Australian High Commissioner to India, Mr Peter Varghese’s Op-ed in an Indian newspaper:It makes a lot of sense! February 4, 2010

Article by High Commissioner Peter Varghese- 1 February 2010 [Sent by DFAT with thanks. Also available on the website of Australian High Commission, New Delhi, India]

http://www.india.highcommission.gov.au/ndli/article1feb.html

 ”What is happening in Australia? The widespread media coverage of attacks on Indians in Australia has raised several understandable questions. Are Indian students safe in Australia? Are Indians being singled out? Why are these attacks happening? Are they racially motivated and what is being done to address the problem? Crime is never easy to dissect and crime statistics even more so. We know that Australia is a relatively safe place with homicide and assault rates well below the global average. But we cannot prove with existing data, one way or another, whether Indian students are more likely to be assaulted than students from other countries. Also, with the number of Indian students growing by nearly 400 percent in the space of a few years the number of Indians affected by street crime has also increased in absolute numbers. The overwhelming majority of the half million foreign students in Australia, including the vast majority of Indian students, have a safe and positive experience. That may be cold comfort for Indian victims of assault and their families back home, but it is nevertheless an important point to make. Many of the Indian students in Australia are under financial pressure. Their visa requires them to have enough money in the bank to cover their costs before they come to Australia. But in many cases this does not happen. And when the pressure is on you to earn money quickly you do two things. First, you seek out night shift work because that is easier to get and may pay more. This means that you are more likely to be in a higher risk job such as driving taxis late at night. Second, you look for cheap accommodation which may put you in a higher crime neighbourhood and commuting to it at an hour when attacks are more likely. None of this excuses attacks. And no one should ever blame the victim. But it might help explain why some of these attacks are occurring. Are the attacks racist? For the most part they are the ugly face of urban crime committed by criminals from a wide variety of racial backgrounds. Many of the assailants have been juveniles or young adults acting in an aggressive and predatory way. But in some cases the attacks have been accompanied by racial abuse: something for which the Australian government has zero tolerance and the great majority of Australians condemn as completely unacceptable. If race is the motive, it will come out in the course of investigation and trial. We need to allow those processes to run their course and not make instant judgements based on initial media reports which may turn out to be wrong. This applies as much to the media as it does to those investigating these crimes. So what is being done? A lot. We have increased police resources. In Melbourne, where many of these attacks have occurred, we have put in place special action to target crime hotspots and to run a “safe stations” program. We have given police wider powers to search for weapons without a warrant and to move unruly people on. We have introduced legislation to allow our courts to impose tougher sentences for hate crime. We have set up special consultative arrangements for the police to liaise with Indian and other international students, including a hotline for students who need advice or help. And we are going after the perpetrators. Already in Victoria alone some 45 people have been arrested for crimes against Indian students or nationals. The courts are dealing with the culprits, including in one case a sentence of 18 years for a vicious attack against a person of Indian origin. In one recent assault case, the assailant was given a three month prison sentence within twenty four hours of the attack. The Victorian police are giving a very high priority to finding the killer of Nitin Garg. And our Prime Minister has set up a special task force to deal with these attacks, chaired by the National Security Adviser and involving all the state governments. As a government and a community we take these attacks seriously. We cannot promise to stop urban crime — no government can credibly do that. But we are determined to address the problem, deal with the perpetrators and provide a safe and enjoyable environment for all our foreign students. It is neither fair nor accurate to paint these attacks as the actions of a racist country. Australia has travelled a long way on race. We have gone, in the space of single generation, from White Australia to one of the most culturally and racially diverse societies in the world. Rapid social change has not been without its tensions but, overall, the record is one of impressive harmony. And that is not a journey which can be made by a racist nation.”

Peter N Varghese Australian High Commissioner

Australia India Day [celebrating Australia Day and Indian Republic Day] function:Report January 31, 2010

Report

Australia India Day Function

[Celebrating Australia Day and Indian Republic Day]

Held on the 24^th Jan, 2010 [6-11PM]

Venue – Ryde Civic Centre, Ryde NSW 2112

 

Australia India Day Function Council celebrated its first Australia / India Republic Day at the Ryde Civic Centre, Ryde on the 24^th January 2012.  The program was an astounding success with more than 500 prominent Indians, representatives from over 20 Indian Associations, and star-studded politicians from both the Labor and Liberal parties from State and Federal level attending this event. 

The celebration started with the singing of Indian and Australian anthems, followed by entre which was followed by the first part of the entertainment programme. The guests were welcomed by Harish Velji and the MC was Dr Yadu Singh. Vote of thanks was given by Ms Shubha Kumar.  

At no time in the past 20 years, any function organized by any Indian Association/s had such massive response for such events.  The only limiting factor in getting more numbers to attend the event has been the capacity of the Ryde Civic Centre function hall. 

One of the major aspects contributing to the success of this program was the enormous representation from both the Labor and Liberal parties. ALP took 2 tables and Liberals took 1 table in our function. More than 40 political leaders and party workers from both sides attended the event.  Prominent people from the political leadership included: 

Hon Ms Maxine Mckew [Parliamentary secretary, Fed Gov & representing Prime Minister of Australia], Hon Mr Joe Hockey [Shadow Treasurer, Fed Parliament & representing Hon Tony Abbott, Leader of Opposition in Fed Parliament],Hon Mr David Borger [NSW Minister], Hon Mr Peter Primrose [NSW minister], Hon Ms Barbara Perry [NSW minister & representing NSW Premier], Ms Angela D’amore [Parliamentary secretary, NSW], Hon Mr Laurie Ferguson [Parliamentary secretary, Fed Gov], Mr David Clarke MLC [Shadow Parliamentary secretary & representing Mr Barry O’Farrell, Leader of Opposition, NSW], Mr Phillip Ruddock [Shadow Cabinet secretary, Fed Parliament], Mr Greg Smith [Shadow Attorney General, NSW], Hon Ms Amanda Fazio [President, Upper House of NSW], Hon Ms Tanya Gadiel [Deputy speaker of NSW parliament], Mr Chris Hayes MP, Mr Michael Richardson MP and Mr Shaoquett Moselmane MLC.

Clr Mark Adler – Canterbury Council, Clr Tony Hay – Hills Shire, Clr Barbara Burton – Hills Shire, Clr Vaseekaran Rajdurai – Holroyd Council, Clr Bill Whelan, Hawkesbury Council, and Crl Trent Zimmerman, North Sydney Council also attended this function.

Hon Mr Amit Dasgupta, Consul General of India, Sydney and Mr Gautam Roy, Consul from the Indian Consulate, Sydney also graced this function with their presence.

In a highly emotional and charged up speech, Mr David Clarke [representing Mr Barry O’Farrell] from the Australian Liberal Party, said that if his child goes to India he is sure the parents in India would treat him as their son and look after him.  On a similar manner, he urged that the Australian Moms and Dads to treat the Indian students as their own sons and look after them.  He went on and paid tributes to India and its traditions by saying that ‘India practices what it preaches. 

Ms Barbara Perry [representing the Premier of NSW] spoke eloquently about the contribution of Indian Australians and declared that violence against Indian/international students will not be tolerated. She said that students are very welcome in NSW. She was dressed in Indian attire which people appreciated with enthusiastic applause. She spoke about the interest of NSW premier and Gov in working actively with the Indian Australians.

Hon Joe Hockey, speaking at the function, said the Liberal party is fully committed to its policy of supplying Uranium to India.  Dr Yadu Singh, while responding to Hon Joe Hockey’s speech encouraged the Labor party to consider similar policy and implement it as early as possible. He explained that the issue of NPT is not relevant in case of India after India has been given an India-specific exemption from NPT by the NSG [Nuclear Suppliers’ Group] in Vienna last year.

Ms Maxine Mckew also spoke very highly of India, Indian Australians and multi-culturalism in Australia. She also explained that India and Australia have a great relations and it will get even better despite some hiccups. She was very impressed with the enthusiastic participation of women Indian Australians in this function. Her speech generated a thunderous applause from the audience. 

All the speakers from both the major parties spoke highly of India, Indian traditions, Indian sports – in particular Cricket, and the Indian political landscape, which stood the test of times for more than 62 years since securing independence from the British rule in 1947. All speakers were enthusiastically applauded by the audience.  

The event was also graced by Mr Amit Dasgupta, the Consul General of India.  Speaking on the occasion the Consul General touched on two fundamental issues.  On the issues related to the Indian students the Consul General paid glowing tributes to the NSW Police force and the political landscape of NSW for containing the student issues in NSW.  As a clear indication to vindicate this matter the Consul General said that out of the 1340 attacks on Indian students in 2009, only 13 such attacks occurred in the state of NSW and South Australia – the States which fall under the jurisdiction of Mr Amit Dasgupta.  He further stated that these statistics do not however condone the vast majority of attacks on Indian students that occurred and still occurring in other States.  He urged that the law enforcement agencies and the political parties should work closely in this direction and ensure safety of the Indian overseas students 

On a second major issue, the Consul General spoke about exploitation of the Indian students by Indian business – in particular the food/restaurant industry whereby the restaurant owners pay less than the wages stipulated under the labor law.  He insisted that all business owners must do ethical business.  He further went on to say that ‘I will not attend any function where he is not assured of suppliers to that function follow ethical standards in conducting their businesses’.  The entire hall including all the politicians from both major parties echoed with a big applause. 

The overwhelming response to this event is an indication of the ‘changing times’ and ‘changing outlook’  to the leadership and responsiveness to the current issues and challenges being faced by various sections of the Indian migrant and student community living in the State of New South Wales.  

Surely the representation of more than 40 students from the International Student community is an indication that they want to hear from the leadership and also from the large number of politicians on their views and actions proposed to be taken to address their issues. The Chief of VETAB [Ms Margaret Willis] and her assistant, Mr Shona Tannock and Mr Robert Redfern, Commander, Parramatta Police command [representing NSW Police Commissioner] were present as our guests. Ms Willis’ and Mr Redfern’s presence was meant to send out the message that quality of training and safety of students are 2 key issues in relations with Indian students.

It is noteworthy that students had paid at a very subsidized rate and all others including the organizers, except a very small numbers of VIP guests, had bought the tickets for their participation in the function.

The representation from more than 20 Indian Associations is a clear indication which shows they are bewildered with the current policies and practices, and financial management of our current top associations and leaders. The one fundamental reason for this large support stems from the fact that they found a new leadership in the AIDFC which can respond to the current issues and make representations at both Australian and Indian Government levels with a solid and united voice.   Some of the major Indian organizations who supported the event included the India Club, The Sydney Sangat, Australian Punjabi Business Association, Australian Indian Business Congress, Punjab For Ever, The Australian Tamil Association Inc (ATA), Hindi Samaj and the Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association (AMU) in addition to others.  

ACR International Tours and Travels added spice to the event by offering one return air ticket through Singapore Airlines for auction.  The auction added nice A$1,000 to the much badly needed money for the ‘benevolent fund project’. Mr Navneet Chaugar was the winner of this ticket. For the raffle draw which helped us collect about $750, the Good Guys offered a Plasma 26 inch TV which was won by Councilor Bill Whelan of the Hawkesbury City Council.  Congratulations to the winners! 

Media-both Indian and Australian, were represented with Indian Link, The Indian, Punjab Times, Hamare Rang [Pakistani] and most importantly, Channel 9 team present in the function. This was the very first time that Channel 9 crew was present in an Indian function.

Many other ethnic community leaders also graced the occasion with their presence.

The Future – the AIDFC Benevolent Fund

AIDFC has made a number of public announcements at the function to the community as a part of its commitment for the future.  Prominent among them is the creation and implementation of the AIDFC’s Benevolent Fund.  We are committed to get this fund going and make a significant contribution to the well being the Indian migrant and student community, our fellow Australian community and finally to our mother country – India.   

Finally we promise you that we will provide you a solid leadership and will representation at various levels.  We will have clean governance in all matters of the AIDFC management – in particular finance management. We will adopt an ‘open book’ approach in all these areas.  Consideration will be given to broaden the current AIDFC to include more Associations, individual members and businesses.  The community will be getting more frequent updates in the coming weeks and months! 

Ghungurus Group of Shalini Patel was the provider of the entertainment programme which was of 50 minutes duration and had the mix of Bhangra and Bollywood songs/dances. Every one enjoyed it tremendously.

Catering was done by Billu Group with great food, dessert and wines.

This function was so well attended and so well done that it has become a matter for the discussion among Indian Australians and the political eaders in NSW and Canberra.

This function has now become the talk of the town.
 
 JAI HO! 

Dr Yadu Singh

President

Australia India Day Function Council (AIDFC)

www.Twitter.com/dryadusingh

www.yadusingh.wordpress.com

Email: singhyadu@gmail.com

31st Jan, 2010

My interview on NDTV about Australia January 31, 2010

http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1197889 My interview in NDTV about Australia.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/indians_in_australia_speak_out_on_attacks.php

Yadu Singh/Sydney/31st Jan, 2010

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

Indian students in Australia and India-Australia relations:My article and views. January 29, 2010

http://www.foreignpolicy.in/journals_4.html

Inviting your views and comments.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/29th Jan, 2010

Who is racist-Australia or Indian media? January 10, 2010

Look, I agree, the title of this write-up is dramatic and provocative but this is the question which lots of people are asking. A segment of Indian media is calling every crime involving Indians in Australia as racist crime. They don’t even wait for full facts. It is grossly unfair, inappropriate, immature and ,I argue, racist. Everything in Australia is racist and the very same crimes in India are not. Indian media is doing it intentionally with one agenda only. This agenda is to harm Australia’s reputation. They are selectively blind to some crimes but hysterical about certain crimes.

Let me put some examples to illustrate my point of view.

1. Late Nitin Garg’s fatal stabbing: This was the most shocking loss of life in Melbourne. A 21 years old Indian permanent resident was fatally stabbed at 10 PM when he was walking through a park for his work. This was in the Western Suburb of Melbourne which is known for increased crime against people of all types. There was no witness and the park was dimly lit. Full facts have not come out yet. Vic police is investigating. One Indian minister demanded faster speed in the investigation just 2 days after the crime, while ignoring the fact that it took 19 years for the Indian system to deal with SPS Rathore, Ex DGP of Haryana, who had molested a young lady [Ruchika] and  had also harassed her family which led to the suicide of Ruchika. It is a bit rich to hear that statement from this minister. Indian media of course took up the job of branding Australia a racist country. Do they have any evidence to claim that Nitin was murdered due to his race? Do they have any evidence to say who killed Nitin? This is ridiculous and an indicator of the lack of fairness, accountability and responsibility to their profession. Make no mistake, we are all very sad and angry with what has happened. A young man has lost his life in this manner. Our hearts go out to his mother, brother and other family members. We owe it to Nitin that we put sufficient pressure on Vic Police to catch the criminal and prosecute him vigorously.

2. Ku Klux Klan cartoon: This cartoon by a newspaper in India was an outrageous sensationalisation by the Indian media. What evidence they have to claim what they claimed? It is not fair to brand the whole Vic police to be Ku Klux Klan! We are not surprised that Acting PM, Julia Gillard, Acting Premier of Vic, Mr Hull and Vic police reacted angrily and called this cartoon to be offensive. Rather than going on Ku Klux Klan direction, they could have highlighted the failure of Vic police in controlling the crime situation there.

3. Murder of an Indian lady in Westmead, NSW by her husband: It is alleged that Chaman Jot Singh had killed his wife and then ran away to Melbourne from where he was arrested. He is in prison now and awaiting his trial. We did not see much coverage of this murder! Indian media is treating one murder differently from the another. Is this an example of journalism?

4. Murder/burning of Ranjodh Singh in Griffiths: This murder was shocking too. Newspaper reports are claiming that he was a contractor who was employing other Indians. It is alleged that a dispute involving the payment of wages was responsible for the fight and murder/burning. Killers are alleged to be Indians. We did not see much coverage of this in the Indian media. Why?

5. Alleged burning of an Indian in Melbourne: This story is quite unusual and the newspapers are raising doubts on some aspects of this crime. Full facts are yet to be disclosed but police are saying that aspects of the story don’t stack up.

6.  IndianTaxi driver molesting a young lady in Brisbane: A taxi driver was sentenced to 15 months prison term in Brisbane but not much has been reporeted in Indian media. Why?

7. Puneet, an Indian student, drove drunk and killed an 19 years old Gold Coast man last year. He was tried and was convicted. While waiting for the sentencing, he jumped bail and ran away from Australia, using a false passport. He lives in India now. Should he not be arrested there and sent back to an Australian jail? Where is Indian police and Indian media? Why did Indian media not cover this topic? Is it OK for an Indian to kill someone else?

http://www.theage.com.au/world/india-urges-restraint-in-reporting-of-attacks-20100110-m0iz.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/fire-attack-on-indian-deepens-race-tensions-20100109-m00j.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-mean-streets-where-the-locals-fear-to-tread-20100109-m00l.html

http://www.smh.com.au/national/two-questioned-over-burnt-body-of-indian-worker-in-griffith-20100109-m03q.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/taxi-driver-pleads-guilty-to-schoolgirl-assault/story-fn3dxity-1225817388943

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/indian-tvs-unsound-fury-20100106-lu8y.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/10/2789026.htm 
 
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/09/2788802.htm

 http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indians-in-oz-fear-backlash-over-ku-klux-klan-cartoon/565039/

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/6660657/indian-govt-angry-after-attack-on-man/4/$

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indians-in-oz-feel-race-angle-being-forcefully-fed-by-media/565571/

http://www.theage.com.au/national/southbank-crash-driver-drunk-and-speeding-20081001-4rcz.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/killer-driver-fled-australia-on-false-passport-police-20090820-erzp.html

It does not matter to them that most Indian Australians do not believe Australia to be a racist country. Australia’s rules/regulations and laws are not racist. They are not discriminatory to any one on the basis of colour, race, gender or religion. It is a known fact that every country has some racists. Australia and India are no exceptions. Ask North Indians what they feel in Mumbai. Ask North Eastern Indians what they get called in New Delhi. Ask any one what Indians call Africans. Why is Indian media not taking this up? It is a known fact that every country has a crime problem. Australia also has it and India also has it. India in fact may have worse crime problem.  No country is totally crime free. What has Indian media done against crime/criminals in India? Some politicians there have extensive criminal background? Any thing being done by Indian media about that?

By the way, my comments here should not mean that I am happy with the policing by Vic Police. They are definitely not able to have an effective control on the crime situation in Vic. They need to do a review about the ways they do crime control. They should do random and unannounced searches for knives etc without giving the notice of 7 days before such searches. You read it right. They actually do give a 7 days notice about their searches in any particular suburb.Things seems to be better in NSW in this regards. May be, they should talk with their NSW counterparts.

Some “leaders” in Melbourne don’t waste any time to claim every crime being a racist crime. There is one whose comments are outrageous. He does not wait for any evidence.  His understanding of the situation is very deficient. I believe he is  harming Indian Australian community  due to his stupid statements.  His statements are irrational. He seems to have some sorts of connection with some in Indian media. His hypocrisy is objectionable as he has taken Australian citizenship and is bringing his parents to live in Australia. Why is this the case if Australia is nothing but a racist country? He is not even a student. As far as I know, he is not even working in the field of his training these days. He claims to speak for all of us. I want to tell him that we do not agree with his irrational views. We also know that he has hardly any support in Melbourne and Indian Australians in Melbourne dislike him intensely & with passion.

I ask Indian media to become rational and objective in its coverage of the problems in Australia. They should wait for the full facts to come out before jumping to any conclusion. They need to cover all crimes even when Indians are involved in committing those crime. They must stop hysterical and selective reporting. Some students also commit crime and the behaviour of some of them is below standard. They don’t know how to conduct themselves. Indian Gov’s advisory is a right thing but did we really need it? Should it not be a component of common sense and should we not know what to do and what not to do? These students are not children, after all.

The irrational reporting by Indian media is making them a laughing stalk and this is making the situation more difficult for Indian Australians. There is a risk that a backlash may happen against Indian Australians if Indian media continues its hysterical and unfair reporting.

The behaviour of a segment of Indian media begs the question. Is indian media racist towards Australia?

I know where I stand on this matter. I am going to let you make up your own mind. Do let me know what you think!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/10th Jan, 2010

My Interview on “A Current Affairs” of channel 9 Australia. January 6, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/ya85bnx  [A Current Affairs Video]

This is the video from “A Current Affairs” programme of Channel 9, which has my interview on the fatal stabbing of a young man in Melbourne.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/5th Jan, 2010

Parramasala:My Channel 9 news interview on this festival of Indian and South Asian culture in Parramatta. January 6, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/ydontck  [Courtesy Channel 9 Australia] My interview on Channel 9 Australia News.

http://tinyurl.com/y9g23l6  [Premier's Press Release]

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally announced a week long  festival of Indian and South asian culture in Nov, 2010. This would be held in Parramatta, Western Sydney, NSW.

It would a fun festival and will show case the arts and culture from India and South Asia. It would include Bollywood songs/dances which of course have become very popular  after Slum Dog Millionaire movie and Jai Ho song by A R Rahman.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/6th Jan, 2010

Fatal stabbing of a 21 yrs old young man in Melbourne.Please keep race out of the equation! January 5, 2010

As we all know, Nitin Garg, 21 yrs old young man from India was fatally stabbed in Melbourne a few days ago. He was on his way to do night shift at a Hungry Jacks and was walking through a park where he was stabbed. He staggered to his work place, calling for help. He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital but could not be saved. Apparently, the knife had caused fatal injury to his vascular system/heart. Apparently, his wallet and other belongings were not touched. So, what happened here and why was he stabbed this ferociously, are the questions which are bothering all of us.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/please-help-me-im-dying-pleaded-knife-victim-20100104-lq5p.html

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/online-fury-over-stabbing-death-of-indian-man-20100103-lnb9.html

http://www.smh.com.au/national/fatal-decision-to-take-short-cut-through-park-20100104-lq7p.html

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/student-assaults-teach-some-harsh-lessons-about-racism-20100104-lq1i.html

http://tinyurl.com/yzqsll7

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/feelgood-sops-from-politicians-are-no-help-in-healing-a-mothers-heartbreak-20100106-lu82.html

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/indian-tvs-unsound-fury-20100106-lu8y.html

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/having-streets-filled-with-fear-is-a-frightening-way-to-live-20100106-lu8x.html

This is shocking to us. I am sure, this would be a shocking news to all decent Australians. It did not need to happen. He did not deserve to be killed in cold blood. Why did it happen and who did it, are the questions we all have right now.

His father had passed away about 6 months ago due to Liver cancer and his elder brother, a sister and his mother are naturally devastated. Their loss, agony and distress can’t be described. We have felt this loss of life in our own hearts. I was very sad, angry and had tears when I heard about it. I have a son who is older than him. It could have been any one’s son/brother.

Vic police is doing its investigation and have appealed to people to not jump to any presumption about the motive of the killers. Appeals have been made by the acting Premier of Victoria and acting prime minister of Australia, Ms Julia Gillard, to let Vic police do its job.  It is important that Vic police does a proper investigation, catch the criminals and prosecute them. These criminals need to face the full force of criminal justice system. Every one including Tony Abbott, Fed leader of opposition and Ms Julia Gillard, acting PM have condemned this murder.

Indian media, Indian Gov officials and Indian people in India have expressed their views and reactions about Nitin’s cold-blooded murder. There are all sorts of emotions which have come out. Blogs, online comments, TV coverage and print media have given due importance to this murder. They have mentioned this murder in the context of a long series of assaults of Indian students in Australia.

Some people have called Nitin’s murder as a racism based murder. This is a comment which I have heard from many people and have seen this mentioned in Indian media.

Since full facts are not available about who did it and why they did it, we really should not jump to any premature conclusions. Nitin was alone when he was stabbed. All facts will come out once the police investigation progresses. We must remember that Vic police did a good job in investigating the assault of Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, Ex AMA president and culprits were given very lengthy sentences. This is what should happen here too.

May I urge people to stay away from premature conclusions. Let us all wait for the police investigation to be completed. Please do remember that Australia is a multi-cultural society and a vast majority of people here are tolerant of one another. We do not believe that Australia, as a whole, is a racist society. We, of course, have a small number of people who do have the racist views and such people do come from all colours. Racist people are everywhere and no country is an exception.

May I urge people to treat this killing as a crime matter and not see it from a race angle. It is a fact that Australia, like other countries, does have a crime problem and victims/culprits come from all communities/races. I have a patient who is Anglo-Saxon and he is 6 feet 6 inches tall. He was bashed severely a few months ago in Seven Hills in Sydney. He had to be in the ICU of Blacktown Hospital for several days. His bashers were also white. My point is that criminals have no race or religion of their own. Frail and old people of all races get assaulted by these low lives.

Melbourne seems to be lot more in news than Sydney when we see the issues of assaults of students. Why is this the case is difficult to understand. I do wonder though whether policing in Victoria has some issues. I do wonder whether they should consult with NSW Police about the situation in NSW. We know that NSW police has anti-organised crime squads which is not the case in Victoria. Should this strategy be followed by Vic police is the question for Vic Gov and Vic police to consider. 

 Do we need to  have a public education campaign on “Australia says no to racism” on the line of the one against domestic violence, an effective crime control by effective knife/weapon control and an effective sentencing as the strategies, are something which must be considered too.

I would like to emphasize again that I do not believe that Indians are specifically targeted. I also believe that we have a crime problem in our cities and people from all races are the victims.

I am praying for the soul of Late Nitin and I am praying for his family members in India. Our hearts should go out to them. We would not even be able to imagine how much distress they are going through.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/5th Jan, 2010

singhyadu@gmail.com

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

Australia India Day celebration: Sunday, 24th Jan, 2010, Ryde Civic Centre,Ryde, NSW. December 28, 2009

Dear friends

Australian India Day Function Council [AIDFC], in a partnership with several Indian Australian associations/Groups, has organised a combined celebration of Australia Day and Indian republic day on Sunday, 24th January, 2010.

Venue: Ryde Civic Centre, 1 Devlin Street, Ryde NSW.

Time: 6-11 PM, Sunday, 24th January, 2010.

As you all know, Australia day and Indian Republic day fall on the very same day.

We have had a great response from Indian Australian community in Sydney and we are thrilled beyond expectation.

In addition to a gala dinner, the celebration will include a vibrant Indian entertainment programme with classical, Bollywood and Bhangra dances. We will keep the speeches to the minimum.

We have invited the top political leaders and Indian Gov officials, and are expecting their presence with us on that day.

Our vision is to make this celebration as a signature & key event of our Indian Australian community in NSW. Some innovative ideas will be outlined during the function. Indian benevolent fund is one such idea.

This function is a real deal and will start a new era in the matters involving our community.

So, come, join us, network and celebrate with us, the great occasion of Australia Day and Indian Republic Day on 24th Jan, 2010.

We have kept the costs per person at $40 and the table of 10 is for $400.

For business/corporate sponsors, we have a special package with advertisement in the souvenir and promotion during the function. Please discuss with us re the business/corporate sponsorships.

We invite you to be a part of this great celebration.

Kind regards

Dr Yadu Singh/27th Dec, 2009

On behalf of the organising committee

Australia India Day Function Council [AIDFC]

singhyadu@gmail.com

www.yadusingh.wordpress.com

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

PS: Please contact us [Dr Yadu Singh singhyadu@gmail.com, Rahul Jethi Rahul.jethi@boq.com.au, Jitendra Verma jv.platform@gmail.com

Some community leaders taking commissions for “bringing” sponsorships:Is it legal, moral or ethical? December 22, 2009

I have been made aware of an unusual situation happening in one of the Indian community organisations in Sydney. I am being told by some in the current executive committee that some from the  association are taking 10% commission for bringing the sponsorships. One such leader has taken $4000. Apparently, several people have taken such commissions. How much money has been taken by how many for how many years, is something which is not clear at present.

 This is known to several people in our community and some of them are actually helping this organisation in getting the top end of the political leadership in the state to their functions. I discussed this with one such person from Inner West Sydney who is claiming [by his actions and emails] to be well connected with the Gov in the state and asked him to demand the clean up in this association as a condition of his support. Despite a long chat with him, he did not commit to any thing concrete and I remain unsure about his views. I have reminded him about a principle which says something like “It is like committing the crime yourself if you ignore and not oppose those who are committing crimes”.

I am very concerned with this behaviour. Community leaders go into community service for altruistic reasons, not for personal benefits. They get “remunerated” by being recognised by the community which brings a lot of satisfaction.

Not for profit associations have to follow certain rules. One rule is that the organisation is not being used to earn benefits for the leaders of that organisation. Commission taking by the leaders for bringing sponsorships defeats that rule. There is no doubt in my mind that the motivating force for community leadership should be community service, not personal benefits.

I am disgusted with this behaviour because not only it brings all community leaders into disrepute but it also pushes people away from community work. Community members develop dislike for community leaders and community work. It causes a long term harm to the community. No wonder, we are not effective in getting changes in the political decision making process in this state.

I believe that community leaders must lead by examples and must have virtues. They must work for the community selflessly and there are many who do.

They must put community interests before their personal interests.

We must demand that;

1. these leaders who have taken commission should be exposed

2. these leaders must refund the money to the organisation with 100% penalty

3. these community leaders must quit their positions and never take up community leadership

4. these community leaders must apologise for their conduct

5. People ie board members must apologise for their incompetence in permitting the commission and quit their board positions.

It is now the responsibility of the Indian ethnic media in Sydney to ask questions from all community associations about their behaviour in this regards. Indian media must question our leaders in regards to ethical/moral behaviour and accountability. I hope newspapers like Indian Link, The Indian, India Down Under and SBS radio under Pawan Luthra, Rohit Revo, Neena Badhwar, Kumud Merani and Chandra Devudu respectively will do justice to this serious issue. Financial records must be scrutinised thoroughly. Indian Consulate in Sydney should ban such so called leaders from its premises. The lists of our community leaders available with CRC offices and the premier’s office must be scrutinized and pruned out as many of these so called leaders are in it and have been in it for years, if not decades. A serious cleaning of our leadership is the crying need of our community. I am asking you-Pawan Luthra, Rohit Revo, Neena Badhwar, Neena Bhandari, Kumud Merani, Chandra Devudu, Harish Velji and Pradeep Kumar of Darpan radio- to listen to us and help clean this nonsense please.

I wish to put on records my regards for lots of community leaders from Indian community who have done and keep doing selfless community work without any personal benefits but there are some among us who are into this “leadership” only for personal benefits. No wonder, they hang on for years, often decades, claiming to be our indispensible leaders and use some unethical measures to control the organisations. Stacking the associations with their people/associations, forming their pocket associations and not following the constitution of these associations are just few measures to allow them to stay on as our “leaders”. They don’t even mind playing the regional politics of India right here in Australia. To call it disgusting behaviour is an understatement.

 These so called leaders have either no understanding of conflict of interests or they choose to ignore this concept. Working as education agents and claiming to be the leaders for students’ issues is something which we must not accept. Some of these “leaders” have converted their “leadership’ roles into their business enterprises. We must not accept it.

I interact with a large number of Indian Australians either during my work or during my social engagements [as well as through emails]. Our people are sick of these idiots who have continued to claim themselves as our leaders for years after years without any real output. The only achievement they have had so far is to have some photo-ops with some politicians. With this behaviour, they have done a long term harm to our community. They can help our community even now, if they wish. This, they can do by leaving the community leadership space.

I believe, that the time has come when we, the Indian Australians, demand results from them and force a clean up of the leadership of Indian Australians.  

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/22nd Dec, 2009

Mumbai Terror attacks of 26th Nov.This video is worth watching! December 16, 2009

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1e4_1246490858

This video has it all, any one would want to know about how Pakistani-trained terrorists killed so many people in Mumbai. These so called non-state actors have support from state actors. They could not have done what they did if they did not have support from some from these state actors.

We ask Pakistani authorities to destroy the terrorist training places and terrorist organisations, operating from its soil.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/16th Dec 2009

This FISA video on a student has serious problems. December 14, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKJ9_x4VLdc

I have seen this video from FISA.

There are some serious problems with it.

1. what was this student doing in this lonely road?

2. why does he throw his water bottle like that?

3. why did the Indian Porsche driver is so unhelpful? He drives off after giving the street directory to this lost fellow. Shameful.

4. Why did this Indian Porsche driver not give this lost fellow a lift?

I did not like this Video  which is totally artificial with no theme, meaning or purpose.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/14th Dec 2010

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.

Having said all what I have said, it still remains a fact that nothing would be achieved until we, the people of India, change ourselves in regards to who we are, what is our self worth, what are our rights & obligations, what type of politicians and Gov we want to have, where we want to go, and where our country ought to be going. It is us that must change the most.

I will keep thinking on these topics and will keep updating this write-up. I look forward to your views.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/13-10-09

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