profile. The expected growth in your portfolio depends on the performance of the portfolio over a period of time and the investment option you choose. You can use the historical return from the portfolio as a guide to predict the future growth but be aware that history may not repeat itself. Therefore, you need to review your portfolio performance periodically and may even make adjustments to suit your personal circumstances and your objectives at that time.

Investment bonds not only provide you with a choice of investments to choose from but also offers you the flexibility to swap between investment options online. The switching from one investment option to another should not be a knee jerk reaction to a short time volatility. You should be mindful that investments have to be kept for medium to long term to achieve their target returns. Therefore, any switch should be a well thought out decision and you may need expert advice from a Financial Advisor.

Investment bonds are tax effective investments compared to some other

forms of investments. They are ‘tax paid’ investments because the returns you receive is after the fund has paid the corporate tax (currently 30%). Therefore, you don’t have the burden of declaring the returns in your personal income tax return including any capital gains your portfolio incurs.

You also do not pay Medicare levy and surcharge. You may also be not pushed in to a higher tax bracket because the investment returns do not have to be included in your personal tax return. Investment bonds offer you the flexibility to withdraw the money before their maturity, normally 10 years. You have to pay tax on the earnings portion of the withdrawal albeit with a tax offset of 30% if you do so. Note that the withdrawal of your contribution is always tax free. No personal tax is payable at any time on a withdrawal if the last surviving insured person dies, or serious illness or disability affecting last surviving insured person, or unforeseen serious financial hardship affecting you as the investor.

The assessable portion of your investment for income tax purposes decreases as

you hold the bonds longer such that you pay less tax if you keep the bonds for a longer period. Withdrawals after the maturity date is taxfree subject to rules – most commonly what is known as the 125% rule.

When it comes to Estate Planning, Investment bond gives you total control over to whom you wish to transfer your wealth. You can nominate a beneficiary or beneficiaries rather than leaving your wealth forming part of your estate should you pass away. The wealth in your estate may not go to intended recipients even if you have a Will because it can be contested.

It will be a satisfying to put away a little bit of money for your children or grandchildren each month.

You can start with as little as $1,000 as initial deposit and opt for a regular savings plan with a minimum contribution of $100 at a frequency you decide. Imagine the smile on the face of the child when gifting money on their 18th birthday. More importantly you would have demonstrated to them how a little forethought and management of money has produced this satisfying result. You would have taught them well about money management surely!

Investment bond with their ease, performance, investment choices and control, tax effectiveness, and the Estate Planning aspect is an appealing investment choice. It still has to fit in with your objectives and individual circumstances. Choosing the right investment option(s), monitoring them over a long period of time and managing their performance will need advice and assistance from a Financial Advisor.

Consult a Financial Advisor today and put a smile on your child’s face!

Be wise, Be Prepared, Be Safe!

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

Balki Balakrishnan

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

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

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Food, water, disease crises for nations like India If global warming not quickly contained: UN report

By Bhasker Tripathi

N

ew Delhi: If India wishes to avoid the water, food and health crises and intensifying natural disasters caused by a global temperature rise of more than 1.5 deg C, it will have to collaborate with a radical international effort to cut carbon emissions by 58% by 2030.

This and other strong actions -- reducing coal usage for energy production by 78% and ensuring that 60% of electricity supply comes from renewables -- are essential to limit the environmental impact of human activities that have pushed up the global temperature by 1 degree C above the pre-industrial levels (before 1800s), according to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

At the current rate, global warming will reach 1.5 deg C by 2040, said the report. This red line will emerge quicker and with more widespread effects than previously predicted for a 2-deg-C rise.

“The time is not very far when we will experience the climate impacts of our own choices and actions,” said AromarRevi, founding director of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengarulu and coordinating lead author of the IPCC’s report, released on October 8, 2018.

With 1-deg-C rise in global warming, India has experienced extreme weather events such as floods in Kerala, wildfires in Uttarakhand and heat waves in the north and east, demonstrating its vulnerability. About 600 million Indians are at risk from the fallout of a rise in global mean temperature.

Further rise in temperatures will worsen food and water availability and lead to more vector-borne diseases in countries like India, as per the IPCC report, which summarised the prospects and benefits of limiting mean global temperature rise to 1.5 deg C. Past and ongoing emissions have caused current global temperature to rise and continue rising by 0.2 deg C per decade.

The strict action recommended by climate change scientists comes as grim news for India, as we reported on October 7, 2018.

India is the world’s third largest carbon polluter and second largest coal consumer and about 15 million households (as on October 7, 2018) still do not get any electricity.

“The IPCC text sends out a clear signal that we need to radically reduce coal use,” said Tim Buckley, director of energy finance studies at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, Sydney. “It means there is no space for new coal and it means governments have to start replacing their existing coal plants with renewables.”

The stated mitigation ambitions of nations until 2030 are simply not enough, as per the report’s findings. Even if they are fulfilled there will be global warming of about 3°C by 2100, with warming continuing afterwards. The more demanding pathways suggested in the IPCC report to limit global warming to 1.5 deg C could help slow down the rise in ocean levels, reduce the number of extreme warm days and save several species from extinction by 2100.

“We have little time left to make large shifts in the way our economy is run, society and the governance functions,” said Revi.

“Limiting global warming to 1.5 deg C operationally means that we have to transform four big systems: our energy and industrial systems that produce much of the greenhouse gases, agricultural and forests systems, and our cities that concentrate much of the risk, but provide opportunities for transformatory change.”

To enable this, we need to change our frame of governance, rework the way projects are financed, build the institutional capacity to do this at all levels, from villages and municipalities, through states, to all the way up to the

national level, he added.

What the world can save by limiting temperature rise to 1.5 deg C drastic natural events caused by global warming can be limited, both in gravity and frequency, if the temperature rise is limited at 1.5 deg C and not 2 dec C, the earlier limit set by the Paris Agreement of 2015. Some benefits are: Fewer extreme warm days on land: Extreme hot days in mid-latitudes (including India) will get warmer by upto around 3 deg C if global warming is limited to 1.5 deg C, about a degree less than the 4 deg C rise that will come with the 2 deg C scenario.

The number of hot days is projected to increase in most land regions, with highest increases in tropical countries such as India.

Limited rise in sea levels: Projections suggest that a 1.5 deg C rise will raise the mean global sea level by 0.260.77 meter by 2100, about 0.1 meter less than the rise that could result in the 2 deg C scenario.

“A reduction of 0.1 meter in global sea level rise implies that up to 10 million fewer people would be exposed to related risks, based on the population in the year 2010 and assuming no adaptation,” said the report. It amplifies the exposure of small islands, low-lying coastal areas and deltas to increased saltwater intrusion, flooding and damage to infrastructure.

Double the number of species saved: Of the 105,000 species studied by the report, 9.6% of insects, 8% of plants and 4% of vertebrates are projected to lose over half their climatically determined geographic range if global warming is limited to 1.5 deg C. But under the 2 deg C scenario, double the numbers -- 18% of insects, 16% of plants

and 8% of vertebrates -- will lose their homes.

Less water stress: Limiting global warming to 1.5 deg C can reduce the number of people who will be exposed to water stress caused by climate change by up to 50%, with considerable regional variability, as per the report.

Fewer vector-borne diseases: Any increase in global warming can affect human health, as per the report. Lower risks are projected at 1.5 deg C than at 2 deg C for heat-related morbidity and mortality.

Risks from some vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are projected to increase with warming in the 1.5- 2 deg C range. reduction in crop yields: Limiting global warming to 1.5 deg C will result in smaller net reductions in the yield of maize, rice, wheat, and other cereal crops, particularly in sub- Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America. It will also result in net reductions in the loss of nutrition in rice and wheat which is affected by carbon dioxide (CO2) levels.

Lower impact on livestock: Livestock will be affected everywhere in the world by rising temperatures depending on the extent of changes in feed quality, spread of diseases, and water resource availability, as per projections. This damage can be curbed by limiting global warming further. This gives India special cause for worry -- it is home to one of the largest livestock populations (12%) in the world.

What it takes to limit global warming further After reviewing dozens of scenarios, IPCC scientists have concluded that limiting global warming to 1.5 deg C with no or limited overshoot will require huge, ambitious global shifts in energy and land use.

The removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is essential in all scenarios.

Its emissions will have to be reduced by 58% (relative to 2010) over 12 years to 2030, 60% of electricity supply will have to come from renewables and there has to be a 78% reduction in coal usage for primary energy, as mentioned earlier. These conditions constitute a model scenario (P1) wherein social, business, and technological

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innovations result in lower energy demands upto 2050 even as living standards rise, especially in developing nations. A downsized energy system enables rapid decarbonisation of energy supply while afforestation is the only option considered for carbon dioxide removal.

Scenario P1 does not require carbon capture and storage (CCS) techniques -the capture of CO2 from the atmosphere followed by its dumping in storages under soil or ocean -- to achieve net zero emissions by the year 2100.

The other extreme scenario is the energy and resource-intensive P4 wherein economic growth and globalisation will lead to the widespread adoption of lifestyles that require high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. This will be caused by high demand for transportation fuels and high consumption of livestock products.

Under this scenario, about 1,218 Gigaton of CO2 (GtCO2) from the atmosphere will have to be eliminated by CCS technologies along with the extensive use of bioenergy.

Under P4, by 2030, CO2 emissions will be 4% more than 2010 levels, 25% of electricity supply will come from renewables and there will be a 59% reduction in coal usage for primary energy.

Why the world needs cleaner industrial systems In pathways strictly limiting global warming to 1.5 deg C, CO2 emissions from industry are projected to see a 75–90% cut in 2050 from 2010 levels; if the goal is scaled down to 2 degC, emissions will have to see a 50–80% cut.

Electricity’s share of energy demand in buildings would have to be about 55–75% in 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5 deg C, compared to 50–70% for 2 deg C. In the transport sector, the share of low-emission energy used would rise from less than 5% in 2020 to under approximately 35–65% in 2050 if the world is to consider a 1.5 dec C global warming scenario. For a 2-deg-C warming, this increase would be 25–45%.

(Tripathi is a principal correspondent with India Spend.)

Source: Sabrang/India Spend, Oct. 9, 2018.

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Ensuring free and fair polls, a challenging task in Bangladesh

C

OLOMBO: Bangladesh is to have its 11 th. parliamentary elections in NovemberDecember this year. As in the past, the elections are expected to take place in the midst of several controversies, some new and some enduring. Again, as in the past, ensuring free and fair elections in Bangladesh’s highly divisive, politicized and violenceridden environment is going to be a major challenge for the State.

Begum Khaleda Zia, head of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is in jail for alleged corruption with no chance of release before the polls. The leaderless BNP has threatened to boycott the coming elections if she is not released and if a neutral or Non-Party Caretaker Government (NPCG) is not put in place to conduct the polls.

In 2014, the BNP had boycotted the elections saying that it had no faith in the electoral process in the absence of a Non-Party Caretaker Government (NPCG).

Though only 30% of the electorate voted as a result of the boycott, the Awami League (AL) was got into power with a huge majority.

It had won 150 seats uncontested.

With the BNP leaderless and without any influence over the government, the AL headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been having a field day. It has achieved notable feats in the economic sphere launching mega projects with Chinese loans. But the government is also seen as being repressive. Disappearances, arrests of critics and the extra-judicial killing of suspected terrorists and drug dealers had become commonplace, giving rise to fears that in her bid for a third term, Hasina could rig the 2018 elections.

Hence the rising demand for a non-partisan electiontime government, a system which had existed in the past and had, on balance, succeeded in instilling confidence in the public.

Given the subtle pressure from Big Brother India and the West to facilitate the return of the BNP to parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Hasina has talked about holding the elections “ under an election-time government”.

But she has not said if the “election time government”

will be a non-partisan or a non-party government.

However, the General Secretary of AL, ObaidulQuader, has said that no one from outside will be part of the “electiontime government”. In other words, there will be no technocrat in the electiontime government. Earlier, Hasina had said that it could be a government of the ruling and opposition parties. Quader had said that the Jatiya Party requested the government to include two or three of its members but added that the Prime Minister had not decided on it.

With Hasina and her party being vague about the election time government, the Gono Forum led by Kamal Hossain, and the Jukto Front on Saturday demanded dissolution of parliament before the schedule for the next election and the formation of an electiontime government after discussions with all parties.

The leaders of the polltime government should not contest the elections, the two organizations said. They demanded the reformation of the Election Commission (EC) with people acceptable to all parties.

The EC, they said, should control the police. And the army should be deployed with magistracy powers for 40 days from a month before the voting day. There should be a moratorium on the arrest of politicians

and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) should be prohibited.

Past Performance Sheikh Hasina’s reluctance to sanction a Non-Party Caretaker Government (NPCG) is not unprecedented. In the past, political parties and civil society had to struggle hard for it, losing life and limb in the process. It was part of a larger struggle and continuous for democracy.

The first blow to democracy was delivered in January 1975, four years after the birth of Bangladesh, when the then President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman banned all political parties barring his own Bangladesh Farmers’ and Laborers’ Peoples’ League popularly known as BAKSAL. This led to his assassination by some army officers in August 1975. That in turn led to military rule under Gen.Ziaur Rahman. Later he formed the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to give his rule a civilian veneer. After Zia was assassinated by military personnel in 1981, Gen.H.M.Ershad assumed power and ruled through his own outfit, the Jatiya Party (JP).

Though elections were held by Zia and Ershad, these had no credibility because of the military backed their political outfits. It was only in 1986 that political parties got together to oust Ershad and hold free and fair elections.

The movement for NPCG intensified and got the widest measure of support ahead of the 1988 elections.

The struggle continued till Ershad quit in 1990.

President Shahabuddin Ahmed was made head of the Caretaker Government, which held the fifth parliamentary elections in 1991. In sharp contrast to the past, these elections were free and fair.

The BNP won the elections and formed the government in alliance with the Bangladesh Jamat-iIslam (BJI). But the BNP’s rigging of the Magura byelection made the AL and Jatiya Party support BJI’s proposal to hold all future elections under a NPCG. The ruling BNP resisted this, but offered to reform the Election Commission.

But this was not acceptable to the AL, JP and the BJI. The opposition began a boycott of parliament and started an agitation with AL demanding that power be handed over to the Chief Justice. When the BNP rejected this, 153 opposition members resigned from parliament. The Speaker declined to accept their resignation. The opposition stuck to the boycott of parliament though.

The sixth parliamentary elections were held in February 1996 without NPCG, The opposition had boycotted the election.

With only 10% of the electorate voting, BNP won handsomely. But

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Prime Minister Khaled Zia could not savor the victory as agitations against the illegitimacy of her government mounted. She had no option but to enact a law to install an NPCG. She then resigned and handed over the government to retired Chief Justice Habibur Rahman.

The NPCG held free and fair elections in 2001.

For the 2006 elections the NPCG was reconstituted with K.M.Hasan as the Chief Advisor. But the opposition opposed Hasan saying that he was a BNP loyalist and launched an agitation, which resulted in President Iajuddin Ahmed himself becoming Chief Advisor with a team of Advisors chosen by him.

The Awami League’s continuing agitation led to Dr.Fakhruddin Ahmed, former Governor of the Bangladesh Central Bank, becoming the head of the NPCG but with the involvement of the army chief Gen.MoeenU.Ahmed.

The people welcomed the army-backed NPCG. But this NPCG was turned out to be undemocratic, banning all political functions, annulling scheduled parliamentary elections and launching a massive anti-corruption drive, arresting over 200,000 suspects.

NPCG alienated the political parties, which resulted in Hasina and Khalida joining to fight for a proper NPCG. Repeal of NPCG Fresh polls were held in 2008, which the NPCG conducted in a free and fair manner. The AL registered a landslide victory. But once ensconced in power, the AL took advantage of a Supreme Court ruling of May 10, 2011 on the NPCG, to end the NPCG system.

The court had said that the NPCG is an undemocratic and unconstitutional system because it is unelected.

By the 15 th.Amendment, Hasina got rid of the NPCG system.

President Zillur Rahman, an AL man, tried to sugar coat the bitter pill by saying the Election Commission will be strengthened. But this did not cut ice with the masses. According to a survey conducted by the Center for Strategic Research, 67% of the people interviewed were against abolition of the NPCG. Source: The Citizen, 17 September 2018.

south asia 28 South Asia Timestimes

south asia

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Remodelling the Belt and Road: Pakistan picks up the torch in World

By Dr James M Dorsey

P

akistan, following in the footsteps of Malaysia and Myanmar, is the latest country to balk at the China and infrastructure focus of Beijing’s Belt and Road-related investments.

Preparing for his first visit to China as Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan is insisting that the focus of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a US$60 billion plus crown jewel of the Belt and Road, shift from infrastructure to agriculture, job creation and foreign investment.

“Earlier, the CPEC was only aimed at construction of motorways and highways, but now the prime minister decided that it will be used to support the agriculture sector, create more jobs and attract other foreign countries like Saudi Arabia to invest in the country,” said information minister Fawad Chaudhry.

Mr. Khan’s determination to ensure that more benefits accrue to Pakistan from Chinese investment comes at a time that various Asian and African countries worry that Belt and Roadrelated investments in infrastructure risk trapping them in debt and forcing them to surrender control of critical national infrastructure, and in some cases media assets.

Preceding Mr. Khan’s move, protests against the forced resettlement of eight Nepali villages persuaded CWE Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of China Three Gorges, to consider pulling out of a 750MW hydropower project.

Malaysia has suspended or cancelled US$26 billion in Chinese-funded projects while Myanmar is negotiating a significant scaling back of a Chinesefunded port project on the Bay of Bengal from one that would cost US$ 7.3 billion to a more modest development that would cost US$1.3 billion in a bid to avoid shouldering an unsustainable debt.

Fears of a debt trap started late last year when unsustainable debt forced Sri Lanka to hand China an 80% stake in Hambantota port.

Mr. Khan’s move takes on added significance given that Pakistan appears to

have decided to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help it avert a financial crisis with a loan of up to US$12 billion and discussions with Saudi Arabia that could produce up to US$10 billion in investments that would be separate but associated with CPEC. Pakistani finance minister Asad Umar is expected later this week to initiate discussions with the IMF during the fund’s annual meeting in Bali. The decision was taken after Saudi Arabia refused to delay Pakistani payments for oil imports, opting instead to build a refinery and strategic oil reserve in the CPEC port of Gwadar.

Pakistani officials see investment by Saudi Arabia as one possible way of facilitating a Pakistani request to the IMF for help. They hope that even an informal association with CPEC of Saudi Arabia, one of the United States’ closest allies in the greater Middle East, may alleviate Washington’s concern that IMF money could be used to repay Chinese debt.

Yet, even that is unlikely to prevent the IMF, backed by the United States, from demanding that the veil of secrecy be lifted that shrouds the commercial and financial terms of many CPEC-related, Chinesefunded projects, as a precondition for assistance from the fund.

Apparently concerned about Pakistan’s intentions, China’s deputy chief of mission in Islamabad, Lijian Zhao, insisted in an interview as well as a series of tweets that China welcomed Saudi investment and “always

supported& stood behind @ Pakistan, helping #develop it’s #infrastructure& raise #living standards while creating #job.”

Mr. Lijian’s comments followed a statement last month by Chinese foreign minister Wang Ji after talks with Mr. Khan in Islamabad that appeared to indicate that China, while acknowledging Pakistani demands, would not address them immediately. Mr. Wang suggested that CPEC would only “gradually shift to industrial cooperation.”

Indications suggest further that China may be looking to Pakistan’s military to shave off the rough ends of the government’s determination to effectively renegotiate CPEC. Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar JavedBajwa visited Beijing in August days after commerce minister Abdul Razak Dawood suggested that the government may suspend CPEC projects for a year.

Making his comments shortly after Mr. Wang’s departure from Islamabad, Mr. Dawood also asserted that the previous government had negotiated terms that were favourable to China rather than Pakistan.

China this week, in a move likely designed as much to strengthen Pakistani counter-terrorism capabilities as a gesture towards the country’s politically influential armed forces, made Pakistan the second country after Saudi Arabia to receive killer drones and the associated technology.

The US has refused to sell its more advanced killer drones to either Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.

The Khan government’s desire to refocus CPEC tackles key issues raised by critics of the project that potentially could impact China’s plan to pacify its troubled north-western province of Xinjiang through a combination of economic development and brutal repression and re-education of its Turkic Muslim population.

The initial plan for CPEC appeared to position Pakistan as a raw materials supplier for China, an export market for Chinese products and labour, and an experimental ground for the export of the surveillance state China is rolling out in Xinjiang.

The plan envisioned Chinese state-owned companies leasing thousands of hectares of agricultural land to set up “demonstration projects” in areas ranging from seed varieties to irrigation technology. Chinese agricultural companies would be offered “free capital and loans” from various Chinese ministries as well as the China Development Bank.

The plan envisaged the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps introducing mechanization as well as new technologies in Pakistani livestock breeding, development of hybrid varieties, and precision irrigation. Pakistan effectively would become a raw materials supplier rather than an added-value producer, a prerequisite for a sustainable textiles industry.

The plan saw the Pakistani textile sector as a supplier of materials such as yarn and coarse cloth to textile manufacturers

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in Xinjiang. “China can make the most of the Pakistani market in cheap raw materials to develop the textiles & garments industry and help soak up surplus labour forces in (Xinjiang’s) Kashgar,” the plan said. Chinese companies would be offered preferential treatment with regard to “land, tax, logistics and services” as well as “enterprise income tax, tariff reduction and exemption and sales tax rate” incentives.

For Mr. Khan to ensure that Pakistani agriculture benefits, the very concept of Chinese investment in Pakistani agriculture would have to renegotiated.

Similarly, Mr. Khan has yet to express an opinion on the plan’s incorporation of a full system of monitoring and surveillance that would be built in Pakistani cities to ensure law and order.

The system would involve deployment of explosive detectors and scanners to “cover major roads, case-prone areas and crowded places…in urban areas to conduct real-time monitoring and 24-hour video recording.”

The surveillance aspect of the plan that identifies Pakistani politics, such as competing parties, religion, tribes, terrorists, and Western intervention” as well as security as the greatest risk to CPEC could, if unaddressed, transform Pakistani society in ways that go far beyond economic and infrastructure development.

Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, codirector of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and co-host of the New Books in Middle Eastern Studies podcast.

James is the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a book with the same title and a co-authored volume, Comparative Political Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa as well as Shifting Sands, Essays on Sports and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa and just published China and the Middle East: Venturing into the Maelstrom Source: Counter Currents, 10 October, 2018.

south asia 12 South Asia Timestimes

COMMUNITY MUSINGS

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southSouth asia times 29 Asia Times

NEW COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GRANTS FATHER OFWORK BOFORS or MOTHER BY THE FAIR OMBUDSMAN O C T O B E R

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OF ALL SCAMS?

BY SAT NEWS DESK

M

elbourne, 23

by RashidSept: Sultan Guidelines for new grants PURCHASE of RAFALE to deliver fighter PLANES from advice and FRANCE assistance on workplace laws to Currently, the whole nation is agog with Rafale vulnerable groups in the purchase or have scam attached community been to it.Allegations and Fair counter announced by the allegations, interspersed with Work Ombudsman. graveyard silence from the PM In its 2016-17isBudget, NarendraModi, the talk of the the Federal Government town. committed $7.3 million To find the truth in the labyrinthine mazes political over four years toof fund the alleys, one has to go to archival Community Engagement recordsProgram. to know the truth.

Grants Applications fromthe notLet us start from for-profit community beginning. organisations arethe now 42007 to 2012: UPA open for the considers program,the Government requests the Indian Air which willfrom commence Force for cutting-edge fighter on January 1, 2017. The planes. It asks countries to Community Engagement tender with its own add-ons Grants builds and (latest Program weaponry systems upon the work previously all). Six countries make their undertaken under the bids and, finally,Dassault, Community Basedgiant is the French military accepted to build 126 air planes Employment Advice for India at the cost of 526 Services Program. crores a piece. condition Through theThe Community is,Dassault will make 18 planes Engagement Grants in their factory while rest 108 Program, Fair Work planes willthe be made

by HAL Ombudsman will provide (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) funding at a rate not India’s defence PSU, in India, under the supervision of exceeding $1.8 million

Dassault. This is called ‘transfer of technology’. HAL has been making Hawks, Jaguars, Migs ,Sukhois and Mirages for the last 60 years under the same principles (Nehru’s dream).

42014 : NarendraModi comes to power 4March 2015: The CEO of Dassaultarrives in India to make a statement at HAL headquarters, in the company of Air Force Chief that the deal has been finalised and HAL is the off-set partner (workshare).

The deal is being sent to Finance department for life cycle costs etc.

4March 2015: Reliance (Anil Ambani) launches a company ‘Reliance Defence’, as a subsidiary of the Reliance parent group.

4April 2015:PM aNarendraModi year for fourgoes years to to France not-for-profit community for bilateral matters; Foreign Secretary says the PM is going organisations to undertake discuss matters atorange ofbilateral services, (MOUs etc.) and not on Rafale projects and programs deal which has already been of work to supplement finalised. the4April Agency’s 2015statutory the PM arrives functions. in France and signs 17 MOUs The Fair Work with the French Government.

One relates to Rafale . The old Ombudsman is responsible

deal which had already been finalised by both governments is cancelled.

4April 2015 : a new deal is negotiated during the PM’s visit, where Dassault would make 36 planes instead of 126 and all planes would be made in France and none in India. The cost? 1600 crores (surprised?) I n this deal HAL, Government’s own PSU is thrown out of the deal like a dead fly out of the milk. And who comes in its place? Ambani’s Defence Ltd, registered only two weeks ago, as an off- set contractor who would be entitled to half of the revenue – 30,000 crores. It is alleged the PM was accompanied by Adani and Ambani to the presidential dinner at the Palais de l’Elysse.

Anil Ambani’s group has never been associated with anything to do with defence let alone for ensuring compliance aeronautics.

His empire owes with 75,000Commonwealth crores to banks and was also black listed in 2 G workplace relations scam. His companies were legislation by employees madeemployers to abandon the Metro and through track to the airport in Delhi advice, as well aseducation in Mumbai, midway. and, necessary, That’swhere the reputation of Anil enforcement.

Ambani. The question is why “ItAmbani is a strategic Anil is being doled out 30,000 crores.

ForFair what?What priority of the Work

Ombudsman to assist vulnerable workplace participants and the services going to doits Agencyisisheincreasing towards, the Air Force or the community engagement country apart from being close services, particularly to NarendraModi?Once again, those at beholden culturally our PM directed is seen to be and linguistically diverse to industrialists, particularly, Gujaratis. communities, says a media release.

Now some The Fairquestions: Work 4In defence procurement Ombudsman feels policy matters, the PMthat is not some members of the authorised to take a unilateral community decision until itare hasmore been likely to be discussed andvulnerable approved by the cabinet, the cabinet to exploitation incommittee the on security and national workplace and less likely security adviser. So?The aforeto understand and assert mentioned deal was approved workplace rights or atheir year later,retrospectively.

And obligations due to factors no questions asked. such as age, English language and cultural 4Formerskills French President Holland , in response to barriers.

Rahul Gandhi’s issued The mediaquery release says, a“It statement that French that is also recognised government had no role in individual workers with changing off-set contractor problems at work may be from the HAL to Reliance Ltd. approach Itreluctant was done to at the behestofthe the Fair Work Ombudsman Indian government. for assistance because of 4 The current Defence these barriers and that minister Msalso Sitharaman, who there are situations did not accompany the PM on where his visit a toperson’s France, now, says employment that the HAL wasproblems not capable are manifestations of to share work in this deal, broader orremoved underlying hence it was from the deal. It is such nothing an problems, asbut, family

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and domestic violence and mental health.

As such there is, insult to theagovernment’s at times, need for own agency.

The former chairman more specialised and of the HAL has come out intensive assistance repudiating the minister’sthan government canbeen provide. statement.

HAL has a The Fair Work Ombudsman success story meeting the Air Force’s requirements since its recognises the important inception, something for which role community every Indian should feel proud organisations can perform of. in providing client-centred and holistic services in 4All the weaponry required response employment for a modernto combat aircraft issues experienced was already in the old deal, then how the priceand increased by vulnerable from 600 crores to 1600 crores, of disadvantaged members only God or the PM knows. the community.”

Information onAir how 4How the Indian Force relevant organisations which in 2005 required 126 can apply fortofunding fighter aircrafts maintain its under the Community competitiveedge would now cope with only 36 aircrafts, is Engagement Grants anybody’s Programguess. can be found at www.fairwork.gov.au/ 4We are poorer now as we grants. and have beenEmployers deprived of ‘transfer employees who have of technology’ as all the 36 any uncertainty or made questions in aircrafts are being about their workplace France. rights and obligations are 4So, who gains from this encouraged to visit the deal?

Ambani or who? For Fair Mr Work Ombudsman doing nothing. website at www.fairwork. gov.au or callabout the Fair 4Bofors was 64 Work,Rafale Infoline on 13crores.

13 94 crores is 30,000 for advice. These are author’s views —SATpersonal News Service

south asia 32 South Asia Timestimes

cinema

O C T O B E R

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Internationally acclaimed film removed from Jaffna Film Festival

S

creening of internationally acclaimed film by director Jude Ratnam ‘Demons in Paradise’ was cancelled by the organizers of the Jaffna International Film Festival in Sri Lanka citing pressure from local groups. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Free Media Movement – Sri Lanka in strongly criticising the decision to cancel the screening, and urges the film festival organizers to respect freedom of expression.

The Tamil-language film, which won the best film award at the Film South Asia 2017 in Kathmandu, explored the civil war in Sri Lanka depicting the life of victims of war, especially in Jaffna. In a statement, director Ratnam claimed the festival organizers decided to remove the film from its scheduled screening on October 5, 2018 allegedly over pressure from a group known only as the 'Community' in Jaffna.

Ratnam said: “I have not yet been given a proper explanation for the removal of my film from the festival

schedule. I feel this is a case of censorship and an infringement on the fundamental rights to freedom of expression.”

The organizers of the Jaffna Film Festival in a press release claimed that since Ratnam had failed to observe the respective regulations governing the event, ‘Demons in Paradise’ was not included in the list of films to be screened at the Festival.

FMM convener C. Dodawatta said: “The FMM believes the banning of the screening of the film Demons in Paradise is a clear restriction on the exercise of the freedom of expression of the Jaffna residents. It is not necessary to reiterate here the fact that the government forces and the Tamil extremists have taken away the freedom of expression of the civilians in the Jaffna

peninsula. The People could enjoy the fruits of democracy only in the instance of being able to exercise the freedom of expression.”

The IFJ said: “The cancellation of the scheduled screening of a film citing the pressure from unknown group is censorship and is against the principle of the freedom of expression. The IFJ believes that all citizens

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain to visit Melbourne

By SAT News Desk

M

MELBOURNE, 13 October: Delhi’s Health Minister SatyendarKumar Jain (an architect by profession) is likely to be here in November end.

Mr Jain who is credited with the now famous and popular ‘Mohalla Clinics’ (Area Clinics) health centres (over 160 Mohalla clinics are already functional and hundreds more are in various stages of being operationalised) in India’s capital will have a busy public engagements schedule in the most liveable city in the world.

Mr. Jain is expected to lecture at the prestigious Australia India Institute(AII), Melbourne University on the ‘Mohalla Clinics’ and attend other functions including one organised by Australian unit of the Aam Admi Party (AAP), a reliable source told SAT. Satyendar Kumar Jain, is a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Delhi and is a politician from the AAP. He is one of the seven Cabinet Ministers in the Government of Delhi led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. His portfolio includes Health, Industries, Home, Public Work Department, Power, Urban Development, Transport. www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9884 8096, 0421 677 082

of Sri Lanka have the constitutional rights of freedom of expression, and the film is an artistic product enjoying the freedom of artistic expression therefore should be freely screened regardless of its contents.

The IFJ condemns the decision of the Jaffna Film Festival organizers, and urges them to respect the rights of the citizens and the filmmakers.”

Source: IFJ

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southSouth asia times 33 Asia Times

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

south asia 34 South Asia Timestimes

film review

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“Saadat Hasan died at 42 . Manto lives on.”

The enduring relevance of a screened author H

By Rakesh Sengupta

ow to read a film like Manto along the grain of a genre which is as popular in the West as it is unpopular in Bollywood? The writerbiopic is an established genre in Hollywood and British cinema which reconstructs the lifetime of an author by dramatizing aspects of their creative, commercial and personal life. Since a few reviews of Manto complained about the film being an incomplete account of the writer's life, I wondered why it still worked so well for me. Manto felt like a breath of fresh air in the genre as it overcame the historiographic excesses of a period piece and appropriated elements of the writer-biopic to articulate a palpable relevance. As the film unfolded, it became more and more explicit about its interest in what Manto continues to signify rather than who Manto was.

The title of this article alludes to a poignant question once raised by Michel Foucault: What is an author? His insistence on ‘what’ as opposed to ‘who’ ought to intrigue the uninitiated reader. Foucault’s analysis of the author as a ‘function of discourse’ explored the constructed nature of literary authorship.

He argued that the ‘function’ of the author’s proper name is to point not to the person but to a specific set of ideas and practices (‘discourse’) which are historically constructed by critics, publishers and readers who rationalise and order his/her oeuvre over a period of time.

Foucault’s observations remain just as relevant when we move across to the medium of cinema which has contributed a great deal to the construction of authorships, literary as well as non-literary. There have been countless films in Hollywood about real and imagined novelists, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, ghostwriters and so on.

Whether it’s the Bard himself (Shakespeare in Love), a miserable hack (Barton Fink), an object of obsession (Misery), a poet charged with obscenity (Howl), the prolific blacklisted writer (Trumbo), the alcoholic (The Lost Weekend), a neurotic screenwriter (Adaptation) or the worker-poet (Paterson),

a wide range of writerly representations have found their way into enduring cinematic images. Judith Buchanan’s research on ‘the writer on film’ and Kamilla Elliott’s study of ‘screened writers’ throw ample light on how Hollywood and British films have been obsessed with representing canonical writers on screen from the earliest years of cinema.

Hindi cinema, on the other hand, is not particularly well known for films about writers. In the 1950s, Bombay cinema boasted the production of Sohrab Modi’s Mirza Ghalib and Guru Dutt’sPyaasa which explored the emotional terrains of authorship through history and melodrama respectively.

Closer to our times, however, we can only think of banal writerly representations in films such as Baghban and Shabd where Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt respectively play Booker-winning novelists under rather irrelevant circumstances. Neither the two novelist brothers in Kapoor and Sons nor the poetess played by AishwaryaRai Bachchan in ADHM are truly convincing as writers. Of late, only Professor Siras’ portrayal in Aligarh intertwined the sensitivity of his poetry with his unwillingness to be straitjacketed within the existing vocabularies of gender and love. However, Manto, much like Pablo Larrain’s Neruda, is quite an extraordinary attempt at representing an author’s life by incorporating postmodernist narrative techniques and eschewing generic elements of the writer-biopic.

Conventionally, the

writing process has been represented in Hollywood and British films as a tumultuous inner struggle where we see a writer (think of Helena Bonham Carter in Enid) frantically typing after a brief period of unproductivity, often sitting next to a window overlooking a world which inspires her. Whether it’s a writing desk and a typewriter or a quill and an ink pot, most Hollywood and British films about writers generally represent the writing process through a set of aestheticized objects which make up for what may not otherwise be as visually engaging.

Manto, in the eponymous film, does not dramatically overcome a writer’s block to emerge prolific on the typewriter one inspired afternoon. In fact, he is not lacking in inspiration at all. However, among other personal and professional obstacles, he first struggles to come to terms with the formulaic demands of the film industry, and then the rules of the literary field. If the studio owner, ArdeshirIrani (played by Rishi Kapoor), does not pay Manto his dues, the Progressive poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, too publicly disregards his work as inferior literature even when he considers it to not be obscene.

This is not a minor contradiction in the film that should be sidestepped.

Pierre Bourdieu’s Rules of Art is a fascinating sociological study of how the literary field in midnineteenth century France was created through an outright rejection of the commerce of literature.

Literature emerged as an autonomous field of cultural production which depended neither on patronage nor mass market, while other forms of profitoriented writing became culturally inferior. In his memoirs, Manto himself is extremely disparaging of his screenwriting work in Bombay cinema during the 1940s, often reducing himself to a munshi (an Urdu hack) in order to propel himself into the literary canon. When Manto admits later in the film that he would rather have Faiz declare his work as obscene than inferior, the film again reminds us of how consciously the literary field is constructed.

Much like the notion of the author, literature is also a constructed category of writing which celebrates a handful of genres, forms and figures, often at the expense of numerous others.

With this awareness of the arbitrariness of the category of literature, the film manages to overcome authorial stereotypes of genius and greatness, and humanizes Manto through his constant selfaggrandizement as well as his neglectful attitude towards his family (a sensitive issue dealt most deftly through the nuanced performance of RasikaDugal). The filmic narrative blends fact with fiction by situating Manto within the fictional spaces of his famed characters. None of his stories are indulgent flights of fancy spiralling out of an inspired typewriter.

They are, in fact, pencil notes about his immediate reality which tragically become a rich source of tales of unprecedented

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barbarity in the wake of Partition. Manto introduces into ‘literature’ the language and imagery of these times in all its nihilistic crudeness, distancing his works from the optimistic socialist strain of the Progressive Writers.

Biopics aggregate and approximate lives.

Ultimately, Manto is an immensely relevant tale of intolerance and censorship where the author is undidactically reduced to the enduring lessons of his life and works. Personally, as a student of film history, I would have loved to see more of Manto’s Bombay years. From the fictional Sarita of DusRupay crooning to ‘Main ban kechidiya’ to the subtle representation of a demure young Nargis standing next to Jaddanbai, her mother and mentor, the film’s first half, set mostly in the tinsel town of Bombay, is an absolute historical treat. However, it is in the second half of the film that writer-director Nandita Das manages to transcend the generic constraints of the writer-biopic. Through his failure to publish and secure literary prestige, Manto no longer remains an armchair writer producing literature which tries to mirror the society. His obscenity trial is as much a symptom of the moral corruption of nationalism as the violence and trauma endured by his fictional characters.

The film’s final words – “Saadat Hasan died at 42.

Manto lives on.” – make an important Foucauldian distinction between the proper name and the author-function. Manto, the author, is a function of a social discourse we must revive in our times. His filmic representation only scratches the surface of his life and times because even as a historical film, Manto endeavours to offer more to the contemporary. These are ironic times when we are required to stand up for the national anthem before the screening of a biopic of a man whose life was fractured by nationalisms. There is still time though as the closing credits remind us. Bol, ke lab azaadhaintere! *Rakesh Sengupta is a doctoral student in SOAS. His PhD research is on screenwriting practices in early Bombay cinema.

Source: Indian Cultural Forum

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TECHNOLOGY

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southSouth asia times 35 Asia Times

Cyber-attacks growing problem in developing nations

By Silvia Baur-Yazbeck

W

ASHINGTON DC, Oct 8 2018 (IPS) - Few experiences undermine a digital financial services (DFS) customer’s finances and trust in DFS like becoming the victim of a cybercrime. This is especially true of lowincome customers, who are least able to rebound from the losses, and of the newly banked, whose trust in financial services may be fragile.

Unfortunately, cybercrime is a growing problem in developing countries, where customers often conduct financial transactions over unsecure mobile phones and transmission lines that are not designed to protect communications.

In Africa, the number of successful attacks against the financial sector doubled in 2017, with the biggest losses hitting the mobile financial services sector. DFS providers must adopt stronger cybersecurity measures to protect themselves and their customers. But which threats pose the greatest risk today?

In 2017, CGAP surveyed 11 DFS providers operating in Africa to understand how they perceive and mitigate cyber risks. We learned that all of them have been affected by cybersecurity incidents and are at various stages of implementing cybersecurity measures in their organizations.

While they are still most concerned about betterknown types of fraud in DFS, such as malicious employees and agents, they are seeing themselves confronted with four types of risks emerging in cyberspace.

Social engineering In a social engineering attack, the criminal tricks the victim into revealing sensitive information or downloading malware, which opens the doors to physical locations, systems or networks. The idea is to exploit a vulnerable person rather than a vulnerable system. DFS providers from Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia told us that fraudsters had duped their employees into sharing their user login details and then accessed corporate information systems.

Most DFS providers consider careless or

unaware employees to be a major factor in their organization’s cyber risk exposure.

But DFS customers are a vulnerability, too. The newly banked are more likely to fall victim to this type of scheme because of their limited experience with digital fraud.

Providers can guard against social engineering through regular awareness and education campaigns.

It is also important to appropriately manage user access rights, introduce system log monitoring processes and require two individuals for completing sensitive transactions (i.e., maker-checker controls).

Data breaches Using malware or social engineering, hackers can gain access to valuable information, such as credit card numbers, customer personal identification numbers, login credentials and government-issued identifiers. Weak patch management, legacy systems and poor system log monitoring were cited as the main reasons why DFS providers’ systems are susceptible to hacking attacks.

In addition to financial losses that can result from a data breach, providers’ reputation and customers’ trust are at risk. In 2017, thieves breached a DFS provider’s systems in Kenya and stole hundreds

of customers’ identities.

The fraudsters accessed sensitive customer information, such as account types and last transactions, which allowed them to pass as legitimate customers and apply for loans in the victim’s name.

To protect against data breaches, DFS providers need to regularly update their systems and software, patch their systems, use strong encryption for data at rest and in transit and implement 24/7 system log monitoring.

Outages & denial of service attacks DFS providers sometimes experience system outages during routine system upgrades or patches. Earlier this year, an upgrade gone awry left DFS users in Zimbabwe without access to their digital money for two days. Systems unavailability can also be the result of a cyberattack.

For example, in 2017, M-Shwari customers in Kenya were left without access to their savings and loan products for five days. And, after the outage, several found inconsistencies in their account balances. The most frequent form of attacks that cause system unavailability are denial-ofservice attacks.

In a denial-of-service attack, cyber criminals overwhelm a server by flooding it with

simultaneous access requests, depriving legitimate users of access to the system. In most cases, the objective is to harm the business. Yet, in some cases, cyber criminals have launched denial-of-service attacks to distract attention from an attempt to gain access to the system.

Effective countermeasures include continuous network traffic monitoring to identify and detect attacks while allowing legitimate traffic to reach its destination, a solid and tested incident response plan that allows for quick reaction in an emergency and strong change management processes and disaster recovery planning.

Third-party threats DFS providers rely on third parties for a range of services, such as mobile network, information technology and data storage solutions. Sometimes, these providers misuse their system rights to access confidential customer information that they can sell or use for social engineering.

Also, a third party that handles sensitive information may not have appropriate safeguards against cyberattacks, putting at risk the confidentiality and integrity of the DFS provider’s customer data.

To address third-party

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threats, DFS providers should implement due diligence reviews of current and potential partners, including reviews of their security policies and practices.

Impact on low-income customers If physical money used to be kept safe in bank vaults, what is protecting money now that it is digital? This is a financial inclusion question because the answer is especially important for low-income customers. In developed countries, it is usually the financial services provider that is legally responsible for bearing the cost of fraud. In developing countries, it is often the customer.

The experience of fraud and rumors of fraud experienced by others causes mistrust in DFS, especially among lowerincome consumers. The DFS providers we spoke with in Africa recognize their need to invest more in cybersecurity for both themselves and their customers. They acknowledge that better safeguards are needed to mitigate threats and be better prepared to respond to incidents.

Failure to take the relevant steps could deter people from entering the formal financial system and significantly harm consumers and markets.

south asia 36 South Asia Timestimes

TECHNOLOGY

O C T O B E R

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Banking transactions in the blink of an eye -Digital Cash sitting in a Digital Bank

BY RAJESH YOGI

“Is cash dead?”

The evidence is that people are using their cards and mobile payment apps much more frequently than cash.80% of millennial would rather do their banking digitally than in person.

The recent World Economic Forum (WED) report “Sweden could stop using cash by 2023”, says that the country is moving towards favouring cards and mobile payment apps.

Media reports also suggest that cash may become obsolete in China & India soon too. Alipay and WeChat Pay dominate the Chinese market, where India has implemented towards hightech national aggregator switch to process banking transactions, Mobile payments & utility bill payments.

Banks are facing seismic changes from the impact of new technology that is likely to see many collapse akin to the near-death of Kodak from its failure to move with the times The growing numbers of people who use apps perhaps feel that mobile payment apps offer a degree of convenience; trust and users are familiar with how to use them. The young are particularly comfortable with paying for their goods and

services digitally, despite the fact they don’t see the money leaving their hands.

Lets have comparative look for the new trends in digital banking space.

Online Digital banks vs Traditional brick mortar bank An online bank is typically one you access only through the Internet. minimum physical branches means these banks can afford to offer higher rates and lower fees than traditional banks, and the best ones are just as safe as brick-and-mortar banks.

The proliferation of smartphones through the next decade opened the door for transactions on the go beyond ATM machines. Over 60% of consumers now use their smartphones as the preferred method for digital banking.

Digital Banks Pros/cons 47% of bankers see potential to improve customer relationship through digital banking, 44% see it as a means to generate competitive advantage, 32% as a channel for new customer acquisition. Only 16% emphasized the potential for cost saving By using software that accelerates

productivity up to 50%, banks can improve customer service since they will be able to resolve issues at a faster pace.

Neobanks vs Digital banks Neobanks are 100% digital - they’re a place to put your money, a place to borrow money from and a place to hesitantly hand over interest repayments to - they are same like any other bank. They’re usually not associated with any traditional banks, and have no branches you can visit, existing solely online.

Neobanks Pros/cons While this may raise concern about a lack of personal touch, neobanks plan to lead the pack in personalised banking by using artificial intelligence to keep track of your data and customise your app experience.

Digital Cash - How it is different from printed cash Digital Cash acts much like real cash, except that it’s not on paper.

Money in your bank account is converted to a digital code. This digital code may then be stored on a microchip, a pocket card (like a smart card), or on the hard drive of your computer. .

Digital cash eliminates many problems associated with physical cash, such as misplacement or the potential for money to be stolen or damaged. Additionally, digital cash can be traced and accounted for more accurately in cases of disputes. As consumers find an increasing number of purchasing opportunities at their fingertips, there is less need to carry physical cash in their wallets.

Digital Cash Pros/cons By replacing manual back-office procedures with automated software solutions, banks can reduce employee errors and speed up processes. This paradigm shift can lead to smaller operational units and allow managers to concentrate on improving tasks that require human intervention.

Besides simplicity and lower costs, digital payments also add transparency to the nation’s payment system.

Risks The common flaw in many of the current designs of digital money (BitCoin or other such coins) “leads to

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the uncontrolled creation of ‘money’ – banks create money, but within a regulatory framework. The flaw means that digital cash enables nonbanks to create ‘money’ outside of the regulatory framework. They are not real money, but rather private contingent debt liabilities, and that presents a serious risk Challenges Banks are going through tremendous challenges of competition from non-banking companies and smaller Fintech companies. Therefore, in order to fight competition and stay ahead of competition in Digital Banking era, it is important for banks to work on not only good web site, social media connect and mobile banking etc; but they also need to innovate with new technology disruptions where AI, ML, Block-chain, Analyics, cloud become buzzwords Be ready - popular job roles in banking may not be required in future Artificial Intelligence & digital transformation will induce banking-job losses. 70% will be in the front offices, 90% customer-service representatives and 50% loan interviewers and clerks; and chatbots, voice assistants and automated authentication and biometric technology will replace them. In other areas of the bank, 30% financial managers and 50% compliance officers will be let go in favour of AI-powered anti-moneylaundering, anti-fraud, compliance and monitoring tools.

Competition, innovation & regulations The banking and financial services sector are now facing competition from non-financial players, but these players don’t understand the regulatory requirements. Many of the solutions are unfit for a regulated environment. .

The Opportunity -AI in Fintech Market The inability of banks to innovate leaves the door wide open for Fintech providers to attract new customers.

The Fintech market was worth USD 1.27 billion in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 7.28 billion by 2023 registeringa CAGR of 33.8% over the period 2018 - 2023.

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Australia women’s squads named for Pakistan series and ICC World T20

By SAT Sports News Desk

20 October: Pakistan v Australia, Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur* 22 October: Pakistan v Australia, Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur*

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ELBOURNE, 9 October: The National Selection Panel (NSP) has named a 14-player Australia squad to take on Pakistan in a three-match Women’s One-Day International Series in Malaysia later this month, as well as a 15-player squad that will compete at the ICC World T20 in the West Indies in November.

The World T20 squad will assemble in Malaysia following the conclusion of the ODI series, with three Twenty20’s scheduled against the same opposition before the team travels directly to the West Indies.

Opener Nicole Bolton and spinner Jess Jonassen are the only additions to the side that claimed a 3-0 T20I series whitewash against New Zealand on Friday.

One-Day International Series v Pakistan Meg Lanning (c) Nicole Bolton Nicola Carey Ashleigh Gardner Rachael Haynes Alyssa Healy DelissaKimmince Sophie Molineux Beth Mooney Ellyse Perry Megan Schutt Elyse Villani TaylaVlaeminck Georgia Wareham ICC World T20 & T20I Series v Pakistan Meg Lanning (c) Nicole Bolton

*ICC Women’s Championship matches Twenty20 International Series v Pakistan 25 October: Pakistan v Australia, Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur 27 October: Pakistan v Australia, Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur 29 October: Pakistan v Australia, Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur ICC World T20 Warm-up matches 3 November: England v Australia, Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua 6 November: South Africa v Australia, Providence Stadium, Guyana

Nicola Carey Ashleigh Gardner Rachael Haynes Alyssa Healy Jess Jonassen *subject to fitness DelissaKimmince Sophie Molineux Beth Mooney Ellyse Perry Megan Schutt Elyse Villani TaylaVlaeminck Georgia Wareham Following selection of the squads, National Selector Shawn Flegler said, “There’s only two players that come into the ODI and T20 sides that didn’t

take part in the recent series against New Zealand, which is really pleasing as it means we have a stable playing group who are gelling really well.

“Nicole’s generally been considered a 50-over player but she’s put in a lot of work to improve her short-form game and its evident in her recent T20 form.

“Jess is recovering well from her knee injury and will join the squad in Malaysia, with the aim to have her playing in the two warm-up matches in the West Indies.

“The three ODIs are crucial in making sure we stay at the top of the ICC Women’s Championship table

with an eye on the next 50-over World Cup, and a successful series will give the group great confidence heading to the West Indies.

“This is an exciting group of players who’ve played some very good cricket in the T20 format in particular, over the last six months, and with injection of some youth we believe this group has the right attributes to have a successful World Cup.” One-Day International Series v Pakistan 18 October: Pakistan v Australia, Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur*

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Pool Matches 9 November: Australia v Pakistan, Providence Stadium, Guyana 11 November: Australia v Ireland, Providence Stadium, Guyana 13 November: Australia v New Zealand, Providence Stadium, Guyana 17 November: India v Australia, Providence Stadium, Guyana Finals 22 November: Semi Final 1, winner pool A v runner-up pool B, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound^ 22 November: Semi-Final 2, runner-up pool A v winner pool B, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound^ 24 November: Final, TBC v TBC, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound.

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