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J u l y

CELEBRATING 11th YEAR OF PUBLICATION

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South Asia Times Vol.12 I No. 2 I september 2014 I FREE s o u t hasiatim es.com .au Editor: Neeraj Nanda

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The Discovery of Australia

By Prof. Amitabh Mattoo

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Australian Minister for Trade and Investment the Hon. Andrew Robb watches on as Prime Minister Tony Abbott lights a ceremonial candle during his visit to Mumbai University to launch the New Colombo Plan promoting Australia India student mobility on 4 September 2014, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. PHOTO: Supplied.

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The Discovery of Australia

By Prof. Amitabh Mattoo*

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elbourne, 09 September: With PM Tony Abbott’s visit to India, the bilateral relationship is starting to mature.

After six decades characterized by misperception, lack of trust, neglect, missed opportunities and even hostility, a new chapter in India’s relations with Australia has well and truly begun.

Consider this: in 1955, Prime Minister Robert Menzies decided that Australia should not take part in the Bandung Afro-Asian conference.

By distancing Australia from the ‘new world’, Menzies (who would later confess that Occidentals did not understand India) alienated Indians, offended Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and left Australia unsure, for decades, about its Asian identity.

Sixty years later the visit of another Liberal Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, to India — also the first stand-alone state visit to be hosted by the Narendra Modi government — has well and truly brought the past to a closure. When asked why Australia had agreed to export uranium to India (a nonNPT signatory country), Abbott was unequivocal in his statement: “We trust you!”

No other declaration could reflect the new Australian belief in the promise and potential of this relationship, for it was this deficit of understanding and faith that severely undermined the relationship in the past. Abbott was not alone: he had brought with him some of the most influential Australian businessmen, including Anthony Pratt, who runs the world’s largest paper and paper packaging company, Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh and Lindsey Fox who has one of the most extensive logistics and transport companies in Asia.

Unfortunately, for most of the 20th century, India and Australia rarely had a meaningful conversation.

The reasons are not difficult to identify: the

white Australia policy, the Cold War, the NehruMenzies discord, India’s autarkic economic policies, Canberra’s strident res-ponse to New Delhi’s nuclear tests and attacks on Indian students in Victoria.

Indeed, even after the white Australia policy became history and Australia became one of the most multicultural of nations, opinion surveys reveal most Indians are unaware of this fundamental change.

At the popu-lar level the only real exposure most Indians had to Australia was to the Australian cricket team — the least multicultural of institutions.

Even three years ago when — disgusted with the politics of the higher education sector in India — I decided to be the inaugural director of the Australia India Institute at Melbourne, it was seen as a giant leap of faith. I had not visited Australia before and had little knowledge of the country.

My friends warned me that I was literally going “Down Under”, soon to become irrelevant and marginal to all policy issues in India. At school, my teenage daughters were told they risked being bashed up in school and college and my extended family was astounded.

But today I have no doubt that it was one of the best decisions of my life. With not one unpleasant experience in

the country, as a family we have found Australians open, friendly, fair, accepting and generous, and the country a model of good governance.

Today there are few countries in the IndoPacific which share so much in common in both values and interest than India and Australia, and this is reflected in the 36-para joint statement.

From water management to clean energy, to trauma research, to skills and higher education, to maritime and cyber security and counterterrorism, there is a world of opportunities that awaits the two countries if they work in close coordination with each other.

Take just one example: The Economist Intelligence Unit recently voted Australia, after Switzerland, the best country to be born, based on a variety of factors that include access to quality health and education, level of crime, gender equality, resources and political freedom.

Melbourne has been consistently selected as the most livable city and most other Australian cities (including Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth) are in the top 20 in the world. Even given the differences in scale, there are huge lessons in urban planning and living that Australia can offer India.

In November Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia for the G-20

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summit. This will be the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister in 28 years. It is critical that the political leadership remain in charge of the relationship until it acquires real momentum.

The success of Abbott’s visit was because of the triumvirate in his office — chief of staff Peta Credlin, senior adviser Andrew Shearer and Joshua Frydenberg, rising star of the Liberal Party.

They helped translate Abbott’s vision into reality. Sections of the Canberra bureaucracy can be niggardly transactional when strong bilateral relations are cemented as much by the world of ideas as they are by the world of commerce.

Similarly, India’s ministry of external affairs, despite the presence of an incisive and thoughtful secretary (East) — Anil Wadhwa — lacks the capacity to give the relationship the attention it deserves. It is critical that the PM creates an Australia Plus cell similarly to the one on Japan in his office.

For the Australia-India bilateral relationship could, handled well, become the most formidable Asian partnership of the 21st century. *Professor Amitabh Mattoo is Director of AII and a Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne.

Source: aii.unimelb.edu.au

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The Story of J-K, devastation, ruin, heroism and a little bit of luck!

By Seema Mustafa*

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EW DELHI: Anila Singh and her sister Indira had been in Shivpura, Srinagar for several days trying to fix an old house that belongs to her husband from an old Kashmiri pandit family of the Valley. Next door lived her husband’s 85 year old aunt Rano Rattan who was one of those indomitable women who had refused to let either the insurgency or the authorities of the time drive her away, and continued to stay in her home through the years.

Anila and her sister, like so many others in Srinagar, knew about the floods but felt they were secure in their areas. And on the night of September 6 had retired to bed as always quite oblivious to the looming threat. There were no warnings, no sirens, and no announcements by the state government that now claims it had issued all these warnings. “There was not a single loudspeaker pressed into service warning of the impending danger and asking people

Indian Air Force MI-17 helicopter hovers over the congested areas of Srinagar looking for stranded people to be rescued, on September 09, 2014. PHOTO: PIB to leave,” Anila told The Citizen, still traumatised by the harrowing experience that she faced with all the thousands of other Kashmiris.

Her husband, Ranjit, in Delhi received a call at 2am from a person, Shauqat, who delivered them their

groceries in Srinagar. He obviously was unable to get through to Anila and so called her husband in Delhi instead. The phone connection was snapped but shortly after their carpenter from Kashmir again called Ranjit saying that a small shop belonging to one

Hameeda near their house in Shivpura was under water.

And that Anila and her sister should be informed that the area had flooded.

Ranjit managed to get through to Anila but again the phone connection permitted him to just get through the one sentence,

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“the waters are rising.”

Anila went down to find the ground floor flooded within the few hours they had gone to bed. She picked up her phone, money and along with her sister climbed to the attic just above the first floor. The waters were gushing in fast and the two women were worried about their own safety but even more so about their aunt next door. They kept tried to call her through the windows but there was no answer. Shauqat their caretaker was a picture of exemplary calm. He was by their side, refused to leave even when he could have, and brought in a sobering effect on what was clearly a major crisis. As the waters rose, they tried to clamber on to the slippery roof in the dark but eventually settled for standing in the by now ankle deep water in the attic.

Helicopters went by overhead and the three marooned residents shouted and waved. They cannot say whether they were noticed but after several hours--indeed it seemed a lifetime--an Army boat came by.

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Tihai and Preston Symphony Orchestra – East-West Fusion & Bollywood Music Revival By our reporter

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elbourne: In a unique, groundbreaking collaboration, Tihai3 - Indian classical music trio and the Preston Symphony Orchestra present new work in an evening of intersecting musical journeys.

This concert will be the Music Feast premiere of Concerto for Sarod, Tabla & Orchestra, and will include Bollywood film song classics, live on stage with the lush sounds of the Preston Orchestra strings.

Tihai3’s (founded by Girish Makhwana in 2004-2005) concerto for Sarod, Tabla & Orchestra, by Nicolas Buff, unites the two sound worlds of Indian and European classical music, featuring soloists Saby Bhattacharya (sarod) and Girish Makwana (tabla) in collaboration with the Preston Orchestra strings and conductor Mario Dobernig.

Returning to Music Feast by popular demand and joining the Preston Orchestra and soloists live on stage, are sensational brother/ sister vocal duo Keshav and Samrakshana Ramachandran for a selection of super hit

songs from Indian cinema past and present.

Talking to South Asia Times (SAT), Girish Makhwana said, “This is the first time in Australia that the Western Symphony Orchestra are playing with Indian classical musicians creating a different and new music.”

This concert is a sequel to last year's brilliantly successful Bollywood and Beyond where Tihai3 first collaborated with Preston Symphony to develop a musical tribute to the 100th anniversary of Indian Cinema. That concert featured for the first time, young singers, Keshav and Samrakshana Ramachandran whose astonishing expertise on detailed and difficult vocal work charmed all listeners.

The realisation of a long held ambition for the Tihai3 musicians, that concert, bringing diverse practitioners together, was the catalyst for Nicolas Buff's Concerto for Sarod, Tabla, Strings & Percussion (2014).

Reflecting on the work and on cross cutural musical practice, the composer says:

“This Concerto is my first attempt at composing a major orchestral work, however, it has come about at a personal musical milestone. It was 20 years ago that I ventured to India for what has become the focus of my musical endeavours, studying and performing Indian classical music. Throughout this period I often reflected on the intersection of the different musical worlds of my own experience and considered the possibilities of cross-cultural musical collaborations.

Throughout recent history much such collaboration has been attempted with varying degrees of musical success.

These endeavours usually

involve the coupling between the flag bearers of different traditions who come together for a brief period, attempt to find some common ground and utilise this as a vehicle for expressing their music. This work differs from such practices in that it is a synthesis of individual musical experience across contrasting musical languages. To place the Concerto into some sort of context, it could be said that this is an experimental work with the following features: orchestration of compositions from the Indian classical solo performance tradition, development of melodic and rhythmic themes through composition and improvisation, making space allowing for improvisation for the solo instruments based on elaboration of raga and tabla as practiced in Indian classical music.

“The overall progression of the work is from slow to fast.

Passages improvised by the sarod and tabla are alternated with composed passages featuring the orchestra as ‘soloist’. The themes are

revisited between each of the solo passages. Overall there is a gradual increase in intensity culminating in a final flourish.

It has been a tremendous experience to hear these fine musicians, Saby Bhattacharya, Girish Makwana and the Preston Symphony Strings lead

by Mario Dobernig, venturing into some unchartered territory to bring the music to life. I hope you enjoy listening to the premier of this work and share the excitement of this unique collaboration,” he says.

This event is supported by the City of Darebin; Media Partners: South Asia Times (SAT) and The Indian Weekly.

The event ‘Tihai and Preston Symphony Orchestra’ East-West Fusion & Bollywood Music Revival’ will take place on Friday, 10 October, 8pm, Northcote Town Hall, 189 High St. Northcote.

Tickets: $25; Conc $20; Family (2+2) $50; 9481 9500 or northcotetownhall.com.au musicfeast.com.au Preview of 2013 Concert The Age 2013 - http://www. smh.com.au/entertainment/ music/the-musics-the-thingin-bollywood-feast-201309222u7rx.html —SAT News Service.

The Story of J-K, devastation, ruin heroism and a little bit of luck! contd. from pg 3 They shouted out and the Army Major with six soldiers in the boat asked them to identify themselves, and helped them into the boat.

“We were on the rooftop and even so we just stepped into the boat, the waters were so high, and fierce,” Anila said.

The soldiers then went to look for their aunt and kept diving in until they found her, she was dead. “This appeared to be the first casualty in the area and the soldiers were very upset as well, but they gave her so much respect in death, and despite the freezing waters refused to give up until they had found her,” Anila said. The jawans were shivering with the cold but this boat then went on to rescue at least 16 other persons, singling out the old, the ill and the children as the first option.

“It was so terrible because all over people were on their rooftops, with the waters rising, and screaming to be evacuated. They must have sent other boats back but at that time it was so terrible to have to move on as there was no place left,” she said.

The Army cantonment itself was by this time under water with those evacuated being taken to a spot that

was a little higher and hence not flooded. There were ten persons to a room, with drinking water, food and gas in very short supply. The Army that was working day and night, Anila said, itself had no food at that point in time and was making do with some rather indifferent khichri. Meals were being cooked only twice a day to save on gas. There were no medicines available at all, no blankets with food and drinking water itself being a major scarcity.

Anila corroborated what all Kashmiris have been saying.

Except for the Army there was no other government agency on the ground. “I do not know what the government is saying now but even though we were amongst the last of the areas to be hit by these floods there was not a single warning issued by the state authorities, no attempt to evacuate anyone, and clearly no assessment of the situation. I am so angry with them as if they had issued warnings and mobilised rescue teams at the very beginning a great deal of this trauma for the people could have been averted,” she said.

Anila’s story is one of tragedy because of the death of their aunt. As she said, “we just hope she died of a heart

attack before the waters took her. And we try to find relief in the fact that she died in her own home, in her own city, as she always wanted to,” Anila said.

But it is also a story that mirrors the reality of Jammu and Kashmir today. The close bonds between the Kashmiri Muslims and the Kashmiri Hindus despite attempts to communalise the situation by certain political parties and vested interests. “We were saved because of the phone calls made to my husband by our Kashmiri men who were just working in our house, not even relatives. Otherwise we might not have lived, for by the time we woke up the house would have been flooded,” Anila said.

It also speaks of the complete inefficiency of the state government and its inability to cope with the disaster. “They did nothing,” Anila says, “not a thing.” And now like all others she is worried about the aftermath.

“You cannot even see the houses, its all submerged.

The scale of the damage is so high, this government that cannot even issue a warning to its people, how will it tackle this gigantic task of relief and rehabilitation, we just do not know,” she said.

It also speaks of the heroic

efforts by the Army that like a professional institution is working day and night to rescue the people. The task is far above what the Army itself can manage, hence the categories of priority that have generated some anger in the Valley. But even so the task has been tough, and judging from the manner in which the soldiers on the boat in which Anila was rescued, the approach was professional and not devoid of sentiment. The soldiers were upset about the death of the old aunt, as they were about their inability because of the lack of resources to rescue all they passed on the way. The Major had to keep reminding them to evacuate the old, and the sick first as the boat manouvered its way through the rooftops, electric cables and trees.

It also speaks of the dire need for relief in the form of drinking water, medicines, food and blankets. The waters are freezing as winter is around the corner. Largescale disease is being predicted with The Citizen receiving calls now for not just evacuation, but for drinking water. “We can wait if we have to, but we need water desperately,” the callers said.

The Kashmiris themselves have been heroic in bringing

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out trapped families. They have worked together as a team, with young men in particular braving the torrential waters to bring relief and help to the trapped people. Calls for relief material have already gone out, although so far there is little to indicate that the governments at both the centre and the state have started assessing and looking at the relief required from this time onwards. Political parties are also silent, although several voluntary organisations have started holding meetings in Delhi as well to collect the necessary supplies for the devastated people of the state. *Seema Mustafa , Editorin-Chief of thecitizen.in is a senior journalist who has worked in and edited several newspapers, including Patriot, Indian Express, The Telegraph, Economic Times and Asian Age. She was also with the News X channel as their National Affairs Editor.

She has covered conflict in both India and abroad, and writes extensively on politics.

She has authored two books V.P.Singh: The Lonely Messiah; and more recently Azadi’s Daughter. She has edited a book of essays on Journalism: Ethics and Responsibilities.

Source: thecitizen.in

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Abbott visit to India

Tony-Modi sign N-pact for Uranium export

By Rajeev Sharma & Neeraj Nanda

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ew Delhi & Melbourne, 5 September: It was a rainy evening when the Narendra Modi Government's first guest, Australian Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Abbott, on a state visit to India entered the Hyderabad House in New Delhi. The Australian Prime Minister was in his formal suit but his body language was friendly. It was at 8.30 PM when Prime Minister Modi and his counterpart from Australia faced the media for a joint statement.

Many agreements were signed including the civil nuclear cooperation agreement between the two countries which will lead to the export of Australian Uranium to India. The exact details of the agreement are not available.

Australia has about a third of the world's Uranium and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of it a year. India and Australia had started talks on Uranium sales in 2012 after former Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard lifted a long-time ban on exporting it to India.

Modi read his statement in Hindi with a few English words. His outfit and facial expressions were different this time. Two hours back he was almost on every Indian News channel speaking to school children on Teacher's Day. He was in a light mood.

But now he looked a changed person.

Prime Minister Abbott was in good mood. With a soft and gentle smile he expressed his feelings. He had no written text with him. While speaking to the media he held the Indian Prime Minister’s hand warmly and said, “Trade is the key for friendship and prosperity.” That was the moment when more than 100 cameras clicked the picture of the day.

There was a row of Australian delegation on the left side of the podium dressed in formal suits and outfits. The Indian delegation was generally in ‘bandgala’ suits and saris.

Four agreements (part of the joint statement of the two Prime Ministers) were signed between the two countries: 1. Cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy 2. MOU on cooperation in Sports.

3. Renewal of MOU on cooperation in the field of Water Resources Management

& 4. MOU on Cooperation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

In his address Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The signing of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement is a historic milestone in our relationship.

It is a reflection of a new level of mutual trust and confidence in our relationship and will open a new chapter in our bilateral cooperation.

It will support India's efforts to fuel its growth with clean energy and minimize the carbon footprint of its growth.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbott renewed his invitation to Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to visit Australia during the G 20 Summit in Brisbane in November 2014 This was accepted by Prime Minister Modi. Earlier, PM Tony Abbott handed over to PM Narendra Modi two antique statues of Hindu

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deities which were allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu before being bought by art galleries in Australia.

During his meeting with Modi, Abbott returned the idols, one of which is a Nataraja — the dancing Shiva — which belonged to the Chola dynasty of 11th-12th century and the other sculpture is of Ardhanariswara, which represents Shiva in halffemale form, and dates back to 10th century. (The story of the stolen Nataraja was done

by SAT two times and the latest was done in its January, 2014 issue. See photograph of the page.)

Both sides agreed that the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Australia will lead to strengthening of the cooperative relations between the two countries, and will provide further impetus for the future development of the strategic partnership.

—SAT News Service.

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Sabrini AIII Diwali Mela-2014 to light up Melbourne

By our reporter

(Sabi Foods) and the Silver Sponsor is WESTERN UNION. The event is also supported by the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC).

All details about the Sabrini AIII Diwali Mela 2014 can also be accessed from www.aiii.org.au.

This is an event not to be missed. Also, look for our advertisements in leading Indian newspapers. Melway reference is 80-C9.

If you have an enquiries regarding sponsorship, stall enquiries, entertainment program or any media enquiry contact the following:

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ELBOURNE: The community has been invited to celebrate the festival of lights by the AIII at its Diwali mela-2014 this year again. This is the 13th year of the fair which has been going strong each year.

It is likely to be great fun and entertainment at the fair.

The Sabrini AIII Diwali Mela 2014 will be held on Sunday, 19 October, 2014 at the Sandown Racecourse, Springvale is gearing up to give a spectacular performance. This is the 13th year of the multicultural AIII Diwali Fair and the highlight of this year will be the presence of CHEF HARPAL SINGH, winning the hearts of millions in India and the subcontinent through his TV shows. Chef Harpal Singh is being brought by Sabrini, Platinum Sponsors of the Sabrini AIII Diwali Fair 2014.

Those attending the Fair can participate in ‘Meet & Greet’ with him live throughout the Fair.

Silver Sponsor Western Union propose to have a simulation - type cricket marquee and will also have an Indian dance and singing competition which they successfully ran in Sydney last year. Prizes will also be given to those participating in the dance and singing competition.

The Fair will start at 11.30

am and go on till 9.30 pm.

Like each year the Fair will have a big variety of stalls under cover, food and numerous other stalls, safe family environment, Henna & tattoo stalls, kids rides, multicultural programs and grand fireworks finale. It’s going to be an entertaining family event not to be missed.

Heaps of parking is free, it’s an alcohol free event, and there is full security by police, arrangement for first aid and ATM facility is available.

Sandown Racecourse address – 591-659 Princess Highway, Springvale. Melway Reference – 80/C-9.

The Platinum sponsor of the event is the SABRINI

SPONSORSHIP ENQUIRIES: Hari Yellina 0439 323 232 STALL ENQUIRIES: Sunil Kumar 0433 003 303 or Harjinder Soni 9699 9556 ENTERTAINMENT ENQUIRIES: Yogen Lakshman 0403 337 142 MEDIA ENQUIRIES : Neeraj Nanda 0421 677 082/ satimes@gmail.com Site: www.aiii.org.au

Miss & Mrs Punjaban Australia beauty pageant a success

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elbourne: ‘Sanjhi Awaaz’ organised a hugely successful beauty pageant under the banner of ‘Miss and Mrs Punjaban Australia 2014’ on 24th of August at ‘Springvale City Hall’. After several auditions 21 contestants were selected for the ‘Grand Finale’. An over whelming audience of around 450 gathered at Springvale City Hall. The guest of honour was Hong Lim MP, State Member for Clayton.

There were 5 judges and the final winner of Miss Punjaban Australia 2014 Contest was Miss Harpreet Kaur from www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

Melbourne. And the final winner of Mrs Punjaban Australia 2014 was Mrs Amanpreet Mann Khaira from Brisbane.

The event had lots of family entertainment including Bhangra and songs performance by various artists. Various food and variety stalls were set up by different restaurants and retailers. The key organizers were Shama Bhangu, Gurdeep Singh, Amandeep Kaur and Gaganjot Arora. The team worked tirelessly to make this event a huge success —SAT News Service

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‘Indian’ Anupam Sharma to direct ‘Unindian’

By Neeraj Nanda

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elbourne, 5 September: ‘Unindian’, the first feature of the recently established Australia India Film Fund (AIFF) will go into production in October in Sydney, was announced by the Australian Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Abbott in Mumbai on 4 September. . A romantic comedy with renowned Australian cricketer Brett Lee starring in his first lead role, ‘Unindian’ also stars actress Tannishtha Chatterjee who gained acclaim in the celebrated feature ‘Brick Lane’.

The first of its kind in the world, the Australia India Film Fund was established in 2013 to invest in Australian films with Indian themes for a global audience, ‘Unindian’ will be directed by none other than Anupam Sharma, Sydney based Australian expert on Indian cinema.

Anupam heads films & casting TEMPLE based out of Fox Studios – Sydney.

Answering from Mumbai by phone to a SAT question, on an Indian directing a film called unIndian, Anupam Sharma, said, “It is a funny name and the movie is a romantic comedy. It tries to tell who is an Indian or non Indian.”

“I am numbed, excited

and lots of hard work needs to be done. We have to focus on every minute detail,” he said.

The film is written by Thushy Saathi, ‘Unindian’ is being presented by Devendra Gupta and Yateender Gupta, produced

by Anupam Sharma and Lisa Duff and executive produced

by Chandru Tolani.

When a beautiful divorcee and single mother of one, Meera (Tannishtha Chatterjee), meets the charismatic Will (Brett Lee), love is the last thing on her mind. An Australian

of Indian origin, Meera has settled in Sydney and carved out a successful career and life for both her and her daughter. But Meera's marital status is subject of much discussion within her family, and she is encouraged on a seemingly daily basis to marry 'a nice Indian man’. Does she do as her family wishes? ... Or does she follow her heart and live her life the way she wants to?

Highlighting the complexities of Indian Diaspora and wooing another from a different

culture, UNINDIAN is a romantic comedy with a lot of heart!

Brett Lee said “I am honoured to have been cast as a lead in the first Australia India Film Fund film, privileged to be working with Anupam Sharma and humbled to be working with an actress of the calibre of Tannishtha Chatterjee.”

Tannishtha Chatterjee said “Australia has always been a very special country for me. It makes me very happy to play the lead in the AIFF film ‘Unindian’.

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CEO of the AIFF Devendra Gupta said: “"AIFF was formed with the vision of creating high quality cross cultural productions. Over the next few years we intend to inject significant funds into the Australian film and television industry, with specific focus on cross-cultural stories. My associate Mr. Yateender Gupta and I are honoured that the first slate of AIFF films is receiving such strong support.

“As Indian Australians we see it as our responsibility to both celebrate the values of and strengthen ties between the two countries. With the creative magic of our Head of Films Mr Anupam Sharma, and a pool of investors ready to support these projects, we are confident of AIFF’s continued success for years to come.”

With the second film in the slate currently in advance stages of development, it is anticipated that the AIFF will invest in excess of ten million dollars in to the Australian film industry over the next two years. Written

by Vikram Singh, An Indian Summer will be produced

by John Winter (Rabbit Proof Fence, My Mother Frank, Paperback Hero), directed by Vikram Singh and is expected to go into production in mid 2015.

—SAT News Service.

Australian Film Festival in 8 Indian cities By our film reporter

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elbourne, 12 August: Eight prominent Indian cities are all set to hold the Australian Film Festival of India 2014 (AFFI-2014), from November 2014 to February 2015.

The festival is being produced by the An Australian Film Initiative, with support from Destination NSW and the Australia India Film Fund.

Phillip Noyce has been confirmed as the retrospective director of the third annual AFFI. With the festival expanding into eight cities including New Delhi, Chennai, Bombay, Meerut and Lucknow, Destination NSW has come on board as a strategic partner.

Speaking from Los Angeles, Phillip Noyce said “I am delighted to see this extensive collection of my film and television works screening at the retrospective program for the Australian Film Festival of India 2014/2015. Cinema is universal; it brings people together, as much

through common and shared experiences as it does by illuminating and enlivening new possibilities in story and new modes of engagement. To be a part of such an extensive tour through one of the world’s greatest and most diverse filmmaking cultures is all the more exciting for me.”

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer, Sandra Chipchase said the Government’s tourism and major events agency is delighted to support the AFFI. “India is a key market for us, so the more we can do to showcase all the wonderful things to see and do in Sydney and NSW, the better,” Ms Chipchase said.

“From April 2013 to March 2014, we welcomed 82,000 Indians to Sydney and NSW who contributed $197 million into the NSW economy, so it’s a market we want to continue to support. “In addition to supporting the Film Festival, Destination NSW recently launched Jhappi Time, a campaign to encourage friends and relatives to visit their

loved ones who live in our spectacular Harbour City or throughout beautiful Regional NSW,” she said.

Brainchild of Sydney based filmmaker Anupam Sharma along with Peter Castaldi, the initiative was launched in 2011 to promote, market, and distribute Australian cinema and film culture in India. The first two

editions of the festival received support from Australian screen icons including Hugh Jackman, Baz Luhrmann, John Winter and Bill Bennett.

In 2014-15 the festival will also feature works and sessions

by Australian film graduates from India who have returned to India with successful careers.

There will be roundtables about

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various aspects of production between the two film industries.

“Of all the festivals I have either worked on or participated in, this is the most exciting venture of all. The response we receive each year from both the professional sectors and the local population of filmgoers in India is a truly exciting and enlivening experience for all involved.

It is an honour and a pleasure to be working with my co-director, Anupam Sharma, and all our staff and partners, both here and in each city we screen in” said Festival Co Director Peter Castaldi.

With previous support from Screen Australia, DFAT, Australia India Council, Screen NSW, Destination NSW and many other Australian organisations, the festival has grown over the last 3 years with a very heavy social media presence and extensive interest from Indian media.

The festival program and locations are likely to be announced in October this year.

—SAT News Service

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AAICE ready for big Diwali celebration in Bendigo

By News Desk

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elbourne: The Australian Association For Indian Culture and Education (AAICE) will be celebrating, “ Diwali – The Festival Of Lights – Bringing Cultures Together”, for the very first time in Bendigo on Saturday the 25th Oct 2013 in the famous St Andrew’s Uniting Church Halls. As per the AAICE’s event co-ordination team, the talks are on with the local council, businesses, community associations and the media for an effective business relationship and participation in this regional multicultural initiative.

“We endeavour to celebrate it in a bigger and better manner and also to make it an iconic event of regional Victoria. We have had a great support from the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) and City of Ballarat, last year and with current year in Bendigo we hope it’ll continue and grow every year”, stated Mr Amitabh Singh, Chairperson of AAICE.

There will be a fantabulous array of cultural displays, variety of food and merchandise stalls along with a Kids Activities area with roving magician & face painting for facilitating the active involvement of the younger generation.

Throughout the day there will be entertainment ranging from live Bollywood band, Bollywood dance and workshop, Rangoli art, Spanish / Western

Live Music, Henna, drama, cultural workshops and the list goes on and on.

The organisers will be liaising with local businesses, community & arts organisations and local government for an effective delivery of this family event. AAICE would like to replicate in Bendigo, what it achieved last year in Ballarat in terms of the relationship and bonding formed with people, places

and Businesses, who contributed to the success of the event by extending their unconditional support viz. Indian wedding decorator, JB Hi Fi, Stems Flowers shop, library, railway station, police station, Information Centre, Mc Donalds, Nandos, Multicultural Arts Victoria, Regional Arts Victoria and the local media ABC Radio, SBS Hindi Radio, Voice 99.9 FM, WIN TV, The Courier

(Ballarat) along with our community media partners South Asia Times (SAT) ,Santa Banta Media and India at Melbourne.

City of Greater Bendigo is one of the most beautiful and well planned cities of regional Victoria with a lot to offer to its visitors and residents in terms of a rich and deep rooted historical and multicultural heritage.

Just over an hour run from Melbourne, Bendigo is very much a home away from home for many Melburnians as well as the residents from the nearby townships.

AAICE had an overwhelming response in, “Diwali 2013” and now it looks forward to host “Diwali 2014 in Regional Victoria” in the culturally and historically rich town of Bendigo and welcome all of you to join us and make it a grand success.

For past events’ photos and videos please visit our Face book and YouTube pages and our website, https://www.facebook.com/ aaice.incorporated; www. aaice.org.au.

—SAT News Service

Thomas Joseph is new FIAV President

Photo: New office bearers with outgoing President Vasan Srinivasan/SAT/NN.

By Neeraj Nanda

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allarat, 24 Aug: Mr. Thomas Joseph was today elected President of the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) at the AGM held here. He is from the La Trobe Indian Association. The outgoing President Mr. Vasan Srinivasan, who led the Indian umbrella organisation in Victoria for five years, will remain member of the FIAV Trust along with four others.

The outgoing President detailed the activities of the FIAV and explained the plan to setup an aged care facility near Dandenong. The 60 beds Indian specific aged facility is likely to cost around $ 16 million. The announcement of the facility and its funding plans are likely to be announced before the November elections in Victoria, Mr. Vasan said.

He also explained the recent openwww.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

ing of the Indian Museum at Little India, Dandenong and its expansion plans.

The newly elected President Thomas Joseph pledged to expand FIAV work and unite the Indian community towards common goals.

The following were elected office bearers of the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) at the AGM held at Ballarat: President: Thomas Joseph; 2 Vice Presidents - Sharad Gupta & Sudesh Singh; Secretary - Jitender Kumar; Treasurer - Ambrish Deshmukh; Surya P. Soni & Supriya were elected to 2 other posts.

Co-opted members – Usha (Editorial), Goldy Barar (Youth & Sports), Kazween (Woman’s Affairs), Vernon(Membership), Mokika Raizada(Events), Usha (Seniors Affairs) & Krishna Arora (Catering). They will head the respective subcommittees.

—SAT News Service.

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Diwali @ Federation Square on 25 October ,2014 By our reporter

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he Celebrate India has invited all Victorians to join and celebrate this annual festival of lightsDiwali. The event starts from the city from 20 October till 25 October at the Federation Square, Melbourne.

According to Festival Coordinator, Mr. Arun Sharma,” the event will be launched on 20 October and pre-event shows include dance performances at the City Square and at the Flinders St Station on Thursday, 23 October and a marathon Bollywood film shows on 23 and 24 October at the Federation Square.”

“The city will also witness a specially decorated carriage for Diwali with the Indian music in the CBD for 2 evenings,” he said.

International travellers will enjoy the beautiful Diwali decorations, live dance performances at the Departure Lounge of Melbourne Airport from 19 October till 26th October.

The main event on 25th October will immerse the Federation Square in rich colours of India. The whole day of non-stop cultural blast will cater for all ages.

From craft workshop, jugglers, clown, face painting for children, interactive items with

AFL players & Australian cricketers to multinational bazaar and cuisines to enjoy.

For music and dance lovers, captivating Traditional/ Bollywood dances, Indian Dance workshop for all to learn and a live band will perform.

Local Indian, Fijian, African, Chilean and Chinese artists will perform some unique collaborative fusion items, never seen before.

Victorians will witness a well-known tribal dance troupe from Orissa, sponsored by

the Government of India especially coming to Melbourne to perform here.

While these cultural activities are going outside, Inside the Deakin edge we will present Lecture/ demonstration on Yoga, Meditation, Laughter club and some classical Indian performances along with a special exhibition will be on display.

Like in past years, Celebrate India has joined hands again with White Ribbon, to campaign “Stop Violence against Women”.

We again will be conducting the Oath taking ceremonies and asking all Victorians to say no to violence against women.

The festivities will begin at 12 noon and culminate with a spectacular fireworks display on the Yarra at 9.30pm. The festival is colourful and its exciting performances will provide photo opportunity for the media.

This is a free, family event and is sponsored by the OMAC, City of Melbourne, AGL, Melbourne Airport,

Government of India, Fed Square, Metro, Corporate groups like MB Films, Telstra, AFL, Nowicki Carbone, Air India, Cricket Australia, supported by the Fiji Hindu Foundation and many Indian Community Organisations.

For more information please contact: Arun Sharma, Festival Coordinator, Diwali, Phone 0412183157; 0499161230 For details, visit www. celebrateindia.org.au, or Email: contact@ celebrateindia.org.au

Protect yourself when booking holidays, says Australian government

By SAT Newsdesk

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elbourne: A new campaign by Australia’s consumer protection agencies is reminding travellers of the simple steps they can take to protect their travel and holiday bookings.

Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria Dr. Claire Noone says that increased competition and the growth of online bookings have changed the way people plan and purchase their trips. “For some people, booking a holiday might be a quick and simple process, while others put a lot of time and effort into planning their trips.”

“We know that Australians love travelling, and many go back to their countries of origin to visit family and friends,” says Dr. Noone. Statistics show that Australians made nine million trips overseas in the past year.

“It is easy to get too excited about a holiday and forget

about the simple precautions you should be taking to protect your purchase.”

Dr. Noone says that apart from protections that all consumers have under the Australian Consumer Law, there are some basic steps they can take to protect their purchases.

“Reputation and customer service is a really simple way of making sure that your holiday is going to be a great one,” says Dr Noone. “Look at reviews and ask family, friends and others in your community for their recommendations. If you are booking with a travel agent, check that they are accredited. Any business you book with, either in person or online, should have clearly stated refund and complaint policies.”

Consumers can also protect themselves by choosing how they pay for their travel.

“Credit cards can be a more expensive way to pay for purchases but do offer some pro-

tection as consumers may be able to seek a reverse payment from their bank if they book and do not get what they paid for.”

Consumers can ask their bank to reverse a payment if it was made with credit cards or by selecting ‘credit’ on Mastercard

or Visa debit cards, not if they paid by ‘cheque’ or ‘savings’ on debit cards, cash, cheque, money transfer, direct debit or BPAY. Holidaymakers are strongly encouraged to take out comprehensive travel insurance when they are travelling, and check

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what circumstances and activities are not covered by their policies.

For more tips and information on how to book your next holiday safely, visit www.packsomepeaceofmind.gov.au —SAT News Service

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Panel wants liberalised 457 visa regime, ACTU calls it ludicrous

By News Desk

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elbourne, 11 September: The report of the independent review panel into the 457 visa programme appointed by the Tony Abbott government has recommended 22 changes in the current 457 visa programme. The 457 visa has been under attack from the previous Labour government and unions who alleged large scale rorting of the programme.

The ACTU says, ‘There is no surprise that a Government review by a panel of business leaders has recommended scrapping requirements for employers to try to hire local workers before bringing in cheaper foreign workers on 457 visas.’

‘The panel addresses all aspects of the 457 programme, and proposed areas of reform include: improving training opportunities for Australians, simplifying sponsorship requirements, increasing the length of sponsorship, providing greater flexibility for English language testing and fast tracking low risk applications’, says the Immigration department website.

ACTU President Ged Kearney said in a statement the recommendation in the 457 program review to abolish

labour market testing is ludicrous.

“Unemployment is at a 12 year high yet instead of creating a plan for jobs and investing in skills and training, yet the answer from the Government and big business is to make it easier for employers to bring in foreign workers,” said ACTU President Ged Kearney.

'The report identified 22 recommendations that strive to achieve a balance between

encouraging flexibility and productivity with strengthening the integrity of the 457 programme and ensuring that overseas workers do not displace Australians,' Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Michaelia Cash said.

The panel members were led

by John Azarias and included Jenny Lambert, Katie Moylan and Professor Peter McDonald.

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'The government will announce a detailed response to the report shortly,' Minister Cash said.

Robust New Foundations: A Streamlined, Transparent and Responsive System for the 457 Programme is available on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s website— www.immi.gov.au/pub-res/Pages/ reviews-and-inquiries/skilled-visaprogramme.aspx Key facts on 457 visa program: There were 108,870 457 visa holders in Australia at June 2014.

This is a 0.8% increase from the previous year despite the rise in unemployment The number of 457 visa application rejections increased from 9.8% to 19.1% in occupations where labour market testing has been introduced, while the rejection rate has remained the same in occupations not subject to labour market testing Before labour market testing was introduced – the number of 457 visa applications increased by 33.4% in 2011-12 compared to the previous year, while at the same time the number of people out of work increased by 40,000 with unemployment jumping from 4.9% to 5.2%.

—SAT News Service

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By our community reporter

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elbourne: You can no more walk in to the VFS Global office here to apply for an Indian visa or other consular services. An online appointment is now essential to proceed in this matter. Physical presence on the appointment date is also essential for bio-matric data collection. Charges for the services will remain the same as earlier, the Indian Consulate, Melbourne says.

The Indian government has decided that applicants seeking to apply for a visa from 1st October, 2014 need an appointment online at www. vfsglobal.com\region\australia and will also need to complete the application process online.

This is part of the larger IVFRT Program (India Visa and Foreigners Registration and Tracking System).

“The government is presently rolling out Biometric Data Collection for Indian Visa globally and also already implemented this in several countries.

The appointment process

is in line with streamlining the submission process at the India Passport and Visa Application centres managed by VFS Global across Australia,” says a media release.

Biometric Data collection will be a mandatory requirement with effect from 15 October. As Biometric Data including fingerprint data and facial imagery will need to be collected, all

visa applicants will need to be physically present (mandatorily) at a visa application centre, by appointment for submission of the visa application and biometric data enrolment.

Talking to the SBS (Punjabi) program, Manika Jain, Indian Consul General, Melbourne said, “Those who have existing valid visas, OCI’s etc. do not need to go to VFS Global for bio-matric

requirements.”

Submission for all other applications including Passport, OCI and miscellaneous consular services will also require an appointment to be made online at www.vfsglobal. com\region\australia with effect from 1st October 2014.

Diplomatic Personnel are exempt from applying at a visa application centre and may lodge their

The Indian government has decided that applicants seeking to apply for a visa from 1st October, 2014 need an appointment online at www.vfsglobal. com\region\australia and will also need to complete the application process online. applications directly at the High Commission of India in Canberra or Consulate General of India in Sydney, Melbourne or Perth.

—SAT News Service.

Time to tackle migration fraud By our community reporter

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elbourne, 8 August: The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA), the professional association for registered migration agents in Australia, has welcomed the announcement by both the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison and the Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Richard Marles, calling for a report on the alleged serious migration integrity matters raised in the media in recent days.

The MIA is concerned at the allegations about fraud in Australia’s migration programme. The National President of the MIA, Ms Angela Chan FMIA, repeated the MIA’s earlier calls for a redefinition of the functions of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) to give it the powers to investigate and prosecute unregistered migration practice, a MIA media release says.

“It is the MIA’s strong position that the OMARA’s functions should be to

regulate the migration advice profession and to eliminate unregistered practice,” said Ms Chan.

“The MIA believes that it would be a better use of resources if the other current functions of the OMARA were given to the professional association (MIA), as is the case with most other professions.”

Ms Chan reiterated the MIA’s belief that the

Department of Immigration and Border must be given greater resources to ensure the integrity of Australia’s migration programme through the implementation of strong legislation.

Ms Chan said it is illegal to provide immigration assistance in Australia if you are not registered with the OMARA. Using a Registered Migration Agent (RMA) who is an MIA Member provides

an extra level of protection to visa applicants because the professional association has a strong history of promoting best professional practice through its governance, formal membership requirements, its own Code of Ethics and Practice, a formal Disciplinary Committee and its extensive education programme for its members.

“However, the

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government must provide proper controls to eliminate fraudulent behaviour,” Ms Chan said.

“The abuse of the vulnerable people who seek immigration assistance is totally unacceptable.

“The disregard of ethical and professional obligations by some unscrupulous RMAs (who are often less likely to be members of the MIA) and unregistered and unprincipled individuals cannot be tolerated and can only be countered by properly resourced authorities,” said Ms Chan.

There are thousands of RMAs who are MIA Members who practice in an ethical and professiomal manner and the Institute stongly recommends that people who are seeking advice in this area have checked the registration and qualifications of the person giving the advice.

To check if an individual is OMARA registered, see: https://www.mara.gov. au/search-the- register-ofmigration-agents/ To check if an individual is MIA registered, please see: http://www.mia.org.au/ find-an-agent —SAT News Service.

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Consumer Directed Care for Older Australians

By News Desk

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elbourne: Assistant Minister for Social Services Senator Mitch Fifield and Member for Hindmarsh Matt Williams recently joined COTA Australia to launch a new website to help older Australians and aged care providers prepare for the move to Consumer Directed Care (CDC).

CDC has been progressively introduced into the Home Care Packages of older Australians, and from 1 July 2015 it will apply to all packages.

The website, Home Care Today, is a dedicated portal for consumers and providers about Consumer Directed Care, ensuring they are prepared and can take advantage of the opportunities it presents.

“Consumer Directed Care is putting older Australians in the driving seat when it comes to the services and support they receive,” Senator Fifield said.

“It gives individuals and their carers choice and control about the types of care and support they access, including who will deliver the services and when.

“There is greater transparency about how

much funding is available, ensuring older Australians know exactly how it is being spent.”

The Government has funded a number of projects to help aid the transition to CDC for consumers and providers, including two

delivered by COTA. Controlling My Own Life: Making the Most of CDC provides people with information and resources to help them fully benefit from the increased control and flexibility CDC provides.

Consumer Directed

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Care Capacity Building Service helps providers to implement CDC across their organisations, engage with consumers and train their staff. This project was done in partnership with the provider peak bodies Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA).

Providers and consumers can visit http:// homecaretoday.org.au/ to access the materials developed through these projects.

“We know that most people want to remain living in their own home for as long as possible, and want choice in the services they receive,” Mr Williams said.

“The Government is providing more support to help make this a reality, with the number of home care packages set to increase by an additional 80,000 over the next ten years.

“The move to Consumer Directed Care will ensure older Australians have a say in how their care is delivered in the home.”

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By Desi Oz

Air Ticket becomes Sartaj Live Honda Jazz

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rs. Anita Jordan Sunil, lucky winner of the ‘Honda Jazz’ in the Mann Travel Raffle (reported in SAT, August, 2014 issue), is now driving around with her family in her dream car. The family was there to receive the car at the Astoria Honda, Bentleigh. The car handover done in the presence of family, friends, media, Mann Travel staff (including boss Mukesh Mann) and Astoria Honda staff was a lively affair.

Anita too k the keys with the car and happily posed for photographs. About

10,000 tickets were bought between January 1 and June 30, 2014. About 2, 700 participated in the Raffle.

Talking to SAT, Anita (a nurse by profession) said when she heard the good news her initial reaction was “It can’t be true that I won a car.” “In fact, I had forgotten about the Raffle’, she said. A smiling Mann Travel CEO, Mukesh Mann, felt satisfied that one of his customers won a car. This, he felt, was part of their effort to look after their customers. Astoria Honda was the proud supporter of the Raffle with Mann Travel (Jet O Air).

Sanam Marvi Concert

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op Pakistani Sufi legend Sanam Marvi gave a mesmerising singing concert in the Thornbury Theatre recently. The audience danced and enjoyed the Sufi songs and music she presented with her team.

Her live performance in Melbourne was an incredible experience. Sanam Marvi

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elbourne gave a good response to the Satinder Sartaj (Rangrez) Live concert at the Thornbury Theatre recently organised by the Royal productions. A multi-gifted artist, songwriter, singer, composer and poet. Dr.Satinder Sartaaj possesses an unprecedented list of achievements and remains in the fore front of his craft, a true inspiration. As an artist

he excites, enlightens, leads and embraces his fans with insights into life’s meaning and deepest feelings. Ancestral values are seen embedded deep in his poetry. Satinder Sartaaj captivated audiences through the vigour and sheer beauty of his words and lyrics at the Thornbury Theatre. His songs stirred the souls, energized the bodies, liberated the minds and healed the hearts.

Community story telling

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unique event was recently organised by the Tamil Literature and Arts Society led by Dr. Noel Nadesan on ‘Community Story Telling’ at The String Theological College, Mulgrave.

Sponsored by the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC), the event saw many subcontinent people in Melbourne telling their personal stories to the audience.

The narratives of their untold stories were enriching experience to understand each other and to make a creative and

constructive contribution to their adopted country. There was even an asylum seeker (who came by boat) telling his story. Many others talked about their migrant experience.

A re-telling of their stories helped to bond and strengthened the strands that brought them together through their cultural and personal experiences. These personal narratives were recorded in a format that can be used by all communities. Each narrator was allotted five minutes to speak. It was indeed an exceptionally interesting event.

Sai Temple honours Labour candidate

debuted at ‘Virsa Heritage’, a programme on PTV. She has appeared at Coke Studio, a Pakistani television series featuring live music performances. She performs Sufi concerts around the world. She is among the finest performers in the Sufi, ghazal and folk genres. In Melbourne, she sang in Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi.

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ennifer Yang, Labour candidate for Mt. Waverley, recently visited the Sai Temple, Camberwell. She was introduced to the devotees and honoured with a shawl. Jennifer

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addressed the devotees and praised them for preserving their culture and strengthening multicultural Victoria. She was accompanied by ALP leader Manoj Kumar among others.

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‘Museum India’ in Dandenong

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elbourne, 13 Aug: An Indian museum has come up in Dandenong’s Little India at Foster Street. It showcases some parts and sections of Indian history and culture through the display of the collection of noted psychiatrist Dr. Dinesh Parekh. Dr. Parekh who has a passion for them has collected these rare British time and other photographs from dealers all over the world.

The museum was inaugurated by Multicultural Minister Mr. Mathew Guy and leaders from both sides of politics were present. A large number of people including the FIAV leadership and community were also present.

Situated at 61-63 Foster Street, Dandenong (Little India), it is called ‘Museum India’ and will regularly

open soon. “I am happy to share my collection with the community”, Dr. Parekh told SAT, during a media preview of the museum.

FIAV President, Vasan Srinivasan, who is also behind the museum idea, said, this museum, is the first of its kind in Australia and its aim was to showcase Indian history and culture to the Australian people.

Manika Jain, Indian Consul General, Melbourne said, “She was happy that a private collector’s efforts have succeeded.”

“The museum has been supported by the Pravasi Bhartiya Committee, Indian High Commission, Canberra and the Indian Consulate, Melbourne,” she said.

The museum has more than rare 100 exhibits including photographs taken during the colonial times and more are likely to be added soon.

Oz-NZ combing visa for ICC Cricket World Cup ‘15 By our sports reporter

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elbourne, 3 September: Cricket lovers visiting Australia and New Zealand for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will only need to apply for one visa under a new Trans-Tasman visa arrangement, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator Michaelia Cash said today.

The ICC Cricket World Cup will take place from 14 February to 29 March 2015, with all 14 qualifying teams to play matches in both Australia and New Zealand.

Minister Cash said between 26 January and 5 April 2015, New Zealand will grant a visa on arrival to visitors who already hold an Australian visa.

“Australia and New Zealand look forward to welcoming the international cricketing community next year and to showcasing both countries to the

world,” Minister Cash said.

“This new visa arrangement will change the visa process for participants and spectators of the ICC Cricket World Cup

2015 by only requiring them to apply for one visa in order to follow their teams to both countries.”

“The new arrangement will substantially benefit the tourism sector in both countries” said Minister Cash.

“New Zealand will grant a visa on arrival to people holding almost any type of Australian visa, which means not only international tourists will benefit, but people already in Australia on most permanent or temporary visa types as well.”

Chief Executive of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Local Organising Committee, John Harnden, welcomed the support from the Australian and New Zealand Governments.

“This is a real coup for fans travelling to Australia and New

Your Community Marriage Celebrant • • • • • • •

Marriage registration Notice of intended marriage Overseas Registration Marriage - Notice Special services to overseas students Assist passport applications, overseas visa Interpreting, translating and Secretarial services

For Information contact N.R. Wickiramasingham. CMC JP. Mobile: 0404 059 231 Phone: (03) 9794 7942 Fax: (03) 9794 0414 Email: wickiram@hotmail.com 34 James Street, Dandenong, Victoria 3175 Authorised by the Commenwealth of Australia Reg: A4978

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Zealand to witness the world’s best players compete in the biggest sporting event of 2015,” Mr Harnden said.

“We have made sure the event is affordable and with this new visa process it will now be even easier for fans from around the world to follow their teams and experience the many tourist offerings in both countries.”

International visitors will still be required to meet the respective health, security and character requirements of both countries and each country will retain the right to refuse entry if a visitor does not meet these requirements.

For more information check www.immi.gov.au/cwc —SAT News Service

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J-K : Parad

Under

The recent floods have devastated Jam their lives and property destroyed. The Indian A relief work. Some army men have lost endless. Here are a few photos of the floods forces. In coming SAT issues we will try to br floods. All photos are courtesy the Pr

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aradise

Water

mmu & Kashmir. Many people have lost Army is doing a difficult but heroic rescue and st their lives. The stories of agony are ds and rescue missions by the Indian armed bring you more photos and articles about the ress Information Bureau (PIB), New Delhi.

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Amchi Mumbai in Mumbai Spices

By Our reporter

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elbourne, 14 September: Home away from home is a recipe for nostalgic memories. If you are from Mumbai or have been there then you have been missing that tasty street food for a long time. Looks your taste buds are likely to revive at the ‘Mumbai Spices’ which opened today at 324 Wantirna Road, Wantirna. It will have all – Indian curries, Mumbai Street food, South Indian and Biryani.

The ‘Mumbai Spices’ Indian restaurant was inaugurated on 14 September, 2014 by Hon. Bruce Atkinson MLC, President of the Legislative Council of Victoria and Hon. Brian Tee, MP, Shadow Minister for Planning & Major Projects. Many other political and community leaders were present to bless the new business.

A spectacular fireworks display preceded the actual function which saw all the major guests being honoured by Mr. Ganapathy. Hon. Bruce Atkinson and Hon. Brian Tee also addressed the

gathering, wishing the best for ‘Mumbai Spices’.

The MC of the day was Kaushaliya Vaghela and guest coordination was done by ALP leader and former federal candidate for Menzies, Mr. Manoj Kumar.

The restaurant was full and everyone enjoyed the special Mumbai street food.

The brain behind ‘Mumbai Spices’ is Prem Ganapathy, a man who struggled from a street Dosa seller in Mumbai to be the inspiration behind two leading brands of restaurants – Dosa Plaza and Mumbai Spices. Talking to SAT, Mr. Ganapathy said, “Mumbai street food is different from others just

like Bollywood is different from other film industries.

That is why I decided to popularise this food all over the world.”

“The taste of our food will be authentic because our masalas are genuine to suite Mumbai street food,” he said.

Mr. Ganapathy said, “ We are also planning more branches of ‘Mumbai Spices’ in Australia and another one will soon come up in Geelong.

“Once all ‘Mumbai Spices’ branches are open they will be creating between 100 to 200 jobs in Australia”, said Alok Kumar, one of the promoter of the restaurant.

Other promoters of the business apart from Ganapathy and Alok Kumar

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are Aakash Kumar and Tajendra Kalra.

—SAT News Service.

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Child trafficking rampant in Indian villages T

By K. S. Harikrishnan

HIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, Sep 4 2014 (IPS) - In a country where well over half the population lives on less than two dollars a day, it takes a lot to shock people. The sight of desperate families traveling in search of money and food, whole communities defecating in the open, old women performing back-breaking labour, all this is simply part of life in India, home to 1.2 billion people.

But amidst this rampant destitution, some things still raise red flags, or summon collective cries of fury. Child trafficking is one such issue, and it is earning front-page headlines in states where thousands of children are believed to be victims of the illicit trade.

The arrest on Jun. 5 of Shakeel Ahamed, a 40-yearold migrant labourer, by police in the southern state of Kerala, created a national outcry, and reawakened fears of a complex and deep-rooted child trafficking network around the country.

Ahamed’s operation alone was thought to involve over 580 children being illegally moved into Muslim orphanages throughout the state.

“Many families are unable to afford the basic necessities of life, which forces parents to sell their children. Some children are abandoned by families who can’t take care of them. Some run away to escape abuse or unhappy homes. Gangsters and middlemen approach these vulnerable children." -- Justice J B Koshy, chairperson of the Kerala Human Rights Commission Experts tell IPS that children are also routinely trafficked to and from states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), child trafficking is rampant in underdeveloped villages, where “victims are lured or abducted from their homes and subsequently forced to work against their wish through various means in various establishments, indulge in prostitution or

subjected to various types of indignitiesand even killed or incapacitated for the purposes of begging, and trade in human organs.”

Available records show a total of 3,554 crimes related to human trafficking in 2012, compared to 3,517 the previous year. Some 2,848 and 3,400 cases were reported in 2009 and 2010 respectively, as well as 3,029 cases in 2008.

In 2012, former State Home Affairs Minister Jitendra Singh told the upper house of parliament that almost 60,000 children were reported as “missing” in 2011. “Of those,” he added, “more than 22,000 are yet to be located.”

It is not clear how many of these “missing” children are victims of traffickers; a dearth of national data means that experts and advocates are often left guessing at the root causes of the problem.

NGOs and government agencies often cite contradictory figures, but both are agreed that a child goes missing roughly every eight minutes in the country.

Human rights watchdogs say there are many contributing factors to child trafficking in India, including economic deprivation. Indeed, the 2013 Global Hunger Index ranked India 63rd out of 78 countries, adding that 21.3 percent of the population went hungry in 2013.

According to the World Bank, 68.3 percent of Indians live on less than two dollars a day.

“Socio-economic backwardness is a key factor in child trafficking,” Justice J B Koshy, former chief justice of the Patna High Court and chairperson of the Kerala Human Rights Commission,

told IPS, adding that a political-mafia nexus also fueled the practice in remote parts of the country.

An action research study conducted in 2005 by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) found that a majority of trafficking victims belonged to socially deprived sections of society.

It is estimated that half of the children trafficked within India are between the ages of 11 and 14.

Some 32.3 percent of trafficked girls suffer from diseases such as HIV/ AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other gynaecological problems, according to a 2006 report by ECPAT International.

This is likely due to the fact that most girls are trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation. A government-commissioned study conducted in 2003, the last time comprehensive data was gathered, estimated that the number of sex workers increased from two million in 1997 to three million in 200304, representing a 50-percent rise. Many of these sex workers are thought to be girls between the ages of 12 and 15.

Sreelekha Nair, a researcher who was worked with the New Delhi-based Centre for Women’s Studies, added that parents coming from poor socio-economic conditions in remote villages sometimes readily hand over their children to middlemen.

Some parents have been found to “sell their children for amounts that are shockingly worthless,” she told IPS, in some cases for as little as 2,000 rupees (about

33 dollars), adding, “law and order agencies cannot often intervene in the private matters of a family.”

Rajnath Singh, home minister of India, told a group of New Delhi-based activists headed by Annie Raja, general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women, that a central agency would conduct a probe into the mass trafficking of children from villages in the Gumla district of the eastern state of Jharkhand over the past several years.

The group had brought it to the attention of the minister that thousands of girls were going missing from interior villages in the district every year, while their parents claimed ignorance as to their whereabouts.

Raja told reporters in New Delhi this past Julythat developmental schemes launched by individual states and the central government often fail to reach remote villages, leaving the countryside open to agents attempting to “sneak teenage girls out of villages.”

Experts point out that implementation of the 1986 Immoral Traffic Prevention Act remains weak. Many believe that since the act only refers to trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, it does not provide comprehensive protection for children, nor does it provide a clear definition of the term ‘trafficking’.

Dr. P M Nair, project coordinator of the anti-human trafficking unit of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in New Delhi and former director general of police, said that investigations

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“Some children are abandoned by families who can’t take care of them.

Some run away to escape abuse or unhappy homes.

The gangsters and middlemen approach these vulnerable children.

In some cases, good-looking girls are taken away by force.”

should focus on recruiters, traffickers and all those who are part of organised crime.

The ‘scene of crime’ in a trafficking case, he said, should not be confined to the place of exploitationbut should also cover places of transit and recruitment.

“Victims of trafficking should never be prosecuted or stigmatised,” he told IPS. “They should be extended all care and attention from the human rights perspective.

There is a need for the mandatory involvement of government agencies in the post-rescue process so that appropriate rehabilitation measures are ensured” as quickly as possible, he added.

NGOs like Child Line India Foundation help provide access to legal, medical and counseling services to all trafficked victims in order to restore confidence and selfesteem, but the country lacks a coordinated national policy to deal with the issue at the root level.

Experts have recommended that the state provide education, or gender-sensitive market-driven vocational training to rescued victims, to help them reintegrate into society, but such schemes are yet to become a reality.

—Edited by Kanya D’Almeida

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US Report: Pak N-command safe from protests N

By Gayeti Singh

EW DELHI: A report prepared by the Congressional Research Service, titled “Pakistan Political Unrest” and presented to the United States Congress in connection with the ongoing anti-government protests in Islamabad, has concluded that political crisis will have no impact on the country’s nuclear realm.

“Any new erosion of the ability of Islamabad’s civilian leaders to oversee (or make) the country’s security policy likely will not affect the nuclear realm, which has long been assumed to be wholly ruled by the military,” the report noted.

The safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal has long been a subject of policy debate, despite repeated efforts by international watchdogs to vouch for its safety.

Nor are these concerns new; they have persisted ever since the country conducted nuclear tests in 1998. The “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds” Report by the National Intelligence Council states, “Nuclear Powers .. such as Pakistan ..see nuclear weapons as compensation for other political and security weaknesses, heightening the risk of their use.” More significantly, the country’s instability and precarious relationship with violent militant groups is often highlighted as a cause for concern, with watchdogs cautioning the possibility of non-state actors acquiring nuclear weapons or a radical takeover placing safety and security concerns at risk. Former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei expressed fears that a radical regime could take power in Pakistan, and thereby acquire nuclear weapons. Experts also worry that technology could be sold off by insiders during a worsened crisis.

These concerns are not unfounded. In 2004, nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan confessed to the illicit transfer of nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya, North Korea and other countries. Additionally, according to reports, Al Qaeda unsuccessfully sought nuclear weapons assistance from Khan, but did receive help from at least one other group in Pakistan - possibly retired Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission scientists

The safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal has long been a subject of policy debate, despite repeated efforts by international watchdogs to vouch for its safety.

Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Chaudhuri Abdul Majeed.

Although details are not clear, it is a known fact that the charity set up by the two scientists known as the Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN) had links to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. In 2012, a group of nine militants attacked the Kamra Air Base that had long been suspected of housing nuclear weapons.

Although Pakistan has long denied this claim, the incident raised concerns about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

In light of the above, how safe is Pakistan’s nuclear programme?

1. The Kamra Air Base attacks Firstly, we do not know for certain that the air base housed nuclear weapons, but let’s assume that it did. The incident received widespread attention as it indicated that Pakistani militants had plans to acquire nuclear weapons, if not covertly through proliferation networks, then through armed theft. The nine attackers who targeted the air base probably had no intention of recovering any nuclear material or substantial military equipment; they were wearing suicide vests which is a clear indication that they did not plan to leave the base alive. Further, if they did plan to successfully recover weapons, they would have probably sent more than a nine-person team to a heavily guarded military base.

While risks and concerns remain given Pakistan’s instability and the proliferation of militancy in the country, weapons falling into the hands of

non-state actors is unlikely.

This confidence has been reiterated by many. US General Petraeus stated on May 10, 2009, that “[w]ith respect to the—the nuclear weapons and—and sites that are controlled by Pakistan … we have confidence in their security procedures and elements and believe that the security of those sites is adequate.” James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence in the US, told the House Intelligence Committee February 10, 2011, that “our assessment is that the nuclear weapons in Pakistan are secure.”

Pakistan has reformed the institutions charged with the task of ensuring the safety of nuclear arsenal. The Pakistan government has reiterated that warheads are kept separate from detonation mechanisms and warhead cores separate from their firing mechanisms. Keeping the components separately limits the ability of non state actors to acquire a weapon and increases the number of materials required. Pakistan has also set up a permissive action link (PAL) system, where two members of the military and the most senior civilian leaders have codes that must be entered simultaneously to approve the use or deployment of nuclear weapons. The the security and safety of Pakistan’s nuclear forces rely on three institutions: The National Command Authority (NCA), the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC). The final authorisation to employ a nuclear weapon must go through the head of the NSA - the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Director

General of the army is the secretariat for the NCA, and each branch of the military has its own SFC. Risks and vulnerabilities do remain, but former President Musharraf has summed up the situation when he told the CNN in 2011 that “If Pakistan disintegrates, then it can be dangerous. Otherwise, if Pakistan’s integrity is there... there is no danger of the nuclear assets or strategic assets falling in any terrorist hands.”

2. Dr AQ Khan Although AQ Khan’s admission of running a procurement network corroborates a worry well expressed by Yuri Korolev, a member of the Russian Foreign Ministry, who said, “There are 120,000-130,000 people directly involved in Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programmes… There is no way to guarantee that all are 100 [percent] loyal and reliable,” Pakistan’s improvements in safeguards demonstrate its commitment to addressing security concerns.

Firstly, the network set up

by AQ Khan seems to have been dismantled, with a 2009 US State Department release saying that the network “is no longer operating.” Pakistan’s Foreign Office stated February 7, 2009, that Pakistan “has dismantled the nuclear black market network.”

Pakistan has also taken a number of steps to prevent further proliferation of nuclear-related technologies and materials. In 2004, a new national exports control legislation was adopted.

This includes a control list for “goods, technologies, material, and equipment

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which may contribute to designing, development, stockpiling, [and] use” of nuclear weapons and a catch-all clause which requires exporters to notify the government if they are aware or suspect that goods or technology are intended by the end-user for use in nuclear or biological weapons, or missiles capable of delivering such weapons.

3. The Al Qaeda link Once the UTN’s work with Al-Qaeda on biological weapons and rudimentary nuclear weapons technology came to light in 2001, Pakistan changed its personnel security policy.

It developed a personnel reliability programme to scrutinise individuals working with nuclear weapons in the country and the 2007 National Command Authority Ordinance includes measures to prevent the transmission of nuclear expertise. Pakistani officials participating in an April 2007 Partnership for Global Security workshop argued that Islamabad had improved the reliability of its nuclear personnel by, for example, making security clearance procedures more stringent.

In conclusion, Pakistan is acutely aware of the threat to its nuclear programme posed by non-state actors, the political instability in the country, and even the risk of the escalation of hostilities with its neighbour, India.

As stated by Shashindra Tyagi, former chief of staff of the Indian Air Force, “The Pakistani establishment understands the threats they face better than anyone, and they are smart enough to take care of it.”

Source: thecitizen.in

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पितृ-दिवस, शिक्षकदिवस तथा हिन्दी-दिवस

इस महीने तीन प्रमुख दिवस, पितृ-दिवस, शिक्षक-दिवस तथा हिन्दीदिवस मनाये जा रहे हैं | इन सबका अपना-अपना mhæv है | पिता पुत्र/पुत्री को जन्म दे ता है ; उसे उँ गली पकड़ कर चलना सिखाता है , सुरक्षा प्रदान करता है और मार्ग-दर्शन करता है | शिक्षक हमें ज्ञान प्रदान करता है जो हमें विश्व को समझने, आत्म ज्ञान प्राप्त करने और आजीविका प्राप्त करने में सहायता करता है | भारतीय संस्कृति में, माता-पिता और गुरु का विशेष mhæv है | माता-पिता के लिये हम चाहे जो कुछ भी करें , उनके ऋण से कभी उऋण नहीं हो सकते हैं और गुरु को तो ईश्वर से भी अधिक महत्व दिया जाता है क्योंकि गुरु ही जीवन में सफलता का मार्ग दिखाता है | हिन्दी-दिवस मनाये जाने का कारण बिल्कु ल भिन्न है | हिन्दी पूरे भारत में सबसे अधिक लोगों द्वारा बोली जाने वाली भाषा है | यह भारत की राजभाषा भी है | यही एक भाषा है जो पूरे भारत की सम्पर्क भाषा बन सकती है और पूरे दे श को एक सूत्र में बाँध सकती है | हिन्दी-दिवस हमें याद दिलाता है कि हम हिन्दी का सम्मान करें , इसकी शक्ति को समझें और इसका उपयोग करें | इस महीने, शक्ति पूजा का पर्व, नवरात्रि भी है | सभी पाठकों को पितृ-दिवस, शिक्षक-दिवस, हिन्दी-दिवस तथा नवरात्रि पर्व की बधाई व शुभकामनाएँ| इस अंक के k;Vyku'j स्तम्भ में हिन्दी-दिवस तथा अन्य विषयों पर रोचक कविताएँ हैं | साथ में, नवरात्रि पर एक लेख है और ‘अंतहीन पड़ाव’ नामक कहानी का दस ू रा व अंतिम भाग भी है | इसके अतिरिक्त ‘संक्षिप्त समाचार’, ‘अब हँ सने की बारी है ’, ‘mhævpU,R itiqy;\’ व ‘सूचनाएँ’ स्तम्भ भी हैं | लिखियेगा कि आपको यह अंक कैसा लगा| —दिनेश श्रीवास्तव

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हिन्दी ही हिंदसु ्तान है

-अमिताभ सिंह चौहान ‘प्रीतम’, मेल्बर्न

हिन्दी ही मेरा मान है , हिन्दी मेरा सम्मान है | हिन्दी है मेरी मातृभाषा, हिन्दी का यह गुणगान है || संस्कृ त का अपभ्रंश यह, आर्य संस्कृति का अंश यह| माँ का इसे सम्मान दो, माता है यह...माता कहो|| हिन्दी हिन्दी हिन्दी हिन्दी

के वे थे शब्द प्यारे , कानों में पहले हमारे | की थीं वे लोरियाँ, जो माँ ने हम पे वारे न्यारे || में था वह प्यार जो, पिता की गोद से हमको मिला| की थी वह सीख गुरु की, जिससे यह जीवन खिला||

हिन्दी की थी वह दोस्ती, हिन्दी का ही वह भाईचारा| हिन्दी की थीं वे स्पर्धाएँ, मैं जिनमें कभी जीता, कभी हारा|| जीता तो माँ हिन्दी का, हारा तो भी संतोष था| न जीतने में गर्व, न ही हारने में दोष था|| हिन्दी हिन्दी हिन्दी हिन्दी

का वह आदर लुटाया, गुरुजनों के पद कमलों पर| का वह स्नेह मेरा, बंधु और बांधव जनों पर|| सिखाती दोस्ती, हिन्दी सिखाती प्यार है | हमारे शत्रुओं को, गरजती ललकार है ||

हिन्दी हमारी राष्ट्रभाषा, हिन्दी हमारा मूल है | हिन्दी को जो नीचा करे , कम्बखत़् नामाकूल है ||

jn-p[itini/

हिन्दी हिन्दी हिन्दी हिन्दी

ही मेरा शांतिध्वज, हिन्दी मेरी तलवार है | मेरी सीमा की रे खा, हिन्दी मेरा आकार है || नहीं बस कोई भाषा, एक आंदोलन है , एक आवाहन है | हमारी प्राणवायु, आन-बान और शान है ||

पर-भाषा को इतना महत्व, हिन्दी को भूलते जाते हो| सृष्टि के मूल का अंश हो कर, अपना अस्तित्व मिटाते हो|| बच्चे सीखें, बोलें हिन्दी, हिन्दी से बढ़े लगाव सदा| हर भाषा से हो प्रेम हमें, हिन्दी का बस ऊँचा ओहदा|| हिन्दी हिन्दी धरती हिन्दी

हमारी शक्ति है , हिन्दी हमारा ध्येय है | ही है सामर्थ्य-सम्बल, अजर, अमर, अजेय है || अपनी, जीवन अपना, सर्वस्व सुखद सुद ं र सपना| का विकास ही स्व-विकास, स्मरण सदा इतना रखना||

हिन्दुस्तानियों की इस जगत में, हिन्दी ही एक पहचान है | प्रवासी हृदय के स्पंदनों में, हिन्दी ही है || हिन्दी नहीं तो हम नहीं, हिन्दी रही तो जग रहे गा| हिन्दी बिना यह जगत मुख से, माँ भला कैसे कहे गा||

-l+mIdÊ n*i$y;l² i.v;@¹I² r;jSq;n

p[qm sop;n ánet;-cirtâ"dr-dr .$kt² VySt rht jn-smqRn c;h me²' m;l; phn² krtl ?vin se ZUmt ¬Ts;h me' ) .Ul j;t s.I v;de phuc \ srk;r me²' Sv;qR vx srk;r ko .I zo@¹ de mZ/;r me' ) c*p;é"/vl vsn k;rj ait Xy;m;² kir s'kLp kzu n pirn;m; ) ibjurI det n s@¹k bn;é² v;yuy;n se %¹du ¬ir j;hI )) c;$uk;r jn ait gun g;vw²' r;m-r;j k; spn id%;vw' ) mu%-m'@l .;sn ait sohe²' mOdl u vcn jnt; mn mohe' )) doh;"net; ke m/ur vcn suin² jnt; .é inh;l ) @;ir-@;ir mt ?y;n se² ivjy det tTk;l )) iÃtIy sop;n áb;l-k;'@â"jn-p[itini/ bn sdn me' j;vw² idye vcn pl me' ibsr;vw² joir-toir m']I pd lINh;² jn-iht ke kzu k;j n kINh; ) apno' ko dei' h rojg;r;² yih ivi/ lw' sMpiÊ ap;r;² ts a;cr, krw' sdn me²' js Sv;n krw' hr gilyn me' )) doh;"kir s'cy sMpiÊ ait .;rI² piun-puin j;t ivdex² r;j-k;j Ky; bUZw p[j;² ¬@¹ cle det bhu s'dx e ) tOtIy sop;n á`o$;l;-k;'@â"mh\g;é ait ivkr;l;² a;sm;n zuy'e int nye `o$;l;² r;sn² p;nI pr s'k$ .;rI t; pr ibjurI ne ds; ibg;rI² koé apn mUrit² .vn bn;vw² Eih .;\it vcn in.;vw² koé koyle kI kre dl;lI² r;j koW sb hovw %;lI )

हिन्दी माँ

हिन्दी हमारा धर्म, सेवा दे श की, यह कर्म है | हिन्दी हमारी लाज है , हिन्दी हमारा मर्म है ||

-सुभाष शर्मा, मेल्बर्न

हिन्दी माँ, हिन्दी माँ, कह हिन्दी का मान बढ़ाओ | कुछ गर्व करो खुद ़ पर भी, अपना सम्मान बढ़ाओ || ममता के मुह ँ से फूल झड़े , नदिया बहती आँखों से| जख्मों पर मरहम लगता, माँ की प्यारी बातों से || जय, जय जननी, जय, जय भारत माँ, कह कर खुश ़ ी मनाओ| कुछ गर्व करो खुद ़ पर भी, जग में कुछ नाम कमाओ|| पीड़ित मन से, शोणित तन से, जर्जर आँचल फैलाये|

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

doh;"Svn;m /Ny m;nnIy .ye² .y; yh dex bdh;l² M;;nnIy m;l;m;l huE² hua; jnt'] k'g;l ) ctuqR sop;n áirXvt k;'@â ibn `Us idye hove nih' k;j;² .[ã$;c;r me' hI ilPt r;j;² jnt; hr idn ho k'g;l;² net;jI kre' int ny; `o$;l; b@¹e .;g m']I pd p;v;² dul.

R sbih' sul. kir p;n; p;\c brs Eih .;\it ibt;vw²' trsI a\i%y;\ drs n p;vw' ) doh;"nIyt ”nkI êg;l sm a*r nIit .I lI hw ¬/;r² prj; to ro$I ko trs rhI a*r dex k; kr bw#e b'$;/;r ) p'cm sop;n áimQy;k;'@â kr joir ivntI krih' net;² ivjyI muZko bn;”ye² vcn det²e hm ?y;n ri%hw' ”s b;r ikrp; kIijye ) ”s b;r r;sn² ibjrI p;nI² s@¹k pKkI bnv;yeg ' ²e sdn me' j; a;pke iht² ny; ai/inym a*r ibl hm l;yeg ' e ) doh;".[ã$;c;r² an;c;r se ho rh; lokt'] k; n;s² a;s inr;s .é² kwse kre' ”n zilyo' pr ivSv;s ) a'itm sop;n ázl-kp$ k;'@â zd(m ¨p /ir ni$ E smdsIR bn j;yeg ' ²e ”s vex me' k;g E² jng, ko nc;yeg ' e ) bUZ'w n r;jk;j kI .;W;² pUrn n hove jng, kI a;s;² xiKt hw ”nkI apr'p;r;² jn-jn crn p%;rn l;g; ) doh;"ziv hw ”nkI a$p$I² smZ skw n koy² jI. To imÅI js lgw² mn me' %o$ hI hoy)

क्या दर्द छुपा माँ के मन में, माँ कैसे तुम्हें बताये||

कह धन्य, धन्य धरती माँ कह, धरती का मान बढ़ाओ|

कुछ गर्व करो जननी पर, तुम भी कुछ पुण्य कमाओ|| तुतली वाणी निर्बल प्राणी, प्राणी में फँू के जीवन| खड़ी निहोरे करती तुमसे काम करो तुम पूरन|| कुछ पुण्य-पुण्य कह, पावन माँ का तुम भी मान बढ़ाओ | कुछ गर्व करो खुद पर भी जन्मों के पाप मिटाओ||

माँ आशीष मुझे दे ना, कुछ छं द लिखूँ बंदन में|

सूत्र बनें ये मंत्र अधूरे, महक भरूँ चन्दन में||

चंदन, चंदन अभिनन्दन कर, माँ का तुम मान बढ़ाओ|

अभिमान करो अपनों पर जग में कुछ नाम कमाओ||

s E P T E M B E R

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kh;nI

Ek a'thIn p@¹;v (.;g-२ a'itmâ

ákopenhegn² @enm;kR me'² ¾E@I inLsn¾ ke n;m pr il%; hua; Ek p] jwkobsn ko imlt; hw) yh p] bw'k;k se Ek mihl; ne il%; q; ijsne Ek r;t E@I inLsn ke s;q guj¹;rne ke b;d Ek bCce ko jNm idy; q;) ¾isLvr nelsn¾ n;mk yh b;lk ab s;t s;l k; hone j; rh; q;) ¬ske b;re me' ¾E@I¾ ko koé j;nk;rI nhI' qI) yh p] ¬s mihl; ne ”s ¬MmId me' il%; q; ik ¾E@I¾ ¬s bCce kI prvirx me' h;q b\$;yeg;) p] me' yh .I kh; gy; q; ik vh mihl; koé k;ŽlglR nhI' qI pr'tu apnI g¹rIbI a*r p@¹os me' rhne v;lI k;ŽlglR² nelI k;Ts ke #;$-b;$ de% kr² piriSqitvx Ek r;t E@I inLsn ke s;q ibt;ne pr mj¹bUr hué qI) p] ke s;q² ¾isLvr nelsn¾ kI f¹o$o tq; ¬sk; jNm p[m;,-p] .I q;) mihl; ne yh .I bt;y; q; ik ¬ske m;t;-ipt; ¬sUlo' ke b@¹e pKke qe a*r jb .I vh y; ¬ske .;é-bhn g¹lt m;gR pr j;ne kI socte to m;\ k; ¬pdex sun kr a*r ipt; kI .Oku$I de% kr ¬nkI l;ls; k;f¹¹Ur ho j;tI qI) ¬s p] k; xeW .;g nIce p[Stut hw-sMp;dkâ ¬s d*r;n hm;re `r kI a;iqRk dx; aCzI nhI' qI) ipt;jI kI tbIyt %r;b cl rhI qI a*r m;\ Bl@ p[exr kI bIm;rI se Jy;d; mehnt nhI‹ kr p; rhI qI') flt" a;iqRk dx; aTyNt %r;b qI) hm tIno' .;”R bhno‹ kI prI=; f¹Is jm; kI j;nI qI² jb ik pws; km p@¹ rh; q;) aNtt" yh inXcy iky; gy; ik m‹w prI=; n dU\) muZe pwse ke a.;v m‹e Ek s;l bek;r krn; aCz; nhI‹ lg rh; q;) mwne apne ix=ko‹ se a*r apne sheilyo‹ se apnI smSy; bt; kr pws; ¬/;r len; c;h; q; pr iksI ne merI mdd nhI‹ kI) ¬s idn s.I l@¹iky;\ k;lej m‹e prI=; f;mR jm; kr rhI qI‹ a*r mw‹ prI=; se v‹ict rhne kI a;x‹k; se du%I ho kr gumsum %@¹I qI) t.I nelI k;Ts vh;\ a;yI a*r muZe iksI ivdexI pyR$k ke ilye bhl;n; fusl;n; xuå iky;) vh ivdexI pyR$k tum qe) ¬sne kh; ik Ek idn ke ”s anc;he k;m ko kr lene se mer; p!¹;”R k; Ek s;l bc j;yeg; tq; yh b;t vh hmex; guPt r%egI) mw‹ ¬skI b;to' me‹ a; gyI) muZe Ky; pt; q; ik ijs tQy ko mw' guPt r%n;

nvr;i] pvR

`oiWt kr idy; tq; s;re rKt-b‹/n to@¹ idE) ”n dubRl =,o‹ m‹e agr nelI kI m;\ mZe sh;r; nhI‹ detI to x;yd mere s;mne a;TmhTy; ke al;v; dUsr; ko”R c;r; nhI‹ q;) nelI kI m;\ kI de%re% m‹e tuMh;re be$e k; jNm hua;) bhut suNdr q; mer; isLvr jb pwd; hua; q;) gor; ibLkul tuMh;rI trh a*r ixxu mu% ”tn; koml a*r suNdr ik hmex; inh;rte rhne kI ”Cz; hotI qI) ”sIilE mwne ”sk; n;m isLvr r%;) jb vh mer; Stnp;n krt; to mw‹ pulikt a*r /Ny mhsUs krtI qI) k.I .I mere mn me‹ nhI‹ a;y; ik yh merI avw/ s‹t;n hw y´ip nelI kI m;\ muZe hmex; yh y;d idl;ne kI koixx krtI a*r ¬skI hTy; kr dene k; suZ;v detI qI) drasl vh muZe apne k;lglR ke /‹/e me‹ Sq;yI åp se x;iml krn; c;htI qI) mw‹ ”s .y se ik merI anupiSqit m‹e vh mere isLvr kI hTy; n kr de² Ek r;t ¬ske `r se .;g inklI tq; b‹wk;k ke ¬ÊrI zor ke Slmnum; kSbe me‹ a;kr ikr;ye kI %olI me‹ rhne lgI) $(yUxn k; mer; k;m zU$ gy; q; a*r n*krI p;ne kI .rsk ceþ; sfl nhI' ho p;yI

qI) at" muZe b@¹e `ro‹ m‹e cULh; btRn k; k;m krn; p@¹;) isLvr jb do s;l k; hua; to muZe yh j;n kr aTyNt du% hua; ik ”s b;lk kI m;nisk dx; SvSq nhI‹ hw tq; vh bhut km sunt; hw) km sunne ke k;r, ¬skI v;,I k; ivk;s bhut /Im; q;) ijn `ro‹ m‹e m‹w sf;”R² cULh; btRn ke ilE j;tI qI² ve log bCce ko s;q l;n; n;ps‹d krte qe) ”s ivWm iSqit ke b;vjUd mw‹ apne ”s ivkl‹;g bCce ko akel; nhI‹ zo@¹ sktI qI) jwse jwse isLvr b@¹; hua; a*r ¬skI v;,I k; ivk;s hua;² vh p;p;-p;p; kI r$ lg;ye rhne lg;) ab vh s;t s;l k; ho gy; hw) vh jb dUsre bCco‹ ko ipt; kI b;\ho‹ me‹ ZUlte de%t; hw to mere p;s a;kr mere g;lo‹ ko Py;r krke² merI b;\ho‹ m‹e ZUl kr muZse apne p;p; ke b;re me‹ pUzt; hw) mw‹ kuz .I nhI' kh p;tI hU\) tuMhI' bt;ao ik mw‹ ¬se Ky; jv;b dU\À ¬se %el se bhl;ne kI koixx krtI hU\² pr kb tkÀ mwne Ek m;nisk åp se ivkl;‹g bCco' ke SkUl me‹² ijsme‹ icikTs; kI suiv/;ye‹ .I ¬plB/ hw‹² nsR kI n*krI k; a;vedn idy; q;) isLvr ke .;Gy se ”s n*krI ke ilE bul;v; muZe prso‹ iml; hw) muZe %uxI hw ik muZe Ek Sq;yI a;jIivk; k; s;/n iml; hw) ab mw‹ SkUl m‹e rhte huE isLvr kI aCzI de%.;l kr sk\UgI) mere isLvr ko ¬ict ”l;j a*r ix=; iml skegI) yh SkUl a*r aSpt;l dUsre xhr m‹e hw) ¬sk; pt; mw‹

mn;y; j;t; hw)

-l+mIdÊ n*i$y;l² i.v;@¹I² r;jSq;n

nvr;i] pvR a;surI Ev' t;msI xiKtyo' pr ivjy k; mhoTsv hw) vWR me' p;\c b;r nvr;i] mn;ye j;ne k; p[cln hwá1â cw] m;s ám;cR-ap[wlâ me' vs't nvr;i] á2â as;!¹ m;s ájUn-jul;éâ me' as;!¹ nvr;i] á3â xrd nvr;i] aiXvn m;s áistMbraK$Ubrâ me' xrd y; x;rdIy nvr;i] á4â p*W m;s áidsMbr-jnvrIâ me' p*W nvr;i] tq; á5â m;` m;s ájnvrI-f¹rvrIâ me' m;` nvr;i]) ”nme' se vs't nvr;i]² jo ivÞm-s'vt nv-vWR ke a;rM. ke smy mn;yI j;tI hw a*r xrd y; x;rdIy nvr;;i] k; ivxeW mhæv hw) ”s le% me' mu:yt" x;rdIy nvr;i] k; v,Rn iky; gy; hw) ”s pvR me' n* idno' tk dug;R jI ke n* åpo' kI pUj; kI j;tI hw² ijNhe' ¾nvdug;R¾ kh; j;t; hw) ye n* åp hw' - á1â xwlpu]I á2â b[÷c;ir,I á3â cN{`'$; á4â kUãm;<@; á5â SkNdm;t; á6â k;Ty;iynI á7â k;lr;i] á8â mh;g*rI á9â isiõd;]I) Smr,Iy hw ik dug;R jI xiKt k; åp hw'É ¬nk; v;hn xer hw a*r ¬Nho'ne xuM.-inxuM. a*r mihW;sur jwse mh;r;=so' k; n;x iky; hw) nvr;i]-Ek mhoTsv nvr;i] k; pvR lg.g sMpU,R .;rt me' Ek mhoTsv ke åp me' ¬Ts;h ke s;q mn;y; j;t; hw) b'g;l² ¬Êr p[dex² ibh;r² m?y p[dex ”Ty;id ké p[dexo' me' nvr;i] me' devI kI a;dmkd im¯I kI mUitRy;\ m'idro' tq; aNy Sq;no' pr p[;,-p[itã#; kr Sq;ipt kI j;tI hw' a*r n*

mhTvpU,R itiqy;\

c;htI qI² vh ai/k der tk izp nhI‹ skeg;) mw'ne tuMh;re idye pwso‹ se f¹;mR .r; a*r prI=; dI) p;s .I ho gyI) m‹w bhut %¹¹ux qI ik mer; s;l bc gy;) `r me‹ bt;y; q; ik $(yUxn k; k;m iml gy; hw tq; kuz rkm E@v;‹s imlI hw² ijsse prI=; f;mR .r; hw) ainyimt a*r ivliMbt m;isk /mR kI ixk;yt rhne ke k;r, muZe sb kuz #Ik-#;k lg rh; q;) pr zh mhIno' ke b;d jb mere pe$ k; a;k;r b!¹n; xu¨ hua; to m;\ muZe le@I @;K$r ke p;s le gyI) le@I @;K$r ne bt;y; ik mere pe$ m‹e zh m;h k; g.R pl rh; hw a*r ab g.Rp;t kr;n; muiXkl hog;) merI j;n j; sktI hw) mere m;\-b;p ko yh j;n kr sdm; lg; a*r ¬Nho‹ne apne mn k; gub;r muZe pI$ kr ink;l;) bStI me‹ ¬nkI n;k k$ gyI qI a*r ¬Nhe‹ vh;\ rhn; asç lg rh; q;) a‹t m‹e ¬Nho‹ne apnI Zop@¹I bec dI tq; muZe vh;\ %ule a;k;x ke nIce akel; zo@¹ kr b;k¹I .;”R bhno‹ ke s‹g khI' dUr cle gye) ¬nk; ab ko”R at;-pt; muZe m;lUm nhI' hw) ¬Nho‹ne s;re bStI v;lo‹ ke s;mne apnI ”s be$I ko mr;

-inmRl c*/rI² melbnR

idno' tk ivi/vt pUj;² hvn ke pXc;t dxmI ke idn /Um/;m ke s;q mUitR ivsjRn hot; hw) gujr;t² mh;r;ã$^ ámu'béâ me' grb; Ev' @;'i@y; ke gIt-nOTyo' ke s;mUihk ¬Tsv jgh-jgh mn;ye j;te hw') kn;R$k ámwsUrâ me' pUre ds idn tk nvr;i] Ev' dxhr; k; Tyoh;r bhut b@e¹ ¬Tsv ke åp me' mn;y; j;t; hw) ivi.„ dexo' me'² jh;\ khI' .I .;rtIy rhte hw'² yh pvR /Um-/;m se

nIrj áf¹on – 0439 980 551â aqv; ini%l áf¹on-0430 922 851â se sMpkR kIijye aqv; inMn vebs;”$ dei%ye - http:// www.sharda.org/Events.htm

nvr;i] ke mhæv se sMb'i/t p*r;;i,k kq;E\ nvr;i] ke mhæv se sMb'i/t anek p*r;i,k kh;iny;\ hw') ”nme' se kuz kq;E\ ”s p[k;r hw' -á1â k;xIr;j sub;hu a*r ¬nke j;m;t; ayo?y;pit sudxRn ne m;\ .gvtI kI Stuit kI a*r m;\ ne ¬Nhe' dxRn idye) á2â mh;r;j; sudxRn ke vx'j ÅIr;m a*r l+m, ne dug;R jI kI nvr;i] me' dug;R jI kI pUj; kI a*r fl kI p[;iPt kI) sIt; jI ke ivyog me' du"%I ÅIr;m ne ikiãkN/; pvRt pr nvr;i] ke iv/;n ke anus;r v[t r% kr m;\ .gvtI kI a;r;/n; kI a*r flSvåp mh;s;gr pr setu k; inm;R, kr mh;blI r;v, Ev' ¬ske v'x k; s'h;r kr sIt; jI ko muKt iky;) á3â r;j; jnmejy ne apne ipt; prIi=t ko t=k n;g Ã;r; @s ilye j;ne pr² nvr;i] me' ivi/vt pUjn iky; a*r apne ipt; ko xu. git idl;yI) á4â sur. n;m ke r;j; a*r sm;i/ n;m ke vwXy ne nvr;;i] me' dug;R jI kI pUj; Ã;r; pun" r;Jy p[;Pt iky; a*r vwXy ko mo= ke ilye D;n p[;Pt hua;) á5â Ã;pr yug me'² nvr;i] ke avsr pr ÅIkOã, jI ne mh;.;rt yuõ p[;rM. hone ke phle p;<@vo' kI ivjy ke ilye dug;R jI kI a;r;/n; kI a*r sflt; p[;Pt kI) .Ktjn ivXv;s krte hw' ik m;\ jgdMb; prm ¬d;r hw' a*r /mR² aqR² k;m² mo=² x;'it² a;roGy a*r in@rt; p[d;n krne v;lI hw') ¬nkI pUj; se s.I ”ã$o' kI p[;iPt hotI hw)

3³ s'k$ mocn simit ke a;g;mI k;yRÞm ákâ ihNdU sos;y$I a;Žf¹ ivK$oiry; ke s'yojn me' - grb; a*r @;'i@y; nOTy áxuÞv;r² 26 istMbrâ Sq;n - Ec³Es³vI³ kLcrl seN$r² ixv 2³ s;ihTy-s'?y; - apne log² apnI b;te' ivã,u m'idr² 52 b;¬N@^I ro@² kwrm @;¬Ns áxinv;r² 20 istMbrâ smy - x;m ke 7³30 bje se r;t ke Sq;n - b;Žlivn mIi$'g åm² b;Žlivn 10³30 bje tk l;”b[erI² 336 ×;”$ h;ŽsR ro@² b;Žlivn (White á%â m;t; kI c*kI áxinv;r² 27 istMbrâ sUcn;E\ Horse Road,Balwyn) ámeLve s‹d.R-46 Sq;n - s'k$ mocn keN{² 1289-E² n;qR १. Svr s'?y; áxinv;r² 6 istMbrâ tq; é-8â) ro@² h'i$'g@el s'gIt s'?y; áxinv;r² 4 aKtUbrâ smy - x;m ke 8 bje se r;t ke 10 bje smy - dophr ke 3 bje se x;m ke 7 bje Sq;n - vevlIR me@oj¹ p[;”mrI SkUl² 11 tk) p[vex in"xuLk hw) tk - pUj;² m;t; jI ke .jn² .og v a;rtI kUliMby; @^;”v² ×IlsR ihl² ivK$oiry; ai/k j;nk;rI ke ilE tq; ¾ihNdI puãp¾ x;m ke 7 bje se r;t ke 8 bje tk ámeLve s‹d.R-71 jI-11â ke pur;ne a'ko' ke ilye² inMn vebs;”$ dei%ye p[s;d v mh;p[s;d smy - r;t ke 8³00 bje se a;rM.) p[vex http://www.sahityasangam.org aqv; p[o0 kOpy; no$ kre' ik ab s'k$ mocn keN{ in"xuLk hw) niln x;rd; áé-mel" nalinsharda@gmail.com p[it idn subh 10³30 bje se 12³30 bje tk ai/k j;nk;rI ke ilE ) ko á0402â 108 512 pr f¹on kIijye) a*r x;m ko sPt;h me' 6³30 bje se r;t ke 5 istMbr áix=k-idvsâ² 7 istMbr áa;ŽS$^eily;ÖNyUj¹Ilw<@Öf¹IjI me' iptO-idvsâ² 14 istMbr áihNdI-idvsâ² 29 istMbr se 3 aKtUbr tk áx;rdIy nvr;i]â² 2 aKtUbr ámh;Tm; g;\/I v l;l bh;dur x;S]I jNm-idvsâ² 4 aKtUbr ádxhr;² se'$ p[Ð;'iss idvsâ² 6 aKtUbr ábk¹rIdâ² 11 aKtUbr ákrv; c*qâ)

alg k;gj pr il% kr .ej rhI hU\) x;yd tum ”se apnI @;yrI m'e no$ krn; ps‹d kro) a;j mw‹ isLvr ke jIvn me‹ Jyoit jl;ne kI a;x; lekr ”s xhr ko zo@¹kr j; rhI hU\) isLvr ke ilE jI rhI hU\ a*r lgt; hw ik isLvr ke ilE hI må\gI) jIvn kI ”s Z‹Z;vt piriSqityo‹ m‹e m‹w j@¹vt ho gyI hU\) a;\%e‹ to a.I pqr;yI nhI' hw'² pr tmNn;ye‹ pqr; rhI hw‹) mw‹ pTqr ke but ke sm;n ho clI hU\) muZe S]I bnne kI ”Cz; hw) tuMh;rI S]I) jIvn ke ”s p@¹;v me‹ bs tuMh;r; hI ”Ntj¹;r hw) tum kb a;aogeÀ tuMh;rI ¬s r;t kI s;qI mer; n;m hw Lyoiml; irTsu jŽ;n Lyoiml; ke ”s p] ko p!¹ kr jwkobsn aNdr tk ihl gy;) bhut du% hua; ¬se) ¬sne Lyoiml; ko jv;b il%;"kopnhegn Lyoiml;² mw‹ E@I inLsn k; doSt hU\) E@I bhut nek² h\smu% a*r ”Rm;nd;r a;dmI q;) agr ¬se tuMh;r; p] imlt; to vh hrigj¹ apnI ijMmed;iryo‹ se m\uh nhI‹ mo@¹t;) Eese aCze a;dmI .gv;n ko .I Py;re hote hw‹) drasl vh .gv;n ko Py;r; ho gy; hw) E@I kI Ek s@¹k du`R$n; me‹ ak;l mTyu ho gyI a*r hm ibl%te rh gye) .vdIy jŽ;n jwkobsn ásm;Ptâ

s'i=Pt sm;c;r

मेल्बर्न में भारतीय संग्रहालय

१५ अगस्त, २०१४ को मेल्बर्न में, विक्टोरिया सरकार के योजना, बहुसांस्कृतिक मामलों व नागरिकता के मंत्री, माननीय मैथ्यू गाई ने ‘म्यूज़ियम ऑफ़ इण्डिया’ नामक भारतीय संग्रहालय का उद्घाटन किया| यह संग्रहालय मेल्बर्न के डैं डेनाँग उपनगर के ‘लिटिल इण्डिया’ क्षेत्र में स्थापित किया गया है | इसकी स्थापना में, डॉ. दिनेश पारे ख तथा डॉ. कृ ष्णा पारे ख का योगदान प्रमुख है , जिनका व्यक्तिगत संग्रह इस संग्रहालय का मुख्य भाग है | इस संग्रहालय में मौलिक पेंटिंग, उच्च स्तर के पाषाण-लेख (लिथोग्राफ़ व क्रोमोलिथोग्राफ़), सन ् १८४० तथा उसके बाद की नक्काशी, मूर्तियाँ और ५०० वर्ष ईसा पूर्व के सिक्के और डाक–टिकट भी सम्मिलित होंगे| संग्रहालय का मुख्य केंद्र-बिंद,ु भारतीय इतिहास, भारतीय सभ्यता, पौराणिक कथाएँ और अंतर्राष्ट्रीय कला हैं | इस संग्रहालय की स्थापना में भारत सरकार की ओर से ऑस्ट्रेलिया में भारत के उच्चायुक्त, माननीय बीरे न नंदा और मेल्बर्न में भारतीय कौंसल जनरल, माननीया मनिका जैन ने सहायता की है | यह संग्रहालय ६१-६३ फास्टर (Foster) स्ट्रीट, डैं डेनाँग पर स्थित है और मंगलवार से शनिवार तक सुबह ११ बजे से दोपहर के ३ बजे तक खुला रहता है | प्रवेश निःशुल्क है |

पति-पत्नी

ab h\sne kI b;rI hw

१. पत्नी दर्पण के सामने खड़ी अपनी शकल दे ख रही थी| उसने पति से कहा – मैं मोटी, भद्दी और खूसट लग रही हूँ| मुझे बहुत बुरा लग रहा है | मेरी प्रशंसा में कुछ कहो| पति ने कहा – तुम्हारी आँखें बहुत तेज़ हैं | २. पत्नी ने पति से कहा –मुझे कहीं महँ गी जगह ले चलो| पति उसे पेट्रोल-पम्प पर ले गया| ३ पत्नी ने पति को इशारा किया कि उनके विवाह की अगली वर्षगाँठ पर उसे ऐसी चमकीली चीज़ चाहिये जो ३ सेकेण्ड में ० से १०० तक चली जाती हो| पति ने उसे उपहार में एक वज़न तौलने की मशीन खरीद कर दे दी|

(प्रेषक –डॉ. सुरेश गुप्ता, मेल्बर्न)

8³30 bje tk a*r sPh;'t me' dophr ke 4 bje ai/k j;nk;rI ke ilE² s'jy vs;év;l; se se r;t ke 8 bje tk %ult; hw) ivxeW pUj; tq; á042â 561 6456 pr sMpkR kre' y; inMn ¬Tsvo' ke ilye pUvR-anumit pr keN{ k; ¬pyog pte pr é-mel .eje' - navratri@gav.org.au .I iky; j; skt; hw) ai/k j;nk;rI ke ilye² @;• sunIl; ÅIv;Stv se 0427 274 462 pr 5³ xx l;l Ã;r; indReixt tq; spn; c'dU v f¹on Ã;r; aqv; inMn pte pr émel Ã;r; sMpkR aNy kl;k;ro' Ã;r; p[Stut n;i$k; ¾Kv;il$I c;y¾ kIijye- sankatmochansamiti@gmail.com.

Sq;n - i@g[eVs áDegraves) S$^I$ ke s;mne² Ple$f;mR¹ 1 k; p[vex² iFl'@sR S$^I$ 4³ ‘गुजराती एसोसिएशन ऑफ़ S$exn² meLbnR विक्टोरिया’ प्रस्तुत करती है – डांडिया २०१४ itiq v smy - gu¨v;r² 18 istMbr se 5 (मनीष पटे ल व साथियों के साथ) aKtUbr tk² hr gu¨v;r se rivv;r tk ásubh itiq v Sq;n - xuÞv;r² 26 istMbr 10 bje se dophr 2 bje tk) kevl² gu¨v;r² áb;ŽKs $;¬n h;Žl² 1022 ×;”$ h;sR ro@² b;ŽKs 18 istMbr ko dophr 4 bje se r;t ke 8 ihl² ivK$oiry;² 3128 ámeLve s'd.R - 47 bje tk) é-9â p[vex in"xuLk hw) ai/k j;nk;rI ke ilye² xinv;r² 27 istMbr a*r 4 aKtUbr xx l;l ko á0409â 757 238 pr f¹on xuÞv;r² 3 aKtUbr² xinv;r² 4 aKtUbr kIijye aqv; inMnili%t pte pr é-mel Ã;r; smy - x;m 7³30 bje se a/Rr;i] tk sMpkR kIijye -shashlall@yahoo.com

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south asia 32 South Asia Timestimes

quick community guide Radio GUIDE

SBS Radio's South Asian

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

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

2 pm to 4 pm – 97.7 FM kannada Sydney SBS Radio 3 Melbourne SBS Radio 3 WEDNESDAY Tuesday 3-4 PM

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

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

1 am to Melbourne 93.1 FM & SB Radio Hindi................................... .8 pm to 29 pm – 97.7 FM Saturday & Sunday 4-5 PM

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

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

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

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

9 pm to 10 pm – 93.1 FM 9-10 PM SINHALESE FRIDAY Sydney 97.7 FM & SBS Radio 2 Indian.................................. .8 Radio am to 29 am – 88.3 FM Melbourne 93.1 FM & SB Monday & Friday 11AM-12 PM SATURDAY

Sinhalese............................ 7 am to 8 am – 92.3 FM TAMIL TSydney amil.....................................

12-12.30 97.7 FM & SBS Radio 2 pm – 88.3 FM Indian.................................... am to26 am - 92.3 FM Melbourne 93.1 FM & SB5Radio Monday & Saturday Punjabi..........................................

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

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

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

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

community

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

PLACES OF WORSHIP HINDU Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple 57 Boundary Rd, Carrum Downs, Melbourne, Vic 3201, Ph: 03 9782 0878; Fax: 03 9782 0001 Website: www.hsvshivavishnu.org.au Sri Vakratunda Vinayaka Temple 1292 - 1294, The Mountain Highway, The Basin, Vic 3154, Ph: 03 9792 1835 Melbourne Murugan Temple 17-19 Knight Ave., Sunshine VIC 3020 Ph: 03 9310 9026 Durga Temple (Durga Bhajan Mandali) Neales Road, Rockbank, Vic 3335 Ph: 03 9747 1628 or Mobile: 0401 333 738 Hare Krishna (ISKCON) Temple 197 Danks Street, Middle Park Vic 3206 Ph: (03) 9699 5122 Email: 100237.354@compuserve.com Hare Krishna New Nandagram Rural Community Oak Hill, Dean’s Marsh Rd., Bambra VIC 3241, Ph: (052) 887383 Fax: (052) 887309 Kundrathu Kumaran Temple 139 Gray Court, ROCKBANK Victoria 3335 Ph: 03-9747 1135 or M: 0450 979 023 http://www.kumarantemple.org.au/ SIKH BLACKBURN Sri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha 127 Whitehorse Road, Blackburn VICTORIA 3130, Ph: (03) 9894 1800 CRAIGIEBURN Sri Guru Singh Sabha 344 Hume Highway, Craigieburn VICTORIA 3164 (see map), Ph: (03) 9305 6511 KEYSBOROUGH Gurdwara Sri Guru Granth Sahib 198 -206 Perry Road, Keysborough VICTORIA 3073 (see map) LYNBROOK Nanaksar Taath, 430 Evans Road, Lynbrook VICTORIA 3975, (03) 9799 1081 HOPPERS CROSSING Sri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha 417 Sayers Road, Hoppers Crossing VICTORIA 3029, Ph: (03) 9749 2639 WERRIBEE Gurdwara Sahib Werribee 560 Davis Road, Tarneit VICTORIA 3029 PH: (03) 8015 4707 SHEPPARTON Gurdwara Sahib Shepparton 240 Doyles Road, Shepparton VICTORIA 3603 PH: (03) 5821 9309 JAIN Melbourne Shwetambar Jain Sangh Inc 3 Rice Street, Moorabbin, Vic - 3189, Australia. Phone: +61 3 9555 2439

s E P T E M B E R

info@melbournejainsangh.org http://www.melbournejainsangh.org MUSLIM Melbourne West Mosque 66-68 Jeffcott Street, Melbourne Ph: 03 9328 2067 Broadmeadows Mosque 45-55 King Street, Broadmeadows Ph 03 9359 0054 Islamic Call Society 19 Michael Street, Brunswick Ph: 03 9387 7100 Islamic Centre of Australia 660 Sydney Road, Brunswick Ph 03 9385 8423 Australian Islamic Cultural Centre 46-48 Mason Street, Campbellfield Ph: 03 9309 7605 Coburg ISNA Mosque 995 Sydney Road, Coburg North Coburg Mosque (Fatih Mosque) 31 Nicholson Street, Coburg Ph 03 9386 5324 Deer Park Mosque 283 Station Road, Deer Park Ph 03 9310 8811 United Migrant Muslim Assn.

72 George Road, Doncaster Ph 03 9842 6491, Footscray West Mosque 294 Essex Street, Footscray Glenroy Musala 1st Floor, 92 Wheatsheaf Road, Glenroy Heidelberg Mosque Corner Lloyd & Elloits Streets, West Heidelberg Islamic College of Victoria (Mosque) 201 Sayers Road, Hoppers Crossing Ph 03 9369 6010 Huntingdale Mosque 320-324 Huntingdale Road, Huntingdale Ph 03 9543 8037 Al Nur Mosque 34-36 Studley Street, Maidstone Meadow Heights Mosque Hudson Circuit, Meadow Heights Springvale Mosque 68 Garnworthy Street, Springvale

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

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

132 500 Traffic hazards and freeway conditions..........................

13 11 70 Gas escape...........................................

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9224 2222

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

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

Bangladesh High Commission, Canberra 43, Culgoa Circuit, O’Malley, ACT-2606 Canberra, Australia, Ph: (61-2) 6290-0511, (612) 6290-0522, (61-2)6290-0533 (Auto hunting).

Fax : (61-2) 6290-0544 E-Mail :hoc@bhcanberra.com Consulate of Nepal, Melbourne Email: cyonzon@nepalconsulate.net.au Level 7, 28-32 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Ph: (03) 9650 8338 Email: info@nepalconsulate.net.au SBS1 – Daily NDTV News - 11 am - Monday to Saturday. (From New Delhi, India).

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

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southSouth asia times 33 Asia Times

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south asia 34 South Asia Timestimes

business

s E P T E M B E R

2 0 1 4

Testing time for tourism

By Lakshman Ratnapala*

S

AN FRANCISO, Sep 8 2014 (IPS) - It is testing time for global tourism. The ongoing political conflicts across North Africa, compounded by military action in the Middle East, Ukraine and Afghanistan, and the spread of the Ebola virus disease in West Africa have put to the test the ability of international tourism to continue to grow amidst crises.

If past performance is an indication of future results, the answer would be “yes, global tourism can and will meet the challenges of growth” as it has shown during periods of war and pestilence in the past.

Around 4.7 million jobs were created worldwide as a result of travel and tourism activity last year, meaning that the sector now supports 266 million people in employment -- that is one in 11 jobs on the planet.

“Not so,” say some observers. In fact, the truth depends on what happens from here on as the winter season travelers from the source markets of Europe and North America flock to sunny climes elsewhere.

First, let’s look at past performance.

Last year, 2013, was a banner year for tourism, when for the first time, over one billion tourists travelled the world.

However, the real success of tourism lies not in the numbers of tourist arrivals but in the earnings generated by tourism for the national exchequer.

By this measure too, last year was a success.

According to the World Tourism Barometer, total export earnings generated by international tourism in 2013 were 1.4 trillion dollars. Earnings by destinations from expenditure by visitors on accommodation, food and drink, entertainment, shopping and other services and goods, amounted to 1.15 trillion.

Growth exceeded the long term trend readings five percent in real terms taking into account exchange rates and inflation. The growth rate of five percent matched the tourist arrivals rate which was also up five percent in 2013.

Apart from these receipts in the destinations, recorded as the travel credit item in the Balance of Payments, tourism also generated export earnings through international passenger transport services rendered to nonresidents. This amounted to 218 billion dollars, bringing total receipts generated by international tourism to 1.4 trillion dollars or 3.8 billion a day, on average, in 2013.

Where do we stand now? In the first four months, January to April 2014, destinations worldwide received 317 million international tourists – 14 million more than the same period last year, five percent above UNWTO long term projections. Various indicators point to a strong Northern Hemisphere summer peak season.

Over 480 million tourists were expected to travel abroad during the four months from May to August, which account on average for 41 percent of all international tourist arrivals registered in one year. According to the UNWTO Confidence Index, prospects remained positive for this period. Confidence has picked up among the private sector and improved further in Europe, the www.southasiatimes.com.au - (03) 9095 6220, 0421 677 082

Americas and Asia.

Data on international air travel reservations from business intelligence tool ForwardKeys support this outlook with bookings for May-August up by eight percent compared to the same period last year, with intraregional and interregional travel equally strong.

The highest growth in bookings was recorded in international flight reservations from Asian source markets, followed by the Americas. The latest regional hotel data for May 2014 show a diversity in performance, but overall, a positive picture of rising demand.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in West Africa a public health emergency of international concern. However, the WHO does not recommend any ban on international travel or trade.

The risk of a traveler becoming infected with the Ebola virus during a visit to the affected countries and developing the disease after returning is very low, even if the visit includes travel to areas in which cases have been reported.

Where do we go from here? In assessing the prospects for the rest of the year 2014, one has to bear in mind that most travelers who find their intended destinations in turmoil, will change their vacation or business plans and shift to alternative destinations rather than cancel their plans.

This means that the destination at issue will see a drop in arrivals, but that other destinations take up the slack, keeping the overall global arrival numbers unchanged. For instance, Egypt (-30 percent) and Thailand (-five percent) have seen their tourist arrival numbers dip sharply because of political upheavals, while other countries with similar tourism offerings have increased theirs. Sri Lanka (+27.6 percent), Japan (+27.5 percent) and Vietnam (+27.3 percent) all recorded substantial gains, up to April 2014.

In the first four months, January to April 2014, destinations worldwide received 317 million international tourists – 14 million more than the same period last year, five percent above UNWTO long term projections. For the full year 2014 international tourist arrivals are expected to increase by 4 to 4.5 percent, slightly above UNWTO’s forecast of 3.8 percent per year for the period 2010 to 2020.

According to WTTC research in conjunction with Oxford Economics, travel and tourism’s contribution to the world GDP grew for the fourth consecutive year in 2013, rising to a total of 9.5 percent of world GDP (seven trillion dollars).

As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks fifth after fuels, chemicals, food and automotive products, while ranking first in many developing countries.

The results confirm “the increasing role of the tourism sector in stimulating economic growth and contributing to international trade,” says UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, adding that it is time to position tourism higher in the trade agenda, so as to maximise its capacity to promote trade and regional integration. * The author is Emeritus President & CEO of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

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book REVIEW

Tales of conflict in elegant prose

By Avneesh Kumar

T

his Divided Island – Stories from the Sri Lankan War,

by Samanth Subramanian; Hamish Hamilton, 320 pages,

Rs499.

Read more at: http:// www.livemint.com/Leisure/ NxMhYciZyepwuysQiG0G6O/ Book-Review--This-Divided-Island. html?utm_source=copy Apart from destruction and loss, wars also leave behind a lot of gruesome and harrowing stories. To capture the gravity and distinctiveness of these stories, writers constantly try to fit them into a genre of post-war stories. And that eventually becomes the bit of information for perpetuating sheer pique. And Sri Lankan war is no exception. A number of reportage, columns and fictional works have earnestly tried in the past to delineate the stories of post-war Sri Lanka. And the latest to join that streak is Samanth Subramanian’s This Divided Island: Stories From the Sri Lankan War. Sri Lankan conflict is replete with woolly-headed complexities and the writer is quick to identify that.

The civil war dominates much of the Sri Lankan history and Buddhist nationalists are blamed for this, for demonstrating self-righteousness and supremacy to a disgraceful extent. Misusing the advantage of being the preponderant force of Sri Lankan politics, they exploited and threatened the minorities of the country, turning themselves into freaks, imposing a ‘Sinhala only, Tamil Also’ policy. On the name of Buddha, ‘the personification of love and kindness’, the religious freaks

hated people who did not follow their religion and culture. These became the cause of unrest and the civil war. And LTTE thought that this provided them with the ‘uncontested right to fight on behalf of the whole community’.

Starting with the events that preceded the war, which are largely forgotten by authors in the attempt of analysing what happened during the war, Subramanian demonstrates the inevitability of comprehending the background of the cause the Tigers announced themselves champion of. He straightway shuns the clichés and points out how the Tigers lost the cause the moment they began fighting for it. Although Subramanian seems a little sympathetic to Tamils,

perhaps because of his Tamil origin, he never falls short of pointing out the devastation inflicted by LTTE upon the people of Sri Lanka. His moving portrayals of the LTTE atrocities against Muslims and Tamil people manifest the extent of cruelty with which Tigers carried out their operations in the region.

There is also plenty of space given to the paranoia and tyranny of the Sri Lankan state and Sinhalese nationalists to judiciously capture the barbarity and depredation of their acts. The book comprises accounts of government harassing and killing journalists speaking against government’s inhuman treatment of Tamils, and elaborates on the implications of Buddhist monks joining politics and even participating in the civil war, willingly. The most agonizing part of the book, however, depicts the army blowing up a UN hospital where already-wounded people were being treated. And a survivor of that attack recounts that savage incident of how just-bandaged people were shelled.

And the description is just precise and accurate.

Subramanian lays out the tales of the conflict in the people telling, and he does well in that. To collect different narratives, the cast has been scrupulously selected, from rambling backgrounds. The author has saved himself from being judgemental and therefore no good guy--bad guy dichotomy rules the book. Everybody talks about war in the country, even a pimp, and it hovers over every conversation.

Subramanian’s book contains a series of interviews and conversations, taking the readers

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on a journey of the war-torn Sri Lanka, demystifying the claims of the Sri Lankan government that the violence has been scrubbed up from the country, detailing the atrocities of both LTTE and the Sri Lankan government in excruciating details, focusing more on personal stories and giving minimum space to analysis, conveying how violence has entrapped all the communities in its fold, without discriminating on the lines of religion or ethnicity, on the basis of which war emerged, or better, was orchestrated. This book significantly punctures the official claims and splendidly captures the narratives that official accounts ignore. It contains a moving portrait of how the lives of people, irrespective of the community, have been shattered.

This Divided Island is an exquisite and telling book and writing this was not easy for Samanth. He gives an impression in the book that he fell seriously ill while touring and further also conveys that conversing with people was full of dangers for him as well as for the people, as the Sri Lankan authorities tapped his phones and kept an eye on his activities. But the book demonstrates that he did not let all these constraints to obstruct his investigation and research.

Packed with a number of intriguing anecdotes and stories inside stories in an elegant prose, This Divided Island: Stories From the Sri Lankan War is the finest non-fiction to come out from India since a while. This book is absolutely a must-read book for everyone even a tad bit interested in war, its aftermath and Sri Lanka.

—The Citizen

New postage stamps on Indian musicians By our sports reporter

N

ew Delhi: India has recognised its top eight classical musicians by releasing postage stamps on them.The President of India, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee released the set of commemorative postage stamps on Indian musicians at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 3, 2014.

The set of stamps brought out by the Indian Department of Posts feature luminaries in the field of classical Indian music namely Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Ms. D.K. Pattammal, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, Ms. Gangubai Hangal, Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, says a PIB media release.

Speaking on the occasion, the Indian President stated that as we pay tribute to eight of the greatest music maestros of contemporary India, we celebrate their life and work and their matchless legacy. These eight maestros are, without a doubt, among the tallest luminaries in

the history of world music. They have not only achieved personal perfection but have made extraordinary contributions, in their respective fields, to the development and evolution of the schools of music in which their talents were nurtured and honed. Their contribution and

its enrichment of our cultural heritage cannot be quantified or estimated. It is infinite in its resonance and their names will be mentioned with great reverence.

Their music will be cherished by the young and old, for many decades to come.

—SAT News Service.

India’s President, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee releasing a “Set of Eight Commemorative Postage Stamps of Indian Musicians” at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, in New Delhi on September 03, 2014. The Union Minister for Communications & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad and the Secretary (Posts) & Chairman, PS Board, Ms. Kavery Banerjee are also seen. Photo: PIB

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FILM REVIEW

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southSouth asia times 37 Asia Times

Mary Kom’S ‘biopic’

M

Mary Kom; Hindi, Drama, Patriotic, Sports, 2014, Color

umbai : Mary Kom is a real-life hero.

The kind of anomaly and a success story that dreams are made of. A woman from a small village tucked away in Manipur, fighting against a number of stigmas, both figuratively and literally, and rising to the stature of World Champion Her story has all the elements for a great biopic. However, Mary Kom the movie is hardly that. Laden with an incredibly manipulative screenplay, the cringe-factor is pretty high here.

The real life struggle of Mary Kom has been deliberately cartoonized for a friendlier appearance and consumption. So instead of trying to concentrate on her struggle and ordeal, this movie provides us with Mary Kom's struggle sponsored by Usha Fans, Havmor Ice Cream, Sugar-Free and Intex mobile phones. After a while, I was pretty sure the movie would be interrupted by a fullblown advertisement telling how Mary used a particular product to become a World champion, so you should go and buy it right now. Who gives a damn about her story

anyway, right? It's extremely sad to see such a story of a real life hero being reduced to a mish-mash of manipulative direction and a barrage of advertisements.

The good parts of the movie appear in bits and pieces. The supporting performances are average with the roles played by the Nepalese actor Sunil Thapa standing out as Mary's coach as does Mary's father who

gives a moving performance.

Priyanka Chopra, like the film, is good in parts and it would have been great to see an actor making a role her own as a real-life character but thanks to the incessant advertisements, her performance looks like we are watching another one of her goddamn commercials.

So we end up watching Priyanka Chopra as Mary for parts of the movie and in the

rest of the movie we are just watching Priyanka Chopra.

The movie is technically pretty sound and the fight scenes have been choreographed pretty well though they never look too realistic and cinematic goofs like live Hindi commentary blaring out in a Chinese stadium help to reduce any effect whatsoever. And that climax. Ah, what a travesty of humongous and

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excruciatingly cringe-inducing proportions.

The directorial decision of almost killing one of her children just to intensify the drama on-screen should be reason enough for us to understand the intentions of the filmmaker but the debutant Director Omung Kumar (production designer for many Bhansali movies) doesn't stop there. He uses the National Anthem to invoke a standing ovation from the viewers at the end because "just in case you were not moved enough by the near-death of Mary's kid, here is the National Anthem, which will move you.

For sure. Physically."

It unsubtly reeks of the opportunistic tendency of the whole screenplay which manufactures and fictionalises large portions of Mary's life to give us the story of a boxer that may be called Mary Kom but is definitely not Mary Kom. This 'biopic' ends up being equal parts fictionalised and commercial instead of a true account. Our heroes deserve better. Much better.

—Shivam Sharma aka @ GhantaGuy (Upperstall)

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G-20 labour ministers say no to wage rises By our reporter

M

elbourne, 11 September: G-20 labour ministers, who met here on September 10-11, have rejected a move to raise wages to plug sluggish growth. The issue

debated at the start of the meeting, did not find favour with the Ministers.

Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation, lamented the lack of a sense of urgency to tackle the jobs crisis for the 100 million people

unemployed in G20 countries.

“While there are clear commitments to jobs for young people, women, tackling informality, safe work and supply chains, recommendations from the ILO, World Bank, OECD and the Labour 20 that we have to deal with wages as a central part of the solution to stagnating demand were not collectively adopted,” said Sharan Burrow. New economic research presented to G20 Labour ministers shows that a policy mix of increasing the wage share and raising public investment in social and physical infrastructure by 1% of GDP could raise economic growth in G20 countries by up to 5.84% by 2018 compared to business as usual.

“Prime Minister Tony Abbott cannot ignore the research – increasing people’s wages stimulates economic growth. Mr Abbott must ensure wage-led growth and investment in jobs is front and centre on the agenda at the G20 leaders meeting in Brisbane,” said ACTU President Ged Kearney.

The G20 labour ministers meeting included a consultation with labour, business and civil society groups where the L20 presented their statement to the Ministers and concluded with a ministerial declaration which had little to give confidence to working people. “ Faced with stagnant growth, a global jobs gap of 62 million and falling real wages in many countries, minsters missed a key opportunity to give some hope to working families that policies will kick start a real job-rich recovery,” said John Evans, General Secretary TUAC. “The only real progress is the ministers’ agreement to take forward work to increase workplace safety in G20 countries and beyond – in global supply chains. This has to stem the appalling loss of life in tragedies such as Rana Plaza in Bangladesh as well in the mines,

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construction sites and factories in the global economy,” Evans added.

“G20 Leaders must ensure wages and jobs are at the heart of their discussion in Brisbane. The world needs a pay rise. Governments can’t keep cowering to the American corporate model of lowering wages and continue to believe the fiction that business can survive without customers who have money to spend,” said Sharan Burrow.

Indian Labour Minister speaks Addressing the meeting, India’s Labour and Employment Minister, Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar while highlighting India’s demographic strength said, “India has one of the most youthful population of the world. 58% of our population is below the age of 29 years.”

Mr Tomar also mentioned that Industry and commerce are the two areas having maximum potential of employment. We feel that employers have a big role to play to address our concern of jobless growth. Therefore, this G20 conference besides appealing to governments should also appeal to employers that in addition to profitearning, they should focus more on employment generation in the course of their business expansion.

He said, “We are amending our labour laws in order to encourage investment, ease of doing business and entrepreneurship.”

This statement is being, interpreted by experts, as an indication of the Modi government’s plan to loosen India’s strict labour laws, opening the path towards a ‘hire and fire’ situation.

—SAT News Service.

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