Yadu Singh&#039;s Blog

https://www.change.org/p/the-honorable-sri-narendra-modi-appeal-to-grant-dual-citizenship-to-overseas-indians

November 8, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Sign the petition for Dual Citizenship for Overseas Indians

Please SIGN this petition below and FORWARD it to others in your network.

Please visit this Faceook page on Dual Citizenship for Overseas Indians and “Like” it. Please share it.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/IndianDualCitizenship

Indian Diaspora is requested to SIGN the petition and JOIN in the campaign.

Thank you on behalf of Indian Dual Citizenship Campaign

Yadu Singh/Saturday/8th Nov, 2014/Sydney, Australia

indiandualcitizenship@gmail.com

http://www.Facebook.com/IndianDualCitizenship

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http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-couple-abandons-surrogate-baby-in-india-20141008-113cmk.html

October 9, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Heartless and outrageous: a national inquiry needed to fine-tune surrogacy

Sydney, 9th October, 2014

Reading the newspapers this morning, I feel concerned and perturbed with some issues around surrogacy.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/10/08/calls-national-inquiry-after-another-australian-couple-abandon-surrogate-baby

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/former-foreign-ministers-dont-recall-abandoned-india-surrogate-baby/story-fn59nm2j-1227084574732

Only recently, we were told that baby Gammy was abandoned by an Australian couple in Thailand, because he has Down’s syndrome. His twin sister, who was healthy, was brought to Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2014/s4089822.htm

In the currently reported case, which has been investigated by ABC, and reported extensively, an agency arranged a surrogate mother in India, who gave birth to twins in 2012. Australian family took only one child, based on the gender, but did not bring the other child to Australia.

They did this, despite efforts from Australian High Commission in India, which tried to persuade the couple to bring both children to Australia. They even delayed issuing visa to encourage the couple to change their minds. It has been reported that an Australian politician pressured Australian High Commission to help this couple. Former Australian Foreign Affairs ministers, Bob Carr and Kevin Rudd, have denied that they were involved in pressuring Australian Consular officials.

Who is this politician then? I think Australians deserve to know his/her name.

http://www.surrogacyaustralia.org/about-us/general-info-on-overseas-surrogacy link provides how surrogacy operates, and is conducted.

I have no doubt that surrogacy plays a very important role in helping childless parents.

Family Court Chief Justice, Diana Bryant, has been quoted that the abandoned child was passed on to another family and money possibly changed hands to facilitate this. She thought this amounted to “child trafficking”.

Federal Circuit Court Chief Judge, John Pascoe, has asked for a national inquiry into surrogacy.

I am unable to understand how parents abandon children born out of surrogacy arrangements. These children are their own.

I am also concerned about gender or the health of the child being used as a factor in this decision. The question is who is responsible for the abandoned child. The answer to this is that it can not be the surrogate mother unless she makes an informed decision to agree to it by keeping the baby with her. Commissioning parents must be the ones who should be responsible for looking after the kid (s) born out of surrogacy arrangements.

It is not only a moral issue, but it clearly is a legal issue too.

A national inquiry is indeed needed to fine-tune and streamline surrogacy in Australia.

Dr Yadu Singh

October 8, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Parramasala: politics and beyond

Sydney, 8th October, 2014

Parramasala is a key festival, organised by the NSW Government. Held in Parramatta, the heart of Western Sydney, it is in its fifth year. Starting out as an Australian festival of South Asian arts and culture, it is now very multicultural. Performances include those from the cultures of South America, the Pacific Islands, the Middle East and Europe, besides the Indian subcontinent.

According to the Parramasala organisers, 44 per cent of the performances are from the Indian subcontinent backgrounds, and 36 per cent of these are from India, while the other 56 per cent are from a wide and diverse range of backgrounds. There are more than 20 nationalities and cultures represented at Parramasala 2014. Importantly, 96 per cent of the Parramasala performances are free events, which is impressive and commendable.

While Parramatta precincts, especially Prince Alfred Park and Riverside Theatre, will continue to be the centre of the festival, Harris Park, the Little India of Sydney, will be included for the first time. Harris Park Bollywood Block “Curry On” party on Saturday, 18 October, will have a parade, cultural performances from a stage in the roundabout of Wigram and Marion Streets, and food carts, serving delicacies by popular restaurants of Harris Park. This should definitely be an added attraction for those attending Parramasala.

The Parramasala board is ably chaired by Dr Harry Harinath and steered by Di Henry, an internationally renowned producer and director of events, exhibitions, operations, media campaigns and marketing. It is in able and competent hands, and can’t go wrong.

Looking at the program list, one cannot but admire the variety and quality. Whether you like street parades, Bollywood performances, Indian cultural dances, comedy, Flamenco dances, Belly dances, Kurdish music, African performances or Pacific Island dances, Parramasala has it all. Really, what more can one ask for from a festival?
Shiamak Davar group will be performing, and a Qawwali event is included too. Popular drama “Kanjoos” (Miser), directed by talented Saba Zaidi Abdi is part of it too.

The South Asian Film component will showcase talent from South Asian film professionals.

It is clear that Parramasala 2014 is bigger and definitely better than before.

Organized by Destination NSW, and Partnered by Parramatta Council, Parramasala is destined to achieve its due place in the cultural calendar of NSW.

That Parramasala is an important event for the Indian sub-continent community was evidenced by some social media commentary about who was invited and who was not invited for the launch of Parramasala at Harris Park on 27 August, 2014.
Its importance was further established when two Indian community newspapers had a debate over the festival. I don’t intend to comment about any controversy, nor do I want to take sides in a slanging match.

I will, however, say this: Parramasala is essentially a Govt of NSW event, supported by the Parramatta Council. They do have the right to select the board and the program director. They are the ones who have the rightful authority to organise it the way they want to do it. Parramasala is neither a pure nor an exclusively Indian sub-continental event. It is much beyond that, and it must stay that way.

While it is always important to be inclusive and consult as many stake-holders and interested parties as possible, it is never going to be possible to consult everyone who might consider themselves stake-holders. In any case the Parramasala board is accessible to all who wish to be heard; we can write to them or call them with our suggestions and feedback.

Similarly, it is never going to be possible to invite everyone for any event. Parramasala is no exception. Parramasala cannot invite every single South Asian business in Sydney (there are reportedly thousands of South Asian businesses); nor is it practical for all the community groups and associations to be invited for key events. We need to be pragmatic and realistic.

We need to see the bigger picture.

If I have to say anything more on it, I will say that Parramasala Board should make a list of people it should consult and a list of people it should invite for key events. This list should be based on some objective parameters, not the “liking” or “disliking” of some of the people who are associated with Parramasala. Networking ability and reach in the community should probably be part of such parameters. I could not quite understand why talented film professional Ana Tiwary was not invited. After all, Ana works with ABC, and in fact her acclaimed documentary on Indian students was screened in Parramasala last year. There is definitely scope for fine-tuning the networking and invitation lists for any Govt-assisted or organised event, using objective criterion.

Parramasala was initially launched by NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally, in 2010, soon after the Indian student issue had made headlines in India and Australia, and just a few months before the NSW state election in March 2011. It attracted a lot of attention, especially from the Indian sub-continental communities. The media too covered it prominently. There was, however, some uncertainty about its continuation last year, until the NSW Govt finally decided to continue funding it. In fact, the launch of Parramasala last year was quite disorganised, and even the Parramatta Mayor, John Chedid, was not in the loop, solely due to politics of people who pulled strings in the previous NSW Govt. John Chedid has been a strong supporter of Parramasala in general, and a strong protagonist in taking part of Parramasala to Harris Park. I might add here that most of the members from the Parramatta Mayor’s advisory committee (myself included) on Parramasala were not even aware of the launch last year. “Favoritism” was the only criterion for last year’s launch invitations. It was childish, and not a smart move by any means.

Parramasala, which started out as a festival of South Asian arts and culture as its focus, has now become a truly multicultural event. Even though it is not a necessarily bad move, I believe South Asia must continue to be its focus. I suggest that efforts must be made to have at least 60 per cent of the performances from South Asian background.

Parramasala has all the ingredients of a truly popular festival in a successful multicultural state like NSW, if we all work together. Taking the cue from what Prime Minister Tony Abbott said recently, we all need to be part of “Team NSW for Parramasala” led by the Premier and Chair of Board of Parramasala. “Team NSW for Parramasala” obviously will include NSW Govt led by Premier Mike Baird, Destination NSW, Community Relations Commission, Indian sub-continent communities and sub-continental media.

May I also suggest to members of the Indian sub-continent community and the media to not worry about what Parramasala is giving them personally, but ask what they are giving to Parramasala to make it the most successful event this year and beyond?

If I were running Parramasala, or had the ears of Parramasala Board, and they were listening to me, I will do everything to ask as many people of the Indian sub-continent community and the media, and supporters of multiculturalism in NSW, to join the campaign to not only promote it through their social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but also to make sure they attend the event from 17-19 October, 2014.

The Parramasala logo will be in my profile picture on Facebook and Twitter, starting 10 October. I urge everyone in my network, and in my friends’ network, to do something similar to get the word out.

Parramasala is a festival for me, my family and friends, and I, like them, will be attending, and promoting, it with enthusiasm.

Published in Indian Sun news magazine http://www.theindiansun.com.au/parramasala-2014-politics-and-beyond/

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Dr Yadu Singh is a Sydney based cardiologist and the President of Indian Australian Association of NSW. He is an active member of the community. He is also active in social media and writes regularly in his Blog http://www.yadusingh.wordpress.com More details of Parramasala: http://www.parramasala.com

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September 24, 2014 by Yadu Singh

G20 Finance ministers meeting in Cairns, 20-21 Sept, 2014 made some very important policy decisions!

: Pic from Cairnspost.com.au

24rd Sept, 2014

G20 meeting of Finance ministers and Central Banks Governors on 20-21 Sept, 2014 at Cairns was an important meeting. It made many policy commitments, which, if implemented, will help the world economy significantly.

G20 is the group of 20 important nations comprising of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

It has the 85% of the global GDP and 75% of the global trade.

This G20 meeting was chaired by Joe Hockey, Australian Treasurer. Indian Trade minister, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman attended the meet. Reserve Bank of India Governor, Mr Raghuram Rajan also attended it. Finance minister, Arun Jaitley, could not attend it due to illness.

It has put out a communique at the end of the meet. Link is here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-2763870/TEXT-Communique-G20-Finance-Ministers-Central-Bankers-meeting.html

Salient outcome of the meeting:

More than 900 policy initiatives, most of them new
plans/policies to increase global GDP by 2% by 2018
Plans/policies add $US2 trillion to global economy by 2018
Plans to create millions of jobs
Plans/policies to boost infrastructure investment, with creation of database to match quality projects and investors
Labour market reform
Policies to curb tax avoidance and evasion ie “black money”

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) action plan requires a commitment to finalising all action items in 2015. G20 meeting endorsed the finalised global Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of tax information on a reciprocal basis, providing an ability to tackle and deter cross-border tax evasion. Information exchange on this will begin automatically between each other and with other countries by 2017, subject to the completion of necessary legislative procedures.

Black money is a significant problem for many countries. India is a particular victim, but is not alone in this category. Curbing black money and bringing it back should help the national economies and their people. It is reported (http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/sep/03/one-g20-cracking-down-corruption) that “black money” costs poorer countries a trillion dollars annually.

These policy decisions are good, but only time will tell whether each country implements them fully. Past experience suggests that the implementation of such decisions is less than desired.

Based on information from G20 Information Centre of University of Toronto (http://www.g20.utoronto.ca/), Australia implemented only 69% of its commitments, China 50%, and Saudi Arabia only 47%, after last year’s G20 summit in St Petersburg. Obviously, it will be better if these numbers are in the range of 90-100% bracket.

IMF-OECD expertise will be available to the member nations to monitor implementation of these policy commitments.

G20 Leaders’ summit is due to be held in Brisbane on 15-16th Nov, 2014. Indian Prime minister, Narendra Modi is attending this meeting. This will be the first visit to Australia by an Indian PM in the last 26 years. Late Sri Rajiv Gandhi was the last Indian PM who visited Australia.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney, Australia

September 15, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Chinese investment in India is good, but border dispute needs to be settled soon!

Sydney, Sunday, 14th September, 2014

Chinese President, Xi Jinping, is visiting India this week. He will be in India on 17th -18th September 2014. Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and President Jinping have already met at a BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit recently.

(Pictures from Google and PTI)

PM Modi has had a very successful visit to Japan a couple of days ago. He shares great equations with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. Japan has decided to invest $35 billion in India over next few years. They have taken responsiblity for Mumbai-Ahmedabad fast train too.

China wants to beat the investment from Japan, which is not difficult to understand due to geo-political competition between China and Japan at play presently. India is obviously the beneficiary, but that does not mean India should do away with its trusted friends. It is known that China is uncomfortable and concerned with India’s growing strategic proximity with USA and Japan. This mammoth investment is largely due to this factor.

Reports say that China wants to invest between $100-300 billion in India over next few years. How much is this investment exactly will be clear when it is announced officially. It is known that China has $3.95 trillion cash reserve, of which it wishes to invest $500 billion in outbound investment. China has invested only $400 million in India so far. Chinese investment in Railways, manufacturing and infrastructure should help speed up the pace of Indian economy and growth.

Chinese investment in India should be welcome, and it indeed is a welcome news. It addresses to some extent the trade deficit of $35 billion against India out of a total $66.4 billion bilateral trade last year.

India however needs to impress upon Chinese leadership that their investment must be coupled with satisfactory settlement of border dispute at a faster speed and their open and active support for India’s permanent membership in the United Nation Security Council (UNSC). It does not make sense that India is not a permanent member of UNSC today.

China also needs to stop supporting anti-India nations in our neighbourhood to create additional, and necessary, goodwill in India. It makes all the sense if you analyse the spectrum of mutual benefits from an investment of this magnitude. No one can deny that there is some significant trust deficit between India and China, which gets reinforced due to actions of China or actions from its client states. India needs to keep the history in its minds. I am happy to note that the present Indian Govt, keeping history in mind, has decided to develop the frontier area with infrastructure in all forms and manners.

China and India are both great civilisations. They are also great powers in their own rights. They can co-exist, and there is enough space for them both, but they need to be mindful of their respective geo-political and security imperatives, while still operating within the established international norms and principles.

It is safe to say that a lot more will need to be done to tackle the “trust deficit”, and that money alone, although welcome, will not be sufficient to remove the existing “trust deficit” between China and India!

Dr Yadu Singh

September 10, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Politics, political parties and Indian Australian community!

Sydney, 1^st Sept, 2014

There are over 150,000 people of Indian heritage in NSW and 500,000 people Australia wide. Ours is an increasingly important community politically. In Western suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, there are constituencies, where Indian Australians constitute more than 10% of total votes. Our votes can decide the outcome in many marginal seats.

It is no wonder that political parties are reaching out to Indian Australian community actively. It started with Parliamentary friends of India during previous NSW Govts led by Nathan Rees/Kristina Keneally, followed by Liberal Friends of India formed about one year ago. Similar groupings are in existence federally and Victoria in one or the other form.

While there is no doubt that we are important electorally, the thrust from political parties has been to deal with us only symbolically, not substantially. Except for the recent pre-selection of an Indian Australian in Seven Hills seat, there is no sign of any efforts from any political party to preselect anyone from our community for any of safe seats. If any of us is ever preselected, it is generally for those seats where there is no chance of us winning. ALP’s Harmohan Walia contesting a safe Liberal seat of Mitchell some years ago and inclusion of Bhupinder Chhibber in the Senate list from ALP last year, albeit at a lower and unwinnable spot, are two classical examples. There was no chance of them winning. Similar examples are there from Liberal side too. These are examples of tokenism.

Over the years, our community dynamics have been changing. Indians have been migrating to Australia in big numbers. India has been the top source of migrants over the last few years. Many of us have been joining political parties too, but still not in sufficient numbers.

Prior to 1990s, Indians were big on supporting ALP. Smart marketing and outreach by ALP created an impression that ALP was more favourable and friendly to ethnic migrants. Prime Ministers, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, were liked by Indians and other ethnic communities. Liberal Party leader, John Howard, before he became the Prime Minister, had the baggage of his comment against Asian migration in 1980s, which created some significant concerns regarding his stand towards ethnic migrants. It lingered on even after he admitted that his statement was a mistake. Unfortunately, this impression became further re-enforced in our minds when we saw the excessively harsh commentary, actions and sanctions by Australia against India after 1998 nuclear tests. Indian army officers were expelled from Australia overnight. The tone and the contents of Foreign Minister Alexander Downer’s statements were particularly terse. It created a serious damage to India-Australia relations. Things changed quite favourably for Liberal party though when PM John Howard declared that Australia would sell Uranium to India in 2007, while ALP persisted with its policy of ban to sell Uranium to India, until Martin Ferguson and PM Gillard led campaign to reverse the ban succeeded at the end of 2012.

Today, there are almost equal supporters in our community for ALP and Liberal Party, although ALP supporters may have an edge. This support has been determined by variety of factors, which did include Uranium issue in the past. With changed dynamics of our community now however, economic management, policy on asylum seekers and business-friendly policies are playing a big role in our attitudes towards political parties. Quite a good number of our people are in small businesses. Younger members of our community are driven more by market economy than socialist ideas. After all, India has been an open and market-based economy since 1991, which has exposed our younger people, before they migrated, to market and open economy.

ALP and our community: There is a significant contingent of ALP supporters in our community, based largely in Western suburbs. They take part in ALP-supporting events through the year and during elections. ALP Premiers used to take some community members with them while taking trade delegations to India, thus giving an impression of inclusion. Subcontinent Friends of Labor was an initiative from NSW ALP HQ, which was provided full support by ALP top leaders to make it known and popular in the community. Grants to various temples and community groups was one of the strategy to win support. This has its advantages and disadvantages. This group is not as strong now as it was during ALP Govts in NSW and Canberra for obvious reasons. Its biggest drawback was its attempts to go against some sub-continental candidates like Susai Benjamin, as part of Right faction Vs Left faction battle. This was seen too during Bill Shorten Vs Anthony Albanese ALP leadership contest last year. This was not smart by any means, because it weakened and divided ALP members from Indian sub-continent significantly. On the positive side, ALP at least in NSW has a better strategy to communicate its stands and policies by emails to not only ALP members, but also other community members who are not ALP members. As Indians constitute a very big proportion of Indian sub-continental people in NSW and since interests of India are quite different from interests of other countries in the Indian sub-continent, it is preferable, in my view, to go for Labor Friend of India. Utopian socialist idea of Indian sub-continental unity or brotherhood is a myth, impractical and is never going to work.

Liberal Party and our Community: Prior to 2011 NSW State elections, then Leader of Opposition, Barry O’Farrell, was seen literally in every community event, but it changed dramatically once Liberal Party formed the Govt. Premier, Barry O’Farrell chose to rely only on one Indian who, in effect, had hardly any networking within the community, and did not help Liberals get many votes. Until election, he was virtually unknown. Indians were perplexed why he was being promoted on behalf of Liberal Govt in NSW. Premier O’Farrell ignored even Australia India Business Council (AIBC) when visiting India with trade delegations. Our community formed a clear and wide-spread perception that Indian community was actively distanced from NSW Govt either as a default or design. It indeed caused a substantial ill-feeling towards Liberal Party and NSW Govt. This was conveyed to local MPs, but they were either unwilling or, more likely, unable to do anything about it due to the fact that everything was driven from the former Premier’s office. Current Premier, Mike Baird, is much more inclusive, which is a welcome change and is already generating some goodwill. A lot more however needs to be done to overcome the damage. Time only will tell whether there is a real directional change under current Premier. Liberal Friends of India (LFI) is a good initiative but it has lost its charm or the enthusiasm lately. It needs to be reinvigorated. There was a time when we saw one more body of the similar type with the name of “Liberal friends of the subcontinent” doing some events in Western Sydney. This created some considerable confusion. I am not sure what is IRS status now. LFI also needs participation from top ministers and must allow membership of even those community members who are Liberal-minded but are not members of Liberal party. It should not just be a mechanism to raise funds for the party. Its Chairman should be a key Minister with Executive Committee comprising of key Liberal-inclined community members, irrespective of their Liberal Party membership status. LFI needs to be reformed and relaunched.

Parramasala, an initiative of Keneally NSW Labor Govt, is indeed a good idea, and I am happy to see that current Liberal NSW Govt has decided to continue funding it. I went to its launch only a few days ago, and noticed things which could have been done better. Ministerial Consultative Committee (MCC) for Indian community has been dissolved, like other MCCs, but there is a need to have some form of Advisory Body from our community for regular consultations, discussions and interactions between our community and the Govt.

NSW Friends of India: Like USA and some European countries, there is a need for such groups in Australia. It should be a bipartisan phenomenon, with key ministers, MPs, journalists, businesses and community members, with year-round activities involving lectures, debates and discussions. A group like this may not get enthusiastic support from the Govt, but we, as the community, should push for it. After all, there are bonafide pro-India people in all political parties, businesses and media.

Our community’s participation: It is also true that many of us do not join political parties in sufficient numbers. This should change. Australia is our country too, and we ought to take part in its processes in all shapes and forms. We get a chance to do so pretty actively if we are part of political parties. Only then, we will be able to go for pre-selections and elections to reach Parliaments. After all, quota system is not a good idea generally, and it is better to compete fairly and frankly. If we are not inclined to join main political parties, we can consider forming or being a part of issues-based groups like “Voice of the West” focusing on Western suburbs to advance our political interests and ideas.

While at it, it will not be out of place to point out that we need to interact, collaborate and network with members irrespective of their party or political affiliations and inclinations, when it comes to our common interests for the community. Just because someone is a member of ALP or Liberal party does not mean he or she is an enemy for those who are in opposing camps. There is no need or justification to badmouth or run an undermining campaign only because of someone’s political affiliation or inclination.

An edited version of my write-up was published by The Indian Sun newspaper recently. (http://www.theindiansun.com.au/top-story/australian-political-parties-indian-community/)

Dr Yadu Singh

September 2, 2014 by Yadu Singh

3rd September is Australian flag day!

Sydney, 2nd Sept, 2014

3rd September is Australian Flag day.

A brief history is as follows.

Australian Flag was selected after an international competition in which 32823 people participated. 5 people, 2 of them teenagers, were the co-winners of this competition and shared the prize of £200. It was first flown at the Exhibition Building, the site of Commonwealth Parliament in Melbourne at that time, by the first Prime Minister of Australia, The Rt Hon Sir Edmund Barton, on 3rd Sept, 1901. As you know, Australia has been a federation since 1901.

Australian flag has the Union Jack, the Commonwealth Star (just below the Union jack, representing Federation of 6 States and territories) and the Southern Cross (representing our geography). Constellation of 5 stars (Southern Cross) can only be seen from Southern Hemisphere.

A few points to be noted.

1. The Flag should be raised after Sunrise and lowered before Sunset. The Flag can be flown in the night if there is sufficient illumination, like it is in Federal Parliament in Canberra.

2. When the Flag is raised or lowered, everyone should face the Flag, be silent and people in Uniform should salute the Flag.

3. The flag should always be flown freely and as close as possible to the top of the flagpole with the rope tightly secured.

4. Unless all national flags are raised and lowered simultaneously, the Australian National Flag should be raised first and lowered last

5. When the Australian National Flag is flown with flags of other nations, all flags should be the same size and flown on flagpoles of the same height

6. When flying with only one other national flag, the Australian National Flag should fly on the left of a person facing the flags.

7. The flag should not be flown upside down.

8.The Australian National Flag should not normally be flown in aposition inferior to any other flag or ensign and should not be smaller than any other flag or ensign.

9. The flag should be used in a dignified manner and reproduced completely and accurately.

10. It should not be defaced by overprinting with words or illustrations.

11. Other objects in displays should not cover the flag.

12. All symbolic parts of the flag should be identifiable.

I am celebrating Australian Flag Day on 3rd September, 2014 by making Australian Flag as my profile pic in my social media for the day. I encourage everyone to do the likewise.

Dr Yadu Singh

https://yadusingh.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/india-house-in-sydney-what-is-this-about-why-do-we-need-it/

August 31, 2014 by Yadu Singh

India House in Sydney: an update!

Sydney, 31st Aug, 2014

I wrote a post on India House last year. Link is here.

We had several meetings with well-meaning people. We were on to it.

After this, literally every Indian community association in Sydney started to announce that they too want to build an “India House”, but without any attempt to network with others. This “Me too” disease is very prevalent with associations and “Community Leaders”.

One of such associations is the one which collected money for “India House” during one of its major events a few years ago. There is unfortunately no record or details of this money anymore. They have mismanaged their funds, thus having a massive hit in their reputation in our community. Community knows about it and has nothing but disdain for them.

Another one is the one which gave “Role model of the community” medals to those who deserved shunning, not medals. People wonder about ethos and principles guiding this association. Everything seems to be Naqli (Fake) there.

There are others too, who claim to be an Umbrella body but without any group with them, justifying their claim of being an “Umbrella” association.

Any smart person should always analyse and review the current circumstances, while keeping the past examples and factors in mind.

It is clear to me that the best option for us is to take a back seat and let others, who have put their claims to build “India House” out in public, take the responsibility and leadership for this matter. There is an undeniable fact that there can’t, and will not, be multiple India Houses in Sydney.

As far as I am concerned, I am getting out from my plans for “India House” in Sydney. I hope others will do what needs to be done and what they have claimed. I will support them with whatever I can do, when they indeed do something in this regard. I know for sure that our community will need to take a structured, co-ordinated and unified approach to deliver this project. We can not have multiple groups trying (or at least claiming) to work on this project.

I understand that “India House” will be one of the topics which will be discussed in a meeting of some “select” Indian community members, organised at the Indian Consulate General in Sydney next week. I am one of the invitees to this meeting. I will post an update on this and any other relevant topic.

Dr Yadu Singh

August 26, 2014 by Yadu Singh

13th amendment of Sri Lankan Constitution is the framework which can help heal the divide in Sri Lanka!

Sydney, 26th Aug, 2014

Sri Lanka is a friendly country to India. India has many commonalities with Sri Lanka. Both major ethnic groups-Singhalese and Tamil- have their origins in India. Sri Lanka has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India.

Until 2009, it had a ferocious and violent civil war, killing thousands from both sides. After a series of battles, Sri Lankan Army was able to defeat LTTE in 2009. There are allegations that upto 40,000 civilians were killed in the final weeks of this war. Sri Lankan Army and LTTE both have been blamed for killing innocent civilians. UNO has an ongoing enquiry on Human Rights violation in Sri Lanka.

LTTE was a ruthless secessionist group, which invented “Suicide bombings”. Former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated by its cadre in Tamil Nadu in 1991. LTTE had had many chances to achieve reasonable autonomy for Tamils in Northern Sri Lanka, but it mismanaged the campaign, focusing on a maximalist position of Tamil Eelam.

The situation is totally different today. While Sri Lankan Army has defeated LTTE and removed LTTE from the scene, reasonable aspirations of Tamil Sri Lankans can not, and should not, be ignored. Their desire and aspiration to have a right for equality, dignity, justice and self respect can not be ignored or suppressed.

It is in the interest of Sri Lanka too that it deals with these aspirations from one segment of its own people pragmatically and fully. It is indeed in the long term interest of Sri Lanka to do things which will reassure its Tamil people.

It is in this context that 13th Amendment to Sri Lankan Constitution is worth revisiting. This amendment was enacted in 1987, following India-Sri Lanka Accord (Rajiv Gandhi- JR Jayewardene Accord). It created 9 Provincial Councils. Even though the amendment did not provide sufficient powers to elected legislators, ministers and Chief Ministers, it did give some powers to them. It was by no means a great amendment at all because it gave far too much powers to State Governors, appointed by the President. There is some demand from some ruling parties, including President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Defence Secretary) to repeal 13th Amendment . I believe this is a wrong step. If anything, the provisions of this Amendment for devolution of powers to Provincial Councils need to be strengthened, not diluted or repealed, which is what Sri Lanka seems to be heading to.

Because of what the Chief Minister of Northern & Eastern Provincial Council, Annamalai Varadraja Perumal did in March 1990 (he declared Independence of Tamil Eelam), Sri Lankan Govt will be concerned about any extra power to Provincial Councils. I do not believe this concern has any basis, after LTTE has been defeated and removed from the equation. Times and equations have completely changed. There is no chance of anything like what Mr Perumal did in 1990 happening in Sri Lanka anymore.

Sri Lankan Tamils constitute close to 11.2 % of Sri Lankan population. Indian Tamils, who were taken to Sri Lanka by The British Govt in 19th century constitute another 4.2%. Their grievances need to be looked at rationally and pragmatically.

I believe that not only 13th Amendment should be used to implement devolution of powers to Provincial Councils, the amendment itself should be further modified and strengthened to give more powers, including Land and Police powers to Provincial Councils.

There is nothing wrong with a federal structure of governance with defined powers to Central Govt and State Govts. Education, Health, Police and Land powers should be with States and obviously, the Defence, Foreign affairs, Communication and others should be in the domain of Federal Govt.

India is a classical example of a federal Governance, where States and Union Govt have delineation of powers and responsibilities in the State, Union and combined lists, set out in the Constitution.

USA is another example of Federal Governance with well defined powers and responsibilities between Union (Federal Govt) Govt and State Govts.

India, as a friendly nation to Sri Lanka, is encouraging Sri Lanka to do everything to devolve powers to State Councils. This was, after all, what is part of India-Sri Lanka Accord 1987.

This was, again, reiterated by Indian Foreign Affairs Minister, Smt Sushma Swaraj and Indian Prime Minister, Sri Narendra Modi a few days ago, when visiting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation, led by TNA MP, R. Sampanthan met them in New Delhi.

I do believe, as do many others, that there is no case for the repeal of 13th Amendment, which, if executed, will cause nothing but further alienation of minorities, which will not help long term interests of Sri Lanka. In contrast, there are many advantages if Sri Lanka implements genuine devolution of powers & responsibilities to elected Provincial Councils on the lines of federal governance in India and USA.

Dr Yadu Singh

August 21, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Australia concludes Nuclear trade deal with India!

Sydney, 21st Aug, 2014

From various news sources, it is clear that Australia has concluded Civil nuclear deal with India recently. Uranium trade between Australia and India is likely to start soon. It appears that the deal has been concluded relatively quickly after India elected its new Govt led by Mr Narendra Modi. The agreement is likely to be signed by India and Australia during Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s visit to India in the first week of September.

Let me also point out that it was Prime Minister John Howard who announced in 2007 that Australian Govt will reverse the ban to sell Uranium to India. It changed when Kevin Rudd became the Prime Minister a few months later and reversed it. Finally, Prime Minister Julia Gillard was the one who campaigned successfully to get ALP reverse its policy to ban Uranium sale to India in Dec 2011, followed by an agreement between Australia and India to start the negotiations on the nitty gritty of the supply agreement in 2012.

I wrote about this matter a few years ago. http://tinyurl.com/7bytnbo & http://tinyurl.com/6s7d7dx

Australia-India relations are on an upswing, after having suffered a few years ago.

I and many from Indian Australian Community are very happy with the improved Australia-India relations.

Congratulations are due to Australian Govt led by Mr Tony Abbott and Indian Govt led by Mr Narendra Modi. Foreign Minister of Australia, Julie Bishop, and Indian Foreign Affairs Minister, Smt Sushma Swaraj, have also played a big role.

India is currently third in the list of countries which use nuclear energy. There are 21 nuclear reactors in India which are producing electricity but India needs to increase such electricity production, knowing electricity shortage. Currently, nuclear energy constitutes only 4% of total electricity production.

Australia has 1/3rd of the total Uranium of the world. This agreement is going to make Uranium supply to India much easier.

As usual, and in a totally predictable manner, Greens Senator, Scott Ludlam, did not like it at all, and used some arguments, which are irrelevant and dated. NPT issue is not relevant in India’s case after India was given an exemption by Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2008. Also, unlike India’s neighbours, India has never been involved in nuclear proliferation.

India is going through the discussions for Civil nuclear trade with Japan currently. Once concluded, India should be able to accelerate nuclear energy production.

Since 2005 onwards, India has already entered into civil nuclear agreements with the US, Mangolia, Namibia, Argentina, the UK, Canada, Kazakhstan and South Korea, France and Russia.

Indian Australian community has a desire to see speedy growth in Australia India relations in all dimensions and aspects.

Dr Yadu Singh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wUcw8Ufx_Y

August 15, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Celebrating 68th Indian Independence Day on Friday, 15th Aug, 2014!

Sydney, Friday, Aug 15, 2014

India is celebrating its 68th Independence Day today.

15th Aug, 1947 was the day when India became independent and free from British reign. At the midnight between 14th and 15th Aug, 1947, India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, took oath as the Prime Minister.

At the stroke of midnight, he gave his famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech in the Constituent assembly Hall of the Parliament.

“Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.”

Ever since, President of India traditionally addresses the nation on the eve of the Independence Day and the Prime Minister unfurls the national Flag followed by an addresses to the nation from the precincts of the Red Fort in Delhi in the morning of 15th August.

This is the gist of the national address by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi today.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pm-narendra-modi-s-independence-day-speech-at-red-fort-highlights-576248

Prime Minister, Mr Modi’s speech.

On this day, there is a military parade and display of cultural richness from all over the nation in the capital of India, New Delhi.

Chief Ministers unfurl the flag in the State capitals, where various cultural programmes take place too.

These activities happen every where in the country. 15th August is a national holiday.

Indian Independence Day will be celebrated by Indians overseas too.

In Australia, Indian Govt posts-High Commission and Consulates, will celebrate Independence Day events. Community groups all over Australia celebrate Indian Independence Day with pride and fanfare.

In Sydney, scores of Indian Australians will gather to take part in the Independence Day celebration at the Indian Consulate General in the city at 8.30 AM. Consul General will read the speech of the President of India and will unfurl the Indian Flag.

In the evening, my friends and I will be joining a party in the city to celebrate Indian Independence Day. This party will start around 9.30 and will go on well past midnight. A lot of younger Indians will be joining this Independence Day celebration.

Australia is 4 hours and 30 minutes ahead of India. As the clock hits midnight in India, friends and relatives from India will start sending Independence Day greetings via email, What’s up, Facebook, Twitter and SMS. Indian Australians will do the likewise.

Indian Independence Day is a huge event for 1.2 billion Indians In India and millions of Indians living outside India!

I am proud to be from Indian heritage and I know this to be the case with my friends from all corners of India and the world.

Happy Indian Independence Day!

Jai Hind!

Dr Yadu Singh

dryadusingh@gmail.com

July 29, 2014 by Yadu Singh

India should not be used by anyone as a launch pad for sea voyage to Australia!

Sydney, 29th July, 2014

I am perturbed with some commentary whereby some people including Senator Sarah Hanson-Young are casting indirect aspersion on how India treats refugees. (http://tinyurl.com/k239hsr) Points are being made that India is not a signatory county to UN Refugees Convention. Some of them have mentioned even terrorist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and A-Sham) in the same paragraph. ISIS executes people in cold-blood, and is hurting and subjugating people from religions other than their Sunni sect of Islam. This, even indirect aspersion, is inappropriate and offensive. India is not ISIS and can not even be remotely equated with it.

India is a vibrant and the biggest democracy of the world. It has rule of law with free judiciary and totally free media. It has refugees from Sri Lanka, Burma, Bangladesh, China and many other countries. It has a proud and long history of welcoming persecuted people from all corners of the world. Parsis (Zoroastrians) left Persia because they were persecuted. Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans exiles have lived in India for several decades without any persecution or troubles. India treats refugees humanly and with care. India may not be a signatory to UN Refugees convention, but its treatment of those who claim refuge is exemplary. UNHCR (United Nation’s High Commission for Refugees) itself has said this about India many times. India lets UNHCR do the assessment about people’s refugee status, which is fair, appropriate and prudent.

Raising concerns about India’s credentials as a caring society is objectionable.

Coming to the current issue of 157 boat people (all likely to be Sri Lankan Tamils) who were intercepted by Australian Navy just outside its Maritime zone about a month ago, it is clear that the Boat has come from Indian Shores. From all the information, it is clear that they are all Sri Lankan Tamils, who were in a refugee camp near Pondicherry, South India. India is affected in multiple ways and is a concerned party. Its shores were used as the launching pad for this boat to Australia. India needs to know who these people are and how did they use Indian shores for launching the voyage to Australia.

It is a security issue for India. India has an ongoing issue with Pakistan, from where terrorists enter Indian territories to perpetrate terrorist attacks in India. I am not saying that the boat in question is carrying terrorists, but not being concerned and alarmed with this type of voyage will render India a hypocrite. India has a right to figure out who these people are and what is the exact composition of these people.

Australia and India are friendly countries, and have strategic relations. I am pleased that Australian Minister for Immigration & Border Control, Scott Morrison, visited India recently and had a discussion with Indian Foreign Affairs Minister, Smt Sushma Swaraj. He was able to get an undertaking from Indian Govt that it will take back these people if they are Indian citizens and residents. That is a huge achievement for Australia.

India will not, and should not, allow its territories to be used as the launch pad for things which are against any other nation. In this case, it is the stated policy of Australia that they do not want to entertain illegal maritime arrivals. Current Federal Govt took the policy of “Stop the boats” to people during 2013 election and received a mandate. Previous Govt led by Julia Gillard/Kevin Rudd too had this policy. Offshore processing of illegal maritime arrivals has been the policy of Govts of both political persuasions.

Australia can not afford to have the repetition of 5000 people arriving every month, claiming refugee status. We do not have the money to afford their accommodation, food, health and education. Our national Budget is in deficit and our economy is in stress. We have to look after our elderly, homeless and less fortunate people first. We have to look after our disadvantaged people first.

Australia should accept its fair share of refugees, but there is no way it can afford an unlimited number of people who want to come to our shores with refugee claim. Australia is a caring and generous society, but there is a limit to it.

I am concerned that some people decide to come to Australia from countries where they were not facing persecution. India is definitely one such country. There is no persecution programme for anyone in India. Indians generally, free Indian media and independent judiciary will not let this happen either.

About the people in the Boat, who have now been brought to Curtin Detention Centre, I am not sure that they faced any persecution in India. Based on the prevalent governance and political system, it is unlikely they faced any persecution in India. They were living in the area ie Tamil Nadu, which is the homeland of Tamils in India.

This fact alone makes it likely that they are economic refugees, not genuine refugees.

If there is any Indian national in this group of people, then they should be sent back to India without any delay, because their claim for refugee status will be bogus, preposterous and baseless.

Australia has all the rights to refuse to accept economic refugees. Australia has all the sovereign rights to control flow of illegal maritime arrivals. Australia in fact has an undeniable responsibility to look after its disadvantaged people before allocating billions on people who are not Australia’s primary responsibility.

I see no problem in Australia working with India to figure out who these people are, where they have come from and why have they come to our shores in this manner.

Australia has full rights to send them to the country from where they have come from if they are not genuine refugees.

Australia has a well-stated and bipartisan policy of offshore processing and not settling illegal maritime arrivals in Australia. Australia does not encourage illegal maritime arrivals. It has been working with nations in the region to stop the illegal maritime arrivals. This is the first boat which has been allowed to land on our shores in over 7 months, presumably to allow sufficient time to Indian officials to process information and cross-check it.

Australia is within its rights to work with nations in our region to achieve the stated policy goals. I am in full support of these goals. I know many others, in fact a majority of Australians, are in support of these goals.

Finally, India should not allow anyone, under any circumstance, to use its shores or territories as a launch pad for voyage as “illegal maritime arrival” to Australia or any other country!

Dr Yadu Singh

dryadusingh@gmail.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_India

July 23, 2014 by Yadu Singh

MasterChef Australia should not display India’s national Flag disrespectfully!

(Correct display) (Incorrect Display)

I was called by Ms Sandhya Reddy (INDAUS committee member) who was quite concerned about the upside down display of Indian Flag during broadcast of MasterChef show. Mr Shravan Reddy too sent me a Tweet with the screen shot of the offending display yesterday.

We know that the upside down display of Indian Flag or national Flag of any country is a disrespectful act.

I called Channel 10 yesterday itself and then sent an email to them as well as MasterChef Australia, asking them to remove the disrespectful display of India’s national Flag.

I also sent tweets to Channel Ten and MasterChef Australia. MasterChef Australia is a Logie-award winning popular cooking Game Show, based on original British MasterChef show. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterChef_Australia

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Tweets:

“Yadu Singh‏@dryadusingh 22h

@masterchefau Guys, U are using Indian Flag upside down, which is disrespectful. Pl correct it ASAP. Right pic here.”

“Yadu Singh‏@dryadusingh 23h

@channelten #masterchefaustralia is using Indian Flag upside down. Please correct this disrespectful display ASAP.”

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I followed this by calling Channel Ten, MasterChef Australia and Shine Australia (producer of MasterChef Australia) today.

I have asked them all to rectify the mistake and apologise for it during the programme broadcast.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_it_mean_when_the_flag_is_flown_upside_down

http://www.australiaday.com.au/about/flag-flying-protocols/#.U89-CGuKDIU

Improper and incorrect display including upside down display of Indian Flag is not permitted by law. Display and use of Indian Flag is governed by Flag Code of India 2002. Improper (intentional) misuse and display are punishable by Law at least in India.

We ask MasterChef Australia, Shine Australia and Channel 10 to stop improper display of India’s national Flag immediately.

May I ask Indian High Commission, Canberra and various Indian Consulates in Australia to do their bits to get it rectified urgently.

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PS: Within few minutes from my Blog going public, I have received two Tweets from MasterChef Australia. Here they are being reproduced.

“MasterChef Australia ‏@masterchefau 7m

@dryadusingh @channelten @ShineAustralia …We unreservedly apologise for any offence caused.”

“MasterChef Australia ‏@masterchefau 9m

@dryadusingh @channelten @ShineAustralia The flag being positioned upside down was an unintentional oversight during production…”

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Later on, Channel Ten too has sent an email.

Rebecca Nittolo

24 Jul (1 day ago)

to me

Dear Dr Singh

Thank you very much for your email below. I got in touch with the production company that makes the show and they confirmed that the flag being positioned upside down was an unintentional oversight during production. They unreservedly apologise for any offence caused.

Please let us assure you that the episode featuring the flag is being re-edited and will soon be updated on our website and also for the international version when it is eventually televised in India.

Please accept our sincere apologies again.

Kind regards

Rebecca

Rebecca Nittolo

Digital Producer

Lifestyle, Reality & Factual

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Dr Yadu Singh

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/up-bjp-calls-mahapanchayat-against-removal-of-loudspeaker-from-temple/

dryadusingh@gmail.com

July 3, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Outside loudspeakers from places of worship in India should be banned

I read a story in Indian Express newspaper today, which talks about communal tension in a village in Western Uttar Pradesh, India because of loudspeakers from a temple.

I am aware of several such examples in India over the years. It is not just one off.

If you think about it, and use logic, you will start questioning the use of loudspeakers from such places. Why do we need loudspeakers from any place of worship? One of my friends , Ravi Bhatia, made a light-hearted, but brilliant, comment in my Facebook wall saying, “agreed. God is not deaf”. Another friend, Yogi Chouhan, made a very reflective comment that “God is usually found in silence”.

Outside use of loudspeakers is not needed because,

1. it can cause, and has caused, communal troubles in the past,

2. it also causes sound pollution,

3. it disturbs sleep and consequent harming of physical health of people,

4. it causes hearing damage,

4. it become a real nuisance to students during their exam times.

I remember vividly how I was disturbed by blaring sound of a Devi Jagran Jagrata (overnight singing of religious songs) and loud sound of Aazans from nearby mosques when I was in India.

Devotees of any religion do not need reminders from loudspeakers. If they are true followers of their religions, they will remember when to go to their temples or mosques. They will remember what they have to do as part of their religion. Religion is a private matter between us and our God, and it should remain this way!

Just in case you do not know, no Western country allows use of loudspeakers in the manner it is in India!

Why do people who are not from a particular religion need to be forced to hear the religious sounds and sermons from that religion?

Places of worship can use loudspeakers inside the premises (if needed), but not outside.

Indian Govt should ban them for outside use and enforce the ban effectively and without any exception, favour, bias or discrimination.

Let this become a part of new India, which practises true secularism, not only in spirit but also in letters!

Let this become part of “Achchhe Din” (Good days) for India!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/3rd July, 2014

June 20, 2014 by Yadu Singh

The time for Hindi as the true national (Link) language in India has come!

India has many states and many languages. Some states were formed on the basis of the language. It has its positives and it also has its negatives. It is not uncommon to experience difficulties in communicating things when visiting interiors of various states. While English often acts like a link language, but this is mostly confined to cities and bigger towns. A person from typical North Indian interior will struggle to communicate inside the interior of South India and vice versa.

I believe India needs a language which can act as a true Link language or National language, which can facilitate communications among Indians throughout the country

English can not be this language, even though it is an important language. It is mostly confined in the cities and bigger towns of India, where many can use it. Approx. only 10% are able to do it.

Hindi, on the other hand is the language spoken by 45% and understood by many more. Bollywood movies have been a great help in making Hindi understood everywhere in India.

Today, it will be impossible for any other Indian language to match Hindi’s reach and popularity in India. Saying this should not mean that we are recommending disrespect to other languages or undermining them. It is a practical matter, and should be taken as such.

I love all Indian languages as well as English, which, of course is the language of science, Medicine, international trade, business and diplomacy. English is a must for Indians. I have no doubt about it.

There has to be ONE language in India, which should be able to act as the true LINK language for communication among all and sundry in India. That language will be HINDI if we analyse this matter rationally and logically.

I have not read views of any other person on this matter. My thought process here is not influenced by any other.

In my view, India should adopt and implement “Three Language Formula”, which means;

1. everyone learns Hindi, English and their mother tongue/language of their state,

2. everyone in Hindi speaking North India learns Hindi, English and one language from South India.

I believe it will promote integration, understanding and communication. It may also promote intra-national trade and business.

It is not at all about imposing hegemony of Hindi language, but it is all about pragmatism and practical need of a language which can be an instrument to improve communication among Indians in the country.

This will also be a “Win Win” decision for India, Hindi and South Indian languages!

I hope the new HRD Minister, Ms Smriti Irani and Prime Minister, Sri Narendra Modi do something in this direction.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/20th June, 2014

June 13, 2014 by Yadu Singh

What Indians in Australia expect from the Modi Govt

The new government should be proactive in considering the interests and welfare of the Indian community down under.

It is not a hyperbole to say that a new era has dawned in India with the swearing-in of the Modi Government on Monday, 26 May, 2014.

A decisive, “can do” leader, Sri Narendra Modi, is the Prime Minister. Indians, not just in India but around the world, are confident that things will change for the better and the Indian economy will grow rapidly.

People have expectations from the new government. While people have a wide variety of expectations, which they want the Modi Govt to deliver, there are some common themes in their expectations. Based on my interactions with many Indians in Australia, and based on my own thinking, there are a few things that people expect the new government to consider.

Prime Minister’s visit to Australia: There has not been any state visit by an Indian PM to Australia after the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi’s visit in 1980s. PM Modi should accept the invitation from Australia to schedule a state visit to Australia this year itself. Several Australian PMs have already visited India, but a reciprocal visit by an Indian PM is yet to happen. There should be time for the PM to interact with the community in at least one, but preferably two, major cities. The G20 summit is scheduled to happen in Brisbane on November 15 and 16, 2014. This will be a perfect opportunity for the Indian PM’s long overdue official visit to Australia too.

Visa on arrival for Australian citizens: Australian citizens, like many others including New Zealanders, should get the same visa-free arrival facilities in India. If this is not the case at present, it should be implemented without further delay.

Black money in overseas banks: Genuine, proactive and effective steps should be taken to tackle this menace and bring the money back to India within 12 months. No favour should be given to anyone irrespective of who they are or what connections they have. The decision to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for this purpose is good.

Effective anti-corruption body: A group of 10-15 people from civil society including judges, eminent jurists and overseas Indians (if possible) should be asked to review the Lok Pal Act, passed by the Lok Sabha earlier in the year, and suggest steps to rectify weakness to make it an effective corruption fighting body. This should be completed in the next 12 months.

The PM’s global Overseas Indians Advisory body: The PM should revamp his Global Advisory Body, constituted by the previous PM. People in it should be those who have significant presence and influence in their countries. The habit of Indian diplomats recommending non-descript and non-influential people for this body should eliminated.

Country specific Overseas Indian Advisory body: Countries with significant overseas Indian population (Australia is certainly one such country) should have an advisory body of not more than 10 people, which can be used for consultations and other advisory purposes, not only by the local GOI authorities/agencies, but also the relevant authorities/agencies in India.

Annual dialogue between Indian and Australian leaders: PMs, Foreign Affairs Ministers and Defence Ministers should hold annual meeting/dialogue, with venues for such meeting/dialogue alternating between India and Australia.

Free Trade Agreement (FTA): The pace of the discussions and negotiations should be accelerated so that FTA can be concluded by the end of 2015.

Bilateral Nuclear Trade negotiations: The pace of the discussions and negotiations should be accelerated with the goal to conclude it by the 30 June, 2015.

Hindi teachings in Australian Universities: To increase India’s soft power and increase the numbers of India-literate Australians, India should consider funding such teaching courses in some select Universities in Australia.

India House or Indian Cultural Centre in major capital cities: The Indian community has grown significantly in Australia. It is increasingly felt that such centres are required, at least in Sydney and Melbourne. While some funding will be raised locally, a significant part of the funds should come from Indian Govt. Govt of India (GOI) Funds, if any, allocated for something of this nature to be established in the Indian Consulate premises in Sydney CBD should be reviewed and re-allocated for a centre of this nature in areas like Parramatta or Blacktown, where the Indian community has a substantial presence. Sydney CBD is not a practical or appropriate site for an Indian Cultural Centre.

Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs visit to Australia: With approx. 500,000 people of Indian heritage in Australia, a biennial visit of Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs (The Hon Sushma Swaraj) or her deputy, The Hon Gen (Retd) V K Singh, should be included in the official GOI travel calendar. This will help facilitate interactions with the community and facilitate Overseas Indians’ investment in India.

This is our wish list, which we believe is doable, not difficult and will provide multiple benefits to various stake-holders, including India.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/13th June, 2014

Assistant Minister Press Announcement – In-demand trades added to the Skilled Occupation List The Australian – AWPA Axing Short Sighted,

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This was originally published in Indian Sun News magazine, Sydney on 10th June, 2014. http://www.theindiansun.com.au/top-story/indians-australia-expect-modi-govt/

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June 12, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Australian Skilled Occupations List (SOL) for 2014-15 announced!

Skilled Occupations List for 2014-15 Announced

By Mark Webster
Tuesday, 10 June 2014

The Department of Immigration has announced the new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) which will apply from 1 July 2014.

Occupations Removed from the SOL

There have been no occupations removed from the Skilled Occupations List.

This will be a great relief to Accountants who were slated for removal from the Skilled Occupations List in February 2014.

Occupations Added to the SOL

The following occupations have been added to the Skilled Occupations List:

“Tilers” have also been added to the list – it is not entirely clear which occupations are affected, but the new occupations could be as follows:

Rationale for Changes

The Assistant Minister for Immigration, Michaelia Cash, has indicated in her joint press release that Chefs have been added due to the occupation being in short supply. Strong growth is also projected in the cafe and restaurant sector.

The Assistant Minister also indicated that there is a “known deficit” of skilled workers in the hospitality and construction industries in Regional Areas.

Effect of Changes

The SOL is used in the following contexts:

Graduate Temporary Subclass 485 Visas – Graduate Work Stream
Skilled Independent Subclass 189 Visas

As a result, Chefs, Bricklayers and Tilers will now be able to apply for the above visa types.

Change of Advisor on Skilled Occupations List in Future?

The Skilled Occupations list has traditionally been set every year based on advice from AWPA (Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency).

Given that AWPA has now been axed, advice on the SOL will presumably be given by a different body in future, and it will be interesting to watch developments in the next year.

References

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This article has been taken from https://www.acacia-au.com/skilled-occupations-list-2014-2015-Announced.php, with permission from Mr Mark Webster. Please note that I have no financial interest or interest or relation of any type with Acacia Immigration Australia or any conflict of interest in this matter. I picked this article because it is comprehensive and covers the relevant matter well. People should check with Dept of Immigration & Border Control or Australian Embassy/High Commission or professional & reputed migration advisor/agent in their area before making any decision in regards to their immigration/studies matters.

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Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/12th June, 2014

June 6, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Diversity is a reality, not a dirty word in Australia!

I was a member of the panel to discuss a major research presentation, conducted by Pollinate Group (CEO Howard Parry-Husbands) on behalf of SBS, as part of Vivid Sydney programme on Wednesday, 28th May, 2014, at Museum of Contemporary Arts (MCA).

Other panelists were Prof Ian Buchanan, University of Wollongong and Dr Eman Sharobeem, Immigrant Women’s Health Service and Human Rights Campaigner.

It was attended by more than 150 key people from various segments including opinion leaders, media and businesses. SBS Managing Director, Micheal Ebeid, was there too. Ricardo Goncalves, SBS News Presenter was the MC.

The key points of the research were:

The representative sample had fair distribution of age, gender, location, income and language spoken at home.
Australians recognise the key Australian traits of Optimism & positivity, Give it a go, Fair Go, Can do, Easy connections, Expressive nature with not much deferential language.
Australians believe in seeing good side of things, rather than dwelling too much on what went wrong or whinging.
They are concerned about immigrants coming in and not buying into our way of life, threat to work life balance and threat around shrinking space in the neighbourhood.
They recognise that identity of Australia has changed significantly over the last 20 years.
Australian identity has shifted towards a more complex, progressive and cosmopolitan identity.
Peoples current behaviour follows more indivisual path, being more active and seeking new experiences.
Australians are seeking meaningful connections on shared passions and interests.
There is a steep rise in materialism accompanied by more creative, open-minded mindset, but also some increase in being social. This follows the pervasive consumer model with a shift to things rather than people, from relationship values (‘us’) to indivisual traits (‘I’).
Australia becoming more diverse and yet more conservative because immigrants bring conservative values.
Those closest ie family and close friends are the most trusted.
People are certain of one thing: the future will be even more multicultural.
Australians are divided on their views of future prosperity: over a third think their lives will improve and over a quarter think it will deteriorate.
Australians are most concerned about economic cost of living and housing, deterioration of healthcare and job/employment security.
Australians are also concerned about quality of Government/politicians.
Most Australians believe immigrants should adopt our values and also agree that we are all immigrants.
The overall theme is that Australia is a young nation of immigrants with a great lifestyle who should all adopt the same values and traditions.
Recent immigrants often bring more conservative values with them and may in fact reinforce a more conservative mindset.
People of non-English background have higher perceptions of arts and culture and have higher beliefs on “Can do/Lucky country/Land of opportunity” values of Australia.
There appear to be 3 views of Australia: Cosmopolitan (embrace change and see opportunity), Open-minded ( Open to change as long as it does not conflict with my values) and Conservatives (reject change and react to changes as a threat).
A more multicultural future is viewed with either “horror” or “wonder” depending on whether you fear diversity or welcome it.
ABC and SBS have the highest trust and credibility from the media, followed by Seven and Nine.
Diversity in programming is highest in SBS. ABC and others are far lower in this regard.

With approx. 25% Australians born overseas and approx. 50% of Australians having at least one parent born overseas, diversity is something which is undeniable and not invisible.

Despite this, diversity is however not visible in Media, debates on policies, views, marketing and advertising. This is neither smart nor right.

It is about time that this sad, regressive and disappointing reality in Australia is addressed effectively. Media houses like Fairfax, News Corps, ABC, Chanel 7, Chanel 9, Chanel 10 and Radio stations should review this and act positively.

Diversity is not a dirty word. It is existing in Australian population, and is needed and in fact overdue in many spheres of Australia including Media and politics.

Advertisers can not only be the harbingers of change but will also do a great favour to themselves if they stop ignoring this significant segment of our society when allocating money for marketing and advertisement.

After all, multicultural community is neither invisible nor stays away from spending money and buying (consuming) things.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/6th June, 2014

http://www.twitter.com/dryadusingh
http://www.facebook.com/dryadusingh
au.linkedin.com/in/dryadusingh/

May 26, 2014 by Yadu Singh

There isn’t anything which India and Pakistan can’t achieve if they work hard for it!

Mr Narendra Modi will be sworn-in as India’s Prime Minister today, 26th May, 23014.

SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) leaders will be attending this ceremony.

This is for the first time that SAARC leaders have been invited, and are attending a ceremony of this nature. There is no doubt that it has created a lot of goodwill in the region. It is indeed a master-stroke by Mr Modi.

Among all leaders who are attending the ceremony today, attendance of Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, has a special significance.

India and Pakistan have been arch enemies ever since 1947, and have had 4 wars between them, the last being the Kargill war. In the process, they have been spending quite a significant amount of money on defence. This very money could have been used for tackling poverty, improving health facilities and providing better education facilities, if there were better relations between these two nations.

There is a desire, at least among people, for normalisation of relations, but it has not happened. Vested interests have created every possible obstruction in the process.

Terrorism and “Non-state actors”, often with support from Pakistan Army/ISI have been very effective in derailing the peace process. India has had many terrorism related attacks by people linked with terror groups based in Pakistan. Attack on Indian Parliament and Terrorist attack on Mumbai are two most important ones among them.

Army rule in Pakistan for most of the years after 1947 has not helped.

I am sure that Pakistan will also have its list of grievances against India, but we need to move on, instead of repeating the blame game against one another. It is not going to be productive.

We have to take note that things have changed as Pakistan had a civilian Govt for a full 5years period recently and then had a peaceful change of the Govt via a democratic election, leading to PML-N coming to the power. Mr Nawaz Sharif of PML-N is the Prime Minister of Pakistan now. He has a popular mandate with him. He is experienced and pragmatic. During election campaign, Mr Sharif spoke repeatedly about the need to have better relations with India.

It is very heartening to see that not only Mr Sharif is attending the swearing-in of Mr Modi, but in a gesture of good will, his wife, Mrs Kulsoom Sharif and son, Mr Hussain Nawaz Sharif, are accompanying him to New Delhi too.

Mr Sharif has said, before leaving for New Delhi that he is travelling to India with a “Message of Peace”. Pakistan is also releasing 150 Fishermen today as a gesture of good will.

India and Pakistan must bury the past and start a new beginning. Normalisation of their relations is in the interest for people of both countries. It is a no-brainer.

Pragmatism is required from the leaders of both countries.

Leaders of both countries need to show leadership.

Peace between two countries is possible if they,

Get after the terrorist groups who do not want peace in the region and eliminate them,
Do not allow terror groups to operate from their soil,
Change the mind-set of agencies which are against peace between two countries
Have supremacy of civilian Govt in regards to Foreign Affairs and trade,
Put “K” on the back-burner for at least 25 years and going for an “Out of Box”, pragmatic and practical understanding on Kashmir, instead of repeating the stated position ad nauseum, recognising that no third party including UNO can/will resolve this issue,
Provide MFN (Most Favoured Nation) status to each other without any further delay,
Encourage tourism between two countries

I am quoting Mr Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s Tweets, which I found very enlightening and encouraging.

“Why can’t India and Pakistan team up to win the wars against diseases, illiteracy and poverty? We can …”

“Why India and Pakistan have to be the prisoners of the past? Should bury the enmity & start afresh. #PakIndiarelations”

“I personally think cordial relations with new Indian govt should be cultivated. Will help remove psychological barriers, fear & misgivings.”

India and Pakistan do not need to be like Koreas. They can be like European countries, where borders do not mean much, but this will only happen if leaders act like statesmen, with honesty and determination, and if terrorists have no role in the polity at any cost.

Nothing is going to work if they do not address “trust deficit”, which is the mother of all problems between the two nations! Words and solemn promises/assurances must be worth believing, without which nothing will change in regards to India-Pakistan relations!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/26th May, 2014

http://www.facebbok.com/dryadusingh

May 23, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Tamil Nadu politics can’t be the sole basis for India’s relations with Sri Lanka!

On 26th May, 2014, Mr Narendra Modi will take the oath for Prime Minister of India. Leaders from all South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) nations have been invited. Many, if not all, are attending this ceremony. Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa too will be in New Delhi for the event.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalitha of AIDMK and DMK president, M Karunanidhi have voiced opposition to Mr Rajpaksa’s invitation and presence in this ceremony.

Even though it is understandable, it should, and will not, be the only basis for India’s Foreign policy.

India is surrounded by countries, where China is trying to increase its influence, politically and militarily. India needs to work actively to counter it. India needs to have co-operative and friendly relations with these countries.

This is for the first time that SAARC leaders have been invited for an event of this nature. It is a great beginning. It is smart politics too because it creates better relations, and also creates camaraderie among the leaders.

India needs to create better relations in the region, which will be great for trade, investment and regional security. It will also help its anti-terrorism strategies.

India can not start seeing the relations in the region from one specific dimension, because relations with the nations are always multi-dimensional. No one segment of Indians or regions can be given a monopoly or veto to dictate India’s foreign policy. Populism alone is never a great basis for any policy, and Foreign affairs policy is no exception.

India’s relations with Sri Lanka are obviously multi-dimensional, and must remain so. Feelings from Tamil Nadu politicians alone can not, and must not, be allowed to dictate Indo-Sri Lanka relations.

I am intensely sympathetic to human right issues for Tamil population of Sri Lanka, and wish that Sri Lanka Govt works actively to address and remove those issues. It is imperative for a Govt of any country to work with the people of that country to remove issues in regards to human rights and dignity.

India has voiced its misgivings and concerns about human right issues in Sri Lanka on many occasions, and has been encouraging Sri Lanka to make progress in this regard. India, in my view, should continue to pursue these matters vigorously and sensibly with Sri Lanka, without resorting to Megaphone diplomacy.

There is no denying, in my view, that India will be more effective in ensuring better and fairer treatment of Sri Lankan Tamils, if it has friendly and co-operative relations with Sri Lanka and is fully as well as meaningfully engaged with Sri Lanka.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/23rd May, 2014

http://www.twitter.com/dryadusngh’

May 21, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Sad, unfortunate and possibly avoidable death of a young family man in Sydney!

I received an email from my friend, Sreenadh Brahmapuram, on 8th May, 2014. This email was addressed to Indian Consulate, with request for some help, and included a few from the community. I am not sure about their response.

After contacting Sreenadh, I visited Westmead Hospital. I met JK’s wife, LK, their 2 years old son and their close friends. Sreenadh and I were at JK’s bedside in the ICU for some considerable time and spoke with his doctors. Sreenadh and I have been in contact ever since. We were also working on getting emergency visa for JK’s sister.

JK’s wife is a student in Sydney. They belong to Punjab province of India. They both were working in part time jobs, and staying in Harris Park.

JK, a 27 years old young man, suffered from Bronchial Asthma, which he was self-treating with puffers. His Asthma kept getting worse, before he decided to go to the Emergency dept of Westmead hospital, at the suggestion of a neighbour, who is a nurse. His Asthma was really bad. On the way, he had further worsening and had a cardio-pulmonary arrest. CPR was initially performed by the neighbour who was accompanying him. Ambulance officers arrived soon after and took over the resuscitation. He was transported to Westmead hospital, where again he had a cardio-pulmonary arrest. He was intubated, ventilated and taken to ICU, but unfortunately, he sustained significant brain injury due to poor oxygen in his body prior to reaching the hospital. This led to brain-swelling, which finally turned out to be fatal.

His body has now been transported to India last Saturday, 17th May, with the cost of such transportation taken care by Indian Consulate.

Sreenadh has provided all possible assistance to the family. He deserves kudos and heart-felt gratitude. What a gem of a person he is!

After this sad and unfortunate news became public, many people offered help. Parklea Gurdwara offered financial assistance of $2100.00 and many others too provided assistance in whatever way they could.

This young man is the only son of his parents, with one married and one unmarried sister. His son is only 2 years old and is oblivious to the tragedy. His widow will have to fetch for herself and look after the kid by herself. It is pretty daunting.

Being a medico myself, I just think that this sad, unfortunate and devastating outcome could have been avoided if JK had sought medical assistance just a bit earlier. Bronchial Asthma can be fatal if acute attack is not treated promptly.

I know that everything looks better in hindsight, but it is worth keeping in mind.

When experiencing any medical problem, it is better and helpful to seek prompt assistance from those who are qualified to offer such assistance. Self-diagnosis and self-treatment can end up in avoidable adverse outcome including fatality.

It is not worth it to delay seeking medical assistance promptly.

People who are on student visa or on visitor visa in Australia are required to have valid health Insurance, which covers approx. 85% of the medical bills from doctors and hospitals. I might add that Health Insurance was not the relevant factor for JK as he carried this cover.

Finally, we, as the community, should do what we can do to assist this family, when LK and their son return to Sydney.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/21st May, 2014

*Names of JK and LK not disclosed.

May 16, 2014 by Yadu Singh

With BJP/NDA Govt led by Narendra Modi, a new era dawns in India!

Sydney, 16th May, 2014.

Indian elections were a mammoth exercise, going for around 2 months. There were 930,000 polling booths, using 1.7 million voting machines for >500 million voters. These are precisely the factors why India is the largest democracy of the world.

Indian channels and newspapers were beaming the results of Indian elections on 16th May, 2014. With the trends available at 3PM Sydney time, it was clear that National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will form the next Govt. Mr Narendra Modi of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the biggest constituent of NDA, was going to be India’s next Prime Minister.

It became clear that NDA will have more than 300 MPs and BJP itself will have 272+ MPs. Congress-led UPA Govt seems to have been routed in a landslide victory for BJP/NDA.

At the end of counting of votes, BJP scored 284 seats (MPs) in Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and NDA scored 336 of the total 543 MPs. Congress was limited to only 44 MPs and much-hyped Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could get only 4 MPs, despite the pre-polling claim of >100 AAP MPs.

BJP has managed a majority for itself. It is for the first time in the last 30 years when a political party has managed a majority for itself. It is not a mean feat!

This is a spectacular result from all parameters, and credits for this go to Mr Modi and his team. He ravelled extensively all over India, holding rallies, road-shows, Chai Pe Charcha (Tea Parties), and reaching out to people extensively via regular media and social media. Friends and supporters of BJP overseas too took part in political discourses, usually via social media, creating pro-BJP atmosphere in their circles back in India.

Despite the denials by political adversaries of BJP and Modi, there is no denying that there was a Modi “Lehar” (Wave). Scams after scams during the term of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Govt led by Dr Manmohan Singh created a massive aversion to Congress-led Govt in the minds of people. They have had enough.

India will now have a stable Govt. This is good for India’s economic growth and development, and Governance. It is also good for India’s international affairs. Trade and investment from all over the world will increase. This will be a great outcome.

Indians all over the world will rejoice with the result of Indian election because they are sick and tired of;

vote bank politics
caste-based politics
pseudo-secularism
religion-based politics
region-based politics
corruption
Poor governance
policy paralysis
stagnation in the economy
poor management of foreign affairs
poor management of India’s borders
dynasty-based politics

Indians deserve better. They do not need to be divided based on their caste or religions. They do not want to be “used” by politicians as “vote-banks”. Indians are all Indians, with no superior or inferior claim on their Indian-ness or rights for economic growth and development.

Indians are truly sick and tired of “He is communal and I am secular” commentary by politicians for vested interest. Enough of this nonsense!

We have a leader in Mr Narendra Modi, who is focused on economic growth and development, good governance and has pan-India appeal.

He is decisive, determined and experienced, beside being assertive and eager.

He is able and capable to implement “Eik Bharat, Shrestha Bharat” (One India, Better India), following “Development for all, appeasement for none”, because all Indians have equal claim on India and have equal right for development, without any consideration for their caste, religion or regional background.

A new era is going to dawn with the outcome of the Indian election and with Mr Modi as India’s new Prime Minister!

Congrats to Indians! Congrats to BJP and NDA! Congrats to Mr Narendra Modi!

Overseas Indians all over the world, just like Indians in India, burst into a joyous mood on 16th May, throwing celebratory parties wherever they were living. Australia was no exception, where several celebratory parties were organised by Indian Australians all over Australia.

Dr Yadu Singh/16th May, 2014

dryadusingh@gmail.com

May 2, 2014 by Yadu Singh

Sydney Indians met and interacted with Former Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr Jagadish Shettar!

On Wednesday, 30th April, 2014, members of Sydney’s Indian community, particularly from Karnataka, met and interacted with Former Chief Minister of Karnataka, The Hon Jagadish Shettar, at the home of Hemanth Raju in Glenfield, NSW. Hemanth is the current President of Basava Samithi, Sydney.

Approx 50 people were present. Prominent among them were Hemanth Raju, Paramesh Halaradhya, Satish Bhadranna, Mallikarjun Ramanahalli and Chidananda Puttarevanna.

Mr Shettar was in Australia to take part in “6th International Sharana Samskriti Sammelana” meeting in Perth recently. He visited Sydney after this meeting, before travelling to Melbourne and NZ.

He has a vast record of public service in Karnataka. He was a lawyer by profession, before entering Karnataka Assembly in 1994. His family members and he has been long term Jan Sangh/BJP members/supporters. He was an active leader of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) during his student days. He has also held the position of Karnataka BJP President at one stage.

He served as Speaker of the Assembly in 2008-9, Minister in various Karnataka Govts at various times, and was the Chief Minister from 2012 to 2013. Currently, he is the Leader of Opposition in the assembly.

He is a senior leader of BJP, with a lot of influence, following and support in Karnataka.

Our interaction with him included topics of Indian Governance, Karnataka Politics and Indian election. He felt that a minimum of 20 MPs from Karnataka will be from BJP. He was confident that NDA (National Democratic Alliance) will form the next Govt at the centre and Mr Narendra Modi will be the next Prime Minister of India.

We enjoyed home-cooked and typical Kannada food, prepared by various members of the community.

We were very impressed with his down to earth nature and simplicity. We enjoyed his sense of humour.

It was indeed a great pleasure to meet Mr Jagadish Shettar!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/2nd May 2014

June 4, 2013 by Yadu Singh

India is the top source of migrants to Australia!

[Source of Pictures: TOI article, Ravi Lochan Singh’s Blog and DIAC press release]

With 29016 people from India who were granted migrant Visa to come to Australia in 2011-12, India is now the top source of migrants to Australia. This is 12.7% more than the previous year. This is likely to continue for years to come. By now, Indian-born numbers have grown four fold in the last 15 years, while Chinese-born numbers have grown by three fold..

The Census in 2011 told us that there were about 400,000 people of Indian heritage in Australia. If we add the numbers up to June 2013 and add the numbers from people of Indian heritage from other countries plus those born here in Australia, the number of people of Indian heritage could well be about 500,000 by June 2013.

With 21768 Indians in 2010-11, India was the third top source of Australian migrants. With 29546 Chinese immigrants, China was the top source then. Things have obviously changed.

The latest list outlining the sources of migrants also tells us that 7 of 10 countries are from Asia, the region where Australia has its major trading partners.

China with 25508 is the second top source and Great Britain with 25273 is at the third spot.

India has many good universities with a large number of young people with the skills and English which Australia needs. These skills are in the fields of medicine, IT, teaching, nursing, Engineering, accounting, management and many others. These are all high value skills which are in great demand all over the world. Australia is now competing with other countries quite successfully.

I am quite pleased that increasing numbers of Indians are choosing Australia as the place to migrate to, despite exaggerated negative coverage of Australia in the Indian media in the recent past. This is the best certificate that Indian media was not factual in its reporting back then.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/4th June, 2013

http://www.au.linkedin.com/in/dryadusingh

May 4, 2013 by Yadu Singh

India House in Sydney: what is this about & why do we need it?

(See an important update at the end of this post)

The Indian Australian community in Australia comprises of about 400,000 people, out of which about 150,000 reside in New South Wales. Ours is a growing community and about half of our people have migrated to Australia during the last ten years.

Every community is unique and has its special characteristics and requirements. In this sense, we are no different from the other multicultural communities in Australia. Many of these requirements can be fulfilled by a Community Centre, which acts not only as the centre for all community/social interactions and mentoring/guiding services, but also for entertainment activities. Private family occasions like weddings and other events can also take place there. Any such centre should have sufficient space and facilities to cater to a range of activities. This Centre should be able to self-sustain financially, and should be run professionally.

Despite being a major community, we do not have this community Centre, which is in total contrast with other communities like Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Serbian, Croatian and others, many of which are smaller than ours, but do have such community premises.

India House has been talked about for more than 20 years but nothing obviously has happened. Talks and visions should have moved to something realistic and something fruitful by now, but it is yet to happen. We believe that it did not happen only because serious and sincere efforts were never made.

Projects of this nature require huge capital to make it happen. We strongly believe that finances can be raised if there is a group of dedicated & committed people in our community who have integrity, vision, determination, perseverance, willingness and capacity to work on the plan for 3-5 years. The fund raising components must have multiple components, and it should include fairs, charity drives, direct contributions from the community, and also sponsorships from governments and businesses.

Our initial spadework informs us that there is sufficient goodwill for this huge venture in our community. We recognise that the biggest hurdle in this huge task is the distrust community members have towards community groups/leaders because they have not been transparent, accountable and result oriented, and in fact, some have used their groups for financial benefits. To make it worse, some have become branches of political parties. It is a common knowledge that finances generated from events, small and large, have often been mismanaged and possibly misused. The fund sourcing process therefore must remain ethical, transparent and must be supervised by at least two reputed finance professionals. This fund-raising must have the charity status and tax concessions.

We wish to take this project earnestly and start the process by donating the entire amount saved after expenses from the INDAUS FAIR on Sunday, 11 August 2013, which will take place at Rosehill Gardens, Rosehill Race Course, Rosehill, NSW. We will outline our detailed plan and the process of fund raising soon.

Our plan is to have a nodal group of 10 people who will do the initial work, using the expertise in law, planning, project work, finance, Real Estate, accounting and marketing among others.

This will be followed by a meeting with community representatives/leaders and members of media with the purpose of brain storming, exchanging ideas, revising and fine tuning the project. Media is so essential for this project and this project will be an “inclusive” work as far as practicable.

The Project will be super headed by a management committee, Board of Trustees and Advisory Council, and will have membership with defined benefits of such membership. The guiding principle will and must always be transparency, accountability and proper governance with an added motto of “service with integrity”.

More info from dryadusingh@gmail.com, www.yadusingh.wordpress.com and www.indaus.org.au

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/2^nd May 2013

President, Indian Australian Association of NSW Inc

————————————- UPDATE: 31st Aug, 2014 https://yadusingh.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/india-house-in-sydney-update/ ————————————-

April 26, 2013 by Yadu Singh

Nalini Needs You. Can you help her please?

Can you help? There is a better chance to help if you are from Kerala background but any Indian can help!

Dr Nalini Ambady, a professor at Stanford University, was recently diagnosed with a recurrence of leukemia, which she first battled in 2004. Now, she has only eight weeks left to live and urgently needs a bone marrow transplant from a genetically matched donor.

Originally from Kerala, Ambady became the first Indian American female professor in the Psychology Department at Harvard University, Tufts University, and Stanford University, according to a press release. Her research has been covered in Malcolm Galdwell’s book, “Blink.” More details are available on www.NaliniNeedsYou.com

People of South Asian descent have a lower likelihood of finding a bone marrow match, and in Ambady’s case, doctors have estimated that chance at one in 20,000.

HOW YOU CAN HELP?

Since every willing donor may not be a perfect match for Nalini, we need as many willing donors as possible in a short time.

If you are willing to help and in the age group of 18-45 years please ring RED CROSS on 131495 and register with Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry and donate.

ABMDR donor info is here for your information. http://www.abmdr.org.au/

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Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/26th April, 2013

April 4, 2013 by Yadu Singh

Our team raised $22215 for recent Qld Floods victims!

OUR TEAM RAISED $22,215.00 FOR QUEENSLAND FLOODS VICTIMS!

Press Release:

Sydney, 3nd April, 2013.

Indian Australian Association of NSW Inc [INDAUS Inc] members teamed with others in the Hills Shire and organised a hugely successful Charity fund raising event for Bundaberg Floods Victims, at Mother India Restaurant, Dural, raising $22,215.00 on Sunday, 24th March, 2013.

Earlier on 29th January, our group was having dinner at Mother India when the idea was born to give something back to the community. It comprised of Dr Yadu Singh [INDAUS Inc President], Gareth McCray [Broadcaster & INDAUS Inc member], Ross Colossimo [CEO of The Australian Brewery & Bella Vista Hotel, Sanjeev Sharma [Mother India Owner & INDAUS Inc member], Rajiv Chaudhri [CEO of Hitek Australia & INDAUS Inc member], Poonam Verma [Jewellery Designer from India], and Kanika Chaudhri [Rajiv’s daughter].

This discussion came to focus on the myriad of disasters that had hit Australia since January. We got round to realising that the Regional city of Bundaberg had been worst hit. It was suggested and agreed that we contact the Hills Shire Mayor, Dr Michelle Byrne, and see if she would agree to front a committee to raise some funds to help the people of Bundaberg. We did that and she agreed. A committee was constituted and potential sponsors were decided to run a special Charity Dinner at Mother India.

The steering committee consisted of the above people and had the following join us later:-

Dr Michelle Byrne, the Hills Shire Mayor, A/Prof Jim Taggart, Joseph Ishak from Skad Australia, Clr Jeff Lowe, John Ebbott, Ms Sonya Phillips [Former Hills Shire Mayor], Journalist Bev Jordan and David O’Neill, the General Manager of the Castle Hill RSL.

Meeting on a weekly basis, our team planned the event which included day time markets followed by buffet lunch and a lavish dinner with entertainment, auctions and raffles. Entertainment was provided by renowned singer, Angie Dean and a local Bollywood dance group, organised by Mother India.

At $75 per person, the team did not take long to fill the restaurant with 120 people. They enjoyed a three course sumptuous dinner with Beer and wine donated by generous donors, The Australian Brewery, Australian Hotel Association & Castle Hill RSL.

Master of Ceremonies for the event was media personality, Gareth McCray and auctioneer was A/Professor Jim Taggart who both brought the electrifying energy and enthusiasm to the event, thus helping in the collection of funds.

Salvation Army Officer from Bundaberg, Mr Peter Evans was flown down to Sydney to witness the event. His flights and accommodation were sponsored, organised by the team, at no cost to him.

The items for auction included a Cricket Bat signed by national teams of Australia and UK [bid successfully by INDAUS Inc Vice President, Stanley D’Cruz for $2000], Jewellery worth $3500 from House of Fraser, a necklace donated by Poonam Verma and many others.

It was an absolute privilege working with each of these people in the team, who all knew fully well why this fund raising was important for the People of Bundaberg.

Families and businesses in Bundaberg that had only just started getting on top of things since the previous flood had to watch again as their lives were upended and swept away by the Burnett River that raged with a ferocity that had never been seen before.

The floodwaters did recede as quickly as they rose but nothing could prepare the residents for what they found when they crossed back across the Burnett River – some houses had sunk into the ground, others were covered in mud so deep, bed lined in the trees roads turned up. The river turned Bundaberg into a war zone. However the spirit of Faith, Hope and Love grew out of this disaster.

A Faith that is based upon the knowledge that we can always rely on each other to help when the need is there.

A Love of the friends, family and people from across the nation, such as here in The Hills Shire, who have come to help those in great need.

This is what makes the many national multicultural groups that make up Australia so special. We believe that thing we call “mateship” is something we should be so proud of, and which we can show whenever our fellow Australians are in need of.

That is why we came together on Sunday March 24 to join in that spirit of Faith, Hope and Love and help the people of Bundaberg.

In addition to INDAUS Inc members taking a key role in the project, Indian Australians worked shoulder to shoulder with Hills Shire community and raised this amount for people in Queensland who need it so desperately.

We, in INDAUS Inc, were proud to be the key members of the committee, responsible for execution of the project and delivery of the outcome in a substantial way. It was a unique experience for us in INDAUS Inc.

INDAUS Inc is indeed proud to be part of doing something for our fellow Australians.

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With contribution from Gareth McCray and released by Dr Yadu Singh

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/4th April, 2013
http://www.twitter.com/dryadusingh
http://www.facebook.com/dryadusingh

March 31, 2013 by Yadu Singh

Indian Australian groups contributed to Clean Up Australia Day on Sunday, 3rd March, 2013!

Sydney, 31st March, 2013

Like last year, we took part in Clean Up Australia Day activities this year too.

On Sunday, 3rd March, 2013, friends from 3 organisations-Indian Australian Association of NSW Inc [INDAUS Inc], Basava Samithi of Australia [BSOA]-Sydney Chapter and Samarpan Inc [A group of people who have family members with disabilities] joined up for the clean up activities at GARRISON POINT, MURRUMBEENA RESERVE, OFF HENRY LAWSON DRIVE, GEORGES HALL, NSW-2198.

It started at 8 am and went on until 10.30 am.

After collecting several bags of rubbish, the clean up party had a tea/coffee session and general discussion, followed by certificates and pics. We discussed how important it is for all of us from all sort of backgrounds to get involved in Australian events/activities which will help Australia and Australians. Australia is after all our home!

People who took part in it included myself [Dr Yadu Singh], Chidanand Puttarevanna, Stanley D’Cruz, Gaurav Nirwal, Rajni Chandran, Uday Shah, Jaywanth Vaidya, Parul Shah, Hemanth Raju, Paramesh Halaradhya, Vishwas Suresh, Dayanand Mogale, Vishwanath Halyal, Prajwal Pradhan, Vijay Kumar and many others.

From the Clean Up Australia website:

“Australians have more than demonstrated their passion and responsibility for cleaning up their local environment. Over 550,300 volunteers have donned their gloves and picked up a bag to remove rubbish from around 7341 sites across the nation.

Early figures predict they will have removed around 16,150 tonnes of rubbish, just the beginning of what is shaping up to be a tremendous effort yet again.

Since the national event started in 1990 Australians have donated more than 26,100,600 million hours towards caring for the environment through Clean Up Australia Day, by removing an estimated 288,650 tonnes of rubbish across the country.”

Clean Up Australia Day is truly a national event, in which everyone participates.

Indian and other multicultural groups have been increasingly participating in these activities.

Australia is a great & clean country and it is everyone’s job to keep it that way.

We did our part and are proud of it.

Dr Yadu Singh

March 4, 2013 by Yadu Singh

What we need in Western Sydney?

I missed an important interview with Sunrise of Chanel 7 today because a usual 15 minutes’ drive took about 70 minutes.

Familiar story which happens far too frequently!

It is well known that transport is a big issue for people in Western and North Western Sydney.

Living and working in Western Sydney and interacting with people-professionally or socially, have given ample insight into what is needed in this part of Sydney where 2 million ie 1 out of 11 Australians live, and where majority of Sydneysiders live too.

As I see it, and from my perspective, these are the major issues;

I am listing them here without giving any consideration to the relative importance of these issues.

1. Crimes: Shootings have been in the news. There are gangs which are doing what gangs do. I am aware of many students who have been bashed up without any fault of theirs. One of them had a severe head injury and will probably never be able to work. There are people who get assaulted while getting out of train stations. People are scared about becoming victims of the shootings or assaults. Police are doing what they have to do or can do. Whatever has to be done by the Govt must be done to give Police resources to deal with the criminals. If more CCTV and more cops on the patrol will do the job, I am all for it. If anti-gang task force comprising of officials from various agencies will do the job, that is sweet too. We want safe streets where we can do things we want to do without worrying about the next drive by shooting, assault or knife attack. Let all good ideas come from all directions to help control crimes because we want real actions, not spins.

2. Transport: People in Western Sydney complain continuously about poor transport facilities in the region. They have to waste hours after hours on the roads which are full of cars, moving ever so slowly. We need better public transport with an efficient networking of the transport facilities. NSW Transport master plan has come out and a debate on it is ongoing. People have commented that it is Sydney CBD-focused. Comments have been made that 70% of Sydney people live in the West but 70% of jobs in Sydney are in area away from the West, thus forcing people to travel to Sydney CBD. We need more jobs in Western Sydney.

3. Jobs & employment: Unemployment rates are much higher in Western Sydney. Some say, it is double of the national standard. This is not good because it has a linkage with quality of life, general & mental health and so many more parameters. We need initiatives and incentives which will facilitate creation of jobs in various sectors right here in the West.

5. Proper utilisation of human resources: Western Sydney is very multicultural in nature with >40% of people with some connection with overseas ancestries. Western Sydney is generally the first place where new migrants choose to live. There are obvious reasons for this to happen. This phenomenon gives some boost to the economy, particularly housing and retail sectors, but more can happen, if dealt with smartly. What I have seen and heard is that their training and skills obtained overseas are not properly utilized. This happens mostly on the pretext of lack of “local” experience, leading to rejections of their applications for jobs. I believe that this should be addressed by offering incentives to the employers to employ suitable new migrants who have skills/training for the job, with provision of more active supervision and assistance for bridging courses/training to get them up to speed, if necessary. A smart country like Australia must utilise migrants who it accepted as residents fully and appropriately, making them a part of the economy.

6. Industry & Infrastructure: More industries and infrastructure projects in the region will obviously create more jobs and rejuvenate Western Sydney. To encourage these projects and industries, and to kick start the economic growth of Western Sydney, Govts of all levels should offer incentives to the businesses to set their bases in the West.

7. Health services: The waiting lists for health services are bigger with longer waiting times in the West. Even emergency services take longer to be delivered compared to the East. Funding for the services must be such that they are equitable, sufficient and appropriate, not only for acute services but also for preventive services ie health education, and community care.

8. Airport: Independent studies have told us that Sydney will need second airport soon. Current airport will not cope with further load for long. If second airport is not coming forth, it will affect the economic growth of NSW. Multiple sites have been mentioned but they all get bogged down in politics. Politicians start worrying about votes. It is about time that Govts and politicians focus on economy, not just votes. If Sydney’s second airport has to be created, it has to be in Sydney basin, not Canberra. It will cost money [Approx. $10 billions] but then every mega project which is essential for our economy will need investment. An airport in Western Sydney is expected to give a major boost to the economy in the West, creating an environment for infrastructure projects and employment opportunities equivalent of approx. 40000 jobs,

9. WSROC & other stake holders: Wester Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils is a perfect group, comprising of Councils of Western Sydney. They know what is required in the region. Their views will be of significant importance. They along with key leaders from businesses, public policy and communities should be used as the key stakeholders for debates, analysis and sounding boards.

10. Cost of living: It is an important issue all over Australia but more so in Western Sydney. Rising prices of essential commodities like food, rising cost of electricity, high rents, cost of education, child care, high cost of petrol and so many items which are needed for day to day living are all adding to the pressure. Carbon tax has been an issue although not as bad as was predicted and there are some support available to compensate struggling families. No one can deny that there are people and families who/which are really struggling. Everything must be done to ease the pressure on them.

Two million people of Western Sydney need comprehensive policies/plans for the economic growth of the region. These policies must be outlined now and must be properly costed with source of funding outlined.

People in Western Sydney are smart people and they can see through the slogans and spins.

We need decent, honest and meaningful plans/policies for the long term, not just for the election in Sept 2013.

A word of caution for both major parties: We want substance, not spins!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/4th March, 2013

dryadusingh@gmail.com,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundelkhand

au.linkedin.com/in/dryadusingh/

February 3, 2013 by Yadu Singh

Multiculturalism is in our Heart & Soul: INDAUS Inc celebrates Australia Day & Indian Republic Day with class & style!

<img src="https://yadusingh.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/adird7-cg2.jpg?w=300" alt="ADIRD7-CG" width="300" height="198" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-3119" />Sydney, 27th Jan, 2013

The Indian Australian Association of NSW Inc. [INDAUS Inc.] celebrated Australia Day and Indian Republic Day on Sunday 27 January 2013 with a style and a class of its own. A large gathering of 400+ people filled the Ryde Civic Hall to capacity.

Political and government dignitaries included federal parliament members Hon. Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa) representing the Federal Government, Hon. John Alexander (Bennelong) representing the Hon. Tony Abbott, the leader of the Federal Opposition and Hon. Philip Ruddock (Berowra).

Geoff Lee, Member for Parramatta, represented Premier of NSW, Hon Barry O’Farrell. Hon. Greg Smith, Attorney General & Minister for Justice and Hon. David Clarke, Parliamentary Secretary were present there too. The Minister for Communities and Citizenship, Hon. Victor Dominello, was represented by Matt Kean, Member for Hornsby and Guy Zangari, Member for Fairfield, represented Leader of NSW Opposition, Hon John Robertson. Other MPs and dignitaries included Kevin Conolly, Member for Riverstone, Dominic Perrottet, Member for Baulkham Hills, CRC Chair and CEO, Hon Stephan Kerkyasharian, Indian Consul General, Arun Kumar Goel, Mayor John Chedid from Parramatta, Mayor Ivan Petch from Ryde, Mayor Ross Grover from Holroyd, Mayor Michelle Byrne from Baulkham Hills, Councilor Karlo Siljeg, representing Blacktown Mayor and Councilor Raj Datta from Strathfield Council.

Guests were entertained to a welcoming Shennai instrumental music, which was played during the arrival of the guests.

Pics are here: http://www.desi.com.au/Australia_and_Indian_Republic_Day_Celebrations_by_INDAUS_Inc.html

The proceedings started with a short introduction by the event coordinator Mr. Abhilash Narendran in which he highlighted the importance of the Australia Day and the Indian Republic Day. He then introduced the president of the Indian Australian Association of NSW, Dr Yadu Singh, who also played the role of the MC. He officially welcomed all the attendees. He said it was indeed gratifying to see a large cross section of the Indian and Australian community attend this event.

The national anthems of Australia and India were presented followed by common Australia folklore Waltzing Matilda by Legendary Slim Dusty that was well received by the audience.

Several dignitaries delivered a series of brief official speeches. The list included Hon. Greg Smith, Hon. Laurie Ferguson, John Alexander, Geoff Lee, Matt Kean, Guy Zangari, Stephan Kerkyasharian and Arun Kumar Goel. Almost all the speakers dwelt on the similarities of Australia and India in multiple ways. They all wished for the improvement in bilateral relations between the two countries and wished India in its march towards progressive development in society, culture and industry. They all praised the good work the team led by Dr Yadu Singh have been doing with and before INDAUS formation.

In his brief address, INDAUS Inc. President, Dr. Yadu Singh informed that the Indian community in Australia is of a significant size, constituting 2% of Australian population, and is keen to play its role. A brief mention was made about what INDAUS team has been doing. He outlined that INDAUS Inc. is going to stay out of the annoying race to “give awards”, which is so prevalent with every other association in the community. He outlined the resolve of INDAUS Inc. to bring “India House” project to fruition, while working with all groups, associations and community in a smarter and efficient way.

A multicultural mix of entertainment was the highlight of the event. At the commencement, Ruchi Sanghi’s Group performed Kathak dances, followed by The Flamenco dancers providing a gutsy and excellent show in which a team of two women and one man entertained the gathering with a series of Flamenco dances. The main highlight of the evening was of course the Islanders’ dances. A group of five drummers and eight dancers from the Cook Islands mesmerized the audience by a series of superbly crafted intensive dances. They were so good that attendees could not refuse the request to participate in some of these cultural dances to the audience’s delight.

This event was supported by several media and business groups. Cricket NSW donated NSW Blues Team cricket bat, which was auctioned. Business groups donated several raffle prizes for the occasion. Details will be posted in INDAUS Inc. website soon.

A souvenir was released to commemorate this event. Generous support in the shape of sponsorships by many business organizations was acknowledged.

Mr. Anil Sharma, INDAUS Inc. Treasurer, proposed a vote of thanks in which he thanked and appreciated all those involved in making this celebration possible in a short time frame.

Renowned and popular caterer, Ajay Raj from Maya da Dhaba, as usual, dished out a superb Indian meal with excellent entrée dishes.

Overall the Australia Day & Indian Republic Day celebrations organized by the Indian Australian Association of NSW Inc. were splendidly successful and rewarding for the organizers and the audience. We received several excellent comments from the attendees for a well-organized great Indian community function.

The special points, separating INDAUS Inc. from others and proving again that it is an association with difference, included their Multicultural entertainment, large numbers comprising predominantly of younger people [>75%], huge political presence and staying away from “Giving award” phenomenon which is so prevalent among other associations.

The executive committee of INDAUS Inc. is very grateful to the Indian community, businesses, media and others at large for their strong support and commitment to the organization. They will like members of the community to join them to help deliver projects for the community.

Press Release issued by Stanley D’Cruz, Vice President, Indian Australian Association of NSW Inc

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Dr Yadu Singh/3rd Feb, 2013
http://www.facebook.com/dryadusingh
http://www.twitter.com/dryadusingh
http://www.indaus.org.au
http://www.facebook.com/indaus.nsw

January 2, 2013 by Yadu Singh

India Diary: On the roads in Bundelkhand!

I am currently in India, visiting my extended family in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh [UP].

Bundelkhand is the region between UP and Madhya Pradesh [MP] in the southern part of UP. Prominent places in this area include Jhansi, Khajuraho, Banda, Mahoba, Kalinjar, Chitrakoot, Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Satna and of course, Maihar.

It is such a fun and pleasure to be with my mother, brothers, nephews, nieces and relatives.

Many things have changed here, and they have changed in the right direction.

Internet is fast and cheap. At 800 Rupees [$15] a month, you can get unlimited broadband internet access at home!

Mobile phone rates are dirt cheap. Connectivity and coverage are great. Almost everyone I know has a mobile phone!

Flash and flashier cars on the road these days!

Roads are better, but still, a lot of work is required.

The biggest bummer is the electricity supply. There is no electricity between 10AM to 4PM, forcing people to use inverters and generators!

Poverty is all too pervasive, with lack of industry everywhere except a few. It is basically a feudal society with farming as the backbone.

I travelled to Maihar, Madhya Pradesh to visit the famous temple of Goddess Sharda right on the top of the mountain. My nephews and nieces have been insisting on this visit for years.

We could have taken the train to Maihar but we chose the car for the convenience and control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maihar

Mahindra and Mahindra’s Scorpio Four Wheel Drive on 30th Dec, 2012 was comfortable and right for the journey. 220 Km distance each way was no problem. We enjoyed songs from latest Bollywood movies. Children knew which song was from which movie. Amazing!

Banda to Maihar distance should have been about 160 Km but our driver took us via an alternate route due to bad road condition on the regular pathway.

Arriving at Maihar at about 1PM, we had two choices for going to the temple. Either we go via the Gondola or negotiate about 1000 steps. We chose the former, for both efforts and time. There was a big crowd for Gondola too, but I have the feeling that my brothers were able to impress the Police and security that we deserved some sort of special treatment, hence a special entry to Gondola platform. I wonder whether my background as a Sydney medico worked here or was it money to grease the palms of people who were managing the Gondola!

On the top of the mountain, and at the temple, there was another crowd but this time we stayed in the crowd, taking about 1 hour before entering the temple itself.

We prayed, offered flowers and other things including Coco nuts before exiting the temple. We certainly prayed for health, peace and wellbeing of our family and friends.

It was cold but pleasant. We were full of devotion, enjoying devotional songs.

After being there for about 1 hour, we set out on our drive back to our home.

The roads in Bundelkhand from Maihar [MP] to Satna [MP] to Panna [MP] to Ajay Garh [MP] to Kartal [UP] to Naraini [UP] to Banda was fine except about 3 km stretch where work on the road was in progress.

I was pleased that I was able to visit this famous and historical temple which counts Alha, the brave Bundelkhand warrior, as its devotee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alha

Dr Yadu Singh/Bundelkhand, India/2nd Jan, 2013

November 29, 2012 by Yadu Singh

The best place to be born in is Switzerland. Australia is the next best!

The Economist Intelligence Unit [a sister concern of the The Economist] has published its research, outlining the relative positions of various countries in regards to the best place to be born in.

They used 11 criteria, some of which were subjective but many were objective.

Switzerland is the best place to be born in. Australia is the next best place with only 0.1 point behind Switzerland. Scandinavian counties follow Australia in the list.

India is 66th but Sri Lanka is ahead of India. Pakistan and Bangladesh are further down in the list.

Here is the list in 2012.

More details are here: http://www.economist.com/news/21566430-where-be-born-2013-lottery-life?fsrc=scn/tw/te/tr/thelotteryoflife

Australia is a great country with relatively less crime and higher quality of life. Medicare system, guaranteeing good medical treatment for all Australians, rule of law and relatively clean governance all contribute to this country being a great place to live, work and bring the family up.

It is the responsibility of all Australians to do everything to keep Australia stay as a great place!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/29th Nov, 2012

U.S.A. No Longer Best Place On Earth (forbes.com)
Top 10 Places To Be Born In 2013 (forbes.com)

November 13, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Wishing you a happy Diwali!

13th Nov, 2012,

Sydney, Australia

May this Diwali bring you and your family all the joy, success, health and wealth!

May there be Peace in the whole world!

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On This Diwali Lets pray to Almighty God for :

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Meaning:
1: Om, Lead us from Unreality (of Transitory Existence) to the Reality (of Self),
2: Lead us from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
3: Lead us from the Fear of Death to the Knowledge of Immortality.
4: Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

Brihadaranyaka, Upanishad 1.3.28

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Happy Diwali! Happy new year!!

From Dr Yadu Singh & family

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au.linkedin.com/in/dryadusingh

October 18, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Rajiv Gandhi Bust in UTS, Sydney!

I was privileged to take part in the ceremony this morning when the BUST of India’s former PM, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, was inaugurated in University of Technology, Sydney. The BUST was donated by Indian Council of Cultural Relations, [ICCR], Govt of India, New Delhi.

The gathering included Mr Arun Goel, Consul General of India in Sydney, Prof Ross Milbourne, VC of UTS, Prof William Purcell, Deputy VC of UTS, Neville Roach, Dr Daniel Chandran from UTS, myself and a few dozen more distinguished people.

Rajiv Gandhi was a popular PM of India, at least in the beginning of his rule. He had a lot of goodwill on his side when he took over as PM of India, after Mrs Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her security guards. He remains the youngest PM of India and his victory in 1984 election gave him the biggest majority in Indian Parliament.

He lost some of that goodwill when he passed a constitutional amendment to negate the verdict from Supreme Court in Shah Bano case. His name was dragged into Bofors scam too.

His decision to intervene in Sri Lankan civil war was also controversial. Indian Peace-keeping force suffered unnecessary loss of lives because the whole strategy was not well thought in the advance.

Unfortunately, the matters from IPKF disaster ware largely responsible for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi by a LTTE’s suicide bomber, which forced India to harden its stand against LTTE. LTTE later realized that killing of Rajiv Gandhi was their biggest blunder, from which they never recovered.

On the plus side, he brought Sam Pitroda back to India to start the telecommunication revolution, including Public Call offices [PCOs], thus making telephone facilities available even in remote area of India.

He acted to reduce the control of “licence Raj” which was giving too much power to bureaucracy, thus stifling the economy.

He also initiated the process of improvement in USA-India relations.

His doctrine for nuclear disarmament and his efforts against Apartheid were his other noteworthy things.

After his assassination, Congress Party formed the Govt with PV Narsimha Rao as the PM.

There is an increasing presence of Indian philosophy and thought in Australian Universities either in the form of BUSTs or Chairs. Mahatma Gandhi’s Bust is in UNSW where people assemble on Gandhi’s birthday, 2nd October and Rabindranath Tagore Bust is in Macquarie University in Sydney. University of Melbourne hosts Australia India Institute, which is chaired by Prof Amitabh Mattoo.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/18th October,2012

October 17, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Sachin Tendulkar’s Order of Australia: a brilliant piece of soft diplomacy!

English: Sachin Tendulkar at Adelaide Oval (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am happy to know that Australian PM, Julia Gillard, has announced an AM [Member of the Order of Australia] for Sachin Tendulkar, the only Cricketer who has scored 100+ centuries.

I also know that Indians in India and Australia are happy with this award. There should be no surprises there!

Sachin deserves it for the services to International Cricket, although there have been some comments in Australia against this award. Rob Oakeshott MP made his views known yesterday. He was in favour of Order of Australia reserved only for Australians and expressed that these awards should not be used for soft diplomacy.

Brian Lara, West Indian Cricketer received an Order of Australia in 2009 and Clive Lloyd received it earlier. Not only this, Indian Attorney General, Soli Sorabji, too received it in 2006. Many more international people have received such awards in the past. The sole criteria has been that they have helped relations between their countries and Australia.

Order of Australia: They are the top awards in Australia.

Knight or Dame of the Order of Australia (AK or AD – Civil division only – Closed to new appointments in 1986);
Companion of the Order of Australia (AC);
Officer of the Order of Australia (AO);
Member of the Order of Australia (AM); and
Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Sachin has been given an AM.

In case of Sachin, critics in Australia have mentioned that he has not done any thing of substance for Australia India relations and his role in “Monkeygate” scandal in 2008 was not that great. Initially, Sachin said that he did not hear what Harbhajan Singh said to Andrew Symonds but later on he said that Harbhajan had used some other word in Hindi, instead of dreaded/racist “Monkey” word for Symonds.

It is hard to know what happened but smart thing will be to put that saga behind us and move on.

I don’t think Sachin spoke one or another way either when Indian students’ issue was a hot item in 2009.

Having said that, Sachin is a gentleman and a great cricketer. His achievements in cricketing field are unmatched. Cricket fans love him all over the world including Australia.

The most important outcome from this award will be the image make over Australia will get in Indian minds, after it was distorted in 2009 due to saturation coverage of attacks on students. Even though most of the coverage, especially the racism bit, was exaggerated and hyped up, it did nevertheless cause a serious harm to Australia’s image in India and damaged Australian education business from India and other countries.

Order of Australia to Sachin is likely to reverse the “Feel bad” for Australia in India.

This, I believe, is a brilliant piece of diplomacy by Australian PM, Julia Gillard.

This may also be smart politics domestically too in regards to Indian Australians, knowing the numerical strength of the community in Australia. There are approx 400,000 Indian Australians [approx 2% of total population] with some constituencies having more than 10% voters from our community.

While there would be some who will be swayed for supporting ALP because of this, I doubt it will be a significant factor because most of us, just like general population, decide who to vote for, based on policies and agenda of the political parties.

Coming to the real issues, I am hoping that PM Gillard and Indian leadership will deal with the real issues of Trade, Investment, International Education, security in the region and Uranium sale in a pragmatic fashion and have a win win outcome for both countries.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/17th October,2012

http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/series/australia_india_forum.html

Tendulkar to be made member of Order of Australia (thehindu.com)
‘Soft diplomacy’: does Tendulkar deserve his Order of Australia? (theage.com.au)
Sachin Tendulkar to be awarded Order of Australia membership (sports.ndtv.com)

September 3, 2012 by Yadu Singh

INDAUS Inc is organising a reception in the honour of top visiting Indian writers in Sydney on 5th Sept, 2012!

Sydney’s Indian community is fortunate to have an opportunity to meet and interact with prominent writers from India who are visiting Sydney to take part in Australia-India Literatures International Forum, organised by University of Western Sydney and NSW Library.

Details:

Indian Australian Association of NSW Inc [INDAUS Inc]

Website: www.indaus.org.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/indaus.nsw]

has organised a reception to honour them on Wednesday, 5th Sept, 2012

7 PM

at Chutney Restaurant, Harris Park, NSW.

All except one [Girish Karnad] will be present in the reception.

Here is the brief info about 10 writers, 1 publisher and 1 literary consultant, who are visiting Sydney.

Gujarati: Prabodh Parikh is a poet, short fiction writer and visual artist. His book of poems, Kaunsman (Between Parentheses/In Brackets) published in 1993, represents thirty years of work in Gujarati literature, and won the Gujarati Sahitya Akademi Award and the G F Saraf Award for Best Gujarati Book. Other work include Mitro, Karan Vinana Loko, Priya Bhayani Saheb, and Kauns Bahar, a book of essays on philosophy and poetry. His work has been translated into Bengali, English, Hindi, Marathi and Punjabi.

Hindi: Uday Prakash is one of contemporary Hindi’s most important, original and audacious voices. He is an eminent scholar, prolific poet, essayist, journalist, translator and short story writer. Peelee Chhatri Wali Ladki (2001, The Girl with the Yellow Umbrella) is his best-known and longest continuous story. Other works include Ek Bhasha Hua Karti Hai (2009), Cheeni Baba (2008), Mohan Das (2006), Raat Mein Harmonium (1998), Abootar Kabootar (1984), Suno Karigara (1980), among others. His work has been translated into 10 languages, and in 2011, the University of Western Australia Press translated and published The Walls of Delhi. He is the recipient of the 2010 Sahitya Akademi Award and 2009 SAARC Literary Award, among numerous other honours.

Kannada: Girish Karnad rose as a prominent playwright in the 1960s and marked the coming of age of Modern Indian playwriting in Kannada. He is a recipient of the Jnanpith Award. He uses history, mythology and the fold theatre forms to address contemporary issues. Most of his plays, Yayati, Tughlaq, Hayavadana, Agni Mattu Male, Taledanda have been translated into English and several Indian languages. He has been conferred with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan Awards by the Government of India. His famous play, Nagamandala, had its world premiere at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapois while he was a Fulbright Playwright-in-Residence at the University of Chicago in 1987-88. He is a screenwriter, actor and director.

Khasi: Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih writes poems and short fiction in Khasi and English. He is the author of Around the Hearth: Khasi Legends , A Mid-Ager’s Tale, Time’s Barter: Haiku and Senryu and The Yearning of Seeds. He has co-edited Dancing Earth: An Anthology of Poetry from North East India. His awards include the first Veer Shankar Shah-Raghunath Shah National Award for Literature (2008) and the first North-East Poetry Award (2004). His latest book, The Great Unconventional Elegiac Tradition: A Study of Gray, Arnold, Rilke, the Welsh Hiraeth and the Poetry of the Khasi National Bard, Soso Tham, raises immediate questions about a tradition of lamentation and its place in the North-East, as also about aesthetics within a nationalist tradition. His work has been published in Wasafiri.

Malayalam: N S Madhavan is a leading writer of contemporary Malayalam literature. In a long career spanning major writer’s blocks, Madhavan has produced numerous novels, short stories, plays and football columns. His contribution to the short story form is considered unique and noteworthy. They include Chulaimedile Savangal (Corpses of Chulaimed), Higuita (judged best in 100 years of the Malayalam short story), Thiruth (Blue Pencil), Paryaya Kathakal (Stories about Names) and Nilavili (The Cry). His latest novel, Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal (Litanies of Dutch Battery 2003) was translated by Rajesh Rajmohan in 2011 and awarded the Hindu Literary Prize.

Marathi: Sharankumar Limbale is a dalit activist, writer, editor and critic. His recent autobiography, Akkarmashi (The Outcaste) reveals what it is like to grow up as an impoverished outcaste in modern India. His novel, Hindu (translated by Arun Prabha Mukherjee, Samya 2010) explores the contradictions within individuals and the plight of those who suffer injustice because of gender, physical disabilities as well as reasons other than caste. Towards and Aesthetic of Dalit Literature: History, Controversies and Considerations is his provocative and thoughtful account of the debates among dalit writers on how dalit literatures should be read, and is the first critical work by a dalit writer to appear in English.

North-East: Mamang Dai is a journalist, author and poet from the North East. Her works include River Poems, Arunachal Pradesh: The Hidden Land and Legends of Pensam. She won the 2003 Verrier Elwin Award from the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh and the 2011 Padma Shri from the Government of India.

Tamil: C S Lakshmi is a Tamil feminist writer and independent researcher in women’s studies. She writes under the pseudonym Ambai. In the 1990s, she worked on two research projects, Illustrated Social History of Women in Tamil Nadu funded by the Ford Foundation and An Idiom of Silence: An Oral History and Pictorial Study sponsored by the Homi J Bhabha Foundation. She is the founding Director of SPARROW (Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women) and a member of the University of Michigan’s Global Feminisms Project. Her Tamil books include Nandimalai Charalilae (1962), Andhi Malai (1967), Sirakal muriyum (1976), Veetin mulaiyil oru camiyalarai (1988), Kaatil Oru Maan (2000) and Varrum eriyin meengal (2007).

Telegu: Gogu Shyamala is a Dalit feminist and Telangana activist who writes captivating short stories about life in rural Andhra Pradesh. She regularly publishes in journals such as Bhumika, Prasthanam, Pratighatana, Mana Telangana, Praja Kala Mandali and Nigha. Her latest collection is Father May be an Elephant and Mother Only a Small Basket, But… (Navayana). She represented Anveshi and Dalit Women’s Forum in the World Conference against Racism held in Durban,2001. She is a member of the Anveshi Executive Committee. Shyamala is working on a project titled ‘Dalit Women’s Biographies’ (movement perspective of Dalit feminism) which aims to write biographies of Dalit women mainstream political leaders. This project is part of the Dalits and Minorities Initiative.

Urdu: Mahmood Farooqui: is a Delhi-based historian, writer and performer. After graduating from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge as a Rhodes scholar from India, he started his own theatre group called dastak. Over the last five years, he has been working to revive a lost form of story-telling in Urdu called dastangoi. His first book, Besieged: Voices from Delhi 1857 was published by Penguin in 2010. http://dastangoi.blogspot.com.au/

He was the script C0-writer and Co-director for Aamir Khan’s movie “Peepli Live”!

From the Publishing Side:

R Sivapriya is the Translation Editor with Penguin Books India, the most prominent literary publishing house in the Indian subcontinent.

Mita Kapuris the CEO of Siyahi, a Literary Consultancy, that liaises between writers and multilingual presses. She is also an Organising Member of the Jaipur Writer’s Festival.

Some explanations:

1. The Jnanpith Award is the highest literary honour conferred in India.

2. Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan are the highest civilian awards granted by the Government of India, for lifelong achievements.

3. The Sahitya Akademi is the Literature Academy of India and the Sahitya Akademi Awards are the most respected and prestigious literature awards in the country.

4. All of the writers mentioned below have their works available in English translation from reputable Indian publishing houses, some international too.

5. Dalit refers to the tribal, indigenous and aboriginal writers of India.

[With input from Dr Mridula Chakravorty, UWS]

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/3rd Sept, 2012

http://www.facebook.com/dradusingh

http://www.indaus.org.au

www.facebook.com/indaus.nsw

July 26, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Celebrating Indian Independence Day in Sydney on the Independence Day ie 15th August, 2012!

India celebrates its Independence Day on 15th August every year. It does not matter whether it is a weekday or weekend. 15th August is the day of celebration all over India and for all Indians, irrespective of where they live. It shouldn’t be different for us in Australia either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(India)

We are proud Australians, but we are also proud of our Indian heritage. People from our community have done very well in Australia. It makes us proud to see so many successful businessmen/women, lawyers, doctors, Bankers, teachers, Movie makers, CEOs, CFOs, accountants, builders, Entertainers, Cultural performers, Artists, IT professionals, Realtors, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs from our community doing so well in this great country. Three cheers for their success!

I was thrilled to read the latest Census report, telling us that there are approx. 400,000 people of Indian heritage in Australia. India is the number one source of migrants to Australia now. We are doing fine in many respects. The only thing we have not been that good is about our presence in politics. This will change soon. I was pleased to see so many among us contesting coming Council elections in September 2012. This is a good sign.

We have a significant clout but we are not marketing, exhibiting and utilizing it appropriately due to our bickering and differences. This needs to change.

Just to illustrate a point, I was invited to the Israel’s Independence Day celebration at a 5 Star Hotel in the city a few weeks ago. I was highly impressed with the crowd. NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell, about 10 ministers, Leader of Opposition [John Robertson], members of State shadow ministry, Top leaders from Federal Govt and Federal shadow ministry, along with Editors of national newspapers, media leaders and ethnic community leaders were present. Close to 40 MPs were there. Many Consul Generals, High commissioners and Ambassadors too were there. It was indeed a hugely impressive gathering.

Can we match it or do something similar? Yes, we can, if we work together.

We have started the process from this year. I hope great people of Indian heritage share our passion and join us in this. We ourselves have done some significant networking in the community. While some very important businesses and entities are on board for this event of ours and are supporting us wholeheartedly, we need support from others who are equally important. We are indeed thrilled with the support from Maya Da Dhaba, Sharma’s Kitchen, SHIAMAK DAVAR Group from Melbourne, Patel Brothers Group, Parravilla, Murli Bhojwani, Best & Less Travel, Go Kool, Tuli Jewellers, FIAV [Federation of Indian Association of Victoria] and many more, and we are likely to have many more on board soon. We also need to hear from you about our great achievers [and sometimes, silent achievers], who must be invited for an event like this. It is not just “my” function. It is indeed “our” function as a community.

Changing the usual style and going for a classy style, befitting the status of our community in Australia, this event [Indian Independence Day Celebration] is happening in the evening of 15th Aug, 2012. There is no ticket for it as it is an “INVITATION ONLY” event.

“Invitations” will be mailed out soon.

More details about us at www.indaus.org.au.

It is beyond doubt that there is a need for an effective and smart networking of our people for so many reasons. We need to start recognising “positives” among our people and not focus too much on the “negatives” as long as “positives” clearly outnumber “negatives”. We need this networking and understanding also for enhancing the reputation of our community. This is a no brainer.

Let the petty politics be buried and minor differences ignored. Let us move forward!

Let us come together and put up a wonderful celebration of Indian Independence Day right on Independence Day, ie 15th August!

Stay tuned!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/26th July, 2012

July 17, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Recommendations to take Australia India relations to a new height! Australia India Institute [AII] does a fantastic job!

Australia India Institute [AII], based at University of Melbourne and led by Amitabh Mattooo, has released its report, The Australia-India Institute – Beyond the Lost Decade. recommending steps, which, if implemented by both Govts, will take Australia India relations to a new height.

Here is the link for Report: http://www.aii.unimelb.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Beyond-the-Lost-Decadeweb.pdf

Here are the recommendations from this report. See the Link above for the detailed report.

The Australian government should, in partnership with the States, education and corporate sectors and civil society institutions:

• Undertake as an act of goodwill to extend the visas of Indian students who were in Australia on February 8, 2010, and whose pathways towards permanent residency in Australia were affected by changes to immigration regulations in that year. Such extensions or issuance of alternative categories of visa should be granted for at least 12 months from December 31, 2012.

• Extend the post-study work entitlement currently enjoyed by international students at universities to all TAFE institutes and reputable private colleges offering vocational training.

• Initiate the training of adequate numbers of school teachers in the Hindi language in preparation for its introduction into the Australian Curriculum as soon as practicable. State and Federal education ministers should agree to specify areas of the curriculum in which Indian content must be taught, including Indian history, geography and culture. Re-establish language training for Australian diplomats posted to India.

• Expand the study of contemporary India at Australian universities by providing initial funding for twenty B-level university teaching/research positions for the next five years, after which the universities fund the positions.

• Seek talks with India on granting visa-on-arrival travel for Australians and developing a special category visa for young Australians wishing to work in India. Initiate talks on new visa categories that cut red tape for visits by leadership figures such as university vice-chancellors and deans, Supreme Court judges, holders of national awards such as the Padma Bhushan and Order of Australia.

• Encourage the nomination of more foreign nationals, including Indians, for the Order of Australia awards, and more vigorously publicise foreign recipients by announcing them on the same day as national award winners each year.

• Benchmark and fund scholarships for Australian university students to study in Asian nations to a maximum of one per 100 international students studying in Australia in any given year.

• Double the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s paltry public diplomacy budget of $5 million, with the additional funds earmarked to raising awareness in India of exemplary initiatives such as the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund.

• Modernise Australia’s approach to international broadcasting, with Australia Network (TV) and Radio Australia taking on a larger role as content providers to Asian broadcasters. Australia Network to retain close links with DFAT but funding and editorial responsibility should rest with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

• Establish an Australia-India senior editors’ dialogue modelled on the Australia-Indonesia editors’ dialogue, with initial funding for four meetings, in New Delhi,

Sydney, Mumbai and Melbourne over a six-year period.

• Introduce an Australian education rating system for States that provide education services to international students, encouraging them to prevent and/or speedily

address problems that can damage Australia’s brand as an education provider by prioritising student safety, proper orientation, police liaison support, and the active

involvement of local ethnic communities as contact points for international students, including Indians.

• Invite representatives of regiments of Indian troops who fought at Gallipoli to be Australia’s guests at the 100th anniversary commemorations of the campaign in

2015, and invite expressions of interest from documentary film makers interested in producing feature films and documentaries about the shared experiences of Indian and Australian soldiers at Gallipoli.

• Establish a permanent naval attaché position in the Australian High Commission in New Delhi, in addition to the existing defence adviser position, which can continue to rotate between Army, Navy and Air Force personnel. Begin negotiations for joint training exercises between Indian and Australian Special Forces, as currently exist between India and the United States.

• Fund the Australia India Institute to develop an online ‘one-stop shop’ website providing reliable information on all aspects of trade, diplomatic, educational, people-to-people cultural relations.

• Increase support and funding of major travelling exhibitions on art, history, heritage and sport to and from Australia and India, including the Bowral-based International Cricket Hall of Fame’s effort to mount offshore exhibitions in India.

• Expand the growing range of Australia-India annual lectures, such as the Gandhi Oration and Crawford Lectures to all academic disciplines and civil society sectors, and name one such lecture in honour of the late esteemed India expert A.L. Basham.

• Encourage Australian political parties to pursue formal dialogues and party-to-party relationships between the main political parties in each country; increase interactions between Australian and Indian State and Federal parliamentarians via delegations, conferences and staff exchanges.

• Fund the Australian Institute of Criminology to undertake ongoing research into racism and crime, with an initial reference to inquire into the high profile incidents that impacted on relations with Indian in 2009-10.

•Fcilitate the entry of Australian Technical and Further Education Institutions to provide training in India and other countries on a not-for-profit basis.

• Offer India the use of Australian expertise in developing distance education and the virtual classroom.

• Create a web-based advertising campaign showcasing Indian students’ opinions on Australia as a place to study, live and work.

• Encourage Australian media organisations to revive regular staff exchanges with Indian media organisations.

• Enlist Tourism Australia to develop an India wedding package that will encourage Indian honeymooners to take their holidays here, and couples of any

background to wed in grand Indian style at selected locations across Australia, including the Outback.

The Taskforce also recommends that…

The Indian government should:

* Propose institutionalised regular Prime Ministerial visits between New Delhi and Canberra. Establish a young political leaders program between India and Australia.

* Establish a naval attaché position at the Indian high commission in Canberra and open an Indian consulate in Brisbane in recognition of India’s economic interests in Queensland.

* Expedite the proposed restructuring of the territorial divisions of the MEA and split the 26-nation Southern Division, hiving off part of its mandate to a newly constituted Indo-Pacific or Australasia Division that could include Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

* Explore potential for shared humanitarian assistance and technical capacity-building programs in third countries. Australia has an expansive humanitarian assistance and technical partnership program with several countries through AusAID. India’s new Development Partnership Administration (DPA) Division in the MEA seeks a similar institutional profile. They can combine and contribute financial, material or human resources for specific projects, perhaps for programs in less-developed states of the Commonwealth.

• Encourage the setting up of separate, track 2/track 1.5 taskforces and dialogues on Australia’s role in Indian energy and food security.

• Consider a policy of visa-on-arrival for citizens of Australia, which is currently available to citizens of New Zealand, among others.

• Encourage business associations such as the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and their member corporations to interact with their counterparts in Australia, and institute short-term work and exchange programs for young Australian and Indian professionals.

• Accepting that democracy is a common and cherished principle shared by both countries, encourage a track 2/track 1.5 taskforce dialogue on democratic capacity

building, to explore possibilities of providing institutional and technical cooperation, including human resource training, to newly emerging democracies in, for example, the Arab world.

• Encourage the Press Trust of India and Doordarshan to establish a stronger presence in Australia, with a more robust network of stringers or fully fledged correspondents.

I believe that both Governments should review them and implement the recommendations to improve the relations between Australia and India. Federal Govt should do the necessary things including approving the Uranium decision in the Cabinet.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/17th July 2012.

http://buzzdata.com/content/blog/best-city-contest-winner-press-release/

India’s perception of Australia improves (abc.net.au)
States should be ranked on student aid, says report (smh.com.au)
States should be ranked on student aid, says report (theage.com.au)

July 5, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Sydney, the 5th best city of the world and Hong Kong, the best city in 2012 survey!

Economist Intelligence Unit/BuzzData competition has declared the 2012 ranking of world cities recently [3rd July 2012].

The survey used a new, “spatial characteristics” category, which is comprised of seven new indicators: green space, sprawl, natural assets, cultural assets, connectivity, isolation, and pollution. This was given 25% of the Vote.

Using this new criterion and compiling the composite score, Hong Kong is now the number “one” city and Sydney, the 5th best city. Sydney is the only Australian city in the list. Hong Kong’s compact nature, network of green spaces and cultural assets helped it get the top spot.

Looking and comparing the list this year with previous years, Sydney has slipped from 2nd to 5th spot.

Toronto in Canada [8th rank] is the only North American city in the top ten in a new best city ranking. Washington DC is 14th.

No surprise there that 5 out of 10 best cities are European cities.

Sydney was noted to have low pollution and high greenery, but urban sprawl dragged its score down. In the years to come, Sydney’s rank could go down further as it is growing in the outskirts which is going to have a negative impact on its ranking.

Vancouver has gone down massively in the score.

Here is the list of top 20 best cities.

1. Hong Kong

2. Amsterdam

3. Osaka

4. Paris

5. Sydney

6. Stockholm

7. Berlin

8. Toronto

9. Munich

10. Tokyo

11. Rome

12. London

13. Madrid

14. Washington DC

15. Chicago

16. New York

17. LA

18. San Francisco

19. Boston

20. Seoul

Singapore was 22nd, Beijing 30th, Shanghai 33rd, KL 37th, New Delhi 46th, Bangkok 49th and Mumbai was 52nd out of 70 cities. Karachi was 65th and Dhaka, Lagos and Harare were at the bottom of the list.

I and Sydneysiders wouldn’t have any doubt anyway that we live in one of the best cities of the world. No city can match Sydney’s Opera House, Darling Harbour and its pristine beaches. Sydney is indeed a happening city and we love it!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/5th July, 2012

Hong Kong’s best (economist.com)
Hong Kong the best city in the world (news.com.au)
Sydney fifth most liveable city: index (news.com.au)

July 3, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Gold Coast City’s Goodwill ambassador to India:My views in Gold Coast Bulletin!

Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate, has chosen Aiysha Saagar as a Goodwill ambassador to India. Aiysha has a few topless pics which she posted in her website. This has created a controversy. Aiysha is of Indian heritage. She is hoping to be a Bollywood actor and lives in Mumbai as well as Gold Coast. The Gold Coast Bulletin published a column named, FaceOff, which covered it. I was asked to give my views. Here is the link. Faceoff-opinion-GCBulletin What do you think?

Faceoff-opinion-GCBulletin

Yadu Singh/Sydney/3rd July, 2012

June 23, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Census 2011:My comments in Australian Financial Review story!

Yadu Singh

Australian Financial Review

21st June, 2012

India tops migrant mix

By PIP FREEBAIRN

First they were British and Irish, then Greeks, Italian and Vietnamese, but now the fastest growing wave of migrants to Australia are Indians.

The 2011 census showed yesterday that the number of Indian migrants in Australia has doubled since five years earlier with around 150,000 new migrants arriving here.

The proportion of Australian residents born in India rose from0.7 per cent in 2006 to 1.4 per cent in 2011 as their number increased from 147,106 to 295,362.

Their growing contingent joins longer-standing migrants such as Yadu Singh, the president of Indian Australian Association of NSW. He came to Australia in 1991 to train as a cardiologist and enjoys the quality of life. He denies that Australia is perceived as racist and dangerous.

“Despite all the nonsense, Australia is a welcoming country and Indians know that. It was the Indian media that overreacted to the events a few years ago.

“Indian migrants know while there are a few [racists], the rules and regulation of this country are not in anyway racist.”

Dr Singh is referring to a series of incidents in Melbourne in which robberies and assaults on trains and in public places were perceived as being racially motivated.

Most Indians live in NSW, followed by Victoria, and most are located in capital cities. Melbourne had the highest proportion of Indian-born residents, at 2.7 per cent. But a regional bonus in the points test for permanent migration status means some Indian migrants are now branching out to Newcastle, Wollongong, and Bathurst.

Indian-born Australians are most likely to speak English at home, followed by Hindi and Punjabi, a language spoken in Northern India and regions of Pakistan.

The census reveals that the number of Punjabi speakers grew the fastest of any language in Australia – by 207 per cent between 2006 and 2011.

The growth of Hinduism has also matched the growth of Indian migration. While only 1.3 per cent of residents identify as Hindus, its numbers of adherents have almost doubled from 148,000 in 2006 to 275,534 in 2011.

Census director Andrew Henderson said the growth of Indian migration meant the Indian-born had overtaken Italian-born as those migrants moved into their second generation. “It is fundamentally shifting the cultural mix in Australia,” he said.

Australia and India share a number of cultural touchstones, not least widespread English usage in both nations and a legacy of common colonial histories. Cricket also binds the two nations, with Test matches that involve India in Sydney and Melbourne attracting large vocal crowds in support of the visiting team.

Indian permanent migration to Australia hit a monthly peak of almost 1800 in early 2008, before dipping to 680 in 2010 but has recovered to 1350 arrivals a month in early 2012.

Many Indians come to Australia not just for economic opportunity but to take advantage of the education system. Dr Singh said Indians who came to Australia tended to be young and highly educated and were often seeking further training in accounting, medical degrees, or nursing.

Indian-born Australians tend to be younger than the median age of the total population, 36 compared to 47.

Hass Dellal, the head of Australian Multicultural Foundation,which advises government, said the new wave of migration indicated that Australia was engaging more in the region.

“But we are not taking advantage of the opportunities it brings, economically or culturally. We need things such as languages in schools so that we can make the most of the advantages of our multicultural society.”

Snapshot of a nation: what the census reveals about us (theage.com.au)
Snapshot of a nation: what the census reveals about us (smh.com.au)
Land of many cultures, ancestries and faiths (theage.com.au)

June 21, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Australian Census 2011:what it says about India & Indians in Australia!

I was waiting for the latest Census 2011 data. This is out today. It has some very interesting information.

There are a total of 21,507,717 people in Australia.
26% people were born overseas and 20% had one parent born overseas.
Top 10 counties by birth of migrants include India at 4th spot [295400 people]. UK, NZ, China are higher.
People of Asian background by birth have moved up in proportion of people born overseas [33% in 2011 Vs 24% in 2001].
Before 2007, UK was the top source of migrants but India is the top source of migrants in 2007-11. India now contributes 13.1% of migrants [2007-11] compared to 12% from UK. Most of the top 10 countries from where migrants are arriving from are Asian countries.
47% of all Indians in Australia are Indians who have arrived in recent years [2007-11]. Corresponding numbers for Chinese is 35.
200,000 Indians have arrived in Australia between 2001-11. Corresponding numbers are 176,200 and 127,700 for Chinese and New Zealanders respectively.
98 males for 100 females in Australia but numbers skewed adversely for Nepalese [144 Males for 100 females], Afghanistani people [143 males for 100 females] and Pakistani people [143 males for 100 females].
390900 [2%] people have identified their ancestry as Indian ancestry, compared to 866000 [4%] for Chinese ancestry. This number may be an underestimate as some second and third generation people of Indian ancestry may have identified themselves as from “Australian ancestry”.
Among those who identified as of Indian ancestry, 61% were born in India, 20% in Australia and 19% in other countries.
Among those who identified their ancestry as Indian, only 12.9% had one more ancestry, compared to much higher proportions from other groups. This means that marriages outside Indian segment is much less common. One explanation is that Indian community is a newer community in Australia. It is likely to change in years/decades.
Indian ancestry numbers may be an underestimate as a section of Indian community ran a campaign before Census to identify themselves as “Punjabi” ancestry, not Indian ancestry.
61% people follow Christianity in 2011 compared to 68% in 2001 and 96% in 1911.
Non-Christian faiths have grown from 4.9% [900,000 people] to 7.2% [1.5 millions] between 2001 to 2011.
Buddhism is the commonest non-Christian religion [2.5%], followed by Islam [2.2%] and Hinduism [1.3%].
Hinduism had the fastest growth. It grew 189% between 2001 to 2011. 275000 people identify themselves as Hindu now. 275000 Hindus from a total of 391000 people with Indian heritage means Hindus constitute 70% of total number of Australians of Indian ancestry.
Growth of Islam and Buddhism have been 69% [476,300 people] and 48% [529000 people] in the last decade.
“No religion” category grew too from 15% to 22% between 2001 to 2011.
Over half [56%] people born overseas are Christian.
Hindi is one of the Top 10 language, other than English, spoken by people at home. 104900 people [0.5%] speak Hindi at Homes. Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese and Vietnamese are spoken by more Australians. Hindi is the only Indian language among the top 10 languages in Australia. Punjabi language is spoken by Punjabi sub-segment of Indian community significantly but I am not completely clear about the comparison between Hindi and Punjabi languages. There is some confusion about it. It is however safe to say that Hindi is the only Indian language in the Top 10 languages in Australia. I will study this data more carefully and will seek clarifications.
Among those who speak Hindi, 80.2% speak English very well.

My take is that increasing numbers of young and highly trained Indians are choosing to migrate to Australia. This is despite a negative campaign against Australia, which was run by a segment of Indian media in recent years. It proves that Australia is a fantastic place to live, work and settle. Indians have rejected Indian media’s campaign to create a false characterisation of Australia as a racist nation.

One could argue that India is losing so many well-trained young people but I doubt it is a relevant factor anymore. There is unemployment and under-employment in India, which is made much worse by perpetual, if not permanent, reservation system which reserves 50% jobs/training positions and even promotion opportunities to people who have been historically discriminated. India’s so-called loss is Australia’s gain. Australia should continue to attract and accept skilled migrants from all over the world.

Indian Australian community has grown significantly in recent years and will continue to grow in coming years. There is an urgent need to network this community [particularly newer migrants] for mentoring/guidance in regards to settlement issues and integration in the Australian community, and also pastoral care, when needed.

Indian community associations and leaders need to analyse how they can provide guidance to newer migrants, when such guidance and mentoring become necessary.

One does not need to be an Einstein to predict that Indian Australian community will achieve increasing importance in Australian politics. They will constitute significant proportions in many constituencies. I predict, and in fact hope, that some “good” people from amongst us will enter Australian Parliaments and Local Councils within next 5 years.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/21st June, 2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali

May 17, 2012 by Yadu Singh

USA brewer forced to rename “Kali Ma” beer!

I am sick and tired of people who use our religious symbols and pictures of our deities for commercial purposes, often inappropriately. Previously, Goddess Laxmi’s picture was used on a Bikini in Australia, which was withdrawn after protests. Someone used a picture of Goddess Kali in a night club in USA and even, Lord Ganesha was used for a sexual technique by a comedian in USA. Recently, Lord Ganesha was used in a satire in Australia, against which we ran a campaign. A Radio host in Sydney abused River Ganges for which we forced him to apologise last year.

If this was not enough, a brewery named, Burnside Brewery in Oregon, Portland, USA, used Goddess Kali in the promotion of its beer, calling it “Kali Ma” beer. The beer container even had the picture of Goddess Kali with 4 arms and severed heads of 3 men! It’s promotion used words like “Come worship the Black one, Kali, the ultimate reality of Brahma, this Tuesday”!

They have stopped this, only after, people protested against it vociferously. They will rename it shortly. They claimed to not know about the sentiments of the followers of Hinduism. How dumb were they? Did they expect that Hindus will “love” them for abusing our religion?

Goddess Kali, also called Ma Kali [Mother Kali] is a much revered deity of Hinduism and is worshipped by Hindus through India and overseas. I too worship “Ma Kali”.

Someone rightly asked whether any of such people would ever use the symbols/prophets of other religions in this manner.

On a separate but still relevant note, I also believe that India must ban the use of religious symbols, names or pictures of deities in any marketing material in India, where it is a common practice to use such symbols in anything from “Guthka” to Taxis!

Hindus are peace loving and tolerant people, but this does not mean they will tolerate such blatant and disrespectful use of pictures and symbols of deities of Hinduism.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/17th May, 2012

May 11, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Networking the community: Twitter or Facebook?

Image via CrunchBase

Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Networking the community: Twitter or Facebook?

**Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney, 11th May, 2012

Social networking is very hip these days. Facebook [FB], Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, YouTube, Tagg, Digg and many more are increasingly popular in the world. According to EBizmba.com [an industry source], Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have 750 million, 250 million and 110 million estimated unique monthly visitors respectively presently. They are obviously very

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

popular in Australia too.

Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Former PM Kevin Rudd, Malcolm Turnbull, and Premier Barry O’Farrell are all into it. Indian PM, Man Mohan Singh, Shashi Tharoor, Ministry of External Affairs [Govt of India] are heavily into Twitter. Celebrities like Deepak Chopra, Oprah Winfrey and even Dalai Lama are in it. It would not be wrong to say that almost anyone who is anybody in the world has Twitter and Facebook presence.

I am a keen and regular user of social media for some time for my community interactions. When Kyle Sandilands of 2DayFM made nasty comments against India and River Ganges, a Twitter “follower” sent me a link of the sound bites of his comments on my Twitter account. When Dept of Immigration & Citizenship [DIAC] had put an erroneous map of India [excluding Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh] in its website, someone sent me a link via Twitter. We ran a multi-pronged campaign, which included Twitter and Blog, on these matters, which were picked by other media, leading to successful result. Similarly, it was on my Twitter account that I received a response from Ministry of External Affairs [MEA], Govt of India, about who is our new Consul General of India in Sydney a few weeks ago, after I asked MEA about it via their Twitter account! The list of examples does not end here.

Many events and functions all over the world, including events from Indian Australian community, have a presence in the social media, and are indeed heavily promoted via social media.

With more than 150000 people of Indian heritage in NSW alone and more than 350000 Indian Australians all over the country, there would be obvious benefits in having a better and effective networking among us. Radio programmes, most of which operate on a weekly basis, have some reach but they do not reach everyone because of time and language factors. Monika Geet Mala [Voice of India, Sydney, 8 hours], and SBS Radio programmes on Saturday and Sunday mornings generally do a good but still a limited job for obvious reasons. 24/7 subscription-based Radio programmes have their own limitations. Similarly, Indian ethnic newspapers in English like Indian Link, The Indian, Indus Age, Indian Down Under and Navtarang do a good job too, but their reach is again limited. This reach can improve however with improved content, fewer advertisements [difficult proposition] and better periodicity. Newspapers in regional languages-Punjab Times, Gujarat Times and Tamil Osai, also do a good job for their exclusive audience. Despite this, it is known that ethnic Indian newspapers, even collectively, do not reach a big proportion of Indian Australian community. More needs to be done, and indeed, can be done, using social media, which can easily complement the conventional media.

People often say that Radio programmes and newspapers are the favourite of more established and older group of Indians but younger and newer Indians are not that much into them. They are definitely more into Social media. My anecdotal experience suggests that Facebook is their preferred tool currently. Facebook however has many limitations, including privacy settings, which prevent it from becoming a real tool for mass communication. Creating a page in Facebook or “liking” a site there may overcome it to some extent, but this is yet to happen in a big scale. To have someone as a “friend” in Facebook, a request needs to be sent and then accepted by the recipient of that request. Twitter, on the other hand, has no such limitation. Anyone can “follow” anyone and join the network of that person. Twitter has now become a common, and possibly a favoured, way for politicians, journalists and celebrities to “broadcast” what they want to say to the world. People can also reach out to such people whenever needed, and that too without any hassle. Twitter, unlike Facebook, does not restrict the number of “followers” a Twitter account can have. Many believe that Twitter and Facebook, indeed, have become parts of mainstream media.

My view is that we should get more into social media. This should provide a better and more effective networking among us, even if we leave aside the fun component of being in the social media. With increasing numbers in the younger segment of Indian Australian community, this is actually a necessity.

I will like to see most, if not all, of Indian Australians in Twitter and Facebook, communicating and networking effectively and smartly.

If a non-geek like me can join social media and use it effectively, anyone can do the same. It is not difficult at all to be on Twitter and/or Facebook or any other social medium.

Have you got a “Face” on FB and tweeted on Twitter yet?

**Dr Yadu Singh is a Sydney based Cardiologist who uses Social media-Twitter [www.twitter.com/dryadusingh], Facebook [www.facebook.com/dryadusingh] and Blog [www.yadusingh.wordpress.com] regularly and effectively.

May 4, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Ashton Kutcher Video, portraying “Raj” from Bollywood is funny, but not offensive!

Ashton Kutcher at Time 100 Gala (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ashton Kutcher’s funny video portraying “Raj” from Bollywood: http://youtu.be/DLdobzj_9_I Not sure what is the fuss about?

Above is my tweet on Ashton Kutcher’s funny video. It is quite hilarious, indeed. Do watch it.

There is quite a bit of fuss which some people have created about a video, in which Hollywood actor, Ashton Kutcher, portrayed “Raj” from Bollywood, with brown make-up, Sherwani , moustache, and accent. I thought he did try to look authetic as an “Indian”. It was all very funny.

I did not see anything offensive in it and not sure why people should take offence to it. Ashton was not abusing India, Indians, Indian beliefs, Indian culture or Indian religious practices.

Come on people, lighten up and learn to enjoy the funny side of life!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/04th May, 2012

Ashton Kutcher’s Bollywood-Skewering Ad Pulled After Racism Outcry (eonline.com)
Outcry Over ‘Racist’ Ashton Kutcher Advert (news.sky.com)
Ashton Kutcher’s Popchips video: how racist is it? (examiner.com)
Ashton Kutcher’s ‘Indian’ advert taken off-air (independent.co.uk)

March 31, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Rising above our differences and politics is a smart move for our community!

March 31, 2012

Indian Australian community is getting bigger in Australia. Some estimates suggest that there are about 150,000 people in NSW alone and the total population of Indian Australians will be over 350,000 in Australia. We will know the true picture only once Census data is made public.

It goes without saying that there would be more issues when we have more people. People and even Govt authorities have commented about the huge number of our associations, and also “leaders”, although it is also logical, but not mandatory, that there would be more associations, when there are more people.

We have multitude of events and functions, which is all fine. We do have a lot of fun. We are a fun loving community. Nothing wrong in it either.

More associations itself is not the issue in itself but unnecessary competition, differences for sake of differences, and hostility in certain cases is certainly a problem and is not desirable.

If it was not enough already, we have started an unhealthy trend at looking at and classifying people depending on their political persuasion. It has created its own problems. It is amusing to see Liberal and Labor politicians interacting and exchanging pleasantries with one another quite easily but people from our own community consider people from different political persuasion as enemies. This is childish, undesirable and unhelpful.

We need to, and in fact, can do better.

Indians generally do OK wherever they migrate to but they can do a lot better, as a community, if things are done in a bit better way. This is certainly true for political representation from our community in Australian political system. We need to keep the examples of USA, UK and Canada in our minds.

There can’t be any dispute that we need to be more organised. We need to be more united. We need to be more supportive to one another.

We need to start thinking on the lines of “what do we need as a community? What does our community need? and how can we get those results?”

We need to form a think Tank or an advocacy or a Lobby group, involving and including people who are capable, have the strength of character and a capacity to think, to advance our community agenda.

Since someone has to start this process, I am taking this initiative. I have already had some initial discussions with some such people.

I suggest that people with;

Leadership experience-present or near past
Vision
Capacity to think
Capacity to communicate effectively
Capacity to put community interests first
Understanding of moral and ethical behaviour
Understanding of conflict of interest
Flexibility to understand others’ point of view and adjust their own

meet, discuss and chalk out the strategy to advance the interests of our community.

To decide who to include in this group, I must emphasize that it does not matter what political thought process they have, or which linguistic, religious or regional background [from India] they come from. Their outlook must however be Indian-encompassing diverse backgrounds.

I am sending this musing to a smallish group of people in the beginning but the numbers may increase or decrease as we go along this path.

Somewhere along the way, some key Indian media people will also be involved in this process.

Let a new beginning succeed in this venture!

It certainly needs the blessing and support from us all.

I have no doubt that rising above our differences and politics is a smart move for our community and there are clearly lot more commonalities among us, in contrast to differences!

Let us work on our “positives”, rather than just focusing on our “negatives”!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/31^st March, 2012

www.twtter.com/dryadusingh

March 30, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Our Community work

5 June, 2020

I am an active part of my community and take part in its activities, either as an individual or as the leader of the team, in a meaningful way.

1. Community work in General:

leadership roles in Indian community Medical Associations and community organisations,
helping students in my district in India by visiting and giving scholarships etc.

2. My work as the coordinator of the Indian Consul General’s committee on students’ issues: Indian Consul General’s Community Committee on Students’ Issues, Sydney, NSW was formed at the Indian Consulate on 6th April 2009. It did intensive work and completed its task in a very efficient manner. After accomplishing its mandated task, it dissolved itself at the end of June 2009. The committee had Mr Harmohan [Harry] Walia, Mr Vish Viswanathan, Mrs Shubha Kumar, Mr Stanley D’Cruz and I was its coordinator. This committee had done following activities;

met students numerous times.
organized a students’ forum on 16th May at Strathfield.
co-organized a students’ forum with UIA in Strathfield on 6th June.
arranged help to a woman student who was a victim of domestic violence.
arranged help to 2 women students who were stalked by another Indian co-worker.
arranged meetings with minister of education, NSW and her senior advisers and students from an aviation school.
arranged a meeting with the president, NSW upper House [Mr Peter Primrose] and Ms Helen Westwood MLA and Flying school students.
arranged a meeting with a community minded lawyer and aviation school students.
met the visiting mother of a student of an aviation school. This lady’s husband had died only 4 weeks ago due to the serious stress involved in losing the money with the school in Sydney.
arranged and participated in TV coverage of students’ issues on Channel 7, 9, 10, SBS TV, ABC TV, and Bloomberg.
participated in the coverage of students’ issues on ABC radio, SBS radio, SBS Hindi radio, 2UE, JJJ, Indian Link radio, Radio UMANG, 2GB radio and SBS Kannada Radio.
arranged talk-backs on students’ issues on SBS radio and Radio UMANG [98.5MHZ, Fridays, 8-9 PM]. Radio Umang has ceased functioning now.
participated in coverage of students’ issues on SMH, The Australian, Daily Telegraph, other newspapers and AAP.
participated in the coverage of students’ issues on Indian newspapers in Australia [Indian Link, Indus Age, The Indian, The Indian Sub-Continent Times and Indian Down Under].
participated in the coverage of students’ issues on TimesNow, NDTV, CNN/IBN, Headlines Today, AajTak and other Indian TV Channels.
participated in the coverage of students’ issues on main Indian newspapers like Times of India and PTI.
assisted some top-grade Australian media programs like Four Corners from ABC, with wide audience in getting students’ issues covered.
arranged funds for the accommodation for the relatives Mr Rajesh Kumar [the petrol bomb victim from Harris Park] at the request from Indian Consulate.
met and networked with Commander Robert Redfern, Parramatta Local area Command of NSW Police several times for students’ issues.
counseled students to stop further processions after the ones in Harris Park streets.
participated in the community leaders’ meeting with chairman, Community Relations Commission [CRC] at CRC HQ.
participated in a CRC organized meeting with Indian students at Parramatta RSL.
participated in the community leaders’ meeting with the Premier, Mr Nathan Rees.
met Indian Consul General and Consul in regards to these matters several times.
discussed and formulated the strategy to solve the problems of our students.
submitted this strategy to the Consul General of India and NSW task force and other relevant authorities.
provided leadership in the matters relating to Indian students.
gave our after hours and week-ends for students’ work and provided pastoral care to the needy students.
provided/facilitated medical help to the needy students/their family members.
met the visiting Indian journalists at the Consulate.
raised our voice forcefully against the exploitation of Indian students by some Indian employers.
appealed to the Indian newspapers and Radio programs to ask questions from every leader [on students’ issues] about their involvement in any activity which created a conflict of interest in those matters.

3. My community work beyond/outside the Consul General’s committee on students:

helped the refund of more than $12000 to a student of a Flying school.
arranged free legal assistance to the students from this Flying school from solicitors/legal firms in Sydney and Canberra.
facilitated a good outcome between parties involving VETAB, Flying school and students. I was the mentor/support person of these students of the Flying school.
held several meetings involving VETAB Director and other authorities, the Flying school representatives and students in my office and VETAB offices.
worked and organized refunds/savings of $300000 [including waiving of about $50000 of the legal fees in regards to a legal proceedings in the Supreme Court where students had lost their case and costs were awarded against them] for the Flying school students from ESOS scheme with the help of VETAB, DEEWR and federal education dept. I was the key and the only Indian person in this work for these students. I did this as I felt it was my duty to help students from my community who were robbed of their money and were feeling powerless in Australian system.
helped payment of $2400 to a student which was originally denied by his employer in Western Sydney.
donated $500 to an Indian students’ students association.
arranged sponsorship of $1000 for foods, meeting hall and public liability insurance for a students’ association.
mentoring students for their careers and future in OZ.
donated $500 to Australia Hindi Indian Association’s [AHIA] seniors.
donated $500 to Fiji floods relief fund via International congress of Fiji Indians and organized $2000 donations from other doctors.
donated $500 to Sanatan Arya Pratinidhi Samaj, Shane Park, Sydney.
donated approx. $5000 for various needy/deserving causes involving victims of earthquakes, accidental deaths, injuries and illnesses.
helped several students including assault victims for their work comp, treatment and issues involving their parents.
liaised with NSW Police higher authorities and ensured actions in regards to the assaults of 2 Indians in Blacktown, Sydney.
advised/mentored several others in regards to the steps they needed to take when they were assaulted.
took leadership role on Indian Australian community matters in the media-Indian and Australia media [Chanel 9, SBS, NDTV, Indian ethnic newspapers].
helped Radio National in making a documentary on students [see details in this BLOG elsewhere].
helping community members from India and South Asia with a concessional fees structure. [a service worth more than $50000/year]. People from other communities, if they can’t afford specialist medical practitioner’s fees are also included.
tried to clean the community leadership and making them accountable.
exposed commission taking by some leaders of an Indian community association in Sydney.
took a leadership role against unfair portrayal of Australia as a Racist nation by Indian media with interviews and debates.
took part in “Is Australia a Racist nation” debate with David Penberthy [Ex Editor, Daily Telegraph] in Sunrise programme of Ch 7 in 2009.
mentoring medical doctors from India in regards to their training and registration issues.
helped a House Surgeon who was facing exclusion from the medical work due to her unfair treatment in a Sydney hospital and then worked actively with this young doctor and her supervisors including Hospital administrators to get her into the internship at a different hospital, thus leading to a successful outcome.
worked as a catalyst in resolving the issues between Indian consul General, Sydney and some Indian businessmen with a successful outcome in 2010.
took an active and a leading role in resolving the issues between Indus Age [after a controversial ad] and the community in 2010.
formed a community committee, Friends of International Students, www.fairgo4internationalstudents.org. against Visa Capping Bill in May 2010 and lobbied with the Govt ministers and Media against this Bill which was very harmful to the students. Worked actively for this committee, visiting community gatherings, temples and Gurdwaras to collect signatures against this Bill. We also met the Immigration minister, Mr Chris Evans, asking him to not proceed with this Bill.
spoke as the leading doctor in the Health Summit, organized by GOPIO, Sydney, educating/informing people on Health matters on 4th Dec, 2010.
helped a family locate their son [International student] http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/a-dumped-bike-a-glimpse-on-sydney-stations-cctv-what-happened-to-indian-student-abhijeet-20101006-166rs.html.
raised $7100 for Qld Flood relief on 28th Jan, 2011.
took up the matter involving HINDI in the Australian national draft curriculum-Languages and wrote to ACARA, in addition to supporting Australian Hindi Committee.
Organized India Day Fair, 7^th Aug, 2011, at Parramatta Park, Parramatta.
Organized Australia Day and Indian Republic Day celebrations in 2010, 2011 and 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Took part in “Clean Up Australia Day” events in Liverpool and Toongabbie many times.

4. Health Education Seminars for the Community:

First such Seminar with GOPIO in Dec, 2010.
Second such seminar in Dec, 2011.
Third such Seminar with GOPIO, 28th April, 2012.
Multiple Radio interviews and talk backs [Darpan Radio, SBS Hindi Radio, Dhanak Radio, Navtarang Radio, SBS Punjabi Radio] on Health matters.
Anchored Radio UMANG Health Show.

5. Sri Mandir Temple matter:

took up the issue of attacks on Sri Mandir temple, Auburn and brought it to the national media.
attended meetings with Police, along with temple committee members.

6. Australian Uranium to India Issue:

raised the issue of Australian Uranium sale to India during the Australia India Day celebration on 24th Jan, 2010 where several ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLC, and media people were present.
wrote an Opinion Piece on this issue in the prestigious Journal of Mining & Investment Australia.
wrote in Foreign Policy Research Centre [FPRC] Journal twice-one on India-Australia relations and 2^nd on India’s Look East Policy, advocating sale of Australian Uranium to India.
raised Uranium issue during Australia Day/Indian Republic Day event, in Jan, 201o and 2011, in presence of senior Australian politicians.
raised Uranium issue in India Day Fair, Parramatta on 7^th Aug, 2011, in presence of senior Australian politicians, including Ministers.

7. Incorrect Map of India in DIAC [Dept of Immigration and Citizenship], Australia website:

campaigned effectively for removal of an incorrect map of India [which had excluded Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir] in DIAC website and succeeded.

8. Kyle Sandilands & 2DayFM issue:

campaigned against insulting comments from Kyle Sandilands, 2DayFM and forced them to offer an apology for his comments against India and River Ganges.

9. Lord Ganesh Vs Third Reich play and Goddess Lakshmi picture on a Bikini matters:

campaigned along with others on these matters and made our concerns known assertively, via Blog, calls, Facebook and interview with The Age newspaper.

10. Community Relations Commission [CRC] Working Group on International students 2009-10:

participated as an active member of the working party with CRC on students including inputs for Z information card.

11. Diwali in NSW Parliament and CRC Deepavali Committee 2011-12:

successfully campaigned/lobbied with NSW to host Diwali celebration in NSW Parliament
Worked as a member of this committee to assist NSW Govt to host Deepavali in NSW Parliament-the only such Indian event.

12. Ministerial Consultative Committee for Indian Australian Community in NSW 2011-12:

NSW Minister Victor Dominello appointed me as one of the members and worked as a member of this committee to deal with issues relevant to Indian Australian community in NSW.
Contributed as an active member of the sub-committes [of this MCC] on Community service, communication, Trade & Investment, Immigration, Youth and new migrants

13. Worked with a team in The Hills Shire & raised >$22000 for Qld floods Victims in March, 2013.

14. Organised INDAUS FAIR, Sunday, 11th Aug, 2013, at Rosehill Race Course

15. Indian Independence Day Celebration on 15th Aug, 2012 at Parravilla, Parramatta:  Free [no cost to guests] event with performances from Shaimak Davar group, Melbourne.

16. Organised a Meet and greet event for visiting prominent writers and Mr Oscar Fernandes MP [Indian National Congress General Secretary] in 2012.

17. Australia Day & Indian Republic Day celebration on 27th Jan, 2013, Ryde Civic Centre, Ryde, NSW.

18. Parramasala working group with Lord Mayor, Parramatta Council-advising about what should be done to make Parramasala more vibrant and popular.

19. Ran a campaign to remove pictures of Hinduism deities from the label on Beer bottles from Brookvale Union brewery

20. Interacted with relevant people and agencies on Ms Monika Chetty’s tragic death in Sydney, including interviews with SMH, ABC news, Radio National Background Briefing, Channel 9 A Current Affairs and ABC 7.30 Report programmes.

21. Interviewed for emigration from Australia by Newes.com.au and SBS Radio.

22. Interviewed for an article on Indians in Taxi industry in Australia, perceptions and realities.

23. Interviewed by Radio National ABC on Hinduism religious affairs.

24. Organised (as part of the team) the Farewell to Consul General, Mr Arun Goel, 18th March, 2014, Harris Park.

25. Took up the matter against Federal Government’s repeal proposal of Sec 18C of Racial Discrimination Act via Blog, Social media and Indian and Australian newspapers like Hills News, Blacktown Sun, Penrith Gazette.

26. Helped a senior member of the community to get his OCI issues sorted out from the Consulate without unnecessary expenses and trouble.

27. Helped an Indian Intern doctor (Dr A. K) in regards to her issues with a Sydney Hospital.

28. Took up the matter of “upside down” display of India’s national flag during Master Chef Australia broadcast, and got it rectified by the concerned agencies.

29. Took the matter of Manjit Singh in regards to his issues for Passport and PCC with Indian Consulate General offices, Perth, Nov 2014, and achieved the successful outcome.

30. Took a leading role in Breast Cancer screening seminar with various agencies, Ermington Community Centre, Ermington, NSW, on Sunday, 16th Nov, 2014.

31. Took up the matter of inappropriate label, depicting Hinduism deities, on a Beer bottle, Jan 2015. See Sydney Morning Herald newspaper article (http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/new-controversy-brews-over-offensive-ginger-beer-brand-using-hindu-imagery-20150110-12kv0j.html)

32. Australia Day & Indian Republic Day celebration, Parravilla, Parramatta on 25th January, 2015

33. Included as one of 20 Goldmine leaders of Western Sydney by Daily Telegraph (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/competitions/fair-go-for-the-west-meet-the-goldmine-leaders/story-fngy6zqs-1226881501042?nk=58ed0c98bf8a436c82ec636e42b57043)

34. Co-organised a Health talk with AHIA on Prostate Cancer for the community, Pennant Hills Community Centre, Saturday, 11th April, 2015

35. Took up the matters with Parramatta Park Trust, Parramatta Council and other relevant authorities for a security review and addressing those concerns. Published in newspapers.

36. Took up the matter involving stereotypical comment from a Chanel 9 anchor in regards to Indians and 7-Eleven shops.

37. Organised INDIA DAY, a mega celebration of India’s Independence Day, Saturday, 15th August, 2015, Parade ground, Old King’s School, Parramatta, NSW.

38. Took up the matter involving gun shots firing at a business owned by an Indian Australian in Harris Park on 11th April, 2015.

39. Raised $23000 for “Help Nepal” campaign to help victims of devastating Earthquake in Nepal. https://yadusingh.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/proud-pleased-to-have-raised-23000-for-nepal-earthquake-victims/

40. spoke as an invited keynote speaker at University of Western Sydney event, Parravilla, Parramatta on 24th Nov, 2014.

41. Worked and arranged the rectification of incorrect Indian Map in a Western Union-Australia Post advertisement. https://yadusingh.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/western-union-proves-it-is-a-great-business-and-cares-for-the-feedback-from-people-and-customers/

42. Took up the matter with authorities when Billu’s Eatery was fired with gun shots in Aug, 2015.

43. Organized a Vigil for Prabha Arun Kumar on 7/3/16 at Parramatta Park, where she was murdered a year ago.

44. Organized a Meet and Greet event for a visiting ministerial delegation from Uttar Pradesh, India and the new Consul General of India, His Excellency Mr B. Vanlalvawna and his wife, Dr Rosy Vanlalvawna at Madison Function Centre, Dural, NSW on 1/4/16.

45. Organised INDIA DAY Fair to celebrate Indian Independence Day in Parramatta, NSW on Sunday, 14th August, 2016. More than 10,000 people attended the event.

46. Meet and greet the Hon Craig Laundy MP, Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Commonwealth of Australia, Harris Park, 13 May, 2016.

47. Took part in a discussion with Scott Matheson, South Asia Manager for Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) at DIBP offices in Parramatta on 18th May, 2016.

48. Organised a tea and interaction between Indian Australian community and visiting Indian journalists, in collaboration with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Harris Park, NSW, Saturday, 17 September, 2016

49. Organised Shadhanjali (Tribute) event for martyrs of Uri Terror attack, Dezire Function Centre, Blacktown, NSW, Sunday, 25th September, 2016

50. Participated in a Roundtable discussion, organised by Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Holiday Inn, Parramatta, Thursday, 27 October, 2016.

51. Campaigned for Hindi classes at the weekends at Consulate General of India, Sydney, and achieved a successful outcome.

52. Took up the visa matters for Mr MK and Mr DV with Indian Consulate in Sydney, and achieved a successful outcome.

53. Organised a tribute/Vigil for Manmeet Sharma “Alisher” at The Robyn Thomas Reserve, Parramatta, 2 November, 2016.

54. Attended a charity fund-raising Badminton tournament (for Westmead Children’s Hospital), organised by Basava Samithi, Glenfield, NSW, 23 October, 2016.

55. Attended a charity fund-raising Cricket tournament (for Westmead Children’s Hospital), organised by Basava Samithi, Glenfield, NSW, 6 November, 2016.

56. Organised Australia Day & Indian Republic Day celebration on Wednesday, 25 January, 2016.

57. Radio National profiled FIAN President, Dr Yadu Singh recently. https://www.facebook.com/radionational/videos/10154646233077378/

58. Acting as a key leader and working with multicultural community leaders for Keep NSW Safe campaign to get section 20d of Anti-Discrimination Act of NSW amended.

59. Invited to present my views for 18c of Racial Discrimination Act in front of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, I February, 2017 at NSW Parliament.

60. Federation of Indian Associations of NSW was one of the finalists for the Australia Day awards by the City of Parramatta Council on 26 January, 2017.

61. Invited as a guest to the welcome event for Prime Minister of Israel, His Excellency Benjamin Netanyahu, Central Synagogue, Bondi Junction, Sydney, 22 February, 2017. Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Ministers (John Howard and Tony Abbott), NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and many Ministers and MPs from both sides of politics were in attendance in this event.

62. Invited as a guest, representing Indian community, by AFL for a pre-match reception and the match between GWS Giants and Gold Coast SUNS teams at Spotless Stadium, Olympic Park, NSW, 1 April, 2016.

63. Invited as a representative of Indian community, for the welcome Reception for new NSW Minister for Multiculturalism, Ray Williams MP, NSW Parliament, 22 March, 2017.

64. Invited to participate in Israel’s 69th Independence Day celebration, Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, 2nd May, 2017

65. Organising 350th Birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh ji and Vaisakhi at NSW Parliament, 31st May, 2017.

66. Organised Wreath Laying Ceremony, working with Australian Indian Historical Society (AIHS), at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra for Pte Sarn Singh Johal and Pte Nain Singh Sailani at their 100th death anniversary, 10 June, 2017. They fought alongside Australian soldiers in WW1 and were killed in Europe on 10th June and 1 June 1917 respectively.

67. Organising INDIA DAY 2017 to celebrate Indian Independence Day, Saturday, 12 August, 2017, Parramatta Park, Parramatta.

68. Was interviewed by ABC 7.30 on Census data for Indian community on 27 June, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v1Dp5ebINk&sns=em

69. Invited as the guest of the NSW Government to attend Premier of NSW’s Multicultural Media Award, Sydney Olympic Park, 30 August, 2017.

70. Q and A with Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Alex Hawke MP, on 20th September, 2017, Madison Function Centre, Dural NSW

71. Appointed Community Ambassador for 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on 20 September, 2017.

72. Invited to meet Australian High Commissioner to India, Ms Harinder Sidhu, along with a few more community members, in Parramatta on 11 October, 2017.

73. Co-organised Dementia Forum at the Consulate General of India, Sydney on Friday, 27 October, 2017.

74. Christmas Drinks and Dinner for multi-faith Community leaders, Madison Function Centre, Dural, NSW, Tuesday, 12 December, 2017.

75. Co-organised Baisakhi and Sikh New year celebration at Ryde Civic Hall, Sunday, 8 April, 2018.

76. INDIA DAY 2018 FAIR, Saturday, 11 August, 2018, Parramatta Park, Parramatta (In progress).

77. Community Education Seminar Series: Diabetes Mellitus, Sunday, May 20, 2018, 2.15-4pm, Wentworthville Community Centre, Wentworthville, NSW

78. Community Education Seminar Series: Dementia, Sunday, 17 June, 2018, Epping Leisure Centre, Epping, NSW (Working with Hornsby Indian Seniors Group and Dementia Support Group for Indian Australians).

79. Community Education Seminar Series: Health & Wellbeing, The Lake Neighbourhood Centre, The Ponds NSW 2769 (Organised by Punjabi League of Australia)

80. Diwali Fair, Holroyd Gardens, Merrylands, NSW 2160, 28 October, 2018

81. FIAN participated in Cumberland Council’s Diwali celebration, Station Street, Wentworthville, NSW on Saturday, 17 November, 2018.

82. Community Education Seminar Series: Law & You, Sunday, 18 November, 2018, Holroyd Function Centre, Merrylands NSW 2160

83. Invited to the Australia Day Lunch, hosted by the Premier of NSW and NSW Australia Day Council in Internation Conventional Center, Darling Harbour, Sydney, Friday, 18 January 2019.

85. Invited to the Australia Day Reception, hosted by the Premier of NSW in Old Governor’s House, Parramatta, NSW, Saturday, 26 January 2019.

86. Invited to attend Parramasala Media launch on Friday, 15 February 2019 at Parramatta River Foreshore, Parramatta.

87. Organised a condolence meeting, in the memory of 44 CRPF Jawans in Kashmir, killed by Jaishe-e_mohammed terror group, at Dezire Function Centre, Blacktown NSW on Sunday, 17 February 2019.

88. Invited to, and attended, a Candlelight vigil organised by Indian Diaspora Council of Australia and International Fiji Girmit Association in the memory of 44 CRPF Jawans killed by Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group in India, in Liverpool NSW on 20 February 2019.

89. Invited to attend International Mother Language Day by Cumberland Council at Auburn Library on Thursday, 21 February 2019.

90. invited to, and attended, the Harmony Dinner, hosted by Premier of NSW at Rosehill Gardens, Rosehill NSW on Thursday, 28 February 2019.

91. Invited to a community leaders’ meeting with NSW Multicultural minister, Ray Williams MP, for an announcement of $400K funding of NSW Rigby League for sports’ promotion in multicultural communities at NSWRL HQ in Olympic Park Sydney on Tuesday, 5 March 2019.

92. Met the Immigration minister in Sydney on 7 March 2019 in regards to changes in visa matters. Previously, I submitted a report to Immigration Minister re issues our temples are facing while recruiting priests for the religious work. Pleased to know that suitable changes have been made.

93. Invited to a community leaders’ meeting with Multicultural minister, Ray Williams MP, for an announcement of $900K funding of festivals and events of the Indian Australian community in Parravilla Function Lounge on Saturday, 9 March 2019.

94. Organised Holi 2019: Festival of colours in Prince Alfred Square Park, Parramatta, NSW on Sunday, 10 March 2019.

95. Invited to the VIP reception for Parramasala at the Prince Alfred Square Park on Friday, 15 March 2019.

96. Attended Girmit Day and spoke at Ram Krishna Temple on 17/5/19.

97. Took part in a debate with Manbir Kohli on PM Modi’s victory in Indian election on Voice of India-Monika Geet Mala Radio on Sunday, 23/5/19.

98. Attended “Spreading a culture of peace”, organised by IPYG and spoke at the event in Centenary Square, Parramatta on 25/5/19.

99. Attended the welcome reception for new Multicultural Minister John Sidoti in NSW Parliament on 28/5/19. Premier of NSW was the chief guest.

100. Attend Chand Raat Eid festival, as their guest, in Rosehill Gardens, Rosehill, NSW on 4/6/19.

101. Attended Australia Telugu Samith’s “Telugus have Talent”evening on 9/6/19.

102. Attended a meeting with Indian seniors in Epping and organised attendance of Ms Li from Transport NSW to explain facilities for seniors on Sunday, 16/6/19.

103. Attended “An evening with Indra Nooyi”, former CEO of PepsiCo in ICC, Sydney on 18/6/19.

104. Took a stand on 19/6/19 for Hitender Kumar, a former employee of Consulate General of India in Sydney. Interviewed by SBS Punjabi and other news media.

105. Attended International Yoga Day in the Ponds, NSW on Sunday, 23/6/19. Organised by Art of Living group in Sydney.

106. Organised “Collaboration and dialogue” meeting for Indian Australian community associations/groups, involving 55 people, Wednesday, 3/7/19, Madison Function Centre, Dural, NSW.

107. FIAN team and I met the Hon John Sidoti MP, Minister for Sports, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans in his office on Thursday, 4/7/19.

108. Delivered a lecture on “Heart Health” for the community at Parramatta West Public School, Parramatta on Sunday, 7 July 2019

109. Organised INDIA DAY Fair, 11 August, 2019, Parramatta Park.

110. Organised many health seminars for the community in 2019.

111. Attended Premier’s Australia Day Reception, 26 Jan, 2020.

112. Organised support for Indian international students, March-June 2020

113. Organised support for stranded Indians in Australia, March-June 2020.

114. Lobbied with federal and state Governments for the support to international students, March-May 2020.

115. Took part in videoconferences with High Commission of India, Canberra, April to June 2020.

116. Took part in media campaigns to educate people for the prevention from COVID-19, Feb-June 2020.

117. Made many educational videos for COVID-19 prevention, Feb-June 2020.

Networking

fianinc1@gmail.com

http://www.Facebook.com/dryadusingh

http://www.Facebook.com/DoctorYaduSingh

LinkedIn http://au.linkedin.com/pub/yadu-singh/52/581/864

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/5 June 2020

March 22, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Community politics by Indian diplomats not acceptable!

I have been of double mind about writing this post for a while. I have raised this issue in Canberra on 17th Dec, 2011 when I participated in the meeting of Indian community leaders, organised by High Commission of India. High Commissioner of India in Canberra, Consul Generals of India in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth along with many other diplomatic staff and about 200 community leaders/media people were present in this meeting. I expressed my strong objections against politics by one Indian diplomat.

So, what is it that I am concerned about?

Guess no more. This is about community politics from one Indian Diplomat in regards to Uranium decision by ALP on 4th Dec, 2012 when ALP National Conference passed a motion to support sale of Uranium to India.

Many from Indian Australian community had raised the Uranium issue with political leaders. It includes various community groups including ourselves and many individuals. Uranium has been in the minds of Indian Australians. We all worked to get ALP reverse its policy to ban Uranium trade with India.

I wrote about it in the Blog posts http://tinyurl.com/7bytnbo, http://tinyurl.com/2eumejb, and http://tinyurl.com/8yawduc since 2009, unlike others who appeared in the scene only recently.

Despite all this, I believe Indian Australian community had only a minor role, if any, in this decision.

Few individuals, however, with the active support of a Member of Parliament from Western Sydney had tried to claim credit for this decision. This Western Sydney MP has many Indian Australian voters in the constituency and will need support from them in the election in 2013. This MP has been actively working on the plan to “promote” one of these two and a few more from the MP’s political party to be recognised as Indian community leaders for obvious reasons. I am neither against this MP nor such people generally but I have issues with “manufactured” or “parachuted” leadership of anyone by anyone.

Unfortunately, a senior Indian diplomat got involved in this politics too. I will explain it a bit later. A Link http://tinyurl.com/848v5b7 from an unknown Indian newspaper was sent to every one by an individual as a certificate of his claim that “he delivered Uranium to India”.

They were even credited to shape the foreign policy of Australia!

Even “Gandhi” connection was evoked indirectly, ignoring the fact that these gentlemen are just pushing the barrows for their political party!

This is of course totally ludicrous and laughable.

Talking about grandstanding, you can’t get a better example!

This claim is incorrect too. This question was directly asked from Prime Minister by a journalist from Indian Down Under newspaper recently. She did not confirm it at all. Please visit The Indian Down Under newspaper [www.indiadownunder.com.au ], edited by Nina Badhwar here http://tinyurl.com/7pa5rp7 page 9.

Australia decided to sell Uranium to India because of;

1. its national interest as it was not a smart policy to deny Uranium to India but sell it to China, thus damaging Australia-India relations when India has so much strategic importance in Asia Pacific region

2. active encouragement by USA-very important factor [confirmed by many MPs]

3. pressure and support from Australian Think Tanks and Press-Lowy Institute and The Australian newspaper

4. India’s impeccable nonproliferation records

5. Coalition parties [Liberal and National Parties] supporting such trade since 2007

It definitely was not due to a few individuals who are claiming to have “delivered Uranium to India”, just like Mahatma Gandhi delivered freedom to India!

Any such claim actually lowers the office of Prime Minister and must never be repeated or permitted.

I do not believe Indian community in Australia had a major role in it. This was the opinion of the top Indian diplomat in Canberra too. We all made noises at every available forum but still, it was not instrumental in this decision. I asked a few MPs and even Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson about it. They too were broadly in agreement with the points I had listed earlier. They laughed when I told them about the claims for credit by a few individuals from Indian community. They denied it was the case.

Indeed, we all did what we believed was our duty towards India, Australia and India-Australia relations. Taking Olympic motto, we all participated in it. We should be proud of that too. It would of course be wrong, inappropriate and unwarranted for anyone from our community to claim a sole or exclusive credit for it.

Out of sudden, all Indian ethnic newspapers in Sydney and others were sent a link http://tinyurl.com/848v5b7 from an unknown Indian newspaper “Express Buzz”, which is not linked at all with or a part of reputed Indian national newspaper, Indian Express. “Express Buzz” article quotes an anonymous senior Indian Diplomat in Australia, attributing credits to two Indians for Uranium decision. Ms Devirupa Mitra, who is of Bengali background, of Express Buzz online newspaper gave a clear indication of this diplomat being male, thus ruling out High commissioner, Mrs Sujatha Singh. I had a discussion with High Commissioner about it and know for sure that it was not her who was quoted in this article. I contacted Ms Devirupa Mitra in India and asked about the veracity of the claims and the identity of the diplomat but she declined to reveal the source. I sensed her feeling of being “used” in the politics. She encouraged me to write to her when I asked her to retract the article. I did not write to her but will be sending this post to her.

I have no doubt that this Indian diplomat “arranged” with Ms Devirupa Mitra for this story to be published in this paper. No other newspaper in India has published this type of story. This was an attempt to “manufacture” and “promote” leadership of “some” people in our community.

Some here in Sydney have mistaken “Express Buzz” for “Indian Express” newspaper, which of course is untrue. “Express Buzz” has no link with “Indian Express” newspaper. I hope, Indian newspapers in Sydney can check facts before printing factually incorrect stories, sent to them by interested people.

This senior Indian diplomat was so blind in his politicking that he ignored the work by anybody else. We have been raising Uranium matter for the last 4 years. I raised it in our Australia Day and Indian Republic Day function in 2010 where heaps of ALP and Liberal pollies were present. Senior Coalition leader, Joe Hockey, shadow treasurer declared the policy of Coalition to sell Uranium to India, putting ALP leaders on the spot light. This was the first such public announcement in our community functions. I urged ALP leaders to do the same as Coalition has done.We raised it in every function we organised and we raised it with every politician we met. I wrote Blog posts on it [see my Blog for details] and wrote an opinion piece http://tinyurl.com/6s7d7dx on pages 40-41 in Mining and Investment Australia Journal which is a reputed journal. I wrote two opinion pieces in FPRC Journal [Foreign Policy Research Centre, New Delhi, India], highlighting Uranium issue http://tinyurl.com/7dec8mu .

Many others have done their bits all over Australia. This was all ignored by this diplomat in his blind desire to promote and glorify his friends. There are many theories and possibilities about the reasons for this promotion.

Both the individuals, who this diplomat gave credits to, are members of Unions and are from ALP. I must clarify here that there is nothing wrong in being a member of any Union or ALP. That is not my concern as to which party they belong to, but I have serious issues when diplomats try to glorify them without any basis or truth, ignoring equal or superior claims for such accolade or credit for others. This is indeed wrong, unethical and dishonest.

Both these individuals are close to one Indian diplomat for various reasons.

Both these individuals are from Sydney.

So, my questions are;

1. Who is this senior Indian Diplomat?

2.Why is he playing this game?

3. Is it not political interference in our community?

4. Is he not playing politics in our community by “promoting”, glorifying and “propping” up two community members who are very close to him?

5. Is it not unwarranted, objectionable and offensive for a diplomat to play this type of politics?

6. What benefits he is getting? What is in it for him?

No Indian Diplomat is owning up these false claims, when challenged. And challenged they were quite forcefully, both privately and publicly!

So typical for Diplomats!

A little more info before you made your own mind as to who this senior Indian diplomat is. There are 4 senior Indian diplomats in Australia.

1. High Commissioner in Canberra, Mrs Sujatha Singh-Served for 4 years and had just left for the posting in Germany. She is not this “senior diplomat” quoted in the paper.

2. Consul General in Sydney, Mr Amit Dasgupta-here since 2009.

3. Consul General in Melbourne, Dr S K Behera-relatively new arrival in Australia.

4. Consul Gneral in Perth, Mr M. Subbarayudu-very new arrival in Australia.

I have spoken with many people from our community and they all have expressed their disgust with politics played by one of the senior Indian diplomats. This is not within the definition of the core jobs of Indian diplomats. They are to stay away from community politics. They should not promote or prop up any community member [s]. Just in case you are wondering, I must clarify that it is not an one off activity.

Indian diplomats must stay away from community politics, avoid playing favouritism game and conduct themselves in an impartial manner. If they are not careful, they risk harming the prestige of the position they occupy in Australia.

If not heeded, this might well lead to complaints to the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, Ministers in India and MPs in Indian Parliament.

After all, Indian diplomats are not the only who can do politics. We too know how to do politics!

Indian diplomats are here to represent Govt of India and help Indian Australians, when needed, but definitely not to do politics in our community!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/16th March, 2012

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/351-400.html

March 16, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Several Australian and Asian Universities, but none from India, in top 50 world ranking!

The latest ranking from The Times Higher Education World University ranking in 2012 places Harvard University at number 1, MIT at number 2, Cambridge at number 3 and Stanford at 4.

Melbourne University, Australian National University [ANU] and University of Sydney are in the top 50. Many more are further down in the list.

Image via Wikipedia

Indian Institute of Technology [IIT], Mumbai alone is in the top 400, while many universities from Asia-Japan, China, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea have been graded highly-many in top 100.

University of Tokyo is at 8, Kyoto University at 20, National University of Singapore at 23, Tsinghua University [China] at 30, Peking University at 38 and University of Hong Kong at 39 in the list are noteworthy for everyone. It is definitely a matter of pride for people of these countries.

No university from India is in the top 100.

Times Higher Education ranking is one of the reputed and recognised ranking systems of the world Universities.

India has many universities but they generally do not score highly in these lists. I do not know fully why this is so, but something needs to be done by Govt authorities. All facilities, proper auditing and good administration including high level of teaching must be ensured to make these universities provide quality education and be competitive in the world ranking. Collaboration with foreign universities should be allowed and foreign Universities should be encouraged to set up their branches in India.

India sends quite a large number of students [only China beats India in this] to overseas universities. By providing quality education in India-based universities which also have prestige attached to them, India can save a huge amount of foreign reserve too.

I know that many bills have either been passed or in the process of being passed in Indian Parliament to achieve this desired outcome. Indian policy makers have a massive job in their hands to ensure top class education to millions of India’s students.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/16th March, 2012

Asian universities challenge US-UK domination of rankings – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
World’s best universities ranked (blogs.nature.com)

March 5, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Multiculturalism in Australia: what it means to me

Australia is a great place where one can meet people from all backgrounds, cultures and religions. They can enjoy food from diverse backgrounds-Indian, Chinese, Italian, Sri Lankan, Thai and many more, including, of course, Australian.

People can and do enjoy festivals from diverse backgrounds. I myself have participated in events and festivals from Chinese, Philippines, Pakistani, Arabic and of course Indian backgrounds. I enjoyed Chinese Opera and a performance by Shen Yun cultural group immensely. I remember the “Nagar Kirtan” by Sikh community with fondness and enjoyed walking with the crowd from Circular Quay to Martin Place in Sydney. I also remember with fondness my participation in various Hindu religious festivals in either various temples and even in Darling Harbour. These events were organised without any disturbance or incidents.

Increasing number of people from diverse backgrounds take part in national activities. Only yesterday [4th March, 2012], I took part in “Clean Up Australia Day” activities with my friends from Basava and Tamil backgrounds, led by Basava Samithi [an Indian group] and Australian Tamil Association [another Indian group] respectively.

People can see movies and functions from various cultural backgrounds in the national TV. SBS TV helps us share diverse cultures and celebrations in so many ways.

It is such a fun living in Australia. Australia is a success story of multiculturalism.

I am therefore a strong proponent of multiculturalism in Australia. It benefits not only people from diverse backgrounds, but also Australia as a nation.

Australia is truly a multicultural nation. One in four Australian was born overseas and 44% of 22 million [9.68 million] Australians were either born overseas or one of their parents was born overseas. We speak 260 languages and identify with 270 ancestries. This is an amazing statistics!

With well more than 100000 people coming to Australia through migration programme every year, this will continue to benefit Australia for a long time. With growing numbers of aging population, migration programme is crucial for Australian economy as it provides skilled people which Australia needs for its economy and service sector

Multiculturalism has been in the news lately, specially after the certain events were reported from France and Europe generally. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel’s statement that multiculturalism has failed in Germany has been widely reported.

Despite this, I believe that multiculturalism in Australia is unique and is the right policy. European examples are not applicable to Australia.

Its importance can be judged by this little example. Previously, Dept of Immigration used to be called Department of Immigration and Multicultural affairs [DIMA] which later became Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous affairs [DIMIA]. It was later changed to Department of Immigration and Citizenship [DIAC] a few years ago and “Multicultural Affairs” was dropped. While Chris Bowen is still the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, I am pretty happy to note that the word “Multicultural Affairs” has been restored in so as Kate Lundy has the portfolio of Minister for Multicultural Affairs.

What does Multiculturalism mean?

It basically means;

1. Recognition and respect for cultural diversity of Australian people, within the overall framework of general Australian values.

2. Non-discriminatory Immigration policy which encourages people with the right mix of skills to migrate and then acquire citizenship with the pledge of loyalty to Australia and its people, uphold its laws and democracy and respect for our rights and liberties.

3. Non-discriminatory opportunities for everyone to achieve the best for themselves irrespective of race, gender, religion or other criterion.

It must be understood that Australian values will always be superior if there is any clash between the cultural practices, values and ideas and Australian values. Australian values of democracy, justice, equality, rule of law and tolerance will always remain supreme.

English will always be the national language with encouragement to learn it. Other languages including the languages which people identify as a part of their heritage will be encouraged but they will not be a substitute for English.

It is generally accepted that a full sense of belonging to any society or nation is achieved only if people are encouraged to participate, without any hindrance or discrimination. People who are encouraged to migrate can’t be treated as “guest workers”, with obstacle in their ways to prevent them from availing opportunities and participating meaningfully.

Despite some commentary in the media that some migrants want to change Australia, instead of adapting to the Australian values, I believe that it is generally an exaggerated account and and not true. An overwhelming majority of people, if not all, who come to Australia come here only because Australia is a better nation with better opportunities, and not to change Australia to suit their values or ideas.

Multiculturalism encourages participation which in turn promotes a sense of belonging. That, in turn, promotes a better citizenship, better society and of course, a better Nation, where “Take and Give” is accepted as a better and a noble notion, instead of “Take and Take”.

Everyone needs to contribute to the nation building to make Australia a better nation than it already is. That of course is only possible if their culture and heritage is valued, within the overall frame of Australian values, if opportunities are available without any discrimination, and if people are encouraged to achieve their best without any hindrance in doing so. Only then they will be able to contribute to the nation meaningfully.

Recognizing this, Australian Govt has constituted Australian Multicultural Council [AMC] with the mandate to advise the Govt for these matters, which, indeed, is a good step at the federal level.

At the state levels too, multiple steps have been taken to implement the policies in regards to multiculturalism. In NSW, Minister Victor Dominello [Minister for Citizenship, Communities and Aboriginal Affairs] and Community Relations Commission [Chairman and CEO, Stepan Kerkyasharian] have the overall responsibilities for policies in these matters. By constituting Ministerial Consultative Committees [MCC] for various multicultural communities to advise NSW Govt, Premier Barry O’Farrell and Minister Victor Dominello have done a commendable job in this direction.

There is a role for everyone, not just political leaders and People of Australia Ambassadors [appointed by federal Govt under AMC], to make Australia a better place than it already is. Community leaders and religious leaders have a big role in helping new migrants settle-in in the new society and integrate well within the broader Australian value system.

We all are stake holders in promoting the narrative of not only “successful Australia” but also “successful multicultural Australia”!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/5th March, 2012

March 4, 2012 by Yadu Singh

Participating in “Clean Up Australia Day” today was fun and a pleasure!

I enjoyed participating in “Clean Up Australia Day” today. It was a fun too.

In the morning, I joined up with my friends from Basava Samithi of Australia [an Indian group] in Collimore Park, Liverpool, NSW, where we, as a team, collected a lot of things. It was a pleasure to see the Council Truck coming and picking up things which we had collected. Dayanand Mogale [President of Basava Samithi], Panchaksaraiah Palya [Secretary of Basava Samithi] and Chidanand Puttarevanna were the key people in this group.

In the afternoon, I met up with friends from Australia Tamil Association [another Indian group] to participate in the activity at Best Road Reserve, Seven Hills, NSW.

We collected rubbish, broken TV, cups, bags, shopping trolleys, clothes, damaged fans and many more things. I was pleasantly surprised to know that Clean Up Australia organisation and local Councils provided gloves, and collection bags for the volunteers. Qantas also supported these events by donating Tea shirts and even small grants.

The prediction about weather was that it would rain but it turned out to be a bright and sunny morning, which, unfortunately, left an unwanted side effect. I had sun burn on my face, for which I was teased by my children. This also disproved my theory [without any basis] that brown-skinned people do not suffer sun burn. From now on, I will be better prepared!

Based on what we found there, I was sad to see the abuse of our environment by people. Obviously, we need to look after our environment and this Planet. This is a job for everyone and every day, not just for Clean Up Australia Day.

Basava Samithi and Australia Tamil Association [ATA] volunteers turned the events into “fun” events. At ATA event, Thiru Arumugam [President of ATA] and Susai Benjamin were also present. I was requested to give away certificates to the volunteers, which was a real honour and a matter of great pleasure.

I am more convinced now than before that there is a need for all of us to look after the nature and this planet.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/4th March, 2012

Clean Up Australia Day, 4 March 2012 (worldmarkspnews.com)

December 8, 2011 by Yadu Singh

Finally, Uranium trade with India has bipartisan support!

My article>>> Uranium-Bipartisan-article

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/8th Dec, 2011

www.Twitter.com/dryadusingh

www.facebook.com/dryadusingh

Australia ‘won’t sell uranium to Pakistan’ (news.smh.com.au)
Australia to sell uranium to India (news.xinhuanet.com)

November 15, 2011 by Yadu Singh

India’s Look East Policy:Australia is a perfect fit in it!

I was invited to write this article for the Journal from Foreign Policy Research Centre [FPRC], New Delhi. FPRC is a Think Tank on India’s Foreign Policy.

I have argued that Australia and India should develop the best of the best relations, and suggested how it can be achieved.

Link is here>>> LEP.FPRC.Journal See pages 200-206.

PS: Please note that ALP has passed a resolution in its national conference on Sunday, 4th Dec, 2011, reversing the ban on Uranium trade with India. Yadu Singh/6th Dec, 2011.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/15th Nov, 2011

dryadusingh@gmail.com

PM backs uranium for India (theage.com.au)
PM pushing for uranium sales to India (news.theage.com.au)
PM’s uranium move makes sense for her (theage.com.au)

October 25, 2011 by Yadu Singh

IIFA in Sydney: How, when and by whom?

Image via Wikipedia

IIFA Awards [The International Indian Film Academy Awards] are the most prestigious awards from Bollywood, the premier movie industry in India, and are presented every year by the International Indian Film Academy to recognise professionals and artists from Bollywood.

The first IIFA event was held in 2000. So far, they have been held in different countries around the world, details of which are as follows.

2000: Millennium Dome London, United Kingdom,

2001: Super Bowl Arena, Sun City, South Africa,

2002: Arena of Stars Genting, Highlands, Malaysia,

2003: Coca-Cola Dome, Johannesburg, South Africa,

2004: Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore,

2005: Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,

2006: Dubai International Convention Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates,

2007: Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield, United Kingdom,

2008: Siam Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand,

2009: The Venetian Macao, Macau, Macau,

2010: Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka,

2011: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada.

Social and economic benefits of hosting IIFA Awards are many. No wonders, there is a fierce competition among cities to host the event. IIFA reaches out to millions of viewers and fans across the world providing them with an opportunity to see legends of Bollywood together on one stage. Toronto IIFA event was reportedly watched by >600million viewers. The Academy’s main objective has been to develop and promote relationships between film industries and organizations across the world. The focus is on foreign exchange and interaction, creating a common forum and meeting ground for enhancing business opportunities, apart from showcasing Bollywood cinema.

To prove that the hosting city benefits greatly, here is the latest evidence. Government of Ontario invested US$ 12 million to host 2011 edition of IIFA at Toronto and believed to have gained direct economic impact of over US$ 100 million in tourism. The organisers felt the returns of holding IIFA far exceeded the expectations estimated by the Government of Ontario.

IIFA have never been held in Australia, but Melbourne is trying to host them. They have already started the process.

Sydney is truly a world city with plenty of attractions for the Bollywood artists and fans. After all, who can beat Opera House, pristine beaches like Bondi Beach, and Blue Mountain, along with Hunter Valley which is only a short distance away? NSW can rope in our cricketers too, knowing that some of them have a huge fan following in India. Sydney will beat any city, if it decided to bid for IIFA. NSW should definitely bid for it, as it is indeed going to bring heaps of tourists around the time of the event, and thereafter too, which should generate more than $200 million for the NSW economy. With the flow-on effect on the inward tourism from India, and with the improved image of Australia as a travel destination for Indians, this benefit may well cross 500 millions easily over the short to medium term. I know, I am not a NSW treasury official and can’t predict what the monetary outcome of this event would be for NSW, but one thing is certain that it would be beneficial to the economy.

If IIFA is held in Sydney, they will be the best ever (to match the best ever Olympics) and will help strengthen ties between India and Australia. Basically, there are many positives, and no negative.

Organisations of Indian Australians, and Indian Australians in NSW generally, can play a vital role by helping the NSW Govt in the bidding process. There are >150000 people of Indian heritage in Sydney [more if you add the fans of Bollywood from Asian and Middle Eastern backgrounds], who would be a potent force on behalf of NSW in attracting the event for Sydney.

My discussions with many prominent people have given me a clear impression that they would love to have IIFA in Sydney in the near future. To succeed in this however, the work has to start soon. It might be a bit late to bid for 2012, but we can start the process now for 2013 event or thereafter.

NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell is visiting India with a trade delegation next month. I think, it would be a perfect opportunity to initiate the process before the visit and follow it up during the visit.

I, for one, can’t wait to see IIFA event in our beautiful city, Sydney!

PS: I am not in favor of frauds and fake people, with no integrity and value system, getting anywhere near events like IIFA, because they will destroy the whole concept and the brand image. We all know that there are people who can con people to make money, and are very keen to promote themselves as event organizers. They operate with no principle and have no ethics.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/25^th October, 2011

dryadusingh@gmail.com

IIFA Toronto (fashionhogger.wordpress.com)
SRK rocks the IIFA floor despite of his knee injury (celebrityshahrukhkhan.wordpress.com)

October 18, 2011 by Yadu Singh

Finally, Amitabh Bachchan accepts the Honorary Doctorate from Queensland University of Technology!

Image via Wikipedia

We remember very well that Bollywood super star, Amitabh Bachchan had declined to accept the Honorary Doctorate from Queensland University of Technology [QUT] in 2009, when students’ unrest was at its peak in Australia. At that time, a segment of Indian media was running a campaign, calling each and every incident involving Indian students a racist attack.

Living in Australia, we knew that “racism” was not the sole motive or the reason for those attacks. We tried to counter the vicious campaign by Indian media but had only limited success.

Hearing about the news that Amitabh Ji had declined to accept the Doctorate, we made an appeal to him to visit Australia, accept the Doctorate, and see for himself that Australia is not a bad country, unlike the image Indian media had created. That did not work either.

See my previous Blog: https://yadusingh.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/amitabh-bachchan-ji-we-need-your-assistance/

We are pleased that he has now accepted the Doctorate and is travelling to Brisbane to receive it on 20th October, 2011. He is currently in Sydney, shooting for the Hollywood film, The Great Gatsby [directed by Baz Luhrmann], which also has Leonardo Di Caprio, Tobey Maguire and Joel Egerton in the starring roles.

Amitabh Ji, congrats for the honour!

I did not think he was right to reject that honour then, but there was nothing anybody could do, due to madness in Indian media. He has obviously analysed everything now, and agreed to accept the honour. Happy to see this happen, and say “Der Ayad Durust Ayad”! [देर आयद दुरुस्त आयद <===> BETTER LATE THAN NEVER].

Amit Ji, please enjoy your stay in Australia, and enjoy this beautiful country!

I am certain that you would find Australia a great place, and Australians to be friendly people.

You have a great number of fans in Sydney, who would love to meet you, before you return to India. Hope, you will find time to meet them.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/18th October, 2011

dryadusingh@gmail.com

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/julia-gillard-commissions-white-paper-to-look-at-ways-to-exploit-asian-boom/story-fn59nm2j-1226149322811

Amitabh Bachchan: The Living Legend (celebsee.wordpress.com)

September 28, 2011 by Yadu Singh

Yes, tapping into Asian boom is in Australia’s national interest!

Image via Wikipedia

Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has outlined in a speech in Asia Society today that Australia wants to tap into the booming economies of Asia, especially China, India and Indonesia. Australia’s raw materials, education and manufactured goods are in high demands in Asia. It is in the national interest of Australia to deal with Asian economies actively.

A white paper will be released by mid 2012, outlining various issues, risks, opportunities and benefits. Mr Ken Henry, ex-treasury secretary is the person who will do this job. This white paper will have detail of the short term initiatives [up to 5 years] and long term initiatives for a period up to 2025.

It is a no brainer for Australia to do so. In coming years and decades, Australian economy will get increasingly integrated with Asian economies. China, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Singapore and other nations from Asia are already our most important trading partners. This is going to increase more in the coming years. The booming economies in Asia have made people call it “Asian Century”, and indeed, it is a smart move for Australia to tap into these economies more actively and speedily.

There will be some political issues which may create some obstacle, but they can all be managed with varying degree of ease.

As far as India is concerned, there is one potential obstacle which comes to mind. Some have called it an unnecessary irritation. There are enough justifications for Australia to sell Uranium to India and earn goodwill with India. People who know this issue have all suggested that Uranium issue needs urgent attention, and sale agreed, to take the India-Australia relations to a much higher level. PM Gillard should not have any trouble in getting the relevant amendments of the existing Acts passed in the Parliament, because Coalition already supports Uranium trade to India.

In 2009, the bilateral trade between Australia and India was $20.87 billions. By now, it would have easily crossed $23 billions. With Uranium issue sorted, the bilateral trade can go to the top gear and easily double from the current value in a short to mid term.

To take the trade and relation at the higher level, it would be helpful to have an expertise in the national languages of these nations. In India’s case, there is a lot of points in favour of including India’s national language, HINDI, as a secondary language in the national curriculum. My previous Blog on Hindi is here. https://yadusingh.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/australian-national-draft-curriculum-for-second-tier-languageswhy-is-hindi-missing-from-it/

I am looking forward to this White Paper next year.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/28th Sept, 2011

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hindus-want-to-ban-play-that-has-ganesh-reclaim-swastika-from-germany-20110926-1ktkb.html

Govt commissions Asian white paper (news.theage.com.au)
Govt launches major review of Asian links (news.theage.com.au)

Govt launches major review of Asian links (news.theage.com.au)

September 27, 2011 by Yadu Singh

The Age newspaper reports on “Ganesh versus the third Reich” play in Melbourne festival.

Image via Wikipedia

Barney Zwartz, the Religion editor of The Age newspaper has reported on “Ganesh versus the third Reich” play being organised in Melbourne festival from 29th September, 2011.

See more details in my earlier posts.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/27th september, 2011

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anna-Hazare-to-fast-at-Ramlila-Maidan-from-tomorrow/articleshow/9645206.cms

August 18, 2011 by Yadu Singh

Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement gathers momentum in India!

Anna Hazare and his team members were arrested in the morning of 16th Aug, 2011. The reason for the arrests was their proposed protest by “Hunger strike” in a Park in New Delhi, which Govt of India did not want to let that happen. Delhi Police used the powers they have to stop the protest.

Anna Hazare was taken to Tihar Jail, where infamous politicians like Suresh Kalamadi of CWG scam and Mr A Raja of 2G spectrum scam are being kept.

This did not go well with the people of India. There were protests every where in India, and even overseas. The Govt of India saw the mass support for Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement and buckled under pressure. They agreed to release him in the evening, even though he was sent to the prison for 7 days, and also allowed the “Hunger strike” to go ahead in Delhi.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Who-is-Anna-Hazare/articleshow/9644794.cms

Anna Hazare and his team, including vast numbers of Indians, want Indian Parliament to pass a stringent anti-corrption Bill [Jan Lokpal Bill] to tackle rampant corruption in India. Govt of India, however, wants to pass a weaker Bill, excluding some of the people who, Anna Hazare & team [including Kiran Bedi, Shashi Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, Swami Agnivesh] want to be included in the Bill.

Corruption is a fact of life in India and it affects every one and every walk of life. It is a big menace. People are sick of it. It needs to be tackled effectively and immediately.

The concept of accountability has to be implemented. A strong anti-corruption Bill will go a long way in tackling this menace but it will not be sufficient unless accompanied by a persistent campaign via mass media and some changes in the education system. This would also need the provision of sufficient funds and personnel to allow the Jan LokPal to do its job in a timely manner.

Corruption can be controlled provided there is a will power in the system. The example of ICAC [Independent Commission Against Corruption, www.icac.nsw.gov.au ] in NSW is a good example.

There is a public movement in India and this is telling the Govt that people are sick of corruption. Govt should listen to the feelings and moods of the people and get on the business of eradicating corruption.

The current state of corruption is not tenable.

Anna Hazare is not just a name. It is in fact a name of a movement which has support from the masses. Govt has a choice to make. Listening to people and do something about is going to give the Govt some brawny points while ignoring or, worse, suppressing it is going to cause a lot of harm to them.

Anna Hazare movement is creating history. Just like Indians in India, I and my friends are supporting this movement. While we can’t do much sitting in Australia, we can definitely participate in this movement, and support this movement, by writing to the Consul Generals of India and High Commissioner of India in Australia.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/18th Aug, 2011

Anna Hazare agrees to leave jail to hold hunger strike (telegraph.co.uk)
VIDEO: Vigil for Hazare outside Delhi jail (bbc.co.uk)
Anna Hazare protests grow as Indian officials seek compromise (guardian.co.uk)
Indian activist wins right to fast in public – Washington Post (news.google.com)
India: Mass Support For ‘Fast To The Death’ (news.sky.com)
Supporters Gather Outside Jail Housing Indian Protest Leader (nytimes.com)

August 4, 2011 by Yadu Singh

Kyle Sandilands & India matter resolved.

Image via Wikipedia

I am pleased to report that Sydney’s 2Day FM Radio station and Kyle Sandilands have realised the mistake in their comments and issued an apology. This apology has been on air by Kyle, and in writing by Adam Lang, General Manager of 2day FM Radio station, who had sent a letter to me yesterday.

This is from what Kyle has said.

” I’m apologising….. anyone that’s Indian that listens to this show knows that I love Indians…. I don’t discriminate. I love everyone. I don’t care where they are, where they are from, what colour they are, I just made the mistake that the river which, to me, looks polluted, I said it was a junkyard and I did not realise it was holy.”

This is what Adam Lang said. ” In this instance, I hope that you feel that Kyle Sandilands and 2Day FM have taken full responsibility for the offence caused by remarks made. The offence was not intended but that consequence is absolutely accepted and we do sincerely apologise.”

I have heard the audio and it is good.

The Council of Indian Australians’ Press release is here. CIA_Press_Release_No12_2Day-FM-apologises

With this, the matter arising from Kyle’s comments has been resolved to our satisfaction. We are happy that it has been resolved so quickly. This chapter is now closed.

I urge Indian media in India and Indians all over the World to close this chapter too. There is no need for any campaign or protest anymore. Desi Kangaroos TV clip is here. http://youtu.be/LwIsrAaKilU

As I had said in my Sydney Morning Herald interview yesterday http://tinyurl.com/4xvkx2s , this matter was not between Australia and India. It was between Kyle and the listeners. It did affect Indians all over the world however. A lot of Indians were upset but some also agreed with him.

In Australia, just like India, press is free. Govt of Australia does not control press here, just like India. The protest by us and people every where else did work. This is a sign that media in a free country does listen to public opinion.

Let us take emotions out from this debate now. River Ganges is a Holy river in Hinduism. Accepting it as a Holy River is fine and true, but it is not enough. National Govt and State Governments in India have not done enough to stop pollution of this river or any other river. This is unpardonable. How can they allow so much waste going into this River in the cities along the course of Ganges?

Protests and campaigns are fine and justified, but they alone will not achieve results. There is a need to take real action to stop pollution of Ganges and recover it from the damage. Will that happen or will this outrage die out in a few days? Will people forget that the basic issue is that India has allowed Ganges and other rivers getting so polluted?

Let us take the message that India has a serious issue of pollution of its natural resources and let us accept that it is all man-made. All of us already know it and Kyle’s comments have only re-inforced this fact. We have been shown a mirror and the things were not pretty. That needs to change.

Although we do love to blame bureaucracy and political system for the problem of this nature, it remains a fact that we too are responsible for it. It is about time that we accept this fact and do something effective and fast.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/3rd Aug, 2011

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/kyle-sandilands-in-hot-water-with-hindus-over-junkyard-ganges-20110802-1i9ff.html

www.facebook/dryadusingh

August 2, 2011 by Yadu Singh

Sydney Morning Herald coverage of Kyle Sandilands’ comments!

Kyle Sandilands of 2Day FM made some anti-India comments. Sydney Morning Herald covered this matter. It was a balanced report.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/2nd Aug, 2011

July 26, 2011 by Yadu Singh

Nonsense about Australia from a Call Centre in India: My comments in A Current Affairs programme of Channel 9.

A call centre in Delhi was reported to be using offensive description for Australia & Australians, while training Call centre workers. See the report in Sunday Telegraph newspaper. http://t.co/g0hvK7C It has created quite a bit of furore which you can see from the comments section.

A Current Affairs [ACA] programme of Channel 9 Australia covered it too. It is here.

Aussies a bunch of backward drunks’ http://t.co/QrNLsw4 My comments are in this coverage from ACA.

The training of BPO workers, depicting Australians poorly is incorrect, offensive and objectionable. I do not agree with these ill-informed and uneducated comments.

We, Indian Australians, are Australians too. Australians of any heritage are neither dumb nor backward. Contrary to the claims from this Call Centre in New Delhi, people in Australia do not “drink constantly”. Australia is not a racist country either. There are racist people everywhere in the world. Neither Australia nor India is an exception. Fortunately, they are a small minority. Australia’s rules and regulations are not guided by race, religion or gender. Instead, Australia is a progressive and successful multicultural country.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/25th July, 2011

July 12, 2011 by Yadu Singh

OZ Uranium to India:my article in Mining & Technology Australia Journal.

Mining and Technology Australia asked me to write an article on OZ Uranium to India. This magazine is an Industry journal. It has now been published.

Link is here>> http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1sqpz/MiningampTechnologyA/resources/index.htm Page 40-41.

I am keen to hear from you about your views, points and counterpoints. I enclose this Radio interview about Uranium mining in Australia. http://radioadelaidebreakfast.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/in-focus-uranium-mining-business-and-trade-2/

Yadu Singh/Sydney/12th July, 2011

http://www.immi.gov.au/media/statistics/country-profiles/_pdf/india.pdf

Discuss uranium in Indian talks: oppn (news.theage.com.au)

June 13, 2011 by Yadu Singh

A wrong has been righted in DIAC India map matter. Thank you, Australian Govt!

I have a good news which I want to share with everyone who loves India and Australia, just as much as we do.

We raised the matter involving an incorrect map of India in DIAC [Dept of Immigration and citizenship] website.

See this post for details of this matter. http://tinyurl.com/3oxh9pg

We also wrote to Australian Foreign Affairs minister, Mr Kevin Rudd and Immigration minister, Mr Chris Bowen, under whose ministry, DIAC operates.

We also wrote to Indian High commissioner in Canberra and Consul General of India, Sydney.

Social media-Twitter and Facebook- were used to generate awareness. We do have access to Australian top political leaders via our social media outlets.

As this NDTV report suggests, the incorrect map is going to be removed from DIAC website. http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/no-j-k-arunachal-pradesh-in-oz-map-of-india-111792

Council of Indian Australians[ www.cia.org.au ] and myself are really proud of ourselves. We are also proud of our friends for being involved in this campaign. Genuine thanks are due to Australian Govt authorities for acting quickly in a matter which was causing a serious concern to Indian Australians, and [I guess] to India.

A wrong has been righted, and we are proud to be a part of the campaign to get it done.

Finally, this re-enforces my views that Australia is a great nation.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/13rd June, 2011

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

www.facebook.com/dryadusingh

June 9, 2011 by Yadu Singh

DIAC Australia has India’s incorrect map, which should be rectified!

I have been made aware of a map, which DIAC [Dept of Immigration and Citizenship] Australia has put in its website. It excludes Jammu & Kashmir [J&K] from Indian map. J&K appears to be shown as a part of Pakistan.

Even Arunachal Pradesh appears to be shown outside India.

See the Link here.

This is wrong and objectionable, and should be rectified.

Jammu & Kashmir is an integral, inseparable and inalienable part of India and will always remain so.

Let me remind those who do not know the relevant history. J&K became an inalienable part of India on 25th October, 1947 when King of J&K, Maharaja Hari Singh, signed the “Instrument of accession” with India. This Instrument was executed between India’s then Governor-General, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and Maharaja Hari Singh on 27th October, 1947. All rulers of States and Kingdoms in India were entitled to choose one of three options- join India, join Pakistan or remain independent-at the time of Indian independence in 1947.

J&K joined India in 1947.

Pakistan came into being on 14th Aug, 1947, and it celebrates its Independence day on 14th August.

India celebrates its Independence Day on 15th August.

Here is the Link for more details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu_and_Kashmir

Maharaja Hari Singh’s Kingdom of Jammu & Kashmir obviously joined India. The Maharaja made the correct choice. He was a smart King. J&K is part of the progressive, prosperous, secular, multicultural and democratic India.

India and Indians will never allow anyone to undo what was done by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1947. Terrorism and unrest supported from across the border will never succeed.

I also want to see that something serious is done to facilitate return of Kashmiri Pundits [KPs] back to Kashmir, from where they were forced to go into exile in other parts of India. KPs are living in exile in their own country. I and millions of Indians feel for the plight of KPs.

It would be helpful if relevant parties have a proper geographical and historical knowledge in these matters.

LOC [line of Control] in J&K, depicting what is happening on the ground, can be shown, just as UNDP Map does. Arunachal Pradesh is clearly an Indian territory and Governed by India.

My view is that DIAC India map is a genuine oversight, and can be fixed easily. I don’t think even for a minute that it has been done deliberately or done with malafide intension.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/09th June, 2011

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/indian-fury-at-hindu-goddess-on-skimpy-swimsuits-20110510-1egax.html?comments=383#comments

PS: DIAC had removed the map within days after this post. See the subsequent post in this Blog. Yadu Singh/25th Sept, 2011

May 10, 2011 by Yadu Singh

Picture of a Hindu deity, Goddess Lakshmi, on a swimsuit:offensive &unacceptable!

Picture from SMH newspaper

It is grossly offensive and totally unacceptable to see the picture of Hindu Goddess Lakshmi [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshmi ] on a swimsuit. I am a liberal Hindu but I do follow Hindu religious values. As a practising Hindu, I was undoubtedly angry when I saw it.

I am pleased that Lisa Burke, the maker of the Label, Lisa Blue, from Byron Bay, NSW has seen her folly, apologised for this mistake and has decided to withdraw the swimsuit from the production.

Reacting to the concerns from multiple sources, Lisa Blue issued a generic press release which is being copied below;

Important Press Release 7th May 2011
Hindi God Print Production Cancelled
Lisa Blue has been born out of a love of conservation, spirituality and a respect for all people. At no time would we ever have intended that the brand would cause offence. The use of images of Goddess Lakshmi was not in any way a measure of calculated risk taking, simply it was a desire to celebrate different cultures and share that through our brand.We would like to offer an apology to anyone we may have offended and advise that the image of Goddess Lakshmi will not appear on any piece of Lisa Blue swimwear for the new season, with a halt put on all production of the new range and pieces shown on the runway from last week removed. This range will never be available for sale in any stockists or retail outlets anywhere in the world.We apologise to the Hindu community and take this matter very seriously.”

That is the end of the matter, as far as this issue is concerned.

We need to recognise that this was a matter specific to Lisa Burke of Lisa Blue which she has dealt with effectively. It is not a matter between India and Australia, as some from India are trying to project. Things need to be seen in a proper perspective and context.

I am aware that many online commenters have justified the picture on that swimsuit, using the logic of “freedom of speech or expression”. I do not agree with it at all. No one has a right to hurt/insult the religious feelings and beliefs of millions of people. Using “freedom of speech or expression” in this matter is inappropriate.

I am dismayed that Hinduism is often at the receiving end in these matters. Not too long ago, someone used the pictures of our deities in some other offensive manners somewhere else in the world. We have not forgotten the stupid and offensive paintings of Hindu Goddesses by that cretin named MF Hussain in India. He claims to be a painter which is an insult to the word “painter”. I am yet to see him painting symbols of other religions in that offensive manner.

Hinduism is a peaceful religion and Hindus are generally peaceful people but that does not mean we have to accept people abusing our religion and religious beliefs. We have seen the behaviours of intolerant people towards our religion and religious symbols in India in the past but we are not going to allow that to be repeated anymore.

We don’t abuse others’ religions or religious beliefs and WILL not tolerate others abusing ours.

I am proud of the values and beliefs of Hinduism. Like other religious doctrines, it does have some weaknesses which should be worked on by our religious leaders but it is definitely a great religion, teaching compassion, love, non-violence, tolerance, inclusiveness, sacrifice, peace and the value of KARMA.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/10th May, 2011

Australian Fashion Week-Lisa Blue ‘Lakshmi’ Swimsuit Causes Outrage Among Hindus (PHOTOS, POLL) (rajcairnsreport.wordpress.com)
Lisa Blue takes down denigrating swimwear and apologizes after prompt protests (hindulinebengal.wordpress.com)
Lisa Blue ‘Lakshmi’ Swimsuit Causes Outrage Among Hindus (PHOTOS, POLL) (huffingtonpost.com)

December 31, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Wishing you and your family a very happy and successful new year!

See you in The Council of Indian Australians’ Australia Day & Indian Republic Day celebration on Friday, 28th Jan, 2011.

Details>> CIA-Public_Flyer_V2

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/31st Dec, 2010

www.cia.org.au

December 18, 2010 by Yadu Singh

The biggest Indian investment in Australia so far!

A Sydney-based good friend of mine provided me the news that a Hyderabad-based Indian Energy and Infrastructure giant, Lanco, has acquired Griffin’s coal mines for about $850 million a couple of days ago, after beating other bidders including Chinese. This is the biggest investment by an Indian company in Australia so far. This beats Adani Group’s investment of $500m on Linc Energy’s Galilee coal tenements in Queensland in August 2010.

I am very happy with this development because I want to see some serious investment by Indians in Australia and Australians in India. I want to see very deep relations between India and Australia. These relations need to be financial, political and strategic.

Lanco is a great business and its chairman Mr Lagadapati Madhusudan Rao is a respected business leader in India. They are a significant player in the Energy and Infrastructure sector in India. With what they are going to do in Western Australia where Griffin is based, Lanco will be a significant player in that state’s economy.

Lanco will be developing a Port and rail facilities in Banbury in South Western region of WA which will help them in linking Coal mines in Collie to Bunburry. They will guarantee jobs of about 400 people who are working with Griffin. Lanco has outlined their plan to triple if not more, the output of coal within a short term. They want to go from the current 4 million tonnes output to 15 million tonnes which will obviously provide employment to many more Western Australians. Griffin’s Administrator, KordaMentha, doesn’t see any problem in getting the approval for this business transaction from the creditors and the Foreign Investment Review Board. They must be thrilled as the business was sold for $850 Million rather than expected $700 Million. Secured creditors will get 100% of their money. This is a good news in itself.

Lanco will get a boost in its business because it is going to approve the supply contract which the Griffin’s administrator is finalizing with Perdaman Chemicals [Coal to Urea] plants and this will be for about 2.8 million tonnes. Lanco will not have any problem in selling the remaining Coal as it plans to export Coal to power-hungry Indian Energy businesses. Lanco itself is in that business. Additionally, Lanco may also bid for Griffin’s boss Ric Stowe’s Bluewaters Power Stations along with bidders from USA and China and Japan.

I congratulate Lanco for investing in Australia and becoming a big player in Western Australian economy. I must also congratulate my good friend, Gautam Sharma, and his hard working colleagues, for assisting Lanco in acquiring Griffin. For those who don’t know Gautam, he is originally from Andhra Pradesh, India. He studied in IT in Bangalore followed by UTS, Sydney. He has done a lot for Indian students. We have been in regular contact ever since and he played a big role in our Australia Day and Indian Republic Day celebration on 24th Jan, 2010. Like me and my close friends, he loves India and Australia equally and takes the good values from both.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/18th Dec, 2010

Lanco Infratech Buys Australian Thermal Coal Mine (panasianbiz.com)
India’s Lanco buys Australian thermal coal mine (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Linc Energy soars as coal asset suitor seeks $850 mln (reuters.com)

December 7, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Parliamentary friends of India: a good initiative in NSW.

It is a welcome initiative by NSW Govt to set up a Parliamentary friends of India in NSW. See the press release 101124 parliamentary friends of india[1] from NSW Premier, The Hon Kristina Keneally.

Dr Andrew Mcdonald, Member of Parliament from Macquarie Fields is the co-convenor. Andrew is well known in the Indian Australian community. I am sure, he will do a good job as a co-convenor. Who is the other co-convenor is not known prersently.

Indian Australian community is growing in numbers in NSW. It is appropriate that there is a better-qualitatively and quantitatively, interaction and engagement between the community and the Parliament. Our community does have a good interaction and relation with the NSW Govt and the opposition. Govt ministers and shadow ministers attend our functions regularly but it should extend to the Parliament too. I would even argue that major parties should consider one or two candidates from Indian Australians for the candidature in the state and federal elections.

Parliamentary friends of India is obviously a bipartisan group. It is crucial that the opposition and other parties in the NSW Parliament are involved in every stage of its formation. Premier’s press release is short on the details. It mentions that she has written to Mr Barry O’Farrell, seeking bipartisan support but there is no info about his response or support. To be effective, this body should have full participation and support from all sides in the Parliament. To do anything else may attract the criticism that politics is being played for the obvious reasons. The idea and the plan must be agreed by all sides in the NSW Parliament to make it effective.

My friends and I appreciate one thing more, specially. It is called “Parliamentary Friends of India“, not “Parliamentary friends of Indian sub-continent”. I agree with this approach. It is an appropriate decision, too.

We also appreciate that Premier Keneally has announced the establishment of Premier’s Indian Subcontinent Community Awards.

This is a good idea too but it would have been preferrable if it was called “Premier’s Indian Community Awards”, rather than bringing subcontinent word in it. There is a precedent in this matter. NSW already has a system of “Premier’s Chinese community service awards”.

Indian subcontinent is not a political entity. It is a geographical entity which is often not acceptable to some countries in India’s neighbourhood who do not want to put Indian word before subcontinent. In USA, where there are millions of people of Indian heritage and many from other countries from the Indian sub-continent, Indian community is accepted and recognised as Indian community, not as a part of Indian sub-continent community. It would not work if done any other way.

India and people from Indian heritage have a glorious history. India’s economic growth and contemporary conduct in the world affairs is something the whole world is proud of. India is a class of its own. India should be accepted for being India. Indians should be accepted for being Indians. “Indian” is our identity and we are proud of it. Lumping India and Indians in “Indian subcontinent” identity is not right and not acceptable. For any patriotic Indian and for those who are aware of the histrory and story of this great land called India, any identity for us other than “Indian” is not going to be acceptable. I am an Indian, not “subcontinental” or “Indian subcontinental”. My friends agree with me on this. I reject the attempt by some [who don’t understand what India is about because they were not born in India or don’t have the real touch with India] to redefine our identity.

Here, I don’t believe it would be out of place to point out that people should always remember that it is Indian Subcontinent, not just subcontinent before they set up anything for Indian sub-continent. People need to know the geography, history and politics involving Indian subcontinent.

While NSW Premier has done the right thing by putting “Indian” before “sub-continent”, it remains to be seen whether others in politics will follow her example and do the right thing by putting “Indian” before “subcontinent” in the name of their group?

Yadu Singh/Sydney/7th Dec, 2010

November 14, 2010 by Yadu Singh

National organisation of Indian Australians is the need of the hour!

Australia has a substantial numbers of people of Indian heritage. It is approximately >250000. With students from India, this goes above >350000. It is going to increase as Indians have formed a good chunk of the total Australian immigrants over the last several years.

One of the things we have seen lately is the fact that there are Indian functions almost every weekend. In Sydney alone, we have had 6 Diwali functions including a big Diwali fair in Parramatta stadium. This Hindu Council of Australia fair was impressive and the biggest fair for/by Indian community. This is great.

With increased numbers, problems faced by some of us have also increased. It is expected. There are some issues however which appear to be more pertinent for our community. Students’ issues is one such example. There is a large number of ex-students who are in a bridging visa and are in fact in a limbo as the processing of their applications has not been progressing.

Negative portrayal of Australia by Indian media last year was often hysterical and imbalanced. This was not fair. Issues were there but the manner of coverage was not right. There were heaps of leaders issuing a variety of views which were often conflicting. One leader had a habit of calling every incident as a racist incident without even waiting for full evidence. This type of reporting has a potential to create a backlash against Indian Australian community. I am not denying that there were serious issues in regards to Indian students and Indian media, in fact, helped bring them to fore-front but exaggerated and imbalanced coverage in many cases and overuse of racism word was not helpful. A segment of Indian media literally branded Australia to be a racist country without bothering to check the basis or the facts for that claim.

With the issues created by some students ie documentary frauds, contract marriages and crimes committed by them, the reputation and image of Indian community has had a significant hit. This needs to be tackled too. We have to live and work here and our community can’t afford to have a negative image. Our image of a community of educated people with a relatively much less crime needs to be restored and enhanced.

There are several issues which our community must deal with. Helping new arrivals by mentoring is one of the things which we will need to do as a community. Helping new arrivals to integrate well is a very important mentoring job. Domestic violence and exploitation of our people, often by our own people, must be tackled.

There are issues between Australia and India. The classical one is about the sale of Australian Uranium to India which current Gov does not want to do. We obviously want to see that happen. Non-signatory status of India for NPT has no significance after India was given the India-specific NSG exemption last year with an active support from Australia. India also has a clean record on nuclear non-proliferation.

There are obviously several issues and I have mentioned only a few.

When educated Indian Australians with vision talk about the community issues, they do talk about the need for a national body which can take up the issues which have a national significance for the community. While doing so, they also talk about the mushrooming of “community leaders” every where, many of whom do not have an idea of conflict of interest. Many such “leaders” do not have the pre-requisite for the leadership role. Such national body must be able to work in a co-operative fashion with Indian/Australian Gov agencies including Indian consulates and the High Commission, and business-focused bodies such as AIBC.

We need genuine associations of Indian Australians which can tackle the problems of the community in a genuine way. These associations need to be pan-Indian in outlook and should not have a linguistic or regional outlook, focusing on the language spoken at home or the place of origin in India as the basis for the organisation.

We really have far too many associations and far too many “leaders”. Leaders of all associations must move on after serving for a maximum of two years. It is not a good idea for these “leaders” to use associations as a place for retirement activities. It is totally ridiculous to see “leaders” who are in their late 70s or 80s when they are clearly unable to grasp the situation and needs of our community. Respecting our seniors is one thing [and I too respect them] but that does not mean that we have to put up with their inefficient or inappropriate leadership. Issues of Year 2010 need leaders who can understand them and can do something about them. Our elder leaders [late 70s and 80s], if they have a burning desire to do community work, can do a great job by being the mentors and guides for the younger leaders. Their experience can be invaluable.

All such organisations must work in a transparent fashion. Indian ethnic media needs to do their genuine job to ensure that associations and leaders are doing the right job. Forming alliances with associations/leaders is not a good idea. This is a problem area.

We really need genuine leaders for our community and such leaders must be those who have;

vision and credibility
capacity to lead
ability to communicate with Gov authorities and people
ability to network and communicate with media
integrity
capacity to understand “conflict of interest” and practise it
capacity to follow the principles of transparency and accountability
capacity to lead by examples ie can be role models

Being “leaders” for photo ops and doing Melas [Fairs] only is not going to help! Taking commissions for their “leadership” is an absolute NO.

Some discussions are going on in these regards and an outcome is expected soon, hopefully.

One must not forget that we have literally hundreds if not thousands of “associations” most of which are essentially pocket associations of our “leaders”. We can see how/why associations-based federation[association of association] at the national level will be a failure from the day one. It should therefore be an organisation based on individual membership, taken from the people who fulfill criterion explained above.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/14th Nov, 2010

September 1, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Mahatma Gandhi in University of NSW [UNSW], Sydney:a proud moment for India and Indian Australians.

I was a witness to a great and proud moment which happened in University of New South Wales [UNSW], Sydney today. NSW Minister, The Hon Eric Roozendaal MLC, UNSW VC, Professor Frederick G Hilmer AO, and Indian Consul General, Mr Amit Dasgupta inaugurated a bust of Mahatma Gandhi. It is situated in the grounds in front of the UNSW library. Speeches were made on the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings. He was described as a man of peace, non-violence and wisdom. Two quotes which I liked most go like “An eye for an eye will render the world blind” and “Be the change you want to see in the world”.

In a grand yet simple ceremony, three students from Indian community were also awarded for their achievements in UNSW.

I remember vividly that Mr Gambhir Watts of Bhavan Australia has been working on a project to get Gandhi Ji’s statue in Sydney for a while but this project achieved a significant momentum after our energetic and “can do” Consul General, Mr Dasgupta joined the Indian Consulate in march last year. Thanks and gratitude is owed to both these gentlemen. Mr Dasgupta has indeed made us proud.

CG spoke about his visit to UNSW last year when Indian students’ issues were at its peak. He had a very productive discussion with UNSW. It was then that a decision was made to install The Gandhi bust in UNSW. CG had also donated hundreds of books on Mahatma Gandhi and India to UNSW library as gifts from India and people of India. CG, Mr Dasgupta was praised for his work in this regards.

Apart from the Minister, CG and UNSW VC, this ceremony was also attended by other UNSW officials, Gambhir Watts, AIBC chairman [Mr Dipen Rughani], Harry Walia, Abbas Alvi, Nihal Agar, Rohitas Batta, Aruna Chandrala, Raj Datta, Neville Roach, Mrs Roach, Mala Mehta, N Saha, myself and many others.

Media was represented by Pawan Luthra [Indian Link], Aparna Vats [Voice of India] and Harmohan Walia [Hindi Gaurav].

It was a very pleasant atmosphere with beautiful music, drinks and finger food which were served after the inauguration.

This venue should become an important place for occasions like Gandhi Jayanti [Birth day celebration] on 2nd October. Inauguration of Gandhi Ji’s Bust should remind people about the principles and achievements of this great soul. It should also remind people that results can be achieved without violence, a message the whole world needs to listen more often today than any other time.

I can’t describe how proud I was today.

Jai Ho!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/1st Sept, 2010

http://khabar.ibnlive.in.com/news/35809/2

July 13, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Australia-India relations and the issues of Indian students:IBN Live documentary [Hindi]

Smita Sharma, a senior journalist from IBN Live channel was in Australia recently. She has made this comprehensive documentary. She did a good job and covered the issues of Indian students in Australia and sought the comments of Indian Australians who have been here for a long period. Ravi Bhatia of AIBC, Vasan Srinivasan of FIAV, Anupam Sharma and myself were interviewed for this documentary. She managed to speak with some actors from a Bollywood movie on this topic [a Mahesh Bhatt movie which was being shot in Australia at that time] too with the help from Anupam Sharma.

It is in HINDI. It is in multiple segments.

It is a very balanced documentary. It is definitely worth a watch.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/13rd July, 2009

July 6, 2010 by Yadu Singh

John Howard should be renominated for ICC vice president from Oceania.

I am outraged with the stupid comments in a section of Indian media in regards to Mr John Howard’s nomination as the Vice President from Oceania.

TimesNow’s Arnab Goswami and this pompous character named Suhel Seth are on it again. They just love doing “Australia-bashing”. “Australia is a racist society” is their Mantra. Their coverage on students’ issue was pathetic, imbalanced and hysterical. I believe quite strongly that they are themselves racist against Australia.

Why are they not using their brain, if they have it, to analyse an issue objectively. Australia is not a racist nation and its laws do not discriminate people based on race, gender or religion. I agree with Bishan Singh Bedi who disagreed with these two jokers and asked people to see things in a proper perspective and with objectivity.

Here is a link of one of the reporting on this matter.

http://australianetworknews.com/stories/201007/2942781.htm?desktop

Racism is everywhere. India is no exception. Australia is no exception either. Australia is indeed a successful multi-cultural country.

Guys, racism is bad and abominable but reverse racism is no better. I hope people can understand this fact.

People, please see this ICC and John Howard issue with a proper perspective. ICC position of VP is given by rotation. No election takes place for this position. VP becomes the President in 2 years. This year, it was the turn of Oceania to nominate its candidate. Oceania [Australia and NZ] nominated Mr Howard as its candidate. Cricket Australia and NZ Cricket had a vigorous selection process and the outcome was Mr Howard as their joint candidate.

ICC board really has no option but to accept a candidate who was recommended by the region whose turn it was to do so.

There is no doubt that it is India which is playing games on this matter. Sharad Pawar, the current president does not want a strong personality as the VP. That is the bottom line here. This is the reason why they have rejected Mr Howard’s nomination as the VP and asked Oceania to renominate a candidate by 31st Aug.

Yes, India generates 70% of the money for ICC but it is not proper for any one to shred any organisation into pieces just because some one can do it. ICC must stop bringing more disgrace and shame to itself.

It is entirely appropriate for Australian PM, Julia Gillard and NZ PM, John Key, to come out openly in support of their common candidate, Mr Howard for ICC VP position.

John Howard is Oceania’s candidate. He is my candidate. He should be our candidate.

It’s about time that ICC bullies are confronted assertively. Australia and NZ will do so by renominating him.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/6th July, 2010

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/howard-dismissed-by-a-low-full-toss-20100630-zmtk.html
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/howard-veto-may-force-icc-change-20100701-zqpd.html

July 2, 2010 by Yadu Singh

John Howard is a perfect candidate for ICC.

ICC is in news again. Unfortunately, it is so for the wrong reasons. In its recent executive committee meeting in Singapore, they have rejected the candidature of Mr John Howard as its Vice President. If he became the Vice president, he would have become its President in 2 years.

This is a wrong decision and is creating a wrong precedent.

John Howard is an eminent person and is one of the world leaders. He is of course the ex PM of Australia.

ICC has a tradition and protocol. This has been agreed by ICC. There is no need to disregard that protocol. ICC has a rotational system for Vice President who later becomes President.

The protocol is about who gets a turn to nominate its candidate for Vice President. This year, it was Oceania’s turn. Australia and NZ [Oceania] had a robust selection process and Mr Howard was the winner of that process.

I believe that ICC members should respect that process and approve Mr Howard as its Vice President. To reject his candidature is wrong and is in breach of the protocol. It is establishing a wrong precedent. Don’t forget that ICC had not advanced any reason for their decision while rejecting Mr Howard’s candidature. Not good, at all!

Mr Howard was a great Prime Minister of Australia and ran the Gov for 11 years. His personal integrity is beyond question. I didn’t agree with every thing his Gov did but it is irrelevant. What he did as the OZ PM is not of any relevance to ICC. He is now retired. His views on Mr Mugabe are not wrong. I do not agree with what was done by his Gov to Dr Haneef but again, it is not relevant. Again, even though it is irrelevant for this discussion, he was lot more pro-India , at least in the later part of his Gov, than one would like to accept. It was he who decided to sell Uranium to India. It was he who decided to strengthen strategic relations with India. Both of these policies were later reversed by the ALP Gov led by Mr Kevin Rudd.

The issue is about his competence to run ICC as VP initially with Mr Sharad Pawar as the president and later as President when Mr Pawar finished his term. There is no doubt that he would be a great candidate for both roles.

The second issue is whether it was the turn of Oceania to nominate its candidate for VP and whether there is a protocol to accept the nominee from the region whose turn it was currently. The answers to both questions are in affirmative.

I also believe that Mr Howard would be a great VP/President as he would do cleansing and bring transparency in that body. ICC needs it.

I am pleased that PM Julia Gillard is supporting Mr Howard. I believe that Australia and NZ should stand with Mr Howard and not allow the nonsense from the ICC delegates from Africa and Asia to succeed. Oceania should not endorse any one else as that would embolden the architects of the nonsense in ICC.

Give Mr Howard a “Fair Go”!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/2nd July, 2010

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Canada-mum-Indo-Canadians-blame-anti-India-bureaucracy/articleshow/5983969.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Canada-deeply-regrets-visa-row-with-India/articleshow/5984517.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Canada-bars-Lt-Gen-over-JK-record/articleshow/5978905.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India-proud-of-armed-forces-address-visa-issue-Krishna-to-Canada/articleshow/5982053.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Visa-row-India-to-retaliate-if-Canada-does-not-respond/articleshow/5981300.cms
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/canada-deeply-regrets-visa-row-with-india/624893/

May 28, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Canadian High Commission in New Delhi:Why is it behaving in an anti-India manner?

Recent reports on the comments made by Visa officers in Canadian High Commission in New Delhi while rejecting Visa to Indians from security agencies like Police, Border Security Force [BSF], intelligence Bureau [IB] and Army are grossly objectionable. Visa officers have branded Indian security agencies as human right violators and made grossly offensive comments. Their comments were for the whole agencies, not for a specific individual. One must note that there is no court decision against these security officers, proving them the criminals or violators of human rights. In the eyes of Canadian High Commission, they were criminals as they were from Indian security agencies and worked in border areas like Jammu & Kashmir. They were therefore not suitable for a Canadian Visa. What a ridiculous and stupid argument! Which planet are the Canadian High Commission officials living in?

Here are some of the links.

Indian security agencies have to deal with insurgents from inside and outside. They do a very difficult job in very difficult circumstances. They work within the boundary of rules and are under the overall direction of the civilian Govt of India which is a democratic country. Indian army and other security agencies are highly disciplined forces, not like some private renegade militia.

While issuing Visa is a prerogative of Canada but making objectionable comments is simply unacceptable. Security officers do a difficult job anywhere and Indians are no exception. By no count, they can be equated with criminals.

Canadian High Commission in new Delhi should be openly reminded that the conduct of the security agencies of some of the western countries is appalling. Abu Gharib prison in Iraq is just one example. Will they refuse Visa or entry permits to USA security officials? Will they go against those who went in Iraq on the pretext of WMD with hardly any evidence and caused severe damage and suffering to people? I am definite that the answers to these questions will be in negative.

Canadian Visa officers’ behaviour is indicative of their double standards and a peculiar western mindset which allows a holier than thou and patronising attitude towards Asian countries in general and India in particular.

Today, Canadian minister for Immigration & citizenship, Jason Kenney, has expressed “deep regrets” for these comments and has said that Canada has high regards for Indian security agencies. Minister Kenney says [from TOI] that “The government of Canada… deeply regrets the recent incident in which letters drafted by public service officials during routine visa refusals to Indian nationals cast false aspersions on the legitimacy of work carried out by Indian defence and security institutions, which operate under the framework of democratic processes and the rule of law.” It is nice to hear this from Minister Kenney but is Canada going to reverse its refusal to issue Visa to these security officers?

With what Minister Kenney said, one wonders about who these visa officers are accountable to? Whose policies are they following? How can they make these comments?

I must admit that I found these comments deeply offensive. I am glad that Indian Home affairs secretary raised these matters with Ministry of External Affairs [MEA] which has taken this up with Canadian High Commission. Reports from India state that Canadian High commissioner was summoned to MEA twice during last week.

My view is that the relevant visa officers must be re-trained, reprimanded or better withdrawn from India. India and Indians must not tolerate their arrogant, disrespectful and unwarranted comments.

India is proud of its security agencies and we must not allow any one to cast aspersion on their work.

If Canada does not reverse its actions, India should refuse Visa to Canada’s security officers.

Enough is enough!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/28th May, 2010

http://www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

May 17, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Australia’s new Skilled Occupations list [SOL] for immigration:Changes which were overdue!

Senator Chris Evans, Minister of Immigration of Australia has announced the new Skilled Occupations list [SOL] today.

It has excluded cookery, hair-dressing, community welfare and other low value trades/skills from this list but it does have doctors, Engineers, nurses, teachers, construction workers, IT professionals and accountants among others. I liked this list and support it fully. I spoke on this matter today and here are the links.

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2901431.htm

http://player.sbs.com.au/naca/#/naca/wna/Latest/playlist/Skilled-migrant-list-to-shrink/

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/new-list-of-occupations.pdf

As we all know, Australia’s international education is [or at least, it has been until recently] a significant source of income ie about $15 Billion/year and has been quoted to be the third biggest source of the economy. It has grown dramatically over the last few years. Chinese and Indian students were the backbone of this growth. This growth was more true for the private vocational sector as compared to the University/TAFE sector. It was estimated that about 80-85% of Indian students came to Australia to study in the private sector, most commonly in cookery related courses, hairdressing and community welfare. To cater to the increasing demands, a lot of private schools were opened by entrepreneurs, many of them did not provide proper and good quality of education. Exploitation of students was rampant and unfortunately, the quality control mechanisms were not as active as they should have been. When the problems in this sector were brought out in the open by Indian and Australian media and quality issues were taken up with seriousness by Australian agencies as a result, many of these private schools started to close down, leading to more difficulties to the students.

With the assaults on Indian students and hysterical and often exaggerated reporting by Indian media which damaged Australia’s reputation, Australian agencies finally decided to take the remedial actions to clean this sector. Multiple task forces were set-up and serious reviews were done. It became quite clear that Australia’s international education system has been rorted by many students, some migration agents and some education agents. Some students came to Australia with no interests to study. Even human smuggling has been mentioned as a way to send some so-called students to Australia. Some of these students had poor English, educational and financial backgrounds. False certificates of all sorts and even contract marriages were employed to bring the so-called spouses in many cases.

Many of these students were applying for the PR visa even though they did not have the requisite qualifications to be able to find the employment. They were able to get the PR only because their trades of cookery and hair-dressing were in the preferred list for immigration.There was a serious question of the suitability of these people to become immigrants of this country.

Finally, something has to be done and new skills list is the outcome.

Skills Australia-an independent body has helped bring this list out. This list will be updated annually.

Senator Evans has outlined that Australia’s immigration programme will be demand-driven, not supply-driven. He said that Australia needs teachers, doctors, nurses and IT professionals, not cooks and hair-dressers. He also said that Australia’s immigration programme can not be controlled or driven by international education only. Senator Evans is spot on here.

These changes were overdue but as people say, it is still better late than never.

Australia should attract and encourage the right type of immigrants with qualifications which we need.

International education and PR should not be linked. It was never linked in a legal sense but an expectation of this “link” was created by the marketing agents. It was known to every one including Australian agencies that PR lure was responsible for the spectacular growth of students numbers from India and China. Having said that, these students came to Australia because Australia allowed them.

While I support this new skills list whole-heartedly, I am concerned about the plight of those students who are already here. They and their parents have invested a lot of money-often mortgaged their homes and farms to send them to Australia. They came here with the expectation of PR and this was not totally their mistake. They came here under previous rules and had valid reasons to hold an expectation for PR Visa after completing the diploma.

The current and changed situation has shattered their hopes. This is akin to a humanitarian tragedy for them and their families. It is going to have a very serious ramification for some of them.

I do believe that some significantly fair transitional steps should be taken to consider their situation, provided they meet the English, training and work experience standards. I am generally against retrospective rules and their case is a classical example where it should not be implemented retrospectively.

Is there a case for a fairer transitional steps/strategies in these matters?

While I congratulate Senator Evans for this new Skills list, my view is also in favour of fairer transitional steps in this matter and I believe that there is a very strong case for this approach!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/17th May, 2010

April 8, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Community work:what I have done so far.

Updated on 11th April, 2011.

Information

Here is my account about what I have done so far and what I am doing right now.

1. Community work in General:

1.1. Leadership roles in Indian community Medical Associations, Continuing Medical education and Health education of general community.

1.2. Helping poor people from our community ie visitors, overseas patients and Indian students when they are in need of health care in Australia without sufficient financial resources.

1.3. Helping poor students in my district with scholarships etc.

2. My work as the co-ordinator of the Indian Consul General’s committee on students’ issues:
Indian Consul General’s Community Committee on Students’ Issues, Sydney, NSW was formed at the Indian Consulate on 6th April 2009. It did intensive work and completed its task in a very efficient manner. After accomplishing its mandated task, it dissolved itself at the end of June 2009 and communicated this to the Indian Consulate on 1/7/09.

The committee had Harmohan Walia,Vish Viswanathan, Shubha Kumar, Stanley D’Cruz and Dr Yadu Singh as its members. I was its co-ordinator.

This committee had done following activities;

#met students numerous times.

#organised a students’ forum on 16th May at Strathfield.

#co-organised a students’ forum with UIA in Strathfield on 6th June.

#arranged help to a woman student who was a victim of domestic violence.

#arranged help to 2 women students who were stalked by another Indian co-worker.

#arranged meetings with minister of education, NSW and her senior advisers and students from an aviation school-Work in progress.

#arranged a meeting with the president, NSW upper House [Mr Peter Primrose] and Ms Helen Westwood MLA and students.

#arranged meeting of an aviation school student with consul General [this student gave him his papers].

#arranged a meeting with a community minded lawyer and aviation school students.

#met the mother of a student of an aviation school. This lady’s husband had died only 4 weeks ago due to the serious stress involved in losing the money with the school in Sydney without the required outcome.

#arranged and participated in TV coverage of students’ issues on Channel 7, 9, 10, SBS TV, ABC TV, and Bloomberg.

#participated in the coverage on ABC radio, SBS radio, SBS Hindi radio, 2UE, JJJ, Indian Link radio, Radio UMANG, 2GB radio and SBS Kannada Radio.

#arranged talk-backs on these issues on SBS radio and Radio UMANG [98.5MHZ, Fridays,8-9 PM]-now stopped.

#participated in coverage on SMH, The Australian, Daily Telegraph, other newspapers and AAP.

#participated in the coverage on Indian newspapers in Australia [The Indian, Indian Link, Indus Age, The Indian Sub Continent Times, Indian Down Under].

#participated in TimesNow, NDTV, CNN/IBN, Headlines Today, AajTak and other Indian TV Channels.

#participated in the coverage on main Indian newspapers and PTI.

#involved with some top-grade Australian media programmes with wide audience in getting students’ issues covered.

#arranged funds for the accommodation for the relatives Mr Rajesh Kumar [the petrol bomb victim from Harris Park] within 24 hours.

#met commander Robert Redfern , Parramatta Local area Command of NSW Police several times.

#did what we could do to persuade/help the students when they were on the Harris Park streets for 3 nights.

#participated in the community leaders’ meeting with chairman, Community Relations Commission [CRC] at CRC HQ

#participated in a CRC organised meeting with Indian students at Parramatta RSL.

#participated in the community leaders’ meeting with the Premier, Mr Nathan Rees

#Met Indian Consul General and Consul several times

#helped a prominent Indian TV channel with a documentary on true situation in Australia. One of us [Yadu Singh] was the citizen Journalist.

#discussed and formulated the strategy to solve the problems of our students.

#submitted our strategy to the NSW task force and other relevant authorities.

#provided leadership in the matters relating to Indian students.

#gave our after hours and week-ends for students’ work and provided pastoral care to the needy students.

#provided/facilitated medical help to the needy students/their family members.

#met the visiting Indian journalists at the Consulate.
The committee members were all hard-working people with top-grade integrity. They did not have any conflict of interest in the matters relating to Indian students. None of them were involved in the students’ placement in a school [after taking a commission], running of any such school or running of any business which could have a potential conflict of interest in any manner.

All members worked with full dedication, cohesion and team feeling without any undermining of one another. This itself is a rare thing for an Indian group. We are proud of our work and ourselves.

We appealed to every person from Indian background to stay away from any leadership role if they were involved in any activity which did/could create a conflict of interest in these matters but we did not succeed in this matter.

We raised our voice forcefully against the exploitation of Indian students by some Indian employers.

We also appealed to the Indian newspapers and Radio programmes to ask questions from every leader [on students’ issues] about their involvement in any activity which created a conflict of interest in those matters. We suggested that the media should start with the questions on conflict of interests when interviewing those leaders.

3.My work beyond/outside the Consul General’s committee on students:

a. helped the refund of >$12000 to a student of a Flying school.

b. arranged legal assistance to the students from this Flying school from a solicitor in Sydney and Canberra.

c.1. facilitated a good outcome between parties involving VETAB, Flying school and students.

c.2. held several meetings involving VETAB high authorities, the Flying school and students in VETAB and my offices.

d. organised further refunds/savings [including waiving of about $50000f the legal fees in regards to a legal proceedings in the Supreme Court where students had lost their case and costs was awarded against them]] for a Flying school students from ESOS scheme with the help of VETAB, DEEWR and federal education dept which is worth >$250000 . I was the key and the only Indian person in this work for these students. I did this as I felt it was my duty to help students from my community who were feeling powerless in Australian system.

e. held meetings involving a Flying school people, VETAB and students.

f. helped payment of >$2400 to a student which was originally denied by his employer.

g. arranged funding of about $1000 to the family members of the “Petrol bomb” victim.

h. donated $500 to a students association.

i. arranged sponsorship for foods, meeting hall and public liability insurance for a students’ association [worth >$1000].

j. mentoring students for their careers and future in OZ.

k.1. donated $500 to AHIA’s seniors.

k.2. donated $500 to Fiji floods relief fund via International congress of Fiji Indians and organized $2000 donations from other doctors

k.3. donated $500 to Sanatan Arya Pratinidhi Samaj, Sydney.

l. donated a good amount [>$2000] for needy/deserving causes involving victims of earthquakes, accidental deaths, injuries and illnesses.

m.1. helping several students including assault victims for their work comp, treatment and issues involving their parents.

m.2. Liaised with NSW Police high ups in regards to the assaults of 2 Indians in Sydney.

m.3. Advised/mentored several others in regards to the steps they needed to take when they were assaulted.

n. established a benevolent fund for the community with further activities in the process.

o. participated as an active member of the working party with CRC on students including inputs for Z card.

p.1. took leadership role via the media including Indian and Australia media [Chanel 9, SBS, NDTV, Indian ethnic newspapers].

p.2. helped Radio National in making a documentary on students [see details in this BLOG elsewhere].

q. raised the issue of OZ Uranium sale to India during the Australia India Day celebration on 24th Jan, 2010 where several ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLC, and media people were present.

r. helped community members’ relatives/parents including FIJI Indians’ when they needed medical help.

s. helped students with their medical treatment of all types when they needed such help. This included getting a student admitted for the urgent treatment of his Kidney stone trouble which was threatening his Kidney.

t. helping the community members from India and South Asia with a concessional fees structure because they are part of my community [a service worth more than $50000/year].

u. met NSW Premier, VETAB authorities and NSW Education authorities on students’ issues

v. did all this work without any personal benefits or COMMISSIONs unlike some of our “leaders”. SEE my BLOG for more details.

w.1. trying to clean the community leadership and making them accountable.

w.2. Exposed commission taking by some leaders of an Indian community association in Sydney.

x. taking a leadership role against unfair portrayal of Australia as a Racist society by Indian media.

y. mentored medical doctors from India in regards to their training and registration issues including achieving a successful outcome for a house surgeon who was facing exclusion from the medical work due to her unfair treatment in a Sydney hospital. I worked very actively with this young doctor and her supervisors including Hospital administrators to get her into the internship at a different hospital. She passed her assessment and is now working in Sydney.

z.1. many other charity work in India including scholarships for poor students in India.

z.2. running a weekly Radio UMANG [Health radio] programme.

z.3. worked as a catalyst in resolving the issues between Indian consul General, Sydney and some businessmen with a successful outcome.

z.4. took an active and a leading role in resolving the issues between Indus Age [after a controversial ad] and the community, and achieved a successful outcome [with an apology and a promise to not publish such ads again].

z.5. Formed a community committee [total 10 people in it] against Visa Capping Bill in May 2010 and lobbied with the Gov ministers and Media against this Bill which was very harmful to the students. Worked actively for this committee, visiting community gatherings, temples and Gurdwaras to collect signatures against this Bill. We also met the Immigration minister, Mr Chris Evans, asking him to not proceed with this Bill. See www.fairgo4internationalstudents.org.

z.6. Formed a national organisation called National Council of Indian Australians [NCIA, www.ncia.org.au] with participation from all over Australia [all states and territories representatives].

z.7. Spoke as a lead doctor in the Health Summit, organised by GOPIO, Sydney, educating/informing people on Health matters on 4th Dec, 2010.

z.8. Helped a family locate their son [International student] http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/a-dumped-bike-a-glimpse-on-sydney-stations-cctv-what-happened-to-indian-student-abhijeet-20101006-166rs.html

z.9. Raised $7100 as a team for Qld Flood relief on 28th Jan, 2011.

z.10. Took up the issue of attack on Sri Mandir temple, Auburn and brought it to the national media.

z.11. Took up the matter involving HINDI in the Australian national draft curriculum-Languages and wrote to ACARA.

z.12. Campaigned for removal of an incorrect map of India in DIAC website and succeeded.

I have not listed every thing I have done or am doing. Much more is being done presently.

I had to write this down because some of my detractors were making comments like “what has he done for the community”.

Just to let you know that it gives me a sense of satisfaction to do some community work beyond my medical work.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/22nd November, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/ycj47cs

March 20, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Indian students in OZ:Radio National [ABC] documentary.

http://ow.ly/1o7BW

Radio National [ABC] has produced this documentary. I helped them in its production. Info from my BLOG was also used/acknowledged.

Roanna Gonsalves and Nick Franklin have done a great job.

It is an excellent product and is being broadcast at 2PM Saturday [TODAY].

Worth a listen!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/20th March 2010

March 13, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Australia race debate:The enemy within! Hindustan Times [HT] article.

This is the article in one of the top newspapers in India [Hindustan Times] by one of the Indian Australians, who lives in Melbourne and is the anchor of the Punjabi programme in SBS radio. Ms Manpreet Singh has done a wonderful write-up. Similar write-ups have been done by me and others through Blogs previously.

This is worth reading.

We need to do introspection to figure out what is happening, where we are going and what we need to do.

Indian students’ matter and its coverage in Indian media [which has often been very imbalanced and hysterical] has created a situation which has been very unfair for the image of Australia. We will need to take an open, assertive and bold stand in this matter as unfair portrayal of Australia by anyone affects all of us including Indian Australians.

We will have to deal with Indian media, specially TimesNow TV channel, and its main contacts in Australia, specially Gautam Gupta, to ensure Indian media stops the nonsense reporting about Australia. It is likely that we will need to interact openly and intensively with the Indian Gov leaders in New Delhi and Indian Gov officials in Australia on these matters.

We can not allow the unfair, injurious and imbalanced portrayal of Australia in India to go on unchallenged!

Best regards

Yadu Singh/Sydney/13th March, 2010

March 12, 2010 by Yadu Singh

My thoughts on Indian Australian community:The direction we should take!

As we all know, we are more than 100000+ strong in Sydney alone. Total population of ours in Australia is 250000+ [350000+ if we add students]. We are not insignificant in numbers. We have fairly good representations in various professions including media. I wouldn’t know for sure, but my understanding is most of us do OK in the economic matters. Several of us own motels/hotels. Overall, we are doing OK although some newly arrived people are struggling.

Indian Australians have had a great reputation thus far. We have been known for our high educational standards, proficiency in English, manners and comparatively low crime. This has changed however lately. Insurance frauds, sex-related crimes, murders, domestic violence, false certificates, poor communication skills, poor behaviour/manners, rorting the system, contract marriages and others have been reported in relation to our community. Most of these things have been in the media in relation to students who have come here from India on students Visa. This does not mean that all students are doing wrong things but a small proportion is certainly into it.

The loss of our image/reputation in the eyes of general community is a matter of concern. This is going to have a serious impact on our professionals and our children. We need to do something about it. Most of us are great people and we must not allow a small section to harm our reputation.

How and what we have to do to redeem/restore our reputation is going to generate a debate. Here are my thoughts.

1.We need to work for an effective leadership of our community. These leaders must be goal-driven and deliver the results based on the agenda of the community. My view is that “dated”, “chronic” and recycled” leaders from several of our associations are encouraged to retire from their “leadership”. There is a need to have a meeting of our “leaders”, community members and media to figure out what we are doing wrong, what we ought to do and how we do it. Someone need to take the responsibility to organise this meeting. That person has to be acceptable to most.

2.To achieve the results, we need to consider an association which is above the region based associations and agenda. Region based associations can’t be expected, by the very nature, to think on the Pan-Indian basis. We need to get out of our regional identities and start acting our Indian identity in thoughts and actions. We need to work for an association which is pan-Indian in nature and is an individual based association. There is none of this type presently.

3. UIA, FAIA, AHIA and GOPIO are our important associations. FAIA really is a failed association now as it does not have many with it. There is hardly anything which it does these days except a few statements which it gets published in its friendly newspapers. Maharastra Association of Sydney is listed as its member but they have left FAIA at least a year ago and joined UIA. One of them is in UIA’s EC. I don’t believe that FAIA can lead us with most of its members coming from “Song and dance” groups. AHIA is not a pan-Indian association and it has not been very active lately. AHIA used to be very active a few years ago but it is not the case presently, despite many very good people in it.GOPIO is getting bigger with more chapters in Sydney and has many great people in it. It is unfortunately still a North Indians-based group in Sydney. Let us see how they grow and what they do. Their USA/UK counterparts have been in the forefront for the matters involving Indians. That leaves UIA which is a significant association. It is not able to achieve its goals, largely because of their tendency to elect ineffective leaders. Its agenda is confined to holding a few fairs/forums and issuing a few statements. Spin doctoring is a significant agenda. It has become stagnant and needs fresh ideas, energy and people. People have been advising them to reform themselves which unfortunately has not happened. As a result, UIA has many “recycled” and “tired” leaders. UIA has the high potentials if UIA leaders want to go there but all the signs are against it presently. UIA GC [Governing Council] has many great people but they have been disinterested in UIA lately. Let us hope that they can do introspection and bring changes. It would be good if UIA can reform itself. UIA in its current form can’t lead us effectively and successfully. My belief is that we should avoid multiple associations as we already have many. There is always a possibility that we will be able to see where we are doing wrong and what we need to do to achieve things for our community. It is applicable to everyone who is in the “leadership”.

4. We need to consider mechanisms/tools to mentor/help/guide our new arrivals. This help is needed in regards to the system in OZ, settlement, jobs, accommodation and many more. This should be a significant job of our associations. We should not duplicate/triplicate our efforts but we should have a monthly/bi monthly meetings of this nature which should be done by the community leadership group.

5. We need to mentor/guide/help our students who have come from Indian villages/towns/cities, often without any real idea about the systems in OZ. Often, they do not know how to conduct themselves in public places. It is our responsibility too to help them understand what is expected from them and what they can expect from the OZ systems. We do not want to be defined by the sub-standard behaviour of a small segment of Indian students.

6. We need to understand the conflict of interest principle. As an example, if I am an education agent or I run a school, then I should withdraw from the leadership role for the matters related to that subject. I can be an advisor but not the leader.

7. Our Indian ethnic media in Sydney has limitations because it depends on advertisement dollars. It often glorifies those who should not be glorified. Newspapers will become more independent if they are not free and we pay for their copies. $2.00 is nothing for us and we need to think about it. I have often wondered whether we need a “real” newspaper which does the job of a “real” newspaper. Not possible until we are prepared to pay for it!

8. Vietnamese community/doctors had recently collected $50000.oo for Bankstown hospital but we are generally not into this type of activities. We are part of Australian community and we need to participate in activities of this nature. This will get us a lot more respect/recognition as a component of the Australian community.

9. A community Benevolent fund is a good idea. We are establishing a fund of this nature. Funny thing is that UIA is also establishing a benevolent fund after knowing about ours. UIA has been around for >15 years and do big functions but they have never thought about it before. “Me too” syndrome is pathetic. I understand that FAIA also has a benevolent fund and Bhavan Australia also has it. How many benevolent funds should we have? There is a need to merge all of them into one. We have to think on this.

10. An accountability of actions [or inactions] and transparency are things which are essential for a successful leadership group. We need to declare what funds were raised, what were the expenses [how were they dispersed] and what is the saving. Every association must practise this principle. Media should take an active interest in these matters. No commissions by the “leaders” please.

11. We need to have effective strategies in the matter relating to domestic violence, seniors’ issues and community projects such as “India House” and a nursing home for Indian community people. Dynamic people with community mind should be encouraged to participate in them. Isn’t is shameful that nothing effective has been done in these matters? What have our “leaders” done then?

12. There should be a community agenda which should be decided based on community consultations and with participation from leaders from all segments and media.

13. Supporting our businesses is a must as they are the ones who often help the community projects by participating in community functions. I am sorry to point out that there is an element of mistrust among ourselves for our own people and it needs to change. Like other communities, we need to become more supportive of our own people. Envy, “Tall Poppy Syndrome”, rumour mongering, character assassinations and pulling down our own people are not something which will help us as a community in the long term.

14. Let us treat our own people with a little more respects. Let us recognise our own people, accepting that we all have some negatives. This is a futuristic suggestion and is applicable to all including myself.

15. Let us develop a more supportive approach to our people where good qualities are recognised/honoured/acknowledged and bad qualities are not.

I am sure, you will have very many great ideas. Lets share them. Lets have a debate.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/12th March 2010

February 4, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Australian High Commissioner to India, Mr Peter Varghese’s Op-ed in an Indian newspaper:It makes a lot of sense!

Article by High Commissioner Peter Varghese- 1 February 2010 [Sent by DFAT with thanks. Also available on the website of Australian High Commission, New Delhi, India]

http://www.india.highcommission.gov.au/ndli/article1feb.html

“What is happening in Australia? The widespread media coverage of attacks on Indians in Australia has raised several understandable questions. Are Indian students safe in Australia? Are Indians being singled out? Why are these attacks happening? Are they racially motivated and what is being done to address the problem? Crime is never easy to dissect and crime statistics even more so. We know that Australia is a relatively safe place with homicide and assault rates well below the global average. But we cannot prove with existing data, one way or another, whether Indian students are more likely to be assaulted than students from other countries. Also, with the number of Indian students growing by nearly 400 percent in the space of a few years the number of Indians affected by street crime has also increased in absolute numbers. The overwhelming majority of the half million foreign students in Australia, including the vast majority of Indian students, have a safe and positive experience. That may be cold comfort for Indian victims of assault and their families back home, but it is nevertheless an important point to make. Many of the Indian students in Australia are under financial pressure. Their visa requires them to have enough money in the bank to cover their costs before they come to Australia. But in many cases this does not happen. And when the pressure is on you to earn money quickly you do two things. First, you seek out night shift work because that is easier to get and may pay more. This means that you are more likely to be in a higher risk job such as driving taxis late at night. Second, you look for cheap accommodation which may put you in a higher crime neighbourhood and commuting to it at an hour when attacks are more likely. None of this excuses attacks. And no one should ever blame the victim. But it might help explain why some of these attacks are occurring. Are the attacks racist? For the most part they are the ugly face of urban crime committed by criminals from a wide variety of racial backgrounds. Many of the assailants have been juveniles or young adults acting in an aggressive and predatory way. But in some cases the attacks have been accompanied by racial abuse: something for which the Australian government has zero tolerance and the great majority of Australians condemn as completely unacceptable. If race is the motive, it will come out in the course of investigation and trial. We need to allow those processes to run their course and not make instant judgements based on initial media reports which may turn out to be wrong. This applies as much to the media as it does to those investigating these crimes. So what is being done? A lot. We have increased police resources. In Melbourne, where many of these attacks have occurred, we have put in place special action to target crime hotspots and to run a “safe stations” program. We have given police wider powers to search for weapons without a warrant and to move unruly people on. We have introduced legislation to allow our courts to impose tougher sentences for hate crime. We have set up special consultative arrangements for the police to liaise with Indian and other international students, including a hotline for students who need advice or help. And we are going after the perpetrators. Already in Victoria alone some 45 people have been arrested for crimes against Indian students or nationals. The courts are dealing with the culprits, including in one case a sentence of 18 years for a vicious attack against a person of Indian origin. In one recent assault case, the assailant was given a three month prison sentence within twenty four hours of the attack. The Victorian police are giving a very high priority to finding the killer of Nitin Garg. And our Prime Minister has set up a special task force to deal with these attacks, chaired by the National Security Adviser and involving all the state governments. As a government and a community we take these attacks seriously. We cannot promise to stop urban crime — no government can credibly do that. But we are determined to address the problem, deal with the perpetrators and provide a safe and enjoyable environment for all our foreign students. It is neither fair nor accurate to paint these attacks as the actions of a racist country. Australia has travelled a long way on race. We have gone, in the space of single generation, from White Australia to one of the most culturally and racially diverse societies in the world. Rapid social change has not been without its tensions but, overall, the record is one of impressive harmony. And that is not a journey which can be made by a racist nation.”

Peter N Varghese Australian High Commissioner

January 31, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Australia India Day [celebrating Australia Day and Indian Republic Day] function:Report

Report

Australia India Day Function

[Celebrating Australia Day and Indian Republic Day]

Held on the 24^th Jan, 2010 [6-11PM]

Venue – Ryde Civic Centre, Ryde NSW 2112

Australia India Day Function Council celebrated its first Australia / India Republic Day at the Ryde Civic Centre, Ryde on the 24^th January 2012. The program was an astounding success with more than 500 prominent Indians, representatives from over 20 Indian Associations, and star-studded politicians from both the Labor and Liberal parties from State and Federal level attending this event.

The celebration started with the singing of Indian and Australian anthems, followed by entre which was followed by the first part of the entertainment programme. The guests were welcomed by Harish Velji and the MC was Dr Yadu Singh. Vote of thanks was given by Ms Shubha Kumar.

At no time in the past 20 years, any function organized by any Indian Association/s had such massive response for such events. The only limiting factor in getting more numbers to attend the event has been the capacity of the Ryde Civic Centre function hall.

One of the major aspects contributing to the success of this program was the enormous representation from both the Labor and Liberal parties. ALP took 2 tables and Liberals took 1 table in our function. More than 40 political leaders and party workers from both sides attended the event. Prominent people from the political leadership included:

Hon Ms Maxine Mckew [Parliamentary secretary, Fed Gov & representing Prime Minister of Australia], Hon Mr Joe Hockey [Shadow Treasurer, Fed Parliament & representing Hon Tony Abbott, Leader of Opposition in Fed Parliament],Hon Mr David Borger [NSW Minister], Hon Mr Peter Primrose [NSW minister], Hon Ms Barbara Perry [NSW minister & representing NSW Premier], Ms Angela D’amore [Parliamentary secretary, NSW], Hon Mr Laurie Ferguson [Parliamentary secretary, Fed Gov], Mr David Clarke MLC [Shadow Parliamentary secretary & representing Mr Barry O’Farrell, Leader of Opposition, NSW], Mr Phillip Ruddock [Shadow Cabinet secretary, Fed Parliament], Mr Greg Smith [Shadow Attorney General, NSW], Hon Ms Amanda Fazio [President, Upper House of NSW], Hon Ms Tanya Gadiel [Deputy speaker of NSW parliament], Mr Chris Hayes MP, Mr Michael Richardson MP and Mr Shaoquett Moselmane MLC.

Clr Mark Adler – Canterbury Council, Clr Tony Hay – Hills Shire, Clr Barbara Burton – Hills Shire, Clr Vaseekaran Rajdurai – Holroyd Council, Clr Bill Whelan, Hawkesbury Council, and Crl Trent Zimmerman, North Sydney Council also attended this function.

Hon Mr Amit Dasgupta, Consul General of India, Sydney and Mr Gautam Roy, Consul from the Indian Consulate, Sydney also graced this function with their presence.

In a highly emotional and charged up speech, Mr David Clarke [representing Mr Barry O’Farrell] from the Australian Liberal Party, said that if his child goes to India he is sure the parents in India would treat him as their son and look after him. On a similar manner, he urged that the Australian Moms and Dads to treat the Indian students as their own sons and look after them. He went on and paid tributes to India and its traditions by saying that ‘India practices what it preaches.

Ms Barbara Perry [representing the Premier of NSW] spoke eloquently about the contribution of Indian Australians and declared that violence against Indian/international students will not be tolerated. She said that students are very welcome in NSW. She was dressed in Indian attire which people appreciated with enthusiastic applause. She spoke about the interest of NSW premier and Gov in working actively with the Indian Australians.

Hon Joe Hockey, speaking at the function, said the Liberal party is fully committed to its policy of supplying Uranium to India. Dr Yadu Singh, while responding to Hon Joe Hockey’s speech encouraged the Labor party to consider similar policy and implement it as early as possible. He explained that the issue of NPT is not relevant in case of India after India has been given an India-specific exemption from NPT by the NSG [Nuclear Suppliers’ Group] in Vienna last year.

Ms Maxine Mckew also spoke very highly of India, Indian Australians and multi-culturalism in Australia. She also explained that India and Australia have a great relations and it will get even better despite some hiccups. She was very impressed with the enthusiastic participation of women Indian Australians in this function. Her speech generated a thunderous applause from the audience.

All the speakers from both the major parties spoke highly of India, Indian traditions, Indian sports – in particular Cricket, and the Indian political landscape, which stood the test of times for more than 62 years since securing independence from the British rule in 1947. All speakers were enthusiastically applauded by the audience.

The event was also graced by Mr Amit Dasgupta, the Consul General of India. Speaking on the occasion the Consul General touched on two fundamental issues. On the issues related to the Indian students the Consul General paid glowing tributes to the NSW Police force and the political landscape of NSW for containing the student issues in NSW. As a clear indication to vindicate this matter the Consul General said that out of the 1340 attacks on Indian students in 2009, only 13 such attacks occurred in the state of NSW and South Australia – the States which fall under the jurisdiction of Mr Amit Dasgupta. He further stated that these statistics do not however condone the vast majority of attacks on Indian students that occurred and still occurring in other States. He urged that the law enforcement agencies and the political parties should work closely in this direction and ensure safety of the Indian overseas students

On a second major issue, the Consul General spoke about exploitation of the Indian students by Indian business – in particular the food/restaurant industry whereby the restaurant owners pay less than the wages stipulated under the labor law. He insisted that all business owners must do ethical business. He further went on to say that ‘I will not attend any function where he is not assured of suppliers to that function follow ethical standards in conducting their businesses’. The entire hall including all the politicians from both major parties echoed with a big applause.

The overwhelming response to this event is an indication of the ‘changing times’ and ‘changing outlook’ to the leadership and responsiveness to the current issues and challenges being faced by various sections of the Indian migrant and student community living in the State of New South Wales.

Surely the representation of more than 40 students from the International Student community is an indication that they want to hear from the leadership and also from the large number of politicians on their views and actions proposed to be taken to address their issues. The Chief of VETAB [Ms Margaret Willis] and her assistant, Mr Shona Tannock and Mr Robert Redfern, Commander, Parramatta Police command [representing NSW Police Commissioner] were present as our guests. Ms Willis’ and Mr Redfern’s presence was meant to send out the message that quality of training and safety of students are 2 key issues in relations with Indian students.

It is noteworthy that students had paid at a very subsidized rate and all others including the organizers, except a very small numbers of VIP guests, had bought the tickets for their participation in the function.

The representation from more than 20 Indian Associations is a clear indication which shows they are bewildered with the current policies and practices, and financial management of our current top associations and leaders. The one fundamental reason for this large support stems from the fact that they found a new leadership in the AIDFC which can respond to the current issues and make representations at both Australian and Indian Government levels with a solid and united voice. Some of the major Indian organizations who supported the event included the India Club, The Sydney Sangat, Australian Punjabi Business Association, Australian Indian Business Congress, Punjab For Ever, The Australian Tamil Association Inc (ATA), Hindi Samaj and the Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association (AMU) in addition to others.

ACR International Tours and Travels added spice to the event by offering one return air ticket through Singapore Airlines for auction. The auction added nice A$1,000 to the much badly needed money for the ‘benevolent fund project’. Mr Navneet Chaugar was the winner of this ticket. For the raffle draw which helped us collect about $750, the Good Guys offered a Plasma 26 inch TV which was won by Councilor Bill Whelan of the Hawkesbury City Council. Congratulations to the winners!

Media-both Indian and Australian, were represented with Indian Link, The Indian, Punjab Times, Hamare Rang [Pakistani] and most importantly, Channel 9 team present in the function. This was the very first time that Channel 9 crew was present in an Indian function.

Many other ethnic community leaders also graced the occasion with their presence.

The Future – the AIDFC Benevolent Fund

AIDFC has made a number of public announcements at the function to the community as a part of its commitment for the future. Prominent among them is the creation and implementation of the AIDFC’s Benevolent Fund. We are committed to get this fund going and make a significant contribution to the well being the Indian migrant and student community, our fellow Australian community and finally to our mother country – India.

Finally we promise you that we will provide you a solid leadership and will representation at various levels. We will have clean governance in all matters of the AIDFC management – in particular finance management. We will adopt an ‘open book’ approach in all these areas. Consideration will be given to broaden the current AIDFC to include more Associations, individual members and businesses. The community will be getting more frequent updates in the coming weeks and months!

Ghungurus Group of Shalini Patel was the provider of the entertainment programme which was of 50 minutes duration and had the mix of Bhangra and Bollywood songs/dances. Every one enjoyed it tremendously.

Catering was done by Billu Group with great food, dessert and wines.

This function was so well attended and so well done that it has become a matter for the discussion among Indian Australians and the political eaders in NSW and Canberra.

This function has now become the talk of the town.

JAI HO!

Dr Yadu Singh

President

Australia India Day Function Council (AIDFC)

www.Twitter.com/dryadusingh

http://www.foreignpolicy.in/journals_4.html

Email: singhyadu@gmail.com

31st Jan, 2010

January 29, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Indian students in Australia and India-Australia relations:My article and views.

Inviting your views and comments.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/29th Jan, 2010

January 10, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Who is racist-Australia or Indian media?

Look, I agree, the title of this write-up is dramatic and provocative but this is the question which lots of people are asking. A segment of Indian media is calling every crime involving Indians in Australia as racist crime. They don’t even wait for full facts. It is grossly unfair, inappropriate, immature and ,I argue, racist. Everything in Australia is racist and the very same crimes in India are not. Indian media is doing it intentionally with one agenda only. This agenda is to harm Australia’s reputation. They are selectively blind to some crimes but hysterical about certain crimes.

Let me put some examples to illustrate my point of view.

1. Late Nitin Garg’s fatal stabbing: This was the most shocking loss of life in Melbourne. A 21 years old Indian permanent resident was fatally stabbed at 10 PM when he was walking through a park for his work. This was in the Western Suburb of Melbourne which is known for increased crime against people of all types. There was no witness and the park was dimly lit. Full facts have not come out yet. Vic police is investigating. One Indian minister demanded faster speed in the investigation just 2 days after the crime, while ignoring the fact that it took 19 years for the Indian system to deal with SPS Rathore, Ex DGP of Haryana, who had molested a young lady [Ruchika] and had also harassed her family which led to the suicide of Ruchika. It is a bit rich to hear that statement from this minister. Indian media of course took up the job of branding Australia a racist country. Do they have any evidence to claim that Nitin was murdered due to his race? Do they have any evidence to say who killed Nitin? This is ridiculous and an indicator of the lack of fairness, accountability and responsibility to their profession. Make no mistake, we are all very sad and angry with what has happened. A young man has lost his life in this manner. Our hearts go out to his mother, brother and other family members. We owe it to Nitin that we put sufficient pressure on Vic Police to catch the criminal and prosecute him vigorously.

2. Ku Klux Klan cartoon: This cartoon by a newspaper in India was an outrageous sensationalisation by the Indian media. What evidence they have to claim what they claimed? It is not fair to brand the whole Vic police to be Ku Klux Klan! We are not surprised that Acting PM, Julia Gillard, Acting Premier of Vic, Mr Hull and Vic police reacted angrily and called this cartoon to be offensive. Rather than going on Ku Klux Klan direction, they could have highlighted the failure of Vic police in controlling the crime situation there.

3. Murder of an Indian lady in Westmead, NSW by her husband: It is alleged that Chaman Jot Singh had killed his wife and then ran away to Melbourne from where he was arrested. He is in prison now and awaiting his trial. We did not see much coverage of this murder! Indian media is treating one murder differently from the another. Is this an example of journalism?

4. Murder/burning of Ranjodh Singh in Griffiths: This murder was shocking too. Newspaper reports are claiming that he was a contractor who was employing other Indians. It is alleged that a dispute involving the payment of wages was responsible for the fight and murder/burning. Killers are alleged to be Indians. We did not see much coverage of this in the Indian media. Why?

5. Alleged burning of an Indian in Melbourne: This story is quite unusual and the newspapers are raising doubts on some aspects of this crime. Full facts are yet to be disclosed but police are saying that aspects of the story don’t stack up.

6. IndianTaxi driver molesting a young lady in Brisbane: A taxi driver was sentenced to 15 months prison term in Brisbane but not much has been reporeted in Indian media. Why?

7. Puneet, an Indian student, drove drunk and killed an 19 years old Gold Coast man last year. He was tried and was convicted. While waiting for the sentencing, he jumped bail and ran away from Australia, using a false passport. He lives in India now. Should he not be arrested there and sent back to an Australian jail? Where is Indian police and Indian media? Why did Indian media not cover this topic? Is it OK for an Indian to kill someone else?

http://www.theage.com.au/world/india-urges-restraint-in-reporting-of-attacks-20100110-m0iz.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/fire-attack-on-indian-deepens-race-tensions-20100109-m00j.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-mean-streets-where-the-locals-fear-to-tread-20100109-m00l.html

http://www.smh.com.au/national/two-questioned-over-burnt-body-of-indian-worker-in-griffith-20100109-m03q.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/taxi-driver-pleads-guilty-to-schoolgirl-assault/story-fn3dxity-1225817388943

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/indian-tvs-unsound-fury-20100106-lu8y.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/10/2789026.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/09/2788802.htm

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indians-in-oz-fear-backlash-over-ku-klux-klan-cartoon/565039/

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/6660657/indian-govt-angry-after-attack-on-man/4/$

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indians-in-oz-feel-race-angle-being-forcefully-fed-by-media/565571/

http://www.theage.com.au/national/southbank-crash-driver-drunk-and-speeding-20081001-4rcz.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/killer-driver-fled-australia-on-false-passport-police-20090820-erzp.html

It does not matter to them that most Indian Australians do not believe Australia to be a racist country. Australia’s rules/regulations and laws are not racist. They are not discriminatory to any one on the basis of colour, race, gender or religion. It is a known fact that every country has some racists. Australia and India are no exceptions. Ask North Indians what they feel in Mumbai. Ask North Eastern Indians what they get called in New Delhi. Ask any one what Indians call Africans. Why is Indian media not taking this up? It is a known fact that every country has a crime problem. Australia also has it and India also has it. India in fact may have worse crime problem. No country is totally crime free. What has Indian media done against crime/criminals in India? Some politicians there have extensive criminal background? Any thing being done by Indian media about that?

By the way, my comments here should not mean that I am happy with the policing by Vic Police. They are definitely not able to have an effective control on the crime situation in Vic. They need to do a review about the ways they do crime control. They should do random and unannounced searches for knives etc without giving the notice of 7 days before such searches. You read it right. They actually do give a 7 days notice about their searches in any particular suburb.Things seems to be better in NSW in this regards. May be, they should talk with their NSW counterparts.

Some “leaders” in Melbourne don’t waste any time to claim every crime being a racist crime. There is one whose comments are outrageous. He does not wait for any evidence. His understanding of the situation is very deficient. I believe he is harming Indian Australian community due to his stupid statements. His statements are irrational. He seems to have some sorts of connection with some in Indian media. His hypocrisy is objectionable as he has taken Australian citizenship and is bringing his parents to live in Australia. Why is this the case if Australia is nothing but a racist country? He is not even a student. As far as I know, he is not even working in the field of his training these days. He claims to speak for all of us. I want to tell him that we do not agree with his irrational views. We also know that he has hardly any support in Melbourne and Indian Australians in Melbourne dislike him intensely & with passion.

I ask Indian media to become rational and objective in its coverage of the problems in Australia. They should wait for the full facts to come out before jumping to any conclusion. They need to cover all crimes even when Indians are involved in committing those crime. They must stop hysterical and selective reporting. Some students also commit crime and the behaviour of some of them is below standard. They don’t know how to conduct themselves. Indian Gov’s advisory is a right thing but did we really need it? Should it not be a component of common sense and should we not know what to do and what not to do? These students are not children, after all.

The irrational reporting by Indian media is making them a laughing stalk and this is making the situation more difficult for Indian Australians. There is a risk that a backlash may happen against Indian Australians if Indian media continues its hysterical and unfair reporting.

The behaviour of a segment of Indian media begs the question. Is indian media racist towards Australia?

I know where I stand on this matter. I am going to let you make up your own mind. Do let me know what you think!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/10th Jan, 2010

January 5, 2010 by Yadu Singh

Fatal stabbing of a 21 yrs old young man in Melbourne.Please keep race out of the equation!

As we all know, Nitin Garg, 21 yrs old young man from India was fatally stabbed in Melbourne a few days ago. He was on his way to do night shift at a Hungry Jacks and was walking through a park where he was stabbed. He staggered to his work place, calling for help. He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital but could not be saved. Apparently, the knife had caused fatal injury to his vascular system/heart. Apparently, his wallet and other belongings were not touched. So, what happened here and why was he stabbed this ferociously, are the questions which are bothering all of us.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/please-help-me-im-dying-pleaded-knife-victim-20100104-lq5p.html

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/online-fury-over-stabbing-death-of-indian-man-20100103-lnb9.html

http://www.smh.com.au/national/fatal-decision-to-take-short-cut-through-park-20100104-lq7p.html

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/student-assaults-teach-some-harsh-lessons-about-racism-20100104-lq1i.html

http://tinyurl.com/yzqsll7

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/feelgood-sops-from-politicians-are-no-help-in-healing-a-mothers-heartbreak-20100106-lu82.html

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/indian-tvs-unsound-fury-20100106-lu8y.html

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/having-streets-filled-with-fear-is-a-frightening-way-to-live-20100106-lu8x.html

This is shocking to us. I am sure, this would be a shocking news to all decent Australians. It did not need to happen. He did not deserve to be killed in cold blood. Why did it happen and who did it, are the questions we all have right now.

His father had passed away about 6 months ago due to Liver cancer and his elder brother, a sister and his mother are naturally devastated. Their loss, agony and distress can’t be described. We have felt this loss of life in our own hearts. I was very sad, angry and had tears when I heard about it. I have a son who is older than him. It could have been any one’s son/brother.

Vic police is doing its investigation and have appealed to people to not jump to any presumption about the motive of the killers. Appeals have been made by the acting Premier of Victoria and acting prime minister of Australia, Ms Julia Gillard, to let Vic police do its job. It is important that Vic police does a proper investigation, catch the criminals and prosecute them. These criminals need to face the full force of criminal justice system. Every one including Tony Abbott, Fed leader of opposition and Ms Julia Gillard, acting PM have condemned this murder.

Indian media, Indian Gov officials and Indian people in India have expressed their views and reactions about Nitin’s cold-blooded murder. There are all sorts of emotions which have come out. Blogs, online comments, TV coverage and print media have given due importance to this murder. They have mentioned this murder in the context of a long series of assaults of Indian students in Australia.

Some people have called Nitin’s murder as a racism based murder. This is a comment which I have heard from many people and have seen this mentioned in Indian media.

Since full facts are not available about who did it and why they did it, we really should not jump to any premature conclusions. Nitin was alone when he was stabbed. All facts will come out once the police investigation progresses. We must remember that Vic police did a good job in investigating the assault of Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, Ex AMA president and culprits were given very lengthy sentences. This is what should happen here too.

May I urge people to stay away from premature conclusions. Let us all wait for the police investigation to be completed. Please do remember that Australia is a multi-cultural society and a vast majority of people here are tolerant of one another. We do not believe that Australia, as a whole, is a racist society. We, of course, have a small number of people who do have the racist views and such people do come from all colours. Racist people are everywhere and no country is an exception.

May I urge people to treat this killing as a crime matter and not see it from a race angle. It is a fact that Australia, like other countries, does have a crime problem and victims/culprits come from all communities/races. I have a patient who is Anglo-Saxon and he is 6 feet 6 inches tall. He was bashed severely a few months ago in Seven Hills in Sydney. He had to be in the ICU of Blacktown Hospital for several days. His bashers were also white. My point is that criminals have no race or religion of their own. Frail and old people of all races get assaulted by these low lives.

Melbourne seems to be lot more in news than Sydney when we see the issues of assaults of students. Why is this the case is difficult to understand. I do wonder though whether policing in Victoria has some issues. I do wonder whether they should consult with NSW Police about the situation in NSW. We know that NSW police has anti-organised crime squads which is not the case in Victoria. Should this strategy be followed by Vic police is the question for Vic Gov and Vic police to consider.

Do we need to have a public education campaign on “Australia says no to racism” on the line of the one against domestic violence, an effective crime control by effective knife/weapon control and an effective sentencing as the strategies, are something which must be considered too.

I would like to emphasize again that I do not believe that Indians are specifically targeted. I also believe that we have a crime problem in our cities and people from all races are the victims.

I am praying for the soul of Late Nitin and I am praying for his family members in India. Our hearts should go out to them. We would not even be able to imagine how much distress they are going through.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/5th Jan, 2010

singhyadu@gmail.com

November 27, 2009 by Yadu Singh

Mumbai Terror attack 26/11/08:What are the lessons?

I remember getting a call from Rahul Jethi, a banker in Sydney, and a good friend and whose brother is in Indian army, early in the morning of 27th Nov 2008 [Sydney time which is 5.5 hours ahead of Indian time], about the terrorist attack in Mumbai. I switched the TV on and saw the reporting of the attack. It made me sad and angry at the same time. As it became clearer that LET was involved, I became more angry. I was helpless as I could not do much to help the people in Mumbai.

I watched the attack unfold and kept myself updated through the days. I kept reading the statements from leaders from all over the world. Thankfully, Kasab [the lone terrorist survivor] was arrested. I was angry that pakistan kept denying the nationalities of the terrorists even when the evidence was overwhelming. That has become the standard operating procedure for Pakistan. Shameful and outrageous!!

By now, we have details of Kasab’s interrogation/trial, and have seen the reports in various channels including ABC Australia, CNN and BBC. Only recently, Farid Zakaria covered it in CNN GPS programme. A great deal is known by now. It is all clear that 10 terrorists came from Pakistan and LET was the sponsoring terrorist organisation. These terrorists were trained in Pakistan. The whole world is asking Pakistan to bring the perpetrators [supporters/sponsors] of the Mumbai terrorist attack to justice.

Lot of things have changed since 26th Nov, 2008. I hope, things would keep moving in the right direction to prevent further terrorist attacks in India. The whole world has to work against the menace of terrorism. Either Pakistan changes its ways itself or the world forces it to change. There is no alternative option.

So many people lost their lives for no reason. This has to end.

As I see it, following come to my mind;

1. India will continue to have attacks of this nature because some elements in Pakistan are hostile to India and have an agenda to harm India. Some inside ISI and Pakistan army are madly fundamentalists and are pathologically inimical towards India.

2. India is a vast country with long borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, from where these terrorists do cross into India and will keep crossing in future too. We have to do every thing to reduce if not prevent it. India must identify illegal Bangladeshi stayers in India and expel them without much delay. Throw them in the ocean if we have to but they can’t be allowed to stay in India. No vote bank politics please!

3. The whole world has to force Pakistan to dismantle the terrorist organisations and their infrastructure to prevent attacks from Pakistan. USA and Europe are crucial in this. India must keep working with the world powers to force Pakistan to change its ways. India needs to have the right people in the ministry of external affairs to be able to have a desired effect in this matter. Shashi Tharoor is a competent minister with the contacts and experience in these matters and may be, he should be made the cabinet minister.

4. India has to improve the intelligence gathering capability significantly.

5. India has to improve the command structure to face such attacks effectively and efficiently. There was a significant delay in getting NSG commandos to Mumbai during the attack. They had to wait for hours before a plane could be arranged to fly them to Mumbai. That is outrageous. India needs to have a proactive thinking rather than a reactive one. Even the chief minister Mr Deshmukh took more than 4 hours to return to Mumbai.

6. Indian media must be forced to follow certain rules during such attacks. Media was showing the live coverage of the attack which was used by the terrorists’ minders/handlers in Pakistan to guide the terrorists. It was not helpful. I dare say, it led to many more deaths than it would have been otherwise. Indian media needs to be told that certain things are not on. Their TRP battle is not above human lives and national interests.

7.1. India has to become ruthless in investigating and prosecuting those who are involved in terrorism and those who are supporting such elements. There should be a speedy trial. Once convicted, these terrorists should be punished severely without any delay. It is not a good idea to keep convicted criminals like Afzal Guru to stay in the jail because his mercy petition is pending with the president for this unusually long period. Why is his mercy petition pending with Indian president for years? This is outrageous! Those dreaded terrorists who were released during the Indian Airlines plane hijack, were also in the Indian prison for years without a trial. India has done a good job by establishing a national investigation agency [NIA]. NIA officials should be given freedom to work independently without any political pressure.

7.2. India must not allow any segment of its society to feel alienated. All opportunities/benefits must be truly available to every Indian irrespective of their region, religion or caste. Nation building must be taken up with redoubled vigour.

8.1. India must have a campaign to do public education to make people aware re how to keep the eyes/ears open to anything unusual and what to do when a terrorist attack is happening. We saw a big crowd of onlookers during NSG [National Security Guards] counter-attack which is not smart. Where was the crowd control?

8.2. The civil police must be trained properly. It is not a good idea for top police officials to be in one single car which was not bullet proof. This was the case even when they had access to the bullet proof vehicles. This led to costly loss of lives of the leaders of police force. We hear that Mr Karkare and others did not receive immediate help after being wounded. One wonders whether some of these great policemen would not have died if we had an efficient medical, police and rescue systems.

8.3. India and Indian public needs to do every thing to look after the near/dear ones/dependents of the brave security men/women who give their lives to protect us and the country. Gov authorities need to do many things to let people know that India has utmost respects and gratitude for such brave men/women.

9. Indian leaders were issuing the statements after statements but not much came out of that. We should learn to show results rather than just talks.

10.1. India needs to improve its military capabilities in such a way that Pakistan or its supporters do not dare look towards India. We need to revamp the capabilities of our air force, navy and artillery.

10.2.While working on the military capabilities, India needs to work with redoubled vigour to settle the outstanding issues with its neighbours.

I am keen to hear from you with your views on these matters.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/27-11-09

October 13, 2009 by Yadu Singh

India of my deams:What it should be but is not?

India is a country which has >1 Billion people, >400 million middle class, rapidly growing economy, increasing quality of life for at least the middle and upper classes and is being increasingly accepted as a global player. It received an India-specific NSG exemption for nuclear trade at IAEA, Vienna last year without signing NPT and despite the efforts from China to stall this exemption. It is one of the candidates for the UNSC permanent seats. Previously, India used to be bracketed with Pakistan but now it is with China. India and China are two countries which are mentioned as the engine heads for the global economy. These are not small achievements. We should be proud about this all.

Having said that, we should not be satisfied until India becomes the country with the highest/top GDP growth, economy, political/strategic/military strength, quality of life and a place in UNSC permanent membership.

We should become a caring society whose citizens are well-mannered, utmost moral and universally regarded as decent citizens. It would be difficult but not impossible.

India would have been at a much higher position if we did not have to deal with several deficiencies/problems which have become even worse. These issues have continued to drag us down from the growth path and our destiny.

If we want to be truly a global player, we have to deal with these issues/problems.

I will outline what I think are the issues which need to be dealt with;

1. Corruption: It has become a python which is strangulating all aspects of our national life. It is very common among the bureaucrats and politicians. LOK AYUKT, Independent Commission against Corruption and Courts would have to be given wide-spread powers to deal with this problem effectively and expeditiously.

2. Lack of accountability: No body seems to understand the concept of accountability. An engineer can pass a bridge which was built with substandard material and which collapses, killing hundreds of people with hardly any penalty for the engineer. A politician can mis-spend money on parks/statues etc when people are starving and no body can effectively question that politician today in India. A doctor and lawyer do poor jobs and unlike western countries, they are not held accountable in India. We have to learn the concept of accountability and practise it.

3. Ignorance of rights and obligations concept: We may know what our rights are but not many are willing to follow the concept of obligation which goes hand in hand with the rights. Public education via mass media is required.

4. Education: We may have millions with BA, BSc or PhD but often their knowledge is confined to books only. Practical and real education is lacking. If we are indeed educated, why will we allow the criminals to win the elections and why do we vote for a candidate based on the caste/religion? Our education system and curriculum need to be reviewed. significantly increased investment must be made to improve the standards in the schools and universities. It is shameful to see that no Indian Uni is in the top 100 World Universities.

5. Poverty: We have massive poverty and see poor people everywhere. Why have we not created the employment for our people by providing practical/vocational training? Why have we not created a proper welfare system for those who can’t find employment or can’t do any job due to physical/mental incapacity? The answers are obvious.

6. Health System: We have two classes of health system. Rich people can go to private hospitals and can get the world class treatment but poor people have nothing except some vitamins and third class antibiotics from the public hospitals. They are left to die at these public hospitals. Govt needs to invest in Public health. The concept of hygiene and preventive health needs to be promoted in our day to day work, life and business. We have to reduce the maternal and infant mortality.

6. Police: Our police is behaving as if India is still ruled by the British. They have no respect for the people and often, they behave as the criminals. Why the police is not able to be a professional force with associated requirements in crime prevention, investigation and prosecution? No wonder, custodial deaths are far too common. Major changes are needed urgently. National/State police commissions with involvement of relevant people including the public are needed to review what needs to be done to make our police force a good force.

7. Manners, etiquette, and public behaviour: Rudeness, arrogance and discourteous behaviour is far too common. If we can be model citizens when out of India, why we can not be similar when in India? Urinating/defecating openly and spitting are just few examples which must be stopped soon. Public education via schools and mass media is needed. Penalty regime like Singapore will have to be thought about.

8. Public servants or the masters of public: Bureaucrats behave as if they are our kings/queens rather than public servants. Drastic changes are needed in their work, attitudes and behaviours.

9. Politicians: We have openly corrupt politicians and many are criminals. We should not allow any one who has been convicted of a set of defined crimes to contest election. Elections rules must be reviewed and revised.

10. Reservation: Reservation was brought in 1947 for 15 years but it has become permanent. Sons of IAS and ministers are getting the benefits of reservation even in IITs, medical institutions and judiciary. Caste based reservation must be stopped and people from disadvantaged parts of the society irrespective of the caste should be given help to improve themselves but there should be no reservation in either qualifying exams, jobs or promotions.

11. Judiciary:Trials can go on for decades before any judgement is delivered. Justice has to be delivered quickly. We would need more courts and judges to deal with this problem. No case can go on in one court for more than 1-2 years.

12. Government leaders: Ministers should be appointed because they are capable, not because of any other reason. A foreign minister should be the one who can deal with the intricacies of foreign affairs and a finance minister should be the one who has concepts of finance management. Politicians and ministers should know that there is something called retirement. Either they retire themselves after 70 yrs or political parties should not select them after this age.

13. Public mentality and attitude: “Chalta Hai” attitude is harmful. “Muft Khori” is not helpful. We need to have the concepts of self-worth, self-esteem and nationalism instilled in us with the help of curriculum and mass media. Pan-Indian identity should be promoted and encouraged in preference to region, caste and religion based identity.

14. Compulsory English and computer education: Every student must be taught English along with a local language. English has remained the link language and Bollywood films has taken care of Hindi. Similarly, every student must have a minimum standard in computer/internet use and familiarity.

15. Civic sense and moral education: While our GDP/economy has grown, the civic sense and moral standards have fallen. You would see that rubbish is thrown out on the streets from the homes. No body lets the elderly get out from the buses/trains easily and helps them in doing so. People do not care who falls as long as they get in the buses/trains. Profits and selfish gains are everything for a significant proportion of our population. Proper emphasis on Civic sense and moral behaviour must be given from the formative years.

16. Human rights and value of Life:We have the National Human Right Commission [NHRC] and similar ones in the state but we still have serious violation of human rights in India. “Life” has hardly any value. A doctor and a hospital will often refuse to treat a critically injured person only because they have not lodged a FIR. In the process, critically important time is wasted, leading to preventable fatal outcomes. An intense and massive mass media campaign on human rights and values will have to be commenced. NHRC will need to be given more powers to investigate, prosecute and punish the culprits which often are the bureaucrats and police authorities.

17. Aged care: It is not uncommon that people do not care for their elders in India these days. This is not universal by any means but not uncommon either. The State must take initiatives to ensure that elderly people are able to live with dignity. Lok Sabha had recently passed an act which has provisions to protect elderly people from abuse from their relatives.

18. Naxalism:When the state is not doing what it must do, we see the births and growth of extra-Gov forces. Multi-pronged strategies need to be adopted in controlling this menace.

19. Terrorism: India will face this problem for long time because it is not likely anytime soon to have a good relationship with Pakistan. We need to remove our “soft image” and become ruthless in eliminating the terrorist elements. It does not serve a great purpose to keep a convicted terrorist in Tihar Jail for years when even supreme court has rejected the appeal. President of India must not keep the mercy appeals pending indefinitely.

20. Effective foreign policy: While we set our house in order effectively, we need to have a good foreign policy which is able to adapt itself with the changing scenario around us and far afield. It should be managed by those who are the most competent to run the Foreign affairs. We need to learn from China in these matters and need to study how it has befriended Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mal Dives and Burma, often at our cost.

There is a need for a “Commission for national development”which should be entrusted with the job of finding out the priorities for the nation building and national development.

We may not like to admit it but we will need to study with full seriousness, the ways and methods which China adopted in achieving what it has in the last 30 years.

Having said all what I have said, it still remains a fact that nothing would be achieved until we, the people of India, change ourselves in regards to who we are, what is our self worth, what are our rights & obligations, what type of politicians and Gov we want to have, where we want to go, and where our country ought to be going. It is us that must change the most.

I will keep thinking on these topics and will keep updating this write-up. I look forward to your views.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/13-10-09

October 6, 2009 by Yadu Singh

Shashi Tharoor is right:we should work on 2nd October and 5th September too!

You have to love the tweets from the minister of state for foreign affairs, Gov of India, Mr Shashi Tharoor. They are informative, instructive and educative. He is a switched on and a tech savvy minister.

He got the unfair flak from Mrs Big Bindi AKA Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, Mr Ashok Gehlot and few more from AICC on his “Cattle class and holy cows” tweet but he made his point any way.

Now, his brilliant idea about us working on 2nd October is a gem of the idea.

When Bapu had himself said”work is worship” then why should we not follow him and work on 2nd October “Gandhi Jayanti? Why have the hypocrisy of claiming to follow Bapu and not actually follow his teachings? After all, in many countries including Vietnam, people celebrate the birth days of their greats, by working and not going on holidays on that day.

I agree with you Mr Tharoor whole-heartedly. Way to go Mr Tharoor!

Thinking about it though, why should we stop at only 2nd October?

We should work on 5th September AKA “Teachers’ day” too. All teachers should teach, student study and others work their usual jobs on that day!

We need more brilliant ideas from the intelligent ministers in the Gov and the brilliant people among us!

AICC and UPA Gov, you are lucky to have a person of Mr Tharoor’s calibre! I am serious here.

Mrs Big Bindi, don’t you even try making issues with Mr Tharoor please! Leave him alone. He speaks for me and millions more!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/06-10-09