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Christine Heard, SBS Marketing and Communications said, “We were not able to access DD news from the satellite during Easter.”

In a SBS TV media release today Claus Hannekum, Manager of SBS’s International News Service says:
“SBS has been working for five years to add a Hindi news service to World Watch, as the organisation recognises the large number of Hindi speakers in Australia who have been without free-to-air access to news from their homeland.

“When the DDI service stopped, SBS immediately got to work sourcing an alternative. The NDTV bulletins are of a high quality, and I hope the community will enjoy them. SBS apologises for any confusion or inconvenience.”

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Here’s a paper that has a wider agenda of catering to Hindi language needs of all sections of the community.

“There are many families in which the children can speak Hindi but can’t read or write. Through Hindi Gaurav we are attempting to fulfil that need.”

” This site is to increase Hindi awareness in Australia and seeks to work in collaboration with all Hindi loving Indians,” he said.

At a time when SBS TV has introduced Hindi news on its channel One and repeat on Two, emergence of Hindi Gaurav has enhanced the prestige of Hindi language.

The distinguished Hindi loving gathering present at the launch was all praise for the efforts of Anuj who had singlehandedly conceived and implemented the programme.

The programmer Hemant Negi was given very given time of month to prepare the site but he did it in record 15 days and surprised everyone.

Now, we find many who would like to contribute to the site.  Shilpa who used to write poetry said when she was told about the upcoming site she was excited at the opportunity. She wrote the poem half in English and then sought the help from her father in India to know the Hindi equivalents. Thus she completed her first poem for Hindi Gaurav.

Hindi Gaurav has kind of set into motion the thought process among the Hindi speaking community and implores it to write. Among those gathered at the launch were people from different language backgrounds and all vowed to build on the efforts of Anuj Kulshreshtha

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Public transport concessions for International students is among the several recommendations made by a former Federal Liberal MP Mr. Bruce Baird who was asked by the Government to conduct a review the multi-million dollar international education sector.

The review has recommended a major regulatory crackdown to prevent overseas students from being exploited. The Baird review was released today in Canberra, reports AAP. Mr. Baird acknowledged ongoing concerns about racism and violent attacks on Indian students.

But in the review consultation process it had been “not high on the agenda” with students, whose key interests were in transport, accommodation and general safety.

He suggested perceived racism was linked to social exclusion, another major concern for foreign students.

It suggests the government get tough on high-risk providers, putting them through a stricter registration process, which involves independent assessors.

Medium to high-risk providers would also be liable to pay a higher rate of registration.

The states and territories will be called upon to upgrade their monitoring of the sector.

“We’ve seen no increase in the number of people looking after these areas, but a doubling of the number of students that are in the area,” Mr. Baird told reporters in Canberra.

The government asked Mr. Baird to conduct a review of Australia’s third largest export industry in August following attacks on international students – especially Indians – and claims some education providers were exploiting foreigners.

Colleges would be fined if there was evidence they had repeatedly given prospective students wrong information about their courses, Mr. Baird said.

“Students were saying, ‘we just got wrong information, the agents lied to us’, and we need to stop that.”

Education providers would be banned for offering commissions for “poaching” students from other colleges.

In the area of student welfare, Mr. Baird recommended the establishment of “hubs”, to provide students with a place to complain about course conditions and give advice on looking for work.

The role of the tertiary regulator – the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency – was another focus of the report.

It was recommended there be one industry regulator rather than each state having its own.

Mr. Baird said there might be a need to educate the public about the importance of embracing the sector.

But he also urged chief police officers from the states and territories to get together to work out if racist attacks did exist, and if so how they could be prevented.

Public transport concessions also needed to be offered to overseas students to make them feel “part of Australia”, Mr. Baird said.

Students had raised the issue as an example of discrimination at every discussion the government had held for the review.

“There is resentment there,” he said, adding that discrimination in terms of travel passes went to the very heart of the issue.

“The students need to feel a part of Australia and I think that’s part of it.”

Victoria and NSW do not offer travel concessions to foreign students.

Mr. Baird suggested students there could pay an upfront fee, and then have access to student fares.

Highlights of the report:

Recommendations of the Baird review into the legislation that governs international education in Australia:

- More support for international students and improved information.

- Stronger consumer protection mechanisms to ensure students are protected from unscrupulous operators.

- Improved regulation of Australia’s international education sector.

- Improved support for those who study and live in Australia including having somewhere to go when problems arise

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 The Doordarshan capsule of News in Hindi and English can be viewed from

Mon – Sat: 11am on SBS ONE (rpt 5:20pm on SBS TWO) and Sundays: 11:00am on SBS TWO

SBS Hindi Radio is broadcast in Melbourne (93.1fm) and Sydney (97.7 fm). Sundays 9:00 am, Mondays 3:00pm and Wednesdays 12noon.

Although it is a good beginning but it has been observed the DD news capsule is not long enough to fill the half hour slot and SBS has to use filler items.

Also starting Monday MArch 1, 2010 to Friday March 5 SBS — II will show bollywood movies from 21.00 hrs.

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But the ambience and flavour of the celebration proved it was “khana khazana” and a lots of memories to cherish as never ever any function organized by any Indian Association/s received such a tremendous response for such an event.  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 Ryde Civic Centre function hall was bursting at seams. And, Dr. Singh himself led the celebration of Australia National Day and the Indian Republic Day by taking control of the proceedings.

Some of the highlights of this program included the benevolent fund for the Indian Diaspora and more than 40 political leaders and party workers from both the Labor and Liberal parties gracing the event. ALP took 2 tables and Liberals took 1 table in function.  Prominent people from the political leadership included: 

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 PriMr.ose [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.

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 Government in working actively with the Indian Australians.

Joe Hockey, spoke about the Liberal party’s full committment to its policy of supplying Uranium to India.  Dr Yadu Singh, while responding to Joe Hockey’s speech encouraged the Labor party to consider a 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 relationship 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.  

Mr. Amit Dasgupta, the Consul General of India touched upon two fundamental issues.  One related to the Indian students and 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. Ms. Shubha Kumar gave the vote of thanks.

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Ms Judge said MTV Roadies Australia will draw visitors to New South Wales, with a format and popularity that make the show a virtual tourism advertisement for the state.

“We are delighted that images of our state’s beautiful regions are so popular with our friends in India. This is a terrific boost for both our screen industry and our tourism industry,” Ms Judge said.

Last week’s premiere, which features a road trip from Adelaide to Broken Hill, Dubbo, Tenterfield, Murwillumbah and Sydney, reached more than 9 million Indian viewers, with repeat screenings through the week expected to drive audience figures to 22 million.

This most recent international success for the NSW screen industry comes just a week after the State Government enacted the ‘Film Friendly’ protocol, new designed to attract jobs and investment to the State by simplifying location filming approvals.

The NSW Film and Television Office helped with locations scouting for the MTV production team. The show’s producers praised New South Wales for its support of the production.

“Filming in regional NSW was an absolute delight – from location permissions to help by local councils; from extremely friendly locals to the regional film office network,” Anupam Sharma, Managing Director of the Australian production company for MTV Roadies, said. Mr Sharma said he was able to recommend many of the locations used by the MTV Roadies team as a result of regional film tours organised by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development, designed to showcase potential locations in regional NSW.

Ricky Saxena, Production Manager for MTV India, thanked NSW for its film friendly support.

“Everyone went out of their way to help us. It was incredible. Such a smooth and incident free shoot is a first for MTV Roadies reality show,” Mr Saxena said. “MTV Roadies’ massive fan base means that tourists will flock to the locations featured in the show,” he said.

A further three episodes filmed in regional NSW are now expected to break ratings records.

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The forum, held at the Pennant Hills Community Centre, was one of about 700 events being held to celebrate Seniors Week. Mr Lynch said the NSW Government had provided funding for 289 events.

“The Government is proud to support Seniors Week events because it’s about

promoting positive attitudes towards older people and ageing,” he said.

“It is important that we encourage older people to lead active lifestyles and build

on inter-generational relationships,” Mr Lynch said.

Activities at the Pennant Hills forum included dancing and performances by

grandparents and their grandchildren, a live concert with individual performances

by both older and younger members from the Australian Hindi-Indian community

and a performance by famous Indian singer Avijit Sarkar and his troupe.

Last year, about 250,000 people participated in NSW Seniors Week activities.

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NSW Minister Virginia Judge

Minister for Citizenship Virginia Judge today announced that Indian community organisations will receive $25,200 from the Rees Government towards cultural festivities and the employment of a support worker. Ms Judge said the organisations received the funding under the 2008/09 CommunityDevelopment Grants Program.

“The Grants Program is designed to enhance community engagement and the creation of social networks by supporting projects that address issues of cultural diversity,” Ms Judge said.

• The Australian Telugu Samithi will receive $2,000 towards the celebration

of the Ugadi and Dassera cultural festivities, a holistic lifestyle exhibition,

arts and crafts stalls and a street parade.

• The Bharataiya Vidya Bhavan will receive $5,000 towards sponsorship of

the Holi Mahotsav Festival in Darling Harbour which will include live music

and dance performances.

• The Multicultural Council of Griffith will receive $18,200 towards the

employment of a bi-lingual support worker to assist community members

of Indian background access mainstream services.

“These grants will fund community events that promote cross-cultural understanding and

raise awareness of Indian culture and traditions,” Ms Judge said.

Ms Judge said that more than 75 one-off grants across 30 language groups will fund

local projects that provide opportunities and services for people from diverse cultural and

linguistic backgrounds.

“The grants program offers organisations an opportunity to address issues of cultural

diversity within the local community,” Ms Judge said.

“These grants will help facilitate projects that encourage cultural diversity at a local level

and develop mutual understanding between and within ethnic communities.

“Promoting understanding and awareness of diverse cultures through workshops,

exhibitions, festivals and support services will help us build stronger communities.”

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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”.

“A man was wrongly charged… A man was detained for longer than was really necessary. These situations are totally unacceptable and should not have occurred,” he said.

But on Wednesday Mr McClelland said the federal government would not apologise at this stage of the legal process, as it might influence a future claim for compensation. “Representing the interest of the commonwealth and the taxpayers of Australia, it’s not appropriate for me to make any admissions,” he told ABC News. Mr McClelland has also that insisted that if anyone should be expressing regret, it ought to be his predecessor in the previous conservative government.

The former attorney-general Philip Ruddock, who was in charge of the justice department when Mr Haneef was arrested last year, has said the doctor did not deserve an apology or financial compensation as officials were simply doing their jobs. “I don’t apologise for seeking to ensure that the law works as intended,” he told Australian radio.

Mr Haneef’s legal team has said it plans to seek substantial damages for his treatment – including malicious prosecution, false imprisonment and defamation. — BBC

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