The Australian government has said it will not apologise to the Indian doctor Dr Mohamed Haneef who was wrongly detained and charged over bomb attacks in the UK in 2007.Dr Haneef demanded an apology after a report on Tuesday found that various mistakes had been made. But Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the government would not say sorry at this stage, as Mr Haneef’s lawyers intended to sue for compensation.He said an apology now might influence the claim.

Mr Haneef was mistakenly arrested, detained and charged over a failed plot to detonate bombs in London and Glasgow last year. His ordeal culminated in his deportation, even though terrorism-related charges against him had by that time been dropped. An Australian judicial inquiry, which published its findings on Tuesday, concluded that mistakes had been made. Mr McClelland said that “errors were made from ground level to the highest level”. Continue Reading

In a total rejection of Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray’s call to attack Pakistan, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Pakistan to avoid “war hysteria” and simply act to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure operating in its country.

“The issue is not war, the issue is terror and territory in Pakistan being used to promote, aid and abet this terror,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters. “Nobody wants war.”

He asked the world community to pressurize Islamabad to dismantle the “terror machine” in the wake of strikes on Mumbai, which was an attack on India’s “ambitions to emerge as an economic power”.

Singh clearly hinted at Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks as he said “non-state actors were practising terrorism aided and abetted by state establishments.”

Addressing a conclave of over 120 Indian Ambassadors and High Commissioners, he said India was seeking peace and stability in its neighbourhood but the situation was “worrisome”.

Referring to terror strikes in Mumbai, he said these were “an attack on the country’s ambitions to emerge as an economic power” but “India would not accept a situation where terrorism is used as an instrument to cripple India’s economy or the values it stands for.” Continue Reading

When I first met Mr. Sujan Chinoy at the Republic Day function organised at the Consul General’s residence three years ago, I first thought he is an Army Officer but after he started reading out the speech that it was established that he is our new Consul General. That was the first official function for Mr. Chinoy in Sydney.  The second was a couple of days later on January 28^th 2005 at the Grand Apollo in Burwood. He was mesmerized by dance performances by a girl Sanghmitra who has now found a foothold in Bollywood. And, he still remembers that high -powered dance performance. It all seems happened only yesterday. But the time flies faster than we think. Here we were all together again but this time to give him a farewell. And, this was for the first time in Sydney or may be Australia that all the popular organisations had got together and gave a combined farewell to Mr. Chinoy. May be the time was short at Mr. Chinoy’s hand and he wanted that way.

Hence, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia, Australia India Business Council,NSW (AIBC), United Indian Association (UIA) , Global Organisation of Person of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Sydney Chapters, GOPIO Australia Business Council and Federation of Australian Indian Associations (FAIA) jointly hosted the farewell dinner for the Consul General of India Sujan Chinoy at the Maharaja Haveli Restaurant, Quakers Hill on Sunday 21 December 2008. Continue Reading

Mr. Susai Benjamin, a popular figure of the Indian community, is among the four people from New South Wales to have been appointed to the new Australian Multicultural Advisory Council announced on Friday by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans. Mr Benjamin has represented the NSW Chief Commissioner of State Revenue at the Administrative Decisions Tribunal since 2003 on numerous matters.  He also serves as a part-time member of the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal.  Mr Benjamin is also the honorary coordinator of the Toongabbie Legal Centre, and honorary convenor of the Australian Multicultural Forum.

 Mr Benjamin brings experience in the legal and multicultural fields to the council, through his work with the Australian Multicultural Forum and not-for-profit community-based initiatives providing legal assistance and advice. Continue Reading

It was for the first time in his course to the 41st century that Sachin could be seen jumping in joy a la Ponting style and pumping his fist in the air. Was it due to his 41st century or the victory over England? If going by his past statements that century becomes a milestone if the team wins, then this joy was all the more special.
But for Sachin it was special for a different reason. He dedicated his century to the families of those killed in the Mumbai terror attacks. Sachin said following India’s six-wicket win over England in Chennai, “This hundred will give a certain amount of happiness to people but what happened in Mumbai, it’s very hard to recover from that. Cricket is a lesser thing compared to what has happened. Whatever we can contribute, we’ve been able to do that. We’re right with the people who have lost their dear ones.” Continue Reading

KARACHI, Dec 11: The targeting of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaatud Dawa and the rounding up of the activists belonging to the two jihadi organisations appear to have been triggered by information originating in India following the capture of one of the 10 men who attacked several targets in Mumbai towards the end of last month. During the course of Dawn’s own investigations last week our reporters were able to locate a family who claimed to be the kin of the arrested young man in Mumbai. The sole survivor among the 10 attackers was named as Ajmal Kasab and was supposed to belong to the village Faridkot in the Punjab. Media organisations such as the BBC and now the British newspaper Observer have done reports trying to ascertain the veracity of claims appearing in the media that the young man had a home there, says a special report by Pakistan newspaper The Dawn.

On Friday last, the BBC reported unusual activity in Faridkot near Deepalpur. A BBC correspondent located a house in the village, the then inhabitants of which carried the surname of Kasab (or Qasab as the word is often spelt here). But the residents denied any link with either Ajmal or with any Amir Kasab, the name of Ajmal’s father as reported by some of the media. At the weekend, the Observer in England claimed that it had managed to locate the house everyone was looking for so desperately. Its correspondent said he had got hold of the voters’ roll which had the names of Amir Kasab and his wife, identified as Noor, as well as the numbers on the identity cards the couple carried. Continue Reading

A life-size replica of Taj Mahal being built near Dhaka

A life-size replica of the Taj Mahal, often described as the world’s most beautiful building, is due to open for visitors in Bangladesh.
The replica has been built by a Bangladeshi filmmaker.
Ahsanullah Moni said he wanted his countrymen to experience the beauty of the Indian monument even if they were too poor to travel to see the original.
The 17th Century Taj was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved queen, Mumtaz Mahal. Continue Reading

Mr. Laurie Ferguson flanked by Rasha and Karima on his right and Zivana and Fiona on his left at the Liverpool Plaza Pharmacy

By Ashok Kumar

I was once standing at a railway station and spotted an old Chinese lady whose knowledge of English didn’t go beyond Yes and No. She had missed quite a few trains whereas any train from that station could have taken to her destination. I realized that language was her handicap and went to help her as I could converse in her language. I solved her problem and she thanked and blessed me for the help.
There would be so many migrants in Australia who may not be so fortunate as the old lady was. Someone could get stuck at a place like a pharmacy and at some crucial life saving moment.

Realising this, the Government decided to extend the free telephone interpreting services to pharmacies across Australia on an ongoing basis. This was announced by the Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services, Laurie Ferguson, at the Liverpool Plaza Pharmacy in Liverpool, Sydney on Monday. Continue Reading

Pakistan has arrested leading militants following the Mumbai attacks but says it will not hand them over to India. Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar said Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Masood Azhar and Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi were held. Mr Mukhtar made his remarks to India’s CNN-IBN channel. “Lakhvi was picked up yesterday. Azhar has also been picked up,” he said.
He also repeated Islamabad’s request for evidence to be shared with Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari says peace talks with India must proceed to “foil the designs of the terrorists”. “Pakistan is committed to the pursuit, arrest, trial and punishment of anyone involved in these heinous attacks,” he wrote in the New York Times on Tuesday.

  Continue Reading

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told Pakistan that there is “irrefutable evidence” of involvement of elements in this country in the Mumbai terror attacks and it had no option but to act urgently “otherwise, the US will act.” Rice, who travelled to Islamabad after a visit to India earlier this week, “pushed” the Pakistani leaders to move against the perpetrators of the terror strikes.

The clear message was conveyed by her to Pakistan’s top leadership during her brief stopover in Islamabad on Thursday, diplomatic sources said.Rice said that there was “irrefutable evidence” of the involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai attacks, the sources said.In India, Rice was shown the extensive evidence gathered by investigators to prove the linkages between the Mumbai attackers and Pakistan-based elements, especially the banned Lashker-e-Toiba terror group, they said. Continue Reading