By Ashok Kumar

 In a democracy, it is hard to believe that a government could think of any draconian law that turns a blind eye towards the future of hundreds and thousands of students who want to benefit the country with their skills they acquired by studying and working in this country.

The Immigration and Citizenship Minister, Mr. Chris Evans has sent the Migration Amendment Bill 2010, popularly known as Visa Capping Bill to the Senate for approval and that is more or less certain to win the approval if the elections are not held early. The approved amendment will have a retrospective effect. With the new powers the Minister attains, he will ask thousands of potential migrants to leave after accepting their applications and granting them the bridging visa, or in other words assuring them of a settlement in Australia. Continue Reading

NEW DELHI: After honouring Kapil Dev with honorary post of Lt. Colonel in the Territorial Army, star cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is likely to be honoured by the Indian Air Force by conferring on him an honorary Group Captain’s post. A proposal has been sent to the Defence Ministry for approval, report agencies.

“IAF has proposed to honour Sachin Tendulkar by granting him the honorary rank of Group Captain. We have sent the proposal to the Defence Ministry and they are considering it,” an IAF official said.

Once the Ministry clears it, the file will go to the Prime Minister’s Office and then to the President, the supreme commander of the armed forces, for approval, report againcies.

In 2008, India’s World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev had received the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Territorial Army.

Tendulkar is arguably the best batsman in the history of cricket, having amassed some 31,000-plus runs in Test and ODI cricket with a staggering 93 international centuries under his belt.

The 37-year-old is hailed as perhaps the most complete batsman in the history of the game with no real chink in armour. He not only the highest run-getter in both Test and ODI versions of the game but also the only player to have scored a double century in a One-Day International.

One of India’s most decorated sportspersons, Tendulkar has won the country’s highest sports honour — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna — and the Padma Vibhushan award.

The IAF had earlier conferred the honorary rank of air commodore on industrialist and aviation enthusiast Vijaypat Singhania.

New Delhi: A rousing welcome was accorded to ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal after she completed a spectacular hat-trick of titles by clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series with a three-game triumph over Japan’s Sayaka Sato on Sunday last. The reception comes in the wake of her criticism that she is more popular in Indonesia and Malaysia than in her own country.

On arrival back in the country, Saina, told reporters that she would work even harder to win the World Championship, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

‘When I can become world number 3, I can also become world number 1 but would not push myself so fast and would like to work hard on the coming tournaments.”

‘I am quite happy that I have reached number three spot. But it is important for me to work hard and win tournaments rather than focus on rankings,’ she said.

‘After winning three tournaments in a row, the confidence level has gone up. For me it is important to stay focused and keep working hard the same way, play selective tournaments so that I can stay injury free and play well in these tournaments,’ said a proud Saina while displaying her medals.

Unbeaten for the past three weeks, the top seeded defending champion defeated her unseeded but resolute rival 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 in a rollercoaster encounter that lasted 45 minutes.

This was Saina’s third successive title, having won the Indian Open Grand Prix at home and the Singapore Open Super Series Tournament last week. This is also the 20-year-old world number three’s third Super Series title overall.

In a see-saw battle, the 19-year-old Sato matched the defending champion shot for shot for most part of the opening game but was undone by her own mistakes at crucial junctures.

The first game that lasted 14 minutes had both the players tied 11-11 at one stage and though Saina remained ahead for most part after that, a gritty Sato did have her share of chances.

Leading 20-18, Saina could have finished it off on her own serve but she handed Sato a chance by hitting the shuttle wide.

But Sato could not capitalise and smacked a forehand into the net to give Saina the opening game.

The second game saw Sato making a comeback with the change of ends also leading to a change in fortunes. The Japanese proved to be the more dominant of the two players in these 15 minutes as she raced to a 4-9 lead.

Sato sent down some powerful shots from the baseline and Saina could only watch as they fell out of her range. The frustration of being out-witted by a rival ranked 26th in the world showed when Saina clinched her fist at one of Sato’s unforced errors.

Shaken by the setback, Saina roared back in the decisive third game. The Indian took a comprehensive 11-5 lead but continuing her never-say-die attitude, Sato reduced the margin to 9-13.

The Indian, however, was in no mood to slip up and emerged triumphant after reeling off four successive points.

A jubilant Saina let out a huge scream after winning the title, which also made her richer by $18,750.

Earlier, Saina had clinched the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the finals on Sunday.

Top seed Saina took just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei’s Tai 21-18 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, according to media reports.

A second Australian teenager was charged on Friday over the murder of Indian student Nitin Garg, a day after another teenager was arrested in the same case, reports AFP.

Police said “A 16-year-old male from Yarraville has been charged with accessory to murder and has been bailed to appear at a Children’s Court at a date to be set,” police said.

Earlier, on Thursday 17 June, a 15-year-old boy was charged with the murderof Nitin Garg and produced in a children’s court in Melbourne, media reports said. Both the  boys, could not be identified for legal reasons. The murder accused 15 year old, replied “okay” after the magistrate outlined the schedule of dates for his case. He clutched a sheet of paper in the docks and was remanded in custody to reappear in October.

The boy’s parents sat in the front row of the court. He did not attempt to communicate with them. His mother clutched a tissue in her right hand, which she held to her face during his appearance.

Although the boys’ arrest comes more than five months after the incident, it has to seen what punishment they get, if convicted, as according to the Australian laws a minor and can only be cautioned.  

Mr Garg, 21, was allegedly stabbed as he walked through Cruickshank Park, in West Footscray, on his way to work at a Hungry Jack’s restaurant.

The bloodied 21-year-old staggered 300 metres into the fast food outlet, at the corner of Somerville and Geelong roads, about 9.30pm on January 2.

The wounded man, from Newport, had a police escort in an ambulance as they ferried him to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, however he died a short time later.

His death followed a series of attacks on Indian students last year, and triggered angry protests in India over the safety of students in Australia.

At a media conference yesterday, Detective Inspector Bernie Edwards, of the Homicide Squad, said police did not believe race was a factor in the murder.

“Our inquiries, at this stage, we don’t believe it was racially motivated,” he said, however he would not reveal what police believed the motive was.

He said Mr. Garg’s family, in the Punjab region of north-west India, had been notified of the arrest.

“Victoria Police at all levels are engaging with the Indian community and other communities to assure them that Australia is a great place to live and it is usually a safe place to live,” Detective Edwards said.

“The point I do want to get across [is that] Victoria Police are trying to get knives off the street and this may be one of those occasions where people can learn a lesson why they shouldn’t be armed with knives.”

Detective Inspector Edwards said the murder weapon had not been found.

The murder is not believed to be gang-related, he said, and the investigation was still ongoing.

“Other people will be spoken to as to their knowledge and their involvement in the incident,” he said.

With Megan Levy

By Mamta Sharma
 
Campbells Cove, The Rocks
 
Visitors to Fire Water, a free performance event that incorporates fires, on and around the harbour of Campbells Cove, this year enjoyed an Anglo-Indian adventure for four fiery nights from June 11 to14 2010.
 
Fire Water 2010 was based on the incredible voyage of a ship named Sydney Cove which was sent to Australia from Calcutta by Australia’s earliest merchant Robert Campbell – of Campbells Cove name. The story of his remarkable journey came alive when told from the point of view of an 11-year-old Indo-Australian girl who was doing a school project to trace her family history using live performance and multi-media to create a theatrical spectacle.
 
The show included a spellbinding performance on the water with a Bollywood-style spectacle featuring tall ships arriving with a glowing light installation, sailors descending down on aerialist tissus, cranes unloading glowing barrels into the harbour and billows of colorful smoke bursting from the ships in the style of the Indian Holi festival.
 
Tomo, one of the audience, said, “I loved the colorful dances and the costumes of the artists.  It was just the perfect view with Opera house lighted behind and colorful smoke coming out in the waters.”
 
Impressed with the colorful Indian dance and music performance, she said she would soon plan a visit India and was keen to see its culture and the famous Taj Mahal.
 
Parminder Singh, who is in Sydney on a vacation with his family and came to watch the show, said,  “Bahut acha laga Indian performance dek kar ke videsh mein (It felt  really nice to experience the Indian performance away from home.“ 
“We  enjoyed the show and also enhanced our history knowledge a bit,” he added with a smile.
 
The role of the Indo-Australian girl was played by Vidushi Sharma, a class VIII student of Hornsby Girls School in Sydney while the choreography was done by Peta Strachan and Sharmila Maitra, who runs the Geetanjali School of Dance and Performing Arts, Sydney.
 
Campbell was a Scottish merchant and partner in Cambell, Clark & Co based in Calcutta, India. In November 1796, the company sent a ship , Sydney Cove, on a speculative commercial voyage in the new colony of Sydney.
Crewed by 10 British seamen, an Indian manservant and 44 Indian sailors, and loaded with rum, pickled pork and other provisions, the ship was wrecked on a  small island in Brass Strait (Preservation Island). Luckily, a majority of the crew survived.
In the ensuing couple of months , the crew survived another shipwreck off the Victorian coast and discovered that Van Diemen’s Land( Tasmania ) was separated from the Australian mainland.
The survivors then undertook an arduous 500-kilometre journey and is now regarded as the first recorded European overland trek  of the  Australia’s east coast.
Fire Water interpreted this remarkable story of the survival through the eyes of a fictious Indian-Australian girl.
 
Just a few steps away candle-making workshops, delicious food and winter fashion awaited the people at the Fire Water Night Markets which started from 6.30 pm.
 
The Fire Water was presented by Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

 The Rudd Government has no intention of putting a limit on the number of international student visas issued each year, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans said today.

Senator Evans said there was no basis for the concerns being expressed by education providers about the possible impact of proposed legislation which would allow the Government to cap and cease certain visa sub classes.

“I want to assure the university sector and all providers of quality education that Australia will continue to welcome students from across the globe to study in our country,” he said.

“The proposed legislation is designed to provide flexibility in the management of the general skilled migration program and to ensure we are able to get the balance right when it comes to targeting the skilled workers we need.

“The legislation, which was introduced into Parliament last month, will allow the Government to control the numbers of visas issued in certain occupations if necessary but will not have any impact on students wishing to come to Australia to study.”

Senator Evans said since February the Government had introduced a number of changes, including launching a new Skilled Occupations List (SOL), designed to ensure the skilled migration program targeted the occupations the Australian economy needs.

As a result of these changes, the Government has put in place generous transitional arrangements to assist international students adjust to changes to the General Skilled Migration (GSM) program.

“International students who were in Australia prior to February 8, 2010 and hold a vocational, higher education or postgraduate student visa are able to apply either for permanent residence if their occupation is on the new SOL, or a temporary skilled graduate visa on completion of their studies,” Senator Evans said.

A skilled graduate visa allows former students to spend 18 months in Australia to acquire work experience and seek sponsorship from an employer willing to sponsor them into a job using those skills. This transitional arrangement will run through to the end of 2012.

“We want to attract skilled migrants of the highest calibre but the changes we have announced in no way affect international students coming to Australia to study and then return home,” he said.

“The Rudd Government values the contribution made by the international education sector and welcomes its feedback on the proposed legislation.”

A local court on Monday sentenced eight former Union Carbide of India Ltd (UCIL) executives to two years’ imprisonment for the criminal negligence that led to the Bhopal gas disaster of December 1984. But two hours after the sentencing, the convicts were freed on bail on personal bonds of Rs 25,000 each. The court also fined them Rs 1 lakh each and UCIL Rs 5 lakh, report agencies with inputs from BBC News.

The tragedy claimed more than 15,000 lives and affected the health of 500,000 when nearly 40 tonnes of a poisonous gas emitted from the now defunct Union Carbide factory on the night of December 2-3, 1984.

There was tension on the court premises, where prohibitory orders were imposed, as Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan M Tiwari announced the verdict.
 
The convicts include the top brass of UCIL in 1984: the then chairman Keshub Mahindra, Vijay Gokhle, SP Raichoudhary, Kishor Kamdar, J Mukund, KV Shetty and SI Qureshi. Another person convicted, RB Rai Choudhary, has passed on.

US-based Union Carbide on Monday said it was not subject to the jurisdiction of the Bhopal court and that none of its officials was involved in the operation of the plant. “Union Carbide and its officials were not part of this case since the charges were divided long ago into a separate case,” a company statement said.

“Furthermore, Union Carbide  and its officials are not subject to the jurisdiction of Indian court since they did not have any involvement in the operation of the plant, which was  owned and operated by UCIL,” the statement read.

The convicts have the option to move the sessions court and subsequently the higher courts against the verdict. Three other accused in the case — one and two corporate entities — were declared  absconding: the  then chairman of Union Carbide Corporation (worldwide) Warren Anderson, Union Carbide Corporation and Union Carbide (eastern) Hong Kong.

The case began in December 1987 after the CBI filed a chargesheet in court. Since then, 20 CJMs heard the case. There were 256 hearings in all.

The hearings were suspended briefly after the Supreme Court ratified an out-of-court settlement between Union Carbide Corporation and the Indian government in 1989. By the terms of the agreement, the company got immunity from all civil and criminal liabilities relating to the gas disaster.

Proceedings resumed in 1991 after the Supreme Court restored criminal charges against the company and its officials in response to a petition by two NGOs — Bhopal Gas  Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangthan and Bhopal Gas Peedit Sagharsh Sahyog Samiti.
 
However, a  Supreme  Court  Bench  in 1996 diluted the charges against the accused from culpable homicide to criminal negligence.

Reactions

The convictions have been heavily criticised by campaigners.

Amnesty International described the two-year sentences for eight people as “too little, too late”.

The convictions are the first since the disaster at the Union Carbide plant – the world’s worst industrial accident.

The eight Indians, all former plant employees, were convicted of “death by negligence”.

One was convicted posthumously. The others are expected to appeal.

Nityanand Jayaraman, of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal campaign group, told the BBC the punishment imposed on Union Carbide was wholly inadequate.

“I share the Bhopalis’ sense of outrage and betrayal,” he said.

“I feel that it portends ill for the country that industrialists and corporations are being told that they can actually get away with murder, and today’s verdict is essentially that – a signal that [after] the world’s worst industrial disaster, the people who were accused of that are just being let off with a rap on the knuckles.”

Satinath Sarangi, an activist also campaigning on behalf of Bhopal victims, told the BBC that justice would not be done until US executives from Union Carbide at the time of the incident – including the company’s former head, Warren Anderson – were brought to India to face justice.

“This is not the justice that we have been waiting for, because the principal accused – Warren Anderson, Union Carbide corporation USA – are not here,” he said.

“The charges that have been [laid] on the Indian accused have essentially been the charges that you would put for a traffic accident. This is indeed a very sad day for us.”

Forty tonnes of a toxin called methyl isocyanate leaked from the pesticide factory and settled over slums in Bhopal on 3 December 1984.

Official figures show at least 3,000 people died at the time and as many as 15,000 have died since.

Campaigners put the death toll as high as 25,000 and say the horrific effects of the gas continue to this day.

‘Unacceptable’

Amnesty International also called on the Indian and US governments to take legal action against US executives of Union Carbide.

“These are historic convictions, but it is too little, too late,” said Audrey Gaughran, an Amnesty director.

Rashida Bee, president of the Bhopal Gas Women’s Workers group, told the AFP news agency that “justice will be done in Bhopal only if individuals and corporations responsible are punished in an exemplary manner”.

Although Warren Anderson was named as an accused and later declared an “absconder” by the court, he was not mentioned in Monday’s verdict.

The eight convicted on Monday were Keshub Mahindra, the chairman of the Indian arm of the Union Carbide (UCIL); VP Gokhale, managing director; Kishore Kamdar, vice-president; J Mukund, works manager; SP Chowdhury, production manager; KV Shetty, plant superintendent; SI Qureshi, production assistant. All of them are Indians.

The seven former employees, some of whom are now in their 70s, were also ordered to pay fines of 100,000 Indian rupees (£1,467; $2,125) apiece.

The site of the former pesticide plant is now abandoned.

It was taken over by the state government of Madhya Pradesh in 1998, but environmentalists say poison is still found there.

Campaigners say Bhopal has an unusually high incidence of children with birth defects and growth deficiency, as well as cancers, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

Twenty years ago Union Carbide paid $470m (£282m) in compensation to the Indian government.

Dow Chemicals, which bought the company in 1999, says this settlement resolved all existing and future claims against the company.

Bhopal residents describe the impact of the disaster and give their reaction to the sentencing.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Two years prison sentence after 25 years is too little too late.

People in Bhopal have been waiting for justice for too long, but they are also waiting for concrete action to help those still suffering.

We still don’t have proper medical facilities and those affected have to go to private hospitals and pay for their treatment.

The compensation still hasn’t reached the right people and there are many who are desperately in need. Most of the people who registered for compensation were adults – those under 18 were not allowed to register.

An Adelaide college for international students has had its registration suspended, reports ABC News

The Adelaide Pacific International College offered business, automotive and aged care courses to 450 mostly Indian students.

It recently failed 12 of 14 federal quality standards in an audit.

The Federal Government has suspended the college’s registration for breach of laws protecting international students.

The college will appeal against the decision.

About 70 automotive students were threatened with expulsion last week, with the college citing lack of attendance.

Some of them will meet migration and education authorities this week.

SA Further Education Minister Jack Snelling says the South Australian Government also is weighing up whether to cancel the college’s licence, after completing a state audit.

“My department will have to make a decision about what action to take with regard to the college – as I’ve said, they’re assessing the college’s response to our initial notification and we’ll make a decision accordingly,” he said.

“We’re in the process of having a look at, if the need arises, making sure that students are able to be placed with other training providers including TAFE.”