Mumbai Terror attack 26/11/08:What are the lessons? November 27, 2009

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

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal’s bashers sentenced for long prison terms:Australia says, “we will not accept the crimes”. November 18, 2009

http://tinyurl.com/ykq7778

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/indians-abroad/Long-prison-sentences-to-attackers-of-Indian-origin-doctor-in-Australia/articleshow/5241987.cmshttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/long-prison-sentences-to-3-attackers-of-indian-doc-in-oz/543159/

I welcome the prison terms for the criminals who bashed Dr Mukesh  Haikerwal,  a  Melbourne GP. Dr Haikerwal is a well known medico who is an ex-president of Australian Medical Association [AMA]. Criminals Alfer Azzopardi, Michael Baltatzis and Sean Gabriel have been sentenced to 18 and a half years, 16 and half years and 9 years and 9 months long prison terms respectively by Judge Joe Gullaci.

A message will go with these long prison sentences that Australia will not tolerate the crimes.

 This Victoria Judge and Victoria police did a good job. The whole matter was investigated, prosecuted and sentences awarded in about 1 year which is quite fast. In many countries including India, it can take many years.

Thank you Justice Joe Gullaci. 

Thank you also to the police team which did a good investigation and the DPP [Director of public prosecution] for the effective prosecution.

Yadu Singh/Orlando*/18-11-09

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

*I am attending American Heart Association Conference at Orlando, Florida currently.

Corruption Perception Index [CPI]: NZ at 1, Australia at 8 and India at 84th place! November 17, 2009

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table

Have a look at this table of Corruption perception Index [CPI] from Transparency International [TI], which places NZ at the top, Australia at number 8 and India at 84th.

 I have lived in all 3 countries and know the difference. NZ and Australia are far cleaner as far as the impact of corruption is concerned in day to day lives of the people.

Somalia and Afghanistan are at the bottom. Pakistan and Bangladesh are at 139th place. Nepal is even lower. You would see that whole South Asia is very poorly placed in this list. Bhutan is the only exception. Are we surprised? At least, I am not.

I would love to see India within the top 10.

As TI says, Corruption ruins lives, take action and fight back. Please do think about what we, the people, can do to reduce corruption in the world.

Yadu Singh/Orlando*/17-11-09

*I am attending American Heart Association Conference at Orlando, Florida, USA currently.

Australia should sell Uranium to India:Australian Labor Party [ALP] should drop its objections to sell Uranium to India! November 9, 2009

 

I was happy to see that Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Ms Julia Gillard and several federal ministers have visited India recently and now Prime Minister, Hon Kevin Rudd is visiting India in a couple of days.  He has already been to China, USA, Japan, Indonesia and many other countries, and I believe his Indian trip was truly overdue. His previous planned visit to India had to be postponed for various reasons. India is an important country for Australia on multiple fronts. Indian students’ issues aside, both countries enjoy friendly relations with one another.  We, Indians, in Australia, have a keen interest in seeing good relations between these two countries. We know that both Indian and Australian Governments are working seriously to fix the problems involving the Indian students.

Both countries must consider the interests of one another while doing business with one another. There are too many things which bind us together. These are our democracies, rule of law, multi-cultural societies, love of Cricket and memberships of the Commonwealth to name a few.

Australia and Australians are accepted as friends by India and Indians. I do not think the recent problems which our students faced, are going to cause a lasting damage to Australia-India relations.

Indian economy is growing and will keep growing for years to come. India is on a roll. The only thing which holds India down is the fact that it has a problem in regards to its energy supply. It needs more and more energy for all its needs. It is essential not only for India but it is also essential for the health of the world economy.

India has been exploring all sources of energy supply as its local supply is far shorter than what it needs. India has to import petroleum from the Arab countries and is debating about the gas supply from Iran. Iranian Gas is however problematic as it has to transit via Pakistani territory which is a problem in itself. Pakistani Govt authorities will never be able to guarantee a secure transit due to its weakness and the presence of the “non-state actors” there who are anti-India. In addition, India can not rule out a war between India and Pakistan which will create problems in the transit of the gas.

India is therefore forced to explore the option of atomic energy. It has no choice. Thanks to the leadership of The Prime Minister, Mr Man Mohan Singh and US President, Mr George Bush, India has an India-specific NSG exemption and India has been able to have bilateral nuclear energy deals with USA, Russia, France and some more countries. India needs a similar deal with Australia which will allow the Uranium sale to India. Australia has about 40% of world Uranium and sells it to China. NPT should not be an obstacle for Australia to sell Uranium to India after the NSG’s India specific exemption and with India’s impeccable record in nuclear non-proliferation.

We should remind ourselves about what the former Australian PM, Mr John Howard had said about such sale. He said that it would not be fair to sell Uranium to China and deny that to India. PM Howard was dead right.

It is therefore unfair for the ALP Gov to deny Australian Uranium to India. NPT issue is not relevant in regards to India as India has an impeccable records in these matters. Australian Foreign Minister Mr Stephen Smith’s press conference in New Delhi is worth going through. It is available through DFAT website. India has never been involved in nuclear proliferation unlike Pakistan and China. China is a NPT signatory but its record in these matters is not that great. Every body knows the nexus between China and Pakistan. We should not forget how North Korea got its atomic bombs. Pakistan would not have supplied anything to North Korea without the consent of China. Manuals in Chinese language were found even in Lybia which tried to buy things from disgraced proliferater AQ Khan of Pakistan.

Simply put, it makes no sense for Australian Uranium going to China but not to India. In fact, there is more justification for Uranium sale to India. It is fully justifiable if ALP drops it objection to selling Uranium to a non-NPT signatory country like India because India has a fault-free records in proliferation matters and this fact has been recognised by the world with the India specific NSG waiver. Australia itself supported this exemption actively.

I therefore urge the Australian PM and ALP to give India a “fair go”. This is what is expected from a friendly country. It is not fair to bind Australia with the NPT dogma and not see the whole issue in a realistic way. A friend has to see the problems of the his/her friends properly. Australia is a friend of India. It showed it by supporting the NSG exemption for India in Vienna last year. It shows it by supporting a permanent position for India in UNSC. It is about time that we see it once again by seeing Uranium trade between Australia and India. As we understand, it [ALP] would not have any political fall out from its decision to sell Uranium to India because the Coalition is already in favour of doing so. It should not be a problem to amend Atomic energy Act, giving an India-specific exemption for Australian Uranium sale to India.

I urge my Australian Indian friends to lobby with their local MPs on this matter. We need to pool our energies in persuading the Australian Gov to sell Uranium to India.

I and thousands of my friends in Australia do believe strongly that Australia should sell Uranium to India. We find this refusal to sell Uranium to India to be unfair and illogical. India needs new and cleaner sources of  energy generation and nuclear energy is at the top of its list. Nuclear energy will not only help India but it will help the whole world as it will reduce pollution and carbon emission.

A time has come when Australia sees the issues properly and does the right thing. That right thing is to sell Uranium to India. PM Mr Kevin Rudd has a perfect opportunity to declare Australia’s intentions during his visit to New Delhi in a couple of days.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/09-11-09 

singhyadu@gmail.com

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

 

“Made in China” is now “Made in Egypt”: A lesson for India! November 9, 2009

@dryadusingh http://bit.ly/2h2Q8l

“Made in China” can be ”Made in Egypt” as this article from Sydney Morning Herald [SMH] is suggesting. This is very smart as USA and other countries have quota for different countries’ exports to USA.

Indian’s economy is growing but it will grow better if we are smarter. You can see how China is investing in Africa and what benefit is going to China in all fronts-economic, general goodwill, political and diplomatic.

As one of our VEDAs says, “Let the good ideas come from all angles and all sources” and China is not excluded for the source of ideas. 

Yadu Singh/Sydney/09-11-09

Indian chaos:we can do better! November 7, 2009

http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article43951.ece

This write-up in The Hindu newspaper is very good. It shows what we  generally do and by implication, what we should not do. I remember at least two functions in Sydney when some Indian bigwigs were openly fighting [verbally] about the seating arrangements. One was our own medical association’s function where the wife of the vice president had some serious arguments with the president.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/08-11-09

Indian Australians:are we relevant in Australia & its systems! November 3, 2009

There are about 300000 people of Indian heritage in Australia. About 100000 Indian students are in Australia too. Our numbers are probably more if we take Indian people from Fiji, Malaysia, South Africa and other countries into account. Basically, we have a significant mass of people from Indian background in Australia.

We are nicely represented in Medicine, law, teaching, accounting, IT and banking but not so in the higher level of administration and politics. Talking about the politics, there is not even a single person from Indian heritage in the state parliament or Federal parliament. This is not going to change in the near future either. This is so despite several of us in the major political parties, usually as cheer squad members.

Is it so because people with questionable calibre are in the political parties and such people do not have what a leader must have- the capacity to lead or is it because political parties are happy to take support from us but not willing to give us a share in the power? There are merits in both arguments.

I for one believe that we will not get what we should unless we do certain things. We have to “arrive” at the scene. We have to become politically active and smarter. We have to participate in the process, rather than just being happy with some photographs with  the ministers. We have to become demanding.

To achieve something in the political arena, we have to identify people among us who can lead. We have to unite our community too. “Unite our community” does not mean ghettoing ourselves however as we are very much a part of the broad Australian community. We have to achieve many things as part of Australian community.

Someone can ask  whether it is important that we have one or more Indians in the political power. It is really not that important if you think about it superficially. It is however important when you think about it more deeply. We are part of Australian community and must be part of Australian political systems. Politics affects us from all the angles and we need to participate in it.  If we participate in it, then we must get our share in the power too. Remember the ultimate justification for us to be in the political power. This is what we say “why not?”.

You may not agree with me but that is my view. I welcome your view point.

We will achieve many things in this country and be more relevant in the processes here if we;

1. join political parties in bigger numbers

2. participate in the political processes and are willing to take leadership roles in the systems/parties

3. become more supportive of right type of people from any community but do not hold it against a person if that person is from our community. We need to rise above our region/language based identities and take our ”Indian” identity.

4. unite our own community which has hundreds of associations, often in the same community.

5. we persuade assertively/actively those “leaders’ who have been in their positions for years without any real productivity or outcome, to move aside.

6. work for a genuine umbrella group/organisation which can represent all of us. The constitution, membership, agenda and leadership of such group/organisation should be transparent and dynamic with potential for required changes to fit with the prevailing circumstances. United Indian Associations [UIA] falls sort of these goals significantly. UIA can however reform itself if it is honest to its published goals. The Jury is out whether UIA can reform itself though. I have seen two examples recently which do not give me lot of hope however. High Commissioner of India had a meeting with Indian community leaders in Canberra last Wedbnesday. Everybody who is anybody in our community from all over Australia was there but no body from top 3 of UIA office bearers [President, Vice president and secretary] was there. Similarly, in the meeting with NSW Premier yesterday, neither the president was there nor the vice president. UIA secretary was there but the person who “spoke on behalf of UIA” was Raj Natarajan who is not in UIA executive committee [EC] currently. This is indicative of a dysfunctional organisation. This is sad but true that UIA is not able to lead us. Our community needs lot more than what UIA is able to deliver. It is the capacity issue. UIA  needs to shape up or ship out! Oh yes, UIA leaders need to keep in their mind that they are not particularly popular in our community and they can’t blame any one else except themselves for this situation. UIA leaders, please remember that our community needs lot more than a “MELA” [fair] to show as the output from UIA. I ask you to lead all of us but do you have what you need to have to lead us? We need the honest answers! I do not believe in criticising for sake of criticising only. To prove this, we are willing to help you and work with you with all the integrity and honesty, recognising that our community does not need one more association as we already have too many.

7. do everything to enhance the reputation of our community. Indian Australians have had a great reputation but it has been damaged recently. Some from our own community were exploiting Indian international students in all sorts of ways. Some of them did facilitate false work experience certificates, pay below-award wages, take bribes for work certificates and even arrange false IELTS certificates after taking some money. Some students have come to Australia, not to study but to have PR at any cost, often using fraud/false certificates. We need to demand the cleaning of rorts/scams and punishment for those who are involved in these rorts/scams.

8. have the Indian ethnic media which is committed to the restoration of our image. Publishing good reports or the photographs of such people [rorters/scammers] for whatever reason-friendship or advertisement dollars- should not happen.

9. network effectively among ourselves and other relevant people when it comes to the core issues in regards to our community. Uranium sale to India, more time in SBS TV/radio for India/Indian culture based on our numbers, statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a prominent place in Sydney, reception of the Indian community of NSW by the Premier of NSW as is the case for Chinese community of NSW and culturally appropriate/conducive nursing homes for our seniors are some issues which I can mention but there are many more.

10. learn to respect/support our people and shun the so called “Tall Poppy Syndrome” when we find that one of us is doing well. We should not have any problem if Neville Roach gets nominated to be a member of Indian PM’s Global advisory council or Susai Benjamin gets nomination for a membership in Multicultural advisory council of Immigration minister or Dr Yadu Singh gets interviewed by all the newspapers/TV stations on students’ issues. We need to curb our envy and not start attempting coups against our own people. I was disgusted to see hundreds of people, claiming leadership role on students’ issues during the peak of students’ trouble, forgetting that they were the ones who were exploiting these students. Even the “CHORs” [thieves] and looters from our community became leaders. Such below-standard people only made our work more difficult and gave us lots of anguish even when we were doing things for students without any personal benefit or conflict of interest. Thankfully, they have all disappeared. I did not see them in the meeting with NSW Premier yesterday. I was happy to note their absence, partly because they are good for nothing but more importantly, we are able to do lot more for our people without their insincere/harmful meddling. I would be meeeting VETAB/Ministry of education, NSW Gov on Thursday, 5th Nov in reference to Flying school students [School guys and students will be there too] and then chief of the NSW task force next week. 

I am exhorting the Indian Australians to think over the issues we have and do introspection about where we are and where we are headed to as a community.

We need to work as a team if we want to achieve anything for any one we claim to serve for. Having said that, such team can not and will not have these “CHORs” [thieves] though.

I am ready and many of my friends are too but I am asking a question, “are you ready too?”

Yadu Singh/Sydney/03-11009

International students in Australia:Yet one more scam! November 1, 2009

http://www.theage.com.au/national/crime-link-to-student-scam-20091030-hpwm.html

The whole International education in Australia is open to scams,  rorts and criminal activities. Serious actions are needed to clean this sector.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/01-11-09

 

Student Visa Scam in Australia:One more story and one more angle! October 24, 2009

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,26252691-12332,00.html

I am sick and tired of the scams, rorts and fraudulent acts on the name of Student Visa and International education in Australia.

Now, human smuggling has been mentioned.

Please clean it, investigate it and prosecute those who are involved in it.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/24th Oct, 2009

FISA demands “More student Hotlines in all Indian languages” for Indian students in Australia:FISA must be kidding! October 23, 2009

http://yadusingh.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/ten-point-charter-of-fisai-and-many-disagree-with-this-impractical-charter/

FISA presents itself as an association of Indian students in Australia. It had published a 10 points charter of demands.

 In addition to many impractical demands contained in this 10 point charter, it is canvassing for the help lines or hot lines in all Indian languages.

I am bemused and perplexed with this demand.

What is wrong with help line in English, FISA leaders? After all, students have passed IELTS exam which means they have proficiency in  English and Australia is an English speaking country!

May be, FISA leaders can explain their thought process!

For details on FISA’s charter, please click “FISA” category in this site.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/23rd Oct, 2009

China-India history in a nutshell:This article from WSJ is worth a look! October 23, 2009

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125625173429702481.html#project%3DSLIDESHOW08%26s%3DSB125621157646101033%26articleTabs%3Darticle

This article describes the history, positions, trade and problems between China and India in a nutshell.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/23rd Oct 2009

Racist assault of Indian students in Melbourne: This sentence is inadequate, says DPP and appealed.I agree! October 23, 2009

http://www.theage.com.au/national/man-jailed-over-racist-attack-on-indian-student-20091023-hcnr.html

A tougher sentencing regime is required to send out the message to these racist criminals. They need to rot in jails for a lot longer time.

It must be made very clear that Australian society would not tolerate racism, racists and racist crimes. Victorian Premier, Mr John Brumby, should order a review of the sentencing regime and make the punishment to be more stringent.

I am very happy to know that DPP [Director of Public Prosecution] has appealed against the inadequate sentence in this case. 

Yadu Singh/Sydney/23rd Oct, 2009

Happy DIWALI from President Obama [http://bit.ly/1GfDtY] :It is a great YouTube video! October 16, 2009

http://bit.ly/1GfDtY

Yadu Singh/Melbourne/16-10-09

PS: In Melbourne for a conference.

President Obama’s Nobel:This YouTube video is great! October 14, 2009

http://ow.ly/umjM

Like billions of people, I am baffled and confused about why did he get it. He was nominated in Feb, barely fews days after entering the White House.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/15-10-09

India of my deams:What it should be but is not? October 13, 2009

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.

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

Rich heads of state and Government:Mr Asif Ali Zardari is in it but none from India! October 10, 2009

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

This is a list of heads of state and government by their net worth, mostly of their liquid assets. This list should not include crown property and other material goods (although these are sometimes difficult to separate depending on the source) as of August 2008.

Name	Title	Net Worth	Country
Bhumibol Adulyadej	King	$30 billion[1]	Thailand
Haji Hassanal Bolkiah	Sultan	$20 billion[1]	Brunei
Panco Milodarka Vila	Sultan	$19 billion[1]	Brunei
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan	Emir	$18 billion[1]	United Arab Emirates
Abdullah	King	$17 billion[1]	Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Bin Rashid	Prime Minister	$12 billion[1]	United Arab Emirates
Silvio Berlusconi	Prime Minister	$9.4 billion[2]	Italy
Asif Ali Zardari	President	$4 billion[3]	Pakistan
Hans-Adam II	Prince	$3.5 billion[1]	Liechtenstein
Mohammed VI	King	$2.5 billion[1]	Morocco
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani	Emir	$2 billion[1]	Qatar
Albert II	Prince	$1 billion[1]	Monaco
Elizabeth II	Queen Paramount Chief Lord Proprietor Duke	$650 million[1]	Alderney Akrotiri and Dhekelia  Anguilla  Antigua and Barbuda Ascention Island  Australia  Bahamas  Barbados  Belize  Bermuda  British Antarctic Territory  British Indian Ocean Territory  British Virgin Islands  Canada  Cayman Islands  Christmas Island  Cocos (Keeling) Islands  Cook Islands  Falkland Islands  Fiji  Gibraltar  Grenada  Guernsey  Herm  Isle of Man  Jamaica  Jersey  Montserrat  New Zealand  Niue  Norfolk Island  Papua New Guinea  Pitcairn Islands  Saint Helena  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Sark  Solomon Islands  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands  Tristan da Cunha  Turks and Caicos Islands  Tuvalu  United Kingdom
Qaboos	Sultan	$700 million[1]	Oman
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo	President	$600 million[citation needed]	Equatorial Guinea
Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah	Emir	$400 million[1]	Kuwait
Beatrix	Queen	$200 million[1]	Netherlands  Netherlands Antilles  Aruba
Mswati III	King	$100 million[1]	Swaziland
Kevin Rudd	Prime Minister	$60 million[4]	Australia
John Key	Prime Minister	$50 million[5]	New Zealand
Harald V	King	$27 million[citation needed]	Norway
Lee Myung-bak	President	$23.6 million[6]	South Korea
Milo Đukanović	Prime Minister	$14.8 million [7]	Montenegro
Margrethe II	Queen	$10 million[citation needed]	Denmark  Faroe Islands  Greenland
Carl XVI Gustaf	King	$9 million[citation needed]	Sweden
Luis Fortuño	Governor	$3.1 million[8]	Puerto Rico
Nicolas Sarkozy	President Prince	$3 million[citation needed]	France  Andorra
Cristina Kirchner	President	$2 million[citation needed]	Argentina
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Prime Minister	$2 million[citation needed]	Turkey
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo	President	$1.5 million[9]	Philippines
Barack Obama	President	$1.3 million[10]	United States
Felipe Calderón	President	$0.67 million[11]	Mexico
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono	President	$0.5 million[citation needed]	Indonesia
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	President	$0.36 million[12]	Brazil

H1N1 Influenza or Swine Flu: a history of a celebrity patient! October 10, 2009

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/23/i-went-to-afghanistan-and-all-i-got-was-h1n1/

Worth a read. Dr Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical reporter describes what he went through.

H1N1 Vaccine [Panvax] is available and people at high risk should have this vaccine.

Info from www.healthemergency.gov.au

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Vaccine

 

Protect yourself, protect your community

A new FREE vaccine to protect Australians from pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus is ready. Panvax® H1N1 vaccine was registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration on 18 September 2009.
There is clear evidence of serious or fatal health complications for some people who catch this flu. It is a new strain of flu that spreads easily from person to person, and experience in other countries shows that this is not just a winter flu – it could come back during spring and summer.

Vaccination is the safest response for the community, particularly as large numbers of people continue to be infected, and some are suffering serious health complications. By getting vaccinated you can protect yourself and help stop this flu spreading.

 

How a vaccine works

Panvax® H1N1 Vaccine contains extracts of protein from the new flu strain. Once you get vaccinated, proteins prompt your body to produce antibodies to protect you from the virus.
Protection after vaccination varies from person to person, but people generally start producing the antibodies that provide protection two weeks after the vaccination. Protection is expected to last for at least one year.

This vaccine does not contain live virus and cannot give you influenza.

People who should get immediate vaccination

All people can get vaccinated but some people are more at risk of severe outcomes if they catch this flu. Vaccination is strongly recommended for:

• Pregnant women
• Parents and guardians of infants up to six months old
• People with underlying chronic conditions, including:
  • heart disease;
  • asthma and other lung diseases;
  • cancer;
  • diabetes;
  • kidney disease;
  • neurological disease;
  • other chronic conditions (talk to your GP)
• People who are severely obese
• Indigenous Australians
• Frontline health workers
• Community care workers

You should see your GP. This vaccine is free in Australia for those who are at high risk. I had a talk on this yesterday in my Radio Umang programme [98.5MHZ, Fridays, 8-9 PM]

Yadu Singh/Sydney/10-10-09

President Obama gets the Nobel prize:is it premature? October 10, 2009

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/10/mixed-world-reaction-to-obamas-win/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/10/prize-seen-as-reward-for-not-being-bush/

Many people are wondering why and for what achievements did he get the Nobel? He was nominated in Feb 2009 ie 1 month after entering the White House. What has he achieved?

I thought the Nobel is for achievements, not for announcements and proposals. 

 

Yadu Singh/Sydney/10-10-09

Top wealthy people in the world:Many Indians in it and one Pakistani too! October 10, 2009

dryadusingh Top wealthy people in the world:many Indians in it. Have a look. http://bit.ly/44qQ7k

Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal and Anil Ambani are there.

Visit the list further and see which King/Queen/Prince/Head of State is in it.

Mr Asif Ali Zardari is in it too and PM Kevin Rudd is also mentioned. PM Man Mohan Singh is not there.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This list of billionaires is based (where not otherwise noted) on an annual ranking of the world’s wealthiest people compiled and published by Forbes magazine on March 11, 2009.^[1] The listed net worth represents the estimated value of assets less debt as of February 13, 2009.^[2] The list does not include heads of state whose wealth is tied to their position (see List of heads of state and government by net worth).

The world’s 5 wealthiest people

Bill Gates

Warren Buffett

Carlos Slim Helú

Lawrence Ellison

Ingvar Kamprad

Contents [hide] 1 Top billionaires 2 See also 3 References

 

Top billionaires

The following list is the ranking of the world’s richest billionaires as of February 13, 2009, and does not reflect changes since then.

Legend
Icon	Description
▬	Has not changed from the list for 2008.
▲	Has increased from the list for 2008.
▼	Has decreased from the list for 2008.

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Residence	Sources of wealth	Ref.
&0000000000000001.0000001▲	Gates, BillBill Gates	$40.0 billion ▼	53	United States	United States	Microsoft	[3]
&0000000000000002.0000002▼	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$37.0 billion ▼	78	United States	United States	Berkshire Hathaway	[3]
&0000000000000003.0000003▼	Helú, Carlos SlimCarlos Slim Helú	$35.0 billion ▼	69	Mexico	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil	[3]
&0000000000000004.0000004▲	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$22.5 billion ▼	64	United States	United States	Oracle Corporation	[3]
&0000000000000005.0000005▲	Kamprad, IngvarIngvar Kamprad and family	$22.0 billion ▼	83	Sweden	Switzerland	IKEA	[4]
&0000000000000006.0000006▲	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$21.5 billion ▼	89	Germany	Germany	Aldi Süd	[4]
&0000000000000007.0000007▼	Ambani, MukeshMukesh Ambani	$19.5 billion ▼	51	India	India	Reliance Industries	[4]
&0000000000000008.0000008▼	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$19.3 billion ▼	58	India	United Kingdom	Arcelor Mittal	[4]
&0000000000000009.0000009▲	Albrecht, TheoTheo Albrecht	$18.8 billion ▼	87	Germany	Germany	Aldi Nord, Trader Joe’s	[5]
&0000000000000010.00000010▲	Ortega, AmancioAmancio Ortega	$18.3 billion ▼	73	Spain	Spain	Inditex Group	[6]
&0000000000000011.00000011▲	Walton, JimJim Walton	$17.8 billion ▼	61	United States	United States	Wal-Mart	[7]
&0000000000000012.00000012▲	Walton, AliceAlice Walton	$17.6 billion ▼	59	United States	United States	Wal-Mart	[7]
&0000000000000012.00000012▲	Walton, ChristyChristy Walton	$17.6 billion ▼	54	United States	United States	Wal-Mart	[7]
&0000000000000012.00000012▲	Walton, S. RobsonS. Robson Walton	$17.6 billion ▼	65	United States	United States	Wal-Mart	[7]
&0000000000000015.00000015▼	Arnault, BernardBernard Arnault	$16.5 billion ▼	60	France	France	LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton	[8]
&0000000000000016.00000016▼	Ka-shing, LiLi Ka-shing	$16.2 billion ▼	80	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Cheung Kong Holdings, Hutchison Whampoa	[9]
&0000000000000017.00000017▲	Bloomberg, MichaelMichael Bloomberg	$16.0 billion ▲	67	United States	United States	Bloomberg L.P.	[6]
&0000000000000018.00000018▲	Persson, StefanStefan Persson	$14.5 billion ▼	61	Sweden	Sweden	Hennes & Mauritz
&0000000000000019.00000019▲	Koch, CharlesCharles Koch	$14.0 billion ▼	73	United States	United States	Koch Industries	[10]
&0000000000000019.00000019▲	Koch, David H.David H. Koch	$14.0 billion ▼	68	United States	United States	Koch Industries	[10]
&0000000000000021.00000021▼	Bettencourt, LilianeLiliane Bettencourt	$13.4 billion ▼	86	France	France	L’Oréal	[3]
&0000000000000022.00000022▼	Alsaud, Prince Alwaleed Bin TalalPrince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud	$13.3 billion ▼	54	Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom Holding Company, Citigroup	[11]
&0000000000000023.00000023▲	Otto, MichaelMichael Otto and family	$13.2 billion ▼	65	Germany	Germany	Otto GmbH
&0000000000000024.00000024▲	Thomson, DavidDavid Thomson and family	$13.0 billion ▼	51	Canada	Canada	The Thomson Corporation	[12]
&0000000000000025.00000025▲	Dell, MichaelMichael Dell	$12.3 billion ▼	44	United States	United States	Dell
&0000000000000026.00000026▲	Bren, DonaldDonald Bren	$12.0 billion ▼	76	United States	United States	Irvine Company
&0000000000000026.00000026▲	Brin, SergeySergey Brin	$12.0 billion ▼	35	United States	United States	Google	[3]
&0000000000000026.00000026▲	Page, LarryLarry Page	$12.0 billion ▼	36	United States	United States	Google	[3]
&0000000000000029.00000029▲	Ballmer, StevenSteven Ballmer	$11.0 billion ▼	53	United States	United States	Microsoft	[13]
&0000000000000029.00000029▲	Westminster, The Duke ofThe Duke of Westminster and family	$11.0 billion ▼	57	United Kingdom	United Kingdom	Grosvenor Group	[14]
&0000000000000029.00000029▲	Soros, GeorgeGeorge Soros	$11.0 billion ▲	78	United States	United States	Soros Fund Management
&0000000000000032.00000032▲	Allen, PaulPaul Allen	$10.5 billion ▼	56	United States	United States	Microsoft	[11]
&0000000000000032.00000032▼	Kwok, RaymondRaymond Kwok, Thomas Kwok, and Walter Kwok	$10.5 billion ▼	57, 58, and 59	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Sun Hung Kai
&0000000000000034.00000034▼	Ambani, AnilAnil Ambani	$10.1 billion ▼	49	India	India	Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group	[4]
&0000000000000035.00000035▲	Johnson, AbigailAbigail Johnson	$10.0 billion ▼	47	United States	United States	Fidelity Investments
&0000000000000035.00000035▲	Klatten, SusanneSusanne Klatten	$10.0 billion ▼	46	Germany	Germany	BMW
&0000000000000035.00000035▲	Perelman, RonaldRonald Perelman	$10.0 billion ▲	66	United States	United States	Revlon
&0000000000000035.00000035▲	Rausing, HansHans Rausing	$10.0 billion ▬	83	Sweden	United Kingdom	Tetra Laval	[14]
&0000000000000039.00000039▲	Rausing, BirgitBirgit Rausing and family	$9.9 billion ▼	85	Sweden	Switzerland	Tetra Laval
&0000000000000040.00000040▲	Ferrero, MicheleMichele Ferrero and family	$9.5 billion ▼	82	Italy	Monaco	Ferrero
&0000000000000040.00000040▼	Prokhorov, MikhailMikhail Prokhorov	$9.5 billion ▼	43	Russia	Russia	Interros	[15]
&0000000000000040.00000040▲	Taylor, Jack C.Jack C. Taylor and family	$9.5 billion ▼	86	United States	United States	Enterprise Rent-A-Car
&0000000000000043.00000043▲	Al Amoudi, MohammedMohammed Al Amoudi	$9.0 billion ▬	63	Ethiopia/ Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia/ Ethiopia	Corral Petroleum Holdings
&0000000000000043.00000043▼	Chambers, Anne CoxAnne Cox Chambers	$9.0 billion ▼	89	United States	United States	Cox Enterprises
&0000000000000043.00000043▲	Icahn, CarlCarl Icahn	$9.0 billion ▼	73	United States	United States	American Car and Foundry Company	[16]
&0000000000000043.00000043▲	Kaiser, GeorgeGeorge Kaiser	$9.0 billion ▼	66	United States	United States	BOK Financial Corporation
&0000000000000043.00000043▼	Kee, Lee ShauLee Shau Kee	$9.0 billion ▼	81	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Henderson Land Development
&0000000000000043.00000043▲	Mars, Jr., Forrest EdwardForrest Edward Mars, Jr.	$9.0 billion ▼	77	United States	United States	Mars, Incorporated	[16]
&0000000000000043.00000043▲	Mars, JacquelineJacqueline Mars	$9.0 billion ▼	69	United States	United States	Mars, Incorporated	[16]
&0000000000000043.00000043▲	Mars, JohnJohn Mars	$9.0 billion ▼	72	United States	United States	Mars, Incorporated	[16]
&0000000000000051.00000051▼	Abramovich, RomanRoman Abramovich	$8.5 billion ▼	42	Russia	Russia	Millhouse Capital	[17]
&0000000000000052.00000052▲	Bertarelli, ErnestoErnesto Bertarelli	$8.2 billion ▼	43	Switzerland	Switzerland	Serono
&0000000000000052.00000052▲	Knight, PhilipPhilip Knight	$8.2 billion ▼	71	United States	United States	Nike
&0000000000000054.00000054▼	Al-Kharafi, NasserNasser Al-Kharafi and family	$8.1 billion ▼	65	Kuwait	Kuwait	M. A. Kharafi & Sons
&0000000000000055.00000055▲	Simons, JamesJames Simons	$8.0 billion ▲	70	United States	United States	Renaissance Technologies
&0000000000000055.00000055▲	Wertheimer, AlainAlain Wertheimer and Gerard Wertheimer	$8.0 billion ▼	60 and 59	France	United States  Switzerland	Chanel
&0000000000000057.00000057▲	Al Ghurair, Abdul AzizAbdul Aziz Al Ghurair & family	$7.8 billion ▲	55	United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	Mashreq Bank
&0000000000000057.00000057▲	Alakbarov, VahidVahid Alakbarov	$7.8 billion ▼	58	Russia	Russia	LUKoil
&0000000000000059.00000059▲	Mittal, SunilSunil Mittal and family	$7.7 billion ▼	51	India	India	Bharti Airtel
&0000000000000060.00000060▼	Pinault, FrançoisFrançois Pinault and family	$7.6 billion ▼	72	France	France	PPR
&0000000000000061.00000061▲	Batista, EikeEike Batista	$7.5 billion ▲	51	Brazil	Brazil	EBX Group
&0000000000000062.00000062▲	Al Jaber, Mohamed Bin IssaMohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber	$7.0 billion ▲	50	Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia
&0000000000000062.00000062▲	Al-Sanea, MaanMaan Al-Sanea	$7.0 billion ▼	54	Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	Saad Group
&0000000000000062.00000062▲	Johnson, III, EdwardEdward Johnson, III	$7.0 billion ▼	78	United States	United States	Fidelity Investments
&0000000000000062.00000062▲	Krishnan, AnandaAnanda Krishnan	$7.0 billion ▼	70	Malaysia	Malaysia	Maxis, Astro
&0000000000000062.00000062▲	Kuok, RobertRobert Kuok	$7.0 billion ▼	85	Malaysia	Hong Kong	Perlis Plantations Bhd
&0000000000000062.00000062▲	Safra, JosephJoseph Safra	$7.0 billion ▼	70	Brazil	Brazil	Safra Group
&0000000000000068.00000068▲	Bezos, JeffreyJeffrey Bezos	$6.8 billion ▼	45	United States	United States	Amazon.com
&0000000000000069.00000069▲	von Finck, Jr., AugustAugust von Finck, Jr.	$6.7 billion ▼	79	Germany	Switzerland	Allianz
&0000000000000070.00000070▲	Berlusconi, SilvioSilvio Berlusconi and family	$6.5 billion ▼	72	Italy	Italy	Fininvest
&0000000000000071.00000071▲	Del Vecchio, LeonardoLeonardo Del Vecchio	$6.3 billion ▼	73	Italy	Italy	Luxottica
&0000000000000071.00000071▲	Engelhorn, CurtCurt Engelhorn	$6.3 billion ▼	82	Germany	Switzerland	Roche
&0000000000000071.00000071▼	Fridman, MikhailMikhail Fridman	$6.3 billion ▼	44	Russia	Russia	Alfa Group
&0000000000000074.00000074▲	Al Rajhi, SulaimanSulaiman Al Rajhi	$6.2 billion ▼	89	Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	Al-Rajhi Bank
&0000000000000075.00000075▲	Goodnight, JamesJames Goodnight	$6.1 billion ▼	66	United States	United States	SAS Institute
&0000000000000076.00000076▲	Fontbona, IrisIris Fontbona (widow of Andronico Luksic) and family	$6.0 billion ▼		Chile	Chile	Antofagasta PLC, Quiñenco
&0000000000000076.00000076▲	Kellner, PetrPetr Kellner	$6.0 billion ▼	44	Czech Republic	Czech Republic	PPF Group
&0000000000000076.00000076▲	Kluge, JohnJohn Kluge	$6.0 billion ▼	94	United States	United States	Metromedia	[6]
&0000000000000076.00000076▲	Paulson, JohnJohn Paulson	$6.0 billion ▲	53	United States	United States
&0000000000000076.00000076▲	Yanai, TadashiTadashi Yanai & family	$6.0 billion ▲	60	Japan	Japan	Fast Retailing
&0000000000000081.00000081▲	Duncan, DanDan Duncan	$5.9 billion ▼	76	United States	United States	Enterprise Products
&0000000000000081.00000081▲	Matte, EliodoroEliodoro Matte & family	$5.9 billion ▼	63	Chile	Chile	Compañía Manufacturera de Papeles y Cartones
&0000000000000083.00000083▲	Bailleres, AlbertoAlberto Bailleres & family	$5.7 billion ▼	76	Mexico	Mexico	Grupo Bal
&0000000000000083.00000083▼	Premji, AzimAzim Premji	$5.7 billion ▼	63	India	India	Wipro Technologies
&0000000000000083.00000083▲	Wyss, HansjorgHansjorg Wyss	$5.7 billion ▼	74	Switzerland	United States	Synthes
&0000000000000086.00000086▼	Ruia, ShashiShashi Ruia and Ravi Ruia	$5.6 billion ▼	65	India	India	Essar
&0000000000000087.00000087▲	Cohen, Steven A.Steven A. Cohen	$5.5 billion ▼	53	United States	United States	SAC Capital Partners
&0000000000000087.00000087▲	Ng Teng Fong, Ng Teng Fong	$5.5 billion ▼	80	Singapore	Singapore	Sino Group
&0000000000000087.00000087▲	Soon-Shiong, PatrickPatrick Soon-Shiong	$5.5 billion ▲	57	United States	United States	American Pharmaceutical Partners
&0000000000000090.00000090▼	Dassault, SergeSerge Dassault and family	$5.4 billion ▼	83	France	France	Dassault Group
&0000000000000090.00000090▲	Haub, ErivanErivan Haub & family	$5.4 billion ▼	76	Germany	Germany	Tengelmann Group
&0000000000000092.00000092▲	Lemann, Jorge PauloJorge Paulo Lemann	$5.3 billion ▼	69	Brazil	Brazil	Investment Bank & Anheuser-Busch InBev
&0000000000000093.00000093▲	Broad, EliEli Broad	$5.2 billion ▼	75	United States	United States	KB Home
&0000000000000093.00000093▲	Busujima, KunioKunio Busujima & family	$5.2 billion ▼	83	Japan	Japan	Sankyo
&0000000000000093.00000093▲	Kipp, Karl-HeinzKarl-Heinz Kipp	$5.2 billion ▼	85	Germany	Switzerland	Massa
&0000000000000093.00000093▼	Lisin, VladimirVladimir Lisin	$5.2 billion ▼	52	Russia	Russia	Novolipetsk Steel	[15]
&0000000000000093.00000093▲	Wurth, ReinholdReinhold Wurth	$5.2 billion ▼	73	Germany	Germany	Wurth Group
&0000000000000098.00000098▲	Anschutz, PhilipPhilip Anschutz	$5.0 billion ▼	69	United States	United States	The Anschutz Corporation
&0000000000000098.00000098▼	Kerkorian, KirkKirk Kerkorian	$5.0 billion ▼	91	United States	United States	Tracinda Corporation	[16]
&0000000000000098.00000098▲	Oppenheimer, NickyNicky Oppenheimer & family	$5.0 billion ▼	63	South Africa	South Africa	De Beers & Anglo American
&0000000000000098.00000098▲	Reuben, David and SimonDavid and Simon Reuben	$5.0 billion ▼	NA	United Kingdom	United Kingdom	real estate
&0000000000000098.00000098▼	Singh, Kushal PalKushal Pal Singh	$5.0 billion ▼	77	India	India	DLF Group	[4]
&0000000000000098.00000098▲	Weston, GalenGalen Weston & family	$5.0 billion ▼	68	Canada	Canada	George Weston Limited, Associated British Foods
&0000000000000104.000000104▲	Mansha, Mian MohammadMian Mohammad Mansha	$4.4 billion ▲	NA	Pakistan	Pakistan	Nishat Group, Muslim Commercial Bank	[18][19]
&0000000000000106.000000106▲	Jobs, SteveSteve Jobs	$3.4 billion ▼	54	United States	United States	Apple Inc.	[20]

Yadu Singh/Sydney/10-10-09

Top 100 Universities in the world: 2 from Australia but none from India! October 10, 2009

http://www.ulinks.com/topuniversities.htm

It is about time that India invests more money in the education sector. Some of the Indian Universities are capable of being in the top 100 list. Reservation on the basis of caste is something which is not going to help. A teacher who gets his/her position from non-merit grounds can not be as good as the one who is there due to academic merits.

Food for thoughts for Indian minister for education, Mr Kapil Sibal!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/10-10-09

Air India Pilots and cabin staff fight in the sky:Air India,Tussi [You] The Great! October 6, 2009

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,,26165918-5017817,00.html

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/travel/hosties-pilots-in-plane-sex-punch-up-on-air-india-flight/story-e6frezhr-1225782957769

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/business/india-business/Air-India-pilots-crew-come-to-blows-at-30000-ft/articleshow/5085243.cms

Air India pilots and crews threw punches at 30000 Ft in the sky. Allegations of physical and sexual assaults have been made. FIR has been lodged. Police is investigating.

This apparently happened in front of passengers.

 Air India says that the safety of passengers was not at risk although some reports tell us that fight happened in the cockpit and then spilled over in the cabin.

Gross unprofessional, callous and irresponsible behaviour!

This is going to damage the brand Air India’s battered image and India in general.

Fast and fair investigation should be done and the guilty parties should be sacked summarily. In addition, they should face the criminal justice system for causing potential danger to the plane and passengers.

I travel with Air India in preference to other air lines.

I have to think twice now.

The Indian civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel and Air India board have serious job at their hands.

And I say “Air India, Tussi the great!”.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/06-10-09

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

Shashi Tharoor is right:we should work on 2nd October and 5th September too! October 6, 2009

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

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

A crime is a crime. Do not always bring race into it:Look at this SMH report! October 6, 2009

http://www.smh.com.au/national/student-guilty-of-murdering-flatmates-by-bludgeoning-and-stabbing-them-20091006-gks8.html

Look at this report in SMH.

People from any race can do a crime. Culprits and victims could be from any race, ethnicity and nationality. It is much better if  the “race” angle is underplayed and a crime is treated as a crime. This will avoid the unnecessary emotive dimensions.

This SMH article does not even state the race of any one involved in the crime.

I hope that Indian media can learn from this reporting.

Am I expecting too much?

Yadu Singh/Sydney/06-10-09

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

I tweet at www.twitter.com/dryadusingh October 6, 2009

Join me and lets tweet!

 See my tweets on Melbourne assaults and UNDP quality of life score for India and Australia.

Work and tweeting:a great combination!

Enjoy!

Tweet…..Tweet….Tweet……

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

Yadu Singh/Sydney/06-10-09

Australia number 2 for Quality of life:says UNDP October 5, 2009

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/australia-ranked-no-2-for-quality-of-life-20091005-gjfg.html

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/India-at-No-134-on-UN-Human-Development-Index/articleshow/5092047.cms

http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2009/chapters/

United Nations Development Program [UNDP] says that Australia is number two in the list of countries for the quality of life. Norway is on the top. Australia will probably topple Norway next year. USA and UK are 13th and 21st in the list. India and Pakistan are at 134th and 141st place in the list of 182 countries. China, Srilanka and Bhutan are higher than India. Niger is at the bottom. UNDP published its Human Development Report for 2009 yesterday.

 Hooray!

We know it already that Australia is a great place. Lets make it even better!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/06-10-09

Indians are dishing out the medicine which they have been getting for a while in Melbourne:Indian Express story. October 5, 2009

This is an interesting read.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indians-bash-up-two-aussies-following-racial-row/525177/0

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/adopt-gandhian-way-and-remain-calm-indian-community-leaders/525239/

Yadu Singh/Sydney/05-10-09

I am now twittering:Its fun! October 5, 2009

Join me on

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

Its fun and I am enjoying it.

Lets tweet to our heart’s content.

Tweet…. tweet….. tweet….

Yadu Singh/Sydney/05-10-09

A Brain-less and criminal act of burning the train in India: Culprits must be tracked down and punished! October 4, 2009

The Mahananda Express on fire in Hathras on Wednesday. PTI

 

Uttar Pradesh has a significant law and order problem. We all know it. Probably, Bihar is the only state which is worse. Mayawati Gov is trying its best to control the menace but its success is only partial. We recall that Ms Mayawati’s Party came to power in 2007 largely because of the serious law and order situation prevailing then.

 

After coming to power, CM Mayawati appointed Mr Vikram Singh as the DGP of UP police. He did a good job in getting Daduwa and other dacoits like Thokia eradicated. Despite Mr Vikram Singh’s efforts, things did not improve fully. You might recall the case of an engineer in Etawah District who was allegedly murdered by an MLA of CM Mayawati’s party, BSP. I am originally from UP and I know for sure that she has been trying to control the lawlessness in UP. She is the only CM who got one of her MPs arrested from her office because he was into crimes. She also got a minister arrested because his name appeared in an FIR.  A lot of things have been done in UP but a lot more still need to be done.

 

Crime is common in UP. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon that people who have connections and muscle power [often the politicians] are involved in criminal activities.

 

Political leaders, if we can call them leaders, have their supporters who will do anything at their behest. Processions, rallies, disruption of normal lives and destruction of public properties are very common. They do not realise or do not care that destruction of public property is a stupid activity. Damage to buses and trains is going to cause difficulties in having these facilities.

 

Damage to buses, trains and other public properties is a recurring problem and nothing seems to be done effectively to stop this.

 

Even the people in UP have become disinterested in looking after their needs. They should oppose the traffic jams by the stupid processions, and destruction of the public properties. They should not elect those who are involved in such activities. Apathy rules in UP.

 

One very important reason why it has continued to happen, is the apathy of police which does not investigate, arrest and prosecute effectively the anti-social elements who come back again and again to repeat the crimes.

 

It is the tax-payers and general public which suffers as this leads to more difficulties in getting the services.

 

It is about time that CM Ms Mayawati, Home secretary and new DGP UP, Mr Karam Veer Singh do something serious which will stop this nonsense soon.

 

DGP Mr Karam Veer Singh has a reputation for a great officer. I remember his work when I was in KGMC in 1980s. To begin with, DGP should order the local police in Hathras to form a team of sub inspectors [or a team of SIs is sent from any other district] which is given the job of identifying the culprits who should then be charged with the damage. The case should be fast-tracked in the court not only for jail terms but also the recovery of the money for the damage. 

 

 Hathras Police should seek the help of the local intelligence unit of the dept. The leaders of the agitation must be charged. DGP Mr Karam Veer Singh and home secretary, Mr Mahesh Gupta should do a direct supervision of the investigating team to ensure a fast, fair and a good investigation.

 

The culprits of the Mahananda Express train damage must be made to pay for the damage.

 

 A message must go out that such activities would not be tolerated in UP. A message should go out that the crime and criminals would not be tolerated in Uttar Pradesh. A message should also go out that UP Police means business and will control crimes at every cost.

 

UP Police will need some reforms in regards to its work culture and professionalism which is do-able and should be done at a fast pace. A sense of self-respect must be instilled among the lower rank officers and constables to encourage a better performance from them.

 

UP gov will need the will power which should not a problem with Ms Mayawati as the CM.

 

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/04-10-09 

 

Stirling college students:Update October 4, 2009

UPDATE

Australian Council of Private Education and Training [ACPET] tried to place students in alternative colleges but succeeded only partially. After 28 days, the matter was placed at the hands of DEEWR which has arranged/is arranging placements in TAFE, other institutions in Sydney and in colleges in Melbourne. I know some students have already gone to Melbourne.

While attending a meeting at CRC offices recently, I heard that some schools are asking for fees of about $3000-4000 for the new COE [Contract of Education] which is required as a condition for the international education and the student Visa.

I raised a question about the justification for this unnecessary burden on students when it was not their fault for the Stirling College to go out of business.

I believe that;

1. this extra fees should come from ESOS/DEEWR or

2. DEEWR should speak with  the new colleges to not charge this fees.

The bottom line is that former students of  Stirling College should not suffer anymore than they have already suffered.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/04-10-09

————————————————————————————————————————————————- 

Dear DEEWR authorities

After the collapse of the Stirling College in Sydney, we understood that these students were going to be placed in alternative colleges within 28 days. This was the promise which was made by ACPET. 

More than 28 days have passed but the promise has not been fulfilled. We further understand that their matter is now with DEEWR/ESOS.

These students are desperate, frustrated and disappointed because;

1. their money has been taken but they have not received the appropriate training,

2. there is uncertainty about their training and future,

3. there is uncertainty about the plan of action by the DEEWR/ESOS.

We are worried that this desperation may go out of hand for some students. They have invested a big amount of money in their courses and things are going out of control.

We ask DEEWR/ESOS to help these students quickly;

1. by acting speedily in arranging an alternate placement of all students including students of community welfare in Sydney/NSW.

2. by helping these students get the certificates, transcripts and other relevant documents/records from the administrators of this college

3. by doing everything to look after the health and Visa  needs of these students until the mess is sorted out.

4. by nominating a “Nodal person” from DEEWR to deal with the matters of the students of  the failed Stirling college.

5. by refunding the full fees under Tuition Assurance Scheme if alternate placement is not possible.

Students of community welfare chose Sydney as the place to have their training. The alternate placement must be in Sydney. Some of them have their jobs in Sydney [for the entitled hours as per the the Visa conditions].

We request Minister Ms Julia Gillard and NSW Premier, Mr Nathan Rees to please direct the relevant people to act in a speedy manner in these matters.

Dr Yadu Singh/06-09-09

Ten Point Charter of FISA:I and many disagree with this impractical charter! October 3, 2009

FISA’s charter is completely impractical and useless. We had published our counter points before. I had spoken with a FISA leader in Sydney who could not give us a straight answer.

I ask FISA leaders to clarify about the status of its charter.

Gautam Gupta and Ajay Unni, do you still believe in this ridiculous charter?  Is this still the valid charter from FISA?

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/03-10-09

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

MEDIA grandstanding must stop: FISA is making impractical and irrelevant demands.

We are concerned about impractical and irrelevant demands which FISA seems to be making. We have seen their 10 point charter and considered it carefully. We see some serious problems in their thought-process and offer following response point by point;

1)  Free two weeks board to welcome Indian students:
If Melbourne’s 100,000-strong Indian community gave each student 2 week’s free boarding it would help them find their feet in a new country. (Note: the City of Darwin has launched borders without borders program with the general Australian community along these lines. Sure the Indian community can help with free accommodation). Together we can help students settle easily as many professional Indians have large homes with empty rooms.

 

OUR RESPONSE:  It is not practical and realistic to expect established Indian Australians to provide boarding for any number of weeks to Indian students. How can one provide such boarding when they do not even know them? There is no justification for such a ridiculous suggestion.   FISA’s suggestion is nothing but media grand standing. This type of suggestion is not going to solve the accommodation issues which students face in Australia.  It is our belief that education providers who make money from these students must arrange accommodation for the initial 3-6 months at a market cost. This would allow these students to get used to the system here and give them sufficient confidence to be able to find the appropriate rental accommodation.

2)     Donate to the FISA victims of crime fund
Indian migrants are one of the richest migrant groups in Australia. Indian businesses and professionals can afford to donate generously to the FISA victims of crime fund so that victims like Sravan Kumar who was savagely attacked in his home in Glenroy are looked after properly.

 

OUR RESPONSE: FISA is not able to think beyond media grand standing. Any Victim of crime fund will never have sufficient money to cover the medical expense of the nature which Sravan Kumar needs. The ICU fees for one day could be something like $5000 and it could go for more than $100000 for one victim. No community can and will be able to arrange funds of this nature. Making such suggestions is completely unrealistic. Expenses on the treatment for a Victim of crime must be covered by the Gov/Medicare which is the case with the Victim of petrol bomb attack in Sydney. We believe that every student must maintain valid, appropriate and current medical cover insurance for a situation when they need treatment due to injuries or illnesses. This is not the case with many students presently. Ongoing and current medical cover insurance must be a condition for the continuation of the VISA.

 

 

 

3)    Free medical checkup from Indian doctors
The local Indian community has thousands of medical doctors and medical specialists. By offering free medical checkups to students we can ensure they are looked after health wise while they are here. This will also ensure a point of contact that is badly needed.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Medical doctors will/do provide free medical check-ups in some situations but this is not going to be the solution which FISA seems to be suggesting. Medical doctors cannot provide free treatment in case of admissions in ICU etc and cannot provide free medicines. As before, FISA’s suggestion is completely unrealistic and is indicative of media grand standing.  Again, we believe that every student must hold a valid, current and appropriate medical cover insurance while in Australia and this must be a condition for their VISA. If they have this cover, they do not need to depend on the charity from anyone.

4)    Free legal advice from Indian lawyers
the local Indian community has thousands of lawyers. By offering free legal service the established Indian community can help students on critical issues. Indian lawyers could also join together to lodge human rights cases against Victorian and Australian governments, education institutions and immigrations agents who are ripping off many students with false claims and promises. Lawyers could also help lodge disputes for unfair treatment and discrimination at work.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Free legal assistance from Indian Australian Lawyers and free service from every Indian Australian for our students would be great but is not going to happen. This suggestion is completely impractical and unrealistic. Our students are getting ripped off by so many and they include agents in India, some education providers  and some immigration agents but we cannot see that our lawyers or other professionals would provide free services at all times. We believe that Federal Gov must establish an Ombudsman immediately to deal with these issues. Decisions from the Ombudsman cannot be challenged in a court. FISA must stop media grand standing. 

5)    More student Hotlines in all Indian languages
we need all community groups to chip in and establish hotlines in all Indian languages. These need to be staffed with qualified counselors. Most students look to the Indian association that speaks their language. Few have heard of FIAV or other umbrella groups.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Helpline should be in English language and not in Indian languages. All students are able to speak and understand English which is a condition of their VISA. Our students need to integrate. Nobody is going to start help lines in all Indian languages. It would be impossible to arrange funding for such ridiculous ideas.  We leave FISA and FIAV to sort out their turf war in Melbourne. What is the stand of FISA in Sydney where they are part of an umbrella group but not chairing the students’ committee of that umbrella group? They were nowhere to be seen when our committee and that umbrella group held a combined meeting recently. Despite FISA and that Umbrella group’s public stand against the Rally in Sydney, they did not follow their words.

6)    Safety watch committees 
Local established Indian groups could adopt a station to provide community or neighborhood watch committees. If middle class and educated people are at stations at night then the risk of attacks will be reduced. Police are more likely to listen to wealthy professional Indians than students. In addition these safety watch committees can report back to Police and work to reduce poor lighting and other hazards at stations in the poorer suburbs.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Safety watch by established Indian Australians is not the solution. This suggestion is ridiculous. FISA seems to come out with immature, impractical and inappropriate suggestions. We do not need a parallel security apparatus for Indians in Australia. We are part of the same Australian community and our problems will need to be solved within the holistic approach to safety/security issues. We do need to put sufficient pressure on the Governments/Police to intensify the patrolling, under-cover policing and adopt proactive measures to stop the crimes against our students.

 

7)    Political power – the great Indian vote boycott
Established Indians have huge political power given that they live in large numbers in marginal seats in the Melbourne’s more affluent east. By refusing to vote for the major Liberal and Labor parties until action is taken to ensure students safety they can send a powerful message to state and federal government. Established Indians should boycott voting for major parties until students’ demands are met and their security assured. Politicians are power hungry and will meet our demands if they know established Indians are boycotting their parties. By boycotting both parties, we will also stop the state and federal opposition’s ‘political play acting’ and get them to vote for real changes in parliament for Indian students.

OUR RESPONSE: The suggestion of boycotting the main political parties is a crazy idea. We, in fact, need to join them and participate in the political process in Australia. We will be more effective if we join them. FISA guys, please get real. Indians in Australia do not subscribe to a victim mentality and we do not want any of us to adopt a victim’s mentality. We need to analyze, debate and formulate a proper strategy to stop the crime against our students. We must accept that some crimes will continue to happen as they happen against non-Indians.

8)    Public shaming of community rip off merchants
in many cases landlords, bosses, immigration agents and education institutions are ripping off our Indian students. Indian community groups need to name and shame these people who are bringing the reputation of Indians in to disrepute and exploiting Indian students. Each community groups could publish the name of ‘rip off merchants’ on their websites so that students know exactly who they should avoid.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Public naming and shaming of the “rip off merchants” from our or other communities is again an impractical suggestion. It would lead to legal cases and unnecessary legal fees and damages. No individual or association with sane mind will do the public naming or shaming. FISA guys, please get real. Yesterday, the committee of education ministers and federal education minister has announced a helpline which students can call if they have a complaint and they can do so anonymously. They will also be doing a rapid and effective audit of the “Fly by night” schools which have mushroomed in every suburb in Australian cities. These schools need to be audited effectively if Australia wants to continue growing the $16 billion education industry.

 

9) Free food kitchens across Melbourne to help students survive
many students are now unemployed or working for as little as one quarter of the legal minimum wage. (Note: The Sikh Temple in Blackburn in Melbourne’s east currently feeds thousands of students seven days a week and is happy to extend this to other suburbs. But we need more Australian Indians to help in southern, northern and western suburbs.

 

OUR RESPONSE: FISA should remember that they are students and not refugees. Temples should not be converted to Vincent de Paul societies. While community members are able to help on a case to case basis for any genuine or temporary situations, long term free feeding of students would result in too much burden on the local Indian community and might lead into negative effects.  Students are expected to have adequate financial capabilities for their stay in Australia according to student Visa conditions. It is not a bright idea to expect the Indian community and temples to provide free food seven days a week for the rapidly growing student population. In addition who is going to fund this type of “free kitchens for students?” and for how long?

 

 

10) Local Indians to support FISA demands
Established Indians can call their local MPs and lobby them to support FISA 10 point plan for better student safety.
Many Australian MPs are not scared of students because they do not vote and will not take FISA’s demands seriously. These MPs are more likely to address FISA’s student demands if the local voting Indian’s call, email and write to politicians demanding action on student safety. If Premier John Brumby receives 100,000 letters and Kevin Rudd receives 200,000 letters from local voting Indians then they will both act swiftly on Indian student safety.

 

OUR RESPONSE: This is nothing but a cheap publicity stunt and a copy cat of typical Indian politics carried out in Australia in the name of student issues. Both Australian Government and the Indian Government have agreed at the Prime Minister level to take immediate measures addressing student concerns including safety related issues. FISA seems to have run out of ideas in getting the local support for their “10 point” demands and it is a joke to think that Kevin Rudd will act only after receiving 200,000 letters. The Indian community will be a laughing stock even if a few members support this funny idea of sending mass mail.

 We urge FISA guys to think through anything before jumping with suggestions which are laughable and unrealistic. FISA guys need to discuss with others before going on media grand standing with half-cooked and ridiculous ideas.

 

Indian Consul General’s Community Committee on Indian Students’ Issues

Sydney, NSW

PS:[1] This was the response we gave to Indian Link newspaper which asked the committee to provide its response/views in regards to the FISA’s 10 points charter.

[2]Please note that the above-mentioned committee had completed its job and provided its reports/recommendations to the relevant authorities. It had then dissolved itself at the end of June 2009. The committee had communicated its decision to the Consul General on 1/7/09.

DEEPAWALI FAIR AT PARRAMATTA STADIUM ON 11 OCT, 2009. October 3, 2009

DEEPAWALI FAIR

• on Sunday, 11 Oct, 2009
• from 11AM to 8PM
• at Parramatta Stadium.

Free shuttle bus  between Parramatta station and the stadium.

Contact: Dr Nihal Agar

President, Hindu Council of Australia

0412-618-893

Looking for the real leaders from Indian Australian community:where are they hiding? October 3, 2009

Dear Indian Australians in Sydney

With the exposure of rorts/scams through the Australian media recently, a significant damage has happened to the image of our community. We can not be happy about it as it is about us. A beginning has to be made to mend/repair the harm to the image and standing of our community.

Recently, a fellow from our community committed suicide in Harris Park, NSW. There were some issues in regards to arranging transportation of the body to India.

Also, recently, a young man died unexpectedly in Sydney. I understand that it was due to a heart illness. The person in question was a heavy drinker and smoker. He was the only son of his parents.

Mental health and cardio-vascular health issues are significant problems in our community.

“Racism” is a much used term which gets used, rightly or wrongly, as an explanation for all sorts of problems. I know one who tried to employ this word when caught travelling on the city rail without a valid ticket!

Basically, we have issues involving health, settlement and leadership in our community which are very relevant for the new arrivals.

For obvious reasons, we will have to do something about these issues. We have to think about the best mechanism/tools to address these issues. We have to help our community where our help is needed. Our community leaders have a special responsibility in this regard.

I do not claim to be “Mr know it all” but I do not mind in speaking my mind. I recognise that others would have good ideas too.

I propose that;

1. we do not encourage the participation of those members of our community who are known to be involved in the exploitation of students or are parts of the scams/rorts, in the social functions/gatherings.

2. we do not support the business owners who fall under the category 1.

3. we have a meeting of community minded people and those who have impeccable integrity with good reputation soon. I propose the United Indian Associations [UIA] president to preside this meeting.  

4. we identify those people quickly who are operating as the leaders but have a clear conflict of interest in those matters and ask them to take a back seat.

5. we help set up the system which is there to help our students and Indian Australians when they are in desperate needs for the help. This should include the establishment of a Benevolent Fund.

6. we support UIA to grow and become an effective organisation by discussing, debating, reforming by bringing out the required changes. UIA Constitutional review is long overdue.

7. we urge UIA to become a more open and inclusive organisation by co-opting well-meaning and capable people from outside UIA in its committees.

8. we think about forming a new organisation with the required goals if UIA leaders are not able/wiling to reform UIA to make it a relevant and an effective body.

9. we take a stand against the rorts/scams and ask Australian Gov authorities to stamp out these activities quickly.

10. we start identifying people with leadership qualities and help them reach the places of influences including political offices ie MLAs/MLCs/MPs.

11. we re-energize the leadership by taking a back seat voluntarily if we have been leaders for a long period and have not been contributing meaningfully and encourage others with abilities to take the leadership roles in our associations.

12. we work actively to promote the pan-Indian identity of Indians and discourage the regional identities in Australia.

13. we do everything to promote a better understanding/integration among Indian Australians with themselves and with Australian community in general. The distrust has to go.

14. we work effectively and collaboratively to encourage SBS TV to have the programmes on India/Indian people, based on our numbers, as is the case with other communities.

15. we and Indian Govt Missions work collaboratively to have a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a prominent place in Sydney and Melbourne.

16. we network, interact, co-ordinate and execute the health education programmes which are relevant to our communities.

Until recently, our Indian Australian community has had a great reputation. We want this reputation restored to our community.

We must promote only those who have a genuine ability to lead, understand the needs of our community and also understand the meaning of “conflict of interest”.

Let the seniors guide us in our goals! Let us learn from their experience and wisdom!

The community has to grow and we have to grow with it!

Let the debate begin!

Kind regards

Dr Yadu Singh

Sydney/03-10-09

Students’ Issues:from here to where? [AISA FUNCTION] October 3, 2009

AISA is holding a function “Students’ issues:from here to where?”

On Sunday, 11th Oct 2009,

At Granville Town Hall, Granville, NSW [300 mtrs from Granville station]

Between 6-9 PM.

All students are invited.

Please RSVP to aisa.sydney@gmail.com

Visit: www.aisa.asn.au  for info.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/03-10-09

Right demands for the right reasons:I agree! September 24, 2009

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26111338-12332,00.html

“The Greens have called for an education commission to oversee immigration requirements, quality, monitoring and compliance, a parliamentary secretary for overseas students and an ombudsman. National Union of Students president David Barrow urged universities and colleges to follow the Australian National University and guarantee a bed to first-year students.” HES, The Australian Newspaper, dated 24th Sept, 2009.

We have been saying similar things for a while. Please look at the relevant items in my BLOG.

Will Hon Ms Julia Gillard look into it?

 I hope so.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/24th Sept, 2009

Indian student commits suicide in Australia:Who is accountable and what has to be done to prevent such incidents? September 23, 2009

I was extremely saddened to hear the news of an Indian student who had committed suicide in Melbourne recently.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indian-student-commits-suicide-in-australia/519725/

Mr Gurjinder Singh was a student of La Trobe University, doing accounting. He was in Australia only for 3 months. From the newspaper reports, I read that he was depressed about not finding a job in Australia. As we know, international students are allowed to work for 20 hours a week.

He was in his early 20s.

I have been thinking about him ever since I heard about his death. I feel for him and his situations before he committed suicide. I feel for the grief and loss for his parents in India. I have been trying to analyse what went in his mind before he came to this extreme point and took his life.

What happened here? How can a person become so severely depressed within so short time after arriving in Australia? Why his flat-mates and class-mates did not know about his situation? Why nothing could be done to prevent this tragedy?

Obviously, a lot of people failed here in averting a tragedy of this nature.

As I see it, following things come to my mind;

1. his classmates failed in their responsibility by not noticing his situation and turmoil and doing something about it,

2. his flat mates failed in their responsibility by again not noticing his situation and turmoil and doing something about it,

3. his University’s support system also could not do much to prevent this tragedy [may be they did what was needed to done but we are not aware of it],

4. his close relatives could not do anything to prevent his death. A young man felt this desperate and committed suicide and close relatives did not have a clue of his situation! Was this young man pushed into coming to Australia and had lots of expectation from his relatives but he was not helped with the essential things ie money which he needed to succeed in Australia?,

5. the education agents in India who did not inform him about the situation and ground realities re the jobs and the required money for his tuition etc,

6. his University system which could not prevent such a devastating tragedy by informing him at the orientation time about the health matters/systems including the psychological health issues which he could have accessed . There are help lines available which are very useful and are known to prevent suicides.  I recognise that his University might have informed him about all this at the time of orientation but he did not use the information. He could have gone to a GP. He had access to the health system in Australia as all students are required to have a health insurance. Alas, nothing of these happened!

7. I am sorry to say this but this young man also failed himself and his parents by taking this extreme step when he could have done many things to get him out of his situation. This could have been about calling help lines, speaking with his class mates/flat mates, speaking with counsellors, speaking with his parents and even returning to India if things were not going to change. Every thing would have been preferrable to the extreme step of committing suicide. A degree from a Uni in Australia and a possible PR in Australia are nothing when we compare them with the “Life”. By saying this, I am not minimising the grief/sadness which his near and dears ones are going through right now. I have a great deal of empathy with every one who is going through this grief but…….

 Life is always full of challenges and we need to face the challenges rather than taking the self-harm steps. Most times, we can deal with them ourselves but some times, we would need help from others and we must seek it from them.

Parents and students must be aware of the possibility that a job may not be available in Australia. Arrangements for ongoing living expenses and tuition fees must be made before travelling to Australia. Aus Gov authorities in the relevant Embassy/High Commission must make it amply clear that students can work for upto 20hours/week but jobs in Australia can not be the main or the only source of funding the expenses during their stay in Australia.

To be honest with you, I believe that students should not come to Australia if they do not have a capability to arrange funding for their fees and living expenses without a job in Australia.

Depression is a common problem and people from all age groups, ethnicity and circumstances can suffer from depression. Indians are no exception. It is eminently treatable. No body needs to suffer without the help, support and treatment for it. We of course need to let others know what is going on inside us. Many a times, others would not know about the turmoil inside if we do not seek help, talk about it or let them know what is going on inside us. 

 Unfortunately, there is a stigma attached to the mental health issues and anecdotally, this may be more true in the Indian community.

In this regard, I admire the courage which was shown by Jeff Kennett [former Vic Premier], Andrew Robb [Liberal Front Bencher] and Geoff Gallop [ former premier of Western Australia] when they came out with their depression and sought help.

To prevent any loss of life in this manner, we all must show compassion and look after our friends, class mates, flat mates, relatives or any one whom we know if we find that they are having difficulties in these matters. We need to talk with our close ones and share with them the difficulties we are experiencing.

It does not help and it is not correct if we point a finger of blame, to the premier of Victoria, Mr John Brumby by making him responsible for this suicide as has been done by a non-student “leader” in Melbourne. This is ridiculous. This “leader” is talking nonsense and is playing useless politics. He should be ashamed of himself.

A very sad situation has happened and we all including the Gov agencies need to think about the preventive measures which must be in place to avert such deaths, knowing that International students are under lots of pressure, do not have the traditional support mechanism for them in Australia and some of them may not be able to cope with the circumstances. Schools, TAFE and Universities must review their orientation systems to make sure there is information on health including mental health issues in their orientation programmes.

The education providers must have a system of “student co-ordinators” who should have a close interaction with the students. Pastoral care is a service which is extremely essential in relation to International students.

 State Governments must ensure that the education providers in their territories do have enough information on these matters in these programmes and have adequate pastoral care mechanism.

Indian associations must review what they can do to help Indian students when they are having difficulties in dealing with the situations/circumstances in Australia.

There is a significant role for the media in India and in Australia to take up the issue of mental health among International students. Many of them go through a very difficult environment. As Indian students do access the ethnic Indian media in Australia regularly, it can and should do a significant job by making people aware of the mental health and help system available in Australia. Kumud Merani [SBS Radio], Pawan Luthra [Indian Link], Rohit Revo [The Indian] and Dinesh Malhotra [Bharat Times] have the instrument which can be very effective in this regard. After all, we do have the great systems like LIFE LINE and BEYOND BLUE in Australia but this may not be known to our students.

We all have to work together to save lives of those who are going through a difficult time in their lives!

We all need to work together in all sorts of manners to help our students!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/23rd Sept, 2009.

Students’ Issues:My interviews on SBS Radio September 21, 2009

http://media.sbs.com.au/audio/kannada-090920-95c.mp3

http://media.sbs.com.au/audio/kannada-090711-4c7.mp3

http://media.sbs.com.au/audio/kannada-090711-ca8.mp3

http://media.sbs.com.au/audio/hindi-090530-d23.mp3

Indians’ assault in Melbourne:My SBS Radio/Kannada interview [English] on 20th Sept 2009. September 21, 2009

Here is my Interview on SBS Radio-Kannada

Topic: Indians’ assault in Epping, Melbourne

Interviewer: Mr Chandra Devudu

http://media.sbs.com.au/audio/kannada-090920-95c.mp3

“OCI card holders should not need a Visa for India”:Says Dr Sujit Pandit and I agree. September 21, 2009

Prof Sujit Pandit has sent me an email, suggesting that Indians living overseas should demand a rule change in India. This is about the OCI cards. An OCI card holder should not need to have a separate Visa for India.

Here is his email. The word USA should be substituted with Australia, NZ, UK or relevant countries.

Let us send this demand to our High Commissions, Consulates, Minister Mr SM Krishna [MEA], Minister Mr Shashi Tharoor [MEA] and Minister Mr Vayalar Ravi [NRI affairs].

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/21st Sept 2009

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Dr Pandit’s email……

Sujit Pandit to me 

Our goal is to make travel to India less stressful and a matter of joy. The current OCI (Overseas Citizen of India)/PIO (Person of Indian Origin)  rules are irrational and confusing that often cause hardship to the travelers.

The bureaucrats and politicians do not like to change any rules unless there is overwhelming pressure from the public.  So, if you would like to change the ambiguous OCI/PIO rules please write to the Indian ambassador to the USA, the Consular General of India, the Prime Minister of India, the Minister of External affairs, The Home Minister and other civil servants and politicians in India.   You may also write to the various Indian media and the Indian action, social and political groups.  Please ask your friends to do the same.
If you want to write only a short paragraph then write the following or something like this:

‘When an individual has a US Passport and an OCI card, production of a Visa should not be insisted upon, because the evidence of a valid visa is implicit in the OCI card, which may be deemed to be a certification higher than the Visa itself.’
If you want to send a more elaborate explanation then send them my story:
 From:
Sujit Pandit M.D.
2680 Lowell Road
Ann Arbor MI 48103

Leave Shashi Tharoor Alone:Nothing wrong in the cattle class! September 19, 2009

Express”][/caption

Mrs Big Bindi [Jayanti Natarajan] has raised too much fuss about Shashi Tharoor’s comments. Ashok Gehlot, CM of Rajasthan and Manish Tiwari have joined in. They are very upset with “cattle class” and “holy cows” comments.

Poor Shashi who is in Africa, has to say sorry. He is being distracted.

Mrs Big Bindi, please leave him alone as

•  his comments are tongue-in-cheek.
• there is nothing wrong in calling the economy class a “cattle class”. Many of us call it exactly that and sometime it is called a “Coolie class” too.
• he is doing a good job as a minister.
• we need to understand his sense of humour. 

UPA Gov ministers and Congress should devote more time in dealing with the pressing issues in India rather than wasting time on minor things. Look what a debacle India has been subjected to by China in the ADB recently. Even Japan voted in favour of China in regards to Arunachal Pradesh. Australia, SE Asians and Pakistan favoured China too.

Shashi Tharoor is an educated and intelligent person with a profile which many in Congress do not have. We need more like him in Indian politics. I remember him being interviewed on TV channels when he visited Australia a couple of years ago. He spoke so well. He knew how to communicate.

I also do not see anything wrong in it if he wanted to stay in a 5 star hotel at his expense. We all know now that he had travelled in economy class before the “Austerity stunts” became the currency in India.

I was also amused with the statement from BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy who has also jumped into the band wagon and said: “Tharoor has termed economy class in airlines as cattle class. (This reflects) the insensitivity of the minister. This tantamounts to (causing) deep injury to the self-respect and esteem of millions who travel economy class,”**

Are you kidding Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy? This is not expected from you as you are an educated fellow and a good politician. You mean to suggest that people who travel in the “cattle class” will have a deep injury because Shashi Tharoor called the economy class the “cattle class” but would not have such injury if Shashi Tharoor did not call it a “cattle class”. For your info, I travel in “cattle class” and do not suffer any damage/injury to my self-respect. I continue to practise as a cardiologist in Sydney irrespective of whether I travelled in the “cattle class” or the “King class” last week end.

Brother Rudy, please give Indian public a break!  

If you want more, you can go to TimesNow with Arnab Goswami who had Amit Verma, Jug Suraiya and some one named Tom Vadakkan [I presume he is from Congress party] in his programme. Tom Vadakkan made a gem of a statement ” Tweet is a lonely person and needs counselling” . Well done Mr Vadakkan!

It is about time that we get to the real jobs rather than getting entangled in “Austerity hysteria and stunts”. I hope the “Holy Cows” of Indian politics would start doing the right things.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/19th Sept, 2009

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

20th September, 2009

I now know that Tom Vadakkan is from Kerala and is a secretary of AICC.

Dr Yadu Singh

** Reported by IANS

Indians assaulted in Melbourne:My ABC PM interview September 18, 2009

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2009/s2687996.htm

Also, please have a look at other postings in this Blog.

Regards

Yadu Singh/Sydney/18th Sept, 2009

OCI Card: Professor Sujit K Pandit has some suggestions…….. September 18, 2009

I wrote to Prof Pandit today and he emailed the following matter.

His email goes like……..
“Thank you for doing a useful service to the community.

I would like you to read my update too:

Updated Sept 17, 2009

OCI RULES CAN BE CHANGED

Following my e-mail message (a copy is attached below) about my aggravation at the Kolkata airport over the OCI card, I have received about 300 responses. I am absolutely overwhelmed and thankful to all those who have written.  I had no idea how deeply the Indians all over the world feel about this issue.  Most people were thankful to me for sharing my story so they can learn from my bad experience.  The majority, about 90% of the responders was outraged at the lack of common sense and common courtesy of the immigration officials at the Kolkata airport. More than a dozen people have narrated their own horror stories, very similar and even worse than mine at airports in India when they arrived with an OCI card only, these are really heart wrenching stories involving small children and the whole family members undergoing incredible hardships.  Others were alerted at the last moment by the airlines officials at the departing airport in the USA about the need to carry the visa sticker that may be in their old passport.  Some were surprised that I had the problem because they have gone to India with just the OCI card and they were allowed to enter India without having to show their visa.  Some assumed that the problem may be at the Kolkata airport and probably the corruption is rampant there. They suggested that the officers there might be looking for a bribe. Many were still confused about the rules of the OCI and have asked me for advice.  Many others narrated the appalling treatment they have received at the various Indian consular offices.

About 10% of the responders said I got what I deserved at the Kolkata airport for not reading rules of the OCI card and for not following the rules strictly.  They thought the officers were just doing their duties.

Some especially from England and Canada told me that they have PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cards and had never had to show their visa at the Indian airports.  And the OCI is supposed to be the upgraded version of the PIO card.  Go figure. 

One person has written that for a family of five (three children) under the current OCI rules he has to carry fifteen travel documents when going to India (five old passports,  five current passports and five OCI cards)

I am thankful to all who have taken the time to write to me. 

I know it was my mistake for not taking my old passport with the visa sticker with me and I will never make the same mistake again; the main purpose of my mail was to warn my friends not to make the same mistake that I made. 

But, then my friend Dr. Dinesh Patel from Boston pointed out to me that the rules CAN be changed and the bad/confusing rules SHOULD be changed. I think that is a great point.  Rather than just accepting and following the bad rules and thus perpetuating them, we should try to change the bad rules. In addition because of the confusing name of the OCI and the false buzz about the “Dual Citizenship” many people make the same mistake as I did. When so many people make the same mistake in spite of the rules, then may be the system needs to be fixed.  Confusing rules of OCI needs to be changed. The bad rules can only be changed if there is enough pressure from the public to the politicians and the civil servants. .

I believe, just like the persons holding a PIO card the OCI card holders should also be allowed to enter India without having to bring the old visa sticker every time.  The fact is, whenever any one is granted his/her OCI card, he/she is thoroughly vetted and only then the OCI card is issued along with a life long visa sticker.  Both go hand in hand.  You cannot get an OCI card without a life long visa.  I know that in spite of the puzzling name (Overseas CITIZEN of India) the OCI card is not a passport, right now we can not have both American (or Canadian or UK) passports as well an Indian passport But, the OCI card can be and should be the visa substitute. As far as the entry requirement to India the OCI card could act like the US Green card.  Once you have it there will be no need to carry a separate visa ever.

When an individual has a US Passport and an OCI card, production of a visa should not be insisted upon, because, the  evidence of a valid visa is implicit in the OCI card, which may be deemed to be a certification higher than the visa itself.

The other problem is the utter lack of common courtesy and competence at the various Indian Consular Offices. I have received more than 15 mails that detail their dreadful experiences at various Indian Consular Offices.  These Consular offices are amateurish and incompetent.  I myself had a horrible time trying to get my OCI card in Chicago.  When I complained, there was no response. I can not even think about going back there to get my visa sticker transferred from my old passport to my new one, and what about when I get yet another new passport?  This is a disgrace that the officials at the Consular offices are not trained to be courteous to their customers like real professionals.

We need to bring pressure on the politicians and civil servants to simplify the procedure and let the OCI card be the visa substitute. Please send this mail to others once again and may be some one knows an important person who will understand the problem and solve it. That will make travel to India a joy and not stressful. We also need to make the Indian Consular offices more “Professional”. 

 
I am attaching a copy of my original e-mail:
MY DUAL CITIZENSHIP WOES: MY RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH THE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT AT THE KOLKATA AIRPORT AND THE LESSONS I LEARNT

My advice to all my friends who hold an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) Card and those who aspire to get one.

I am an American citizen.  I also carry an OCI card (Overseas Citizen of India) since 2007. 

On Saturday, June 20, 2009, I arrived at the Kolkata Netaji Subhas Airport from Detroit via Singapore, by Singapore Airlines (SQ 516) at 10:30 P.M.

I presented myself to an Immigration Officer  (Mr. Biswas) for immigration clearance.  I gave him my American passport and my OCI card.  He demanded to see my visa from the Indian consular office.  Unfortunately, that visa was attached to my old passport and I did not bring it with me.

I explained to him that I am sorry I forgot to bring my old passport but since I do possess a valid OCI Card that would automatically mean that I do also possess a permanent (life long) visa for India and there are proofs that I have traveled multiple times to India after I had received my OCI card. 

 Mr. Biswas detained me for two hours inside the airport   and then he told me that he is going to allow me to stay in India for 72 hours and asked me to report to the Foreign Relations Regional Officer (FRRO) in the city within 72 hours.  He kept my passport.  During all that time I had no opportunity either to approach his OC (Officer in Charge) although I asked for it, or to contact my relatives who came to the airport to receive me and were waiting outside and had no idea why I was being held back or if I have even arrived.

Forgetting to bring my old passport was my own fault but I ‘forgot’ to bring it partly because I knew I have my OCI Card with me and I thought, that means something, I really believed that I am a citizen of India too.  Why would a citizen also need a visa to enter his own country?   I thought I have a dual citizenship for both the USA and India. Other wise, what is the difference between an ordinary foreigner and the OCI Card holder?

Next day was a Sunday, I called a friend in Ann Arbor who went into my house, got my old passport and sent me the scanned copy of my old passport and a copy of my permanent visa by e-mail. 

So, on Monday I went to see Mr. Bibhas Talukdar, the FRRO.  He hardly looked at the documents (the scanned visa) that I had with me he simply asked me to get my old passport by courier mail within another seven days.  He appeared gleeful telling me that it is only out of  “pity” that he is allowing me to stay in India for seven more days.  He was totally unimpressed by either my status as a Professor Emeritus of the University of Michigan or my age (70+)

I called my friend in Ann Arbor again who then sent my old passport by FedEx.  Three days later the passport arrived.  Since I had to leave Kolkata for prescheduled visit to Bangalore, my niece took it to Mr. Talukdar. But due to lack of communication between the FRRO office and the airport immigration department my passport had not arrived at the city office even after 9 days.  My niece had to go to the FRRO’s office three times once waiting until 6 P.M. still they did not have my passport.  They only promised: “it will come soon”.  At last, 12 days after my arrival, my niece got my passport.
From this painful and anxiety provoking experience I have learned a few valuable lessons:

1.    The loud talk about “Dual Citizenship” for Indian Americans is just a political hoax.

2.    The OCI card just does not have any value.  It is just a piece of expensive junk. You still need a visa every time you travel to India whether or not you possess an OCI card.  Only difference is that for the high price of getting an OCI card you will get a “life long ” visa.  A 10-year visa is much cheaper.
 
3.    When coming to India always consider yourself a foreigner and bring your visa with you, there will be no exceptions. Your OCI card is not a visa substitute.

4.     In fact, you will probably be treated worse than an ordinary foreigner arriving without a valid visa.  Because a foreigner especially a white Caucasian will at least be treated with courtesy and probably offered a temporary visa if there is no reason to deny it, but not you.

5.    Since the word “CITIZEN” in the OCI card is the root cause of confusion, the name should be changed.

 

Please feel free to forward this mail to any of your friends who may benefit from my experience.  Especially feel free to forward this to any influential politician or civil servant in India that you may know.

Sujit K. Pandit M.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Anesthesiology
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
48109, USA“

Farrukh Dhondy’s advice to Indian Australians and Indian students is inappropriate. September 17, 2009

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/17/2688266.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/indians-abroad/Dont-break-the-law-Australian-PM-warns-Indian-students/articleshow/5021162.cms

Mr Farrukh Dhondy is a UK-based writer/editor of Indian background. He was interviewed by the ABC AM team today [see the link above]. 

He is advising students and Indian Australians to retaliate and take law into our hands. Any sane person would see the futility of his argument. How are we going to achieve what we want if we go the direction recommended by him.

His advice to us and Indian students in Australia is totally inappropriate. It may even be crazy and irrational. It is not going to solve the problems.

I give following arguments against his advice:

1. Indians are a small population on numerical strength and can not be expected to win the retaliation game.

2. Indians are not going to become idiots like those thugs who bashed 3 Indians in Epping, Melbourne.

3. Students have come here to study, not to fight in retaliation which would cause more and serious troubles for them.

4. Taking law into our hands will itself be illegal and may end up sending us to jail.

5. Taking law into our hands will destroy any goodwill, Indian Australians have from the general Australian community.

6. Taking law into our hands will be totally counter-productive.

We reject his suggestions as irresponsible, insane, impractical and inappropriate.

We do have to understand the difference between retaliation and self-defence.

We have to find solutions to these problems within the systems of Australia and within the Laws of Australia.

Prime Minister Mr Kevin Rudd is right in advising the students to not take laws into their hands [see the link above].

I would categorise Mr Dhondy’s comments as ill-advised statements.

He does not live in Australia and would not know the situation in Australia.

We are parts of Australian society and we have to find solutions to the troubles in co-operation with other constituents of Australian society.

Let me re-state that the overwhelming majority of Australians are excellent citizens. They are as frustrated and angry with a miniscule fraction of our people who are racist and do not hesitate to harm others because of the race reasons. To me and other decent Australians, this tiny minority does not qualify to be called “Human”.

Mr Dhondy, please butt out from Australian troubles and issues. You are inflaming the situation.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/17th Sept, 2009

Racist crimes are completely unacceptable:Urgent actions are needed. September 16, 2009

We are very concerned with the news of the assaults of 3 Indians in Epping, Melbourne last weekend. The perpetrators were abusing them with racist language in front of the Police as Mr Glenn Parker of Vic Police stated in his interviews on ABC.

This is not “ON’ and is completely unacceptable.

Australia is not a racist country but there is a miniscule proportion of people who hold racist views. We do not care what views they have about who ever but they must not be allowed to get away when they commit crimes based on racist views.

It is not important whether there were 5, 20 or 70 people who assaulted Indians in Melbourne but it is important that Indians were assaulted apparently because they were Indians. Some of them have sustained horrific injuries. These attacks must not be tolerated.

I believe that Australian authorities need to take some urgent steps to tackle this uncommon, unusual but increasingly worrying trend where some people are assaulted only because of their race.

We suggest following steps;

1. we should create and codify a new category of crime ie  ”race hate crimes” with harsher penalties

2. we start public education campaign on the lines of campaign against domestic violence ie “Australia says NO to racism and race hate crimes” ASAP. Through these campaigns via the media, we outline what damage the racism causes to others and what are the penalties if any one is caught doing racist crimes.

3. our police force do prompt investigation and commence prosecution of those who are involved in such crimes.

4. Minister of Immigration, Minister of Education and Minister for Foreign Affairs consider forming advisory council [s] which should include people from various backgrounds to advise them on matters relevant to these issues.

“Is Australia a racist country?” is a question which a lot of people have asked or are asking. My answer is still in negative and emphatically so but I do not doubt that there are some people [a very small fraction] who harbour racist views. I do not care about the views of these “Losers” but they must keep their views to themselves.

We need to act and must act urgently in this regard.

 After all, it is the image of Australia and “Brand Australia” which are at stake if we do nothing.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/16th September, 2009

Looking for an “INDIAN”:The informant will be rewarded! September 12, 2009

I received this interesting email from a GP friend. I found it thought provoking. Have a read!

The email goes like………

 

AN AMERICAN VISITED  INDIA AND WENT BACK TO  AMERICA
WHERE HE MET HIS INDIAN FRIEND WHO ASKED HIM
HOW DID U FIND MY COUNTRY???
THE AMERICAN SAID IT IS A GREAT COUNTRY
WITH SOLID ANCIENT HISTORY
AND IMMENSELY RICH WITH NATURAL RESOURCES.

THE INDIAN FRIEND THEN ASKED ….
HOW DID U FIND INDIANS ???

INDIANS??
WHO INDIANS??
I DIDNT FIND OR MEET A SINGLE INDIAN
THERE IN  INDIA …
WHAT NONSENSE???
WHO ELSE CAN U MEET IN  INDIA THEN???

THE AMERICAN SAID …
IN  KASHMIR I MET A KASHMIRI–
IN  PUNJAB A PANJABI…
IN BIHAR,MAHARASTRA,  BENGAL ,TAMILNADU
I MET A BIHARI,MARATHI, BENGALI,TAMILIAN…
THEN I MET
A MUSLIM,
A CHRISTIAN,
A JAIN,
A BUDDHIST
AND MANY MANY MANY MORE
BUT NOT A SINGLE INDIAN DID I MEET
…………………………………………………………..
FIGHT BACK -
ALWAYS SAY 
“WE ARE INDIANS”

The email does describe how many of us act in our day-to-day interactions.

Is it not the time we become Indians FIRST before being a Maharastrian, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Keralite, Tamil, Kannada, UP Wala, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh or anything else?

The tendency to divide us based on our regional or religious identities is not a great thing.

We are all Indians and that identity must be actively and assertively promoted by all of us. This is more true for our leaders whether they are in India or Australia.

Dr Yadu Singh/Bowral/12th Sept, 2009

* I am attending a conference in Bowral, NSW.

OCI Card: A story of an Emeritus Professor of Medicine from USA! September 11, 2009

 This email was sent to me by Rajesh Pandey who is a great guy from our community. He is based in Sydney. The behaviour of the Indian officials with this Professor from USA made me sad. It also raised concerns/questions about OCI cards. I hope we can hear from the Indian Consulate, Sydney about the OCI card and its usefulness.

I reproduce the content of the email.

This email reads as……..
“Indian Immigration!
 
Horror Of Dual Citizenship With India
 
   
 
MY DUAL CITIZENSHIP WOES:
MY RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH THE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT
AT THE KOLKATA AIRPORT AND THE LESSONS I LEARNT
 

My advice to all my friends who hold an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) Card and those who aspire to get one.
 
I am an American citizen.  I also carry an OCI card (Overseas Citizen of India) since 2007. 
On Saturday, June 20, 2009 , I arrived at the Kolkata Netaji Subhas Airport from Detroit via Singapore , by Singapore Airlines (SQ 516) at 10:30 P.M.
 
I presented myself to an Immigration Officer  ( Mr. Biswas ) for immigration clearance.  I gave him my American passport and my OCI card.  He demanded to see my visa from the Indian consular office.  Unfortunately, that visa was attached to my old passport and I did not bring it with me.
I explained to him that I am sorry I forgot to bring my old passport but since I do possess a valid OCI Card that would automatically mean that I do also possess a permanent (life long) visa for India and there are proofs that I have traveled multiple times to India after I had received my OCI card. 
 
Mr. Biswas detained me for two hours inside the airport   and then he told me that he is going to allow me to stay in India for 72 hours and asked me to report to the Foreign Relations Regional Officer (FRRO) in the city within 72 hours.  He kept my passport.  During all that time I had no opportunity either to approach his OC (Officer in Charge) although I asked for it, or to contact my relatives who came to the airport to receive me and were waiting outside and had no idea why I was being held back or if I have even arrived.
 
Forgetting to bring my old passport was my own fault but I ‘forgot’ to bring it partly because I knew I have my OCI Card with me and I thought, that means something, I really believed that I am a citizen of India too.  Why would a citizen also need a visa to enter his own country?   I thought I have a dual citizenship for both the USA and India . Other wise, what is the difference between an ordinary foreigner and the OCI Card holder?
Next day was a Sunday, I called a friend in Ann Arbor who went into my house, got my old passport and sent me the scanned copy of my old passport and a copy of my permanent visa by e-mail. 
 
So, on Monday I went to see Mr. Bibhas Talukdar , the FRRO.  He hardly looked at the documents (the scanned visa) that I had with me he simply asked me to get my old passport by courier mail within another seven days.  He appeared gleeful telling me that it is only out of  “pity” that he is allowing me to stay in India for seven more days.  He was totally unimpressed by either my status as a Professor Emeritus of the University of Michigan or my age (70+)
 
I called my friend in Ann Arbor again who then sent my old passport by FedEx.  Three days later the passport arrived.  Since I had to leave Kolkata for prescheduled visit to Bangalore , my niece took it to Mr. Talukdar . But due to lack of communication between the FRRO office and the airport immigration department my passport had not arrived at the city office even after 9 days.  My niece had to go to the FRRO’s office three times once waiting until 6 P.M. still they did not have my passport.  They only promised: “it will come soon”. At last,  12 days after my arrival, my niece got my passport.
 
From this painful and anxiety provoking experience I have learned a few valuable lessons:
 
1.    The loud talk about “Dual Citizenship” for Indian Americans is just a political hoax.
 
2.    The OCI card just does not have any value.  It is just a piece of expensive junk. You still need a visa every time you travel to India whether or not you possess an OCI card.  Only difference is that for the high price of getting an OCI card you will get a “life long ” visa.  A 10-year visa is much cheaper.
 
3.    When coming to India always consider yourself a foreigner and bring your visa with you, there will be no exceptions. Your OCI card is not a visa substitute.
 
4.     In fact, you will probably be treated worse than an ordinary foreigner arriving without a valid visa.  Because a foreigner especially a white Caucasian will at least be treated with courtesy and probably offered a temporary visa if there is no reason to deny it, but not you.
 
Please feel free to forward this mail to any of your friends who may befit from my experience.  Especially feel free to forward this to any influential politician or civil servant in India that you may know.
 
Sujit K. Pandit M.D.,Professor Emeritus, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan“

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I have sent a copy of this email to Indian Consulate, Sydney. They may consider about enlightening Indian Australians re the value of the OCI cards. There are OCI card holders in Australia and they would be interested in this matter.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/11th Sept, 2009

Indian Consulate, Sydney:Some work rules, it must follow! September 10, 2009

The Indian Consulate General, Sydney has been a special and vital place for our Indian community in NSW for a while. I have not had much to do with it previously but this has changed. I have dealt with the current CG Hon Mr Amit Dasgupta and his predecessor, Hon Mr Sujan Chinoy. Whether we agree or disagree with whatever the consulate does, we can not ignore them. They are here to look after the interests of Indian Gov and Indians in Australia. There are many goals which the community and the Consulate share. We have to appreciate this fact. It is therefore essential that we all work as an effective team.

Like any other community, our Indian community has its peculiar characteristics. The Consulate has to be aware of these characteristics. Being aware of these, it would be able to be more effective in getting what it wants to achieve. It would help us have much better results for our community too.

I believe that the Consulate must;

1. understand that it is not a good idea to associate directly or indirectly with those who have a “conflict of interests” in regards to any issues which the Consulate is dealing with or is going to deal with.  There are several people in our community who have exploited our students by underpaying them or taking bribes for work experiences. The consulate can not hide under the excuse of its ignorance about the “exploiters” when every body else knows about them. Students and Indian Australians themselves know about them. The consulate has to be very careful in these matters. As an absolute principle, the consulate should not deal with any person, entity, enerprise or business if there is a chance that such person, entity, enterprise or business has been or is involved in exploiting our people. Like the Consulate, we believe that it is the lowest of the low activity to exploit our own people.

2. understand that it must work with the committee or working group [which it has formed or will form] actively and collaboratively, rather than forming multiple groups with more or less similar goals without discussing the agenda with the existing committee or working group. There is a risk of misunderstanding that it is dividing the community if it is not careful about this principle. 

3. understand the importance of a good and direct communication with the community. It does not promote a goodwill and good working relation if people hear something from them directly and then hear something else which they have told others. In Australia, we generally do not like any one who speaks with a “forked tongue”.

4. deliver what it commits itself to deliver. The classical example is the fact it formed a community committee on students’ issues on 6th April 2009. It was promised that the consulate would issue a press release about it but it did not happen, leading to a lot of confusion and forcing the committee to announce it itself. The consulate should have issued the press release and sent it to the Indian press in Sydney and Indian associations within 1 week after 6th April. This would have prevented the committee members from being asked the embarrassing question “who are you?” from the media and the community members.

5. understand that we have people in our community who do not mind undermining/bad mouthing other people and their work due to some unprofessional reasons. These could be jealousy, meanness and “tall poppy syndrome” which is not uncommon in our community. Some of these people really have nothing else except bad mouthing other people. The consulate must remain very careful about such people, many of whom have been or still are the “leaders” of our community without any productivity.

6. understand that it has a special position and it can act as a catalyst for our community’s interests by encouraging, supporting and promoting the people with decency, impeccable character, integrity and capacity. It can do so by giving a serious thought to the agenda of some of our “leaders” who have been in their positions for years without much to show as the output for the community. Some of these “leaders” have formed their own “pocket associations”.

7. understand that some Indian media people in Sydney are not objective at all and have aligned themselves with some of our so called “leaders”. Their views must be taken with a “Kilogram” of salt!

8. understand the issue of perception and should not do/say anything which can harm the reputation of the decent/well meaning people in our community. It should also not give an impression of dealing largely with Indian Australians of one particular political party whether that party is ALP or Liberal.

9. reviews the justification for all of its committees/working groups. It is essential it does not nominate any one who has a “conflict of interest” in a particular matter when the consulate forms a committee/working group or removes them if they have a “conflict of interest” in that matter.

10. dissolves a committee and constitute another one if the committee is incapable of doing what it agreed to do. Women’s Issue committee is a classical example.

It must also understand that some of our people have a habit of “sucking up” the Consulate officials with their agenda of personal interest and that our community also has very many people who are well meaning with impeccable character and vast capacity/calibre who do not believe in “sucking up” to any one. The consulate must know who it must collaborate with and who would do a much better job on a particular issue.

I do not want to portray myself as “Mr know it all” but these are the views I thought I must express for a better outcome for our community.

These comments should not be taken as a criticism. They are meant to promote a situation which will help us have  better results for our community.

Yadu Singh/10th Sept, 2009

Flying School Students:DEEWR must act soon! September 6, 2009

The stories of the Flying school are known to all. These were covered in SMH, The Australian and ABC [Four Corners] recently.

I met a couple of them today, Sunday, in my office.

We all need to know that they came to Australia to train as pilots and return to India. They were not interested in the “PR” here. They had a vision about their career but it did not go according to their plans.

We all know that Vocational Education, Training Accreditation Board [VETAB] has done an enquiry and taken some action. Dept of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR] has created some confusion by circulating a document about this school. I was sent this document by the Indian Consulate, Sydney recently. I already had this document as it was sent by a student a few days ago, telling something contradictory.

It is not our concern whether this school is registered or de-registered. VETAB and DEEWR can sort this out themselves.

VETAB has its role only up to the registration or lack of registration based on the training standards or lack of it. That is what VETAB is saying. They say that further actions have to be taken by other agencies. These are Fair trading Dept, DEEWR/ESOS and Australian courts.

I think it is not a correct view.

VETAB and DEEWR, both, have a duty of care and have a moral/legal responsibility to to help students in getting a fair treatment because,

1. students came to Australia, knowing that these agencies would look after the quality issues and standards,

2. students had an expectation of fair dealing from these agencies when they complained,

3. students had complained to VETAB/DEEWR well before they either left the school or forced out of the school.

Students complained to these agencies in 2008 but not much was done except passing the buck between these agencies. VETAB became serious only after we and students met Hon Mr Peter Primrose, Hon Ms Helen Westwood, Hon Ms Verity Firth, Minister of Education’s senior advisers and others in April/May 2009.

We ask;

1.  that VETAB/DEEWR get involved actively in the matters of these students and put sufficient pressure on this school to resolve the matter quickly.

2.  that VETAB/DEEWR encourage the school to use the services of a suitably trained mediator/conciliator to help resolve the problems.

These students are going through a very difficult time in Australia. Some of them have left Australia and others are still here.

We want the VETAB/DEEWR to know that we are willing to be the bridge between the school and the students. We deal with them regularly and know how difficult it is for them. We do however admire them for their resolve to fight against the injustice.

Injustice, they have suffered undoubtedly. We will fight along side them, no doubt because it is the right thing to do. 

They deserve a “Fair GO” from VETAB/DEEWR/ESOS/Australian media.

VETAB/DEEWR/ESOS, Please act fast!

Would the ministers in charge of these bodies [Hon Ms Verity Firth and Hon Ms Julia Gillard] please look into the plight of these students?

Dr Yadu Singh/06-09-09

AISA and FISA must work together for students:interact, communicate and co-ordinate with the Indian community too! September 6, 2009

Dear AISA and FISA leaders,

We ask that you;

1. work together,

2. interact, communicate and co-ordinate with the us [Indian community] as we are also a significant stake holder,

because you would have a better results for the international students if you follow these principles.

We ask you to please;

1. stay away from those who have a conflict of interest in the students’ matters,

2. be aware of the agenda of those so called “leaders” who are directly benefiting from students related matters,

Our Indian students need the help, support, encouragement, mentoring and leadership which can be provided if we all work as an effective and efficient team.

They have a right to have a quality training and freedom from exploitation. They have paid the money for it.

We can do it and lets do it.

Dr Yadu Singh/-6-09-09

Stirling College students need urgent help from DEEWR September 6, 2009

Dear DEEWR authorities

After the collapse of the Stirling College in Sydney, we understood that these students were going to be placed in alternative colleges within 28 days. This was the promise which was made by ACPET. 

More than 28 days have passed but the promise has not been fulfilled. We further understand that their matter is now with DEEWR/ESOS.

These students are desperate, frustrated and disappointed because;

1. their money has been taken but they have not received the appropriate training,

2. there is uncertainty about their training and future,

3. there is uncertainty about the plan of action by the DEEWR/ESOS.

We are worried that this desperation may go out of hand for some students. They have invested a big amount of money in their courses and things are going out of control.

We ask DEEWR/ESOS to help these students quickly;

1. by acting speedily in arranging an alternate placement of all students including students of community welfare in Sydney/NSW.

2. by helping these students get the certificates, transcripts and other relevant documents/records from the administrators of this college

3. by doing everything to look after the health and Visa  needs of these students until the mess is sorted out.

4. by nominating a “Nodal person” from DEEWR to deal with the matters of the students of  the failed Stirling college.

5. by refunding the full fees under Tuition Assurance Scheme if alternate placement is not possible.

Students of community welfare chose Sydney as the place to have their training. The alternate placement must be in Sydney. Some of them have their jobs in Sydney [for the entitled hours as per the the Visa conditions].

We request Minister Ms Julia Gillard and NSW Premier, Mr Nathan Rees to please direct the relevant people to act in a speedy manner in these matters.

Dr Yadu Singh/06-09-09

Dr Yadu Singh: what I am doing for the community! September 4, 2009

Some of the things I am involved in…

1. mentoring, helping and guiding the students of a Flying school

2. lobbying for the resolutions of their problems

3. mentoring/advising/helping a students’ association

4. membership of the Community Relations Commissioner’s [CRC] working party on students’ issues

5. helping the students whenever I can

6. participating actively in community matters

7. many others activities for Australian and Indian communities

8. Radio UMANG/98.5 MHZ/Fridays/8-9 PM/Health matters/

***Please read this blog about what I did as a member of the students’ committee.***

Dr Yadu Singh/4th Sept, 2009