bit dec 12 issue

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A Divis ion of Qld Multicultural Times

Volume 10, Number 3Saturday, December 15, 2012

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• Dr Cong Bui of the Vietnamese Community of Queensland addressing the gathering at the opening ceremony of the Vietnamese Boat PeopleMemorial. Continued page 10

Vietnamese Boat People Memorial unveiled

2 - THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December 2012

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From the Publisher

Brisbane Indian Times welcomes letters to the editor. Please ensure that letters do not exceed300 words. All letters, must have a full name, residential address and a phone number. Hardcopy letters must have legible signature. Only your name and suburb are published. Initialsand pen names are not accepted. All correspondence to the editor is assumed to be for pub-lication unless marked otherwise. The editor reserves the right to abridge, alter (edit) orwithhold any correspondence without explanation. Opinions expressed must be genuinelyheld by the letter writer. Please send your thoughts and opinions to:The Editor, Brisbane Indian Times, PO Box 197, Taigum Qld 4018 or

email: [email protected]

Letters to the Editor

Inside• Letters to the Editor.......................2

• Migration Matters...........................4

• Local News.................................5-21

• Business News..........................22-23

• Who, What, Where, When....24-26

• Health & Well Being................30-33

• Real Estate................................34-36

• Astrology.........................................37

• Business Directory/Classifieds...38-39

• What’s On................................40-41

• Bollywood & Entertainment...42-45

• Sport..........................................46-47

Published Monthly

OWNERS / PUBLISHERS:Umesh & Usha Chandra

ADVERTISING: Trudi TarresEDITOR: Trudi Tarres

JOURNALIST/ CORRESPONDENTS:Ram Jattan (UK) Thakur Ranjit Singh (NZ) Thilliar Varnakulasingham (NZ)Shalendra Prasad (Fiji)Dhaval Vyas (India)Rama Gaind (Canberra)Sudesh Aggarwal (ATO News)ML. M. Nawaaz AshrafiImam Muhammad AslamSundar Gopal DasYadavendra DasPastor Joseph DassHaji Abdul Rahman DeenJaneth DeenJitendra DeoAtul Dighe (Spiritual Science Research Foundation)Mehraban Farahmand (Baha’iInternational)

Kiran Goel (Immigration Matters)Jatinder Kaur Vinaya Natarajan (Inspire - Prem Rawat)Peter Lane RaiParth Raval Shobhana Shet (Spiritual Science Research Foundation)Gurjeet SinghMatt Young (Sport)

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Brisbane Indian Times is a monthly newspa-per published in English. No material,including advertisements designed byBrisbane Indian Times, may be reproducedin part or who without the written consent ofthe manager. Opinions carried in BrisbaneIndian Times are those of the writers and notnecessarily endorsed by Brisbane IndianTimes. Brisbane Indian Times will not beheld liable for any advertising / editorialcontent - Advertisers supply/approve contenttherefore should any content be deemedinappropriate it is the advertisers responsibil-ity. While every effort has been made to cap-ture the true likeness to colour printing is anart and therefore we cannot guarantee anexact matching of product to image. Refund/ Credit is not given as a result of the previ-ous mentioned. All correspondence should be addressed to:Brisbane Indian Times, PO Box 197, Taigum Qld 4018. PH: (07) 3356 0102 Fax: 3352 7693 [email protected]

MAY I begin by wishing everyone, all thebest for the festive and holiday season, yes,it's that time of the year again, festive sea-son is in the air! Along with the crazy season comes its

challenges.... getting the right gifts foreveryone, Christmas lunch or dinner, awhole lot of things to cope with. Strongseason warnings are everywhere, people areaware and hopefully they will be suitablyprepared.Last month was such a busy month with a

record number of functions, one that I wasparticularly pleased to be a part of was thecommunity volunteers awards. As a judge I was amazed by the amount ofwork that these people do within their com-munity, and all in the name of charity andgoodwill.GOPIO Qld held its end of year dinner and

I was pleased to present as GOPIOInternational, the plans for KOCHI PBD.Gopio Queensland is once again taking astrong delegation. I was saddened to farewell Sumi, a great

singer with our band, hopefully one day sheand her family will be able to come back toAustralia. We will be holding the annual GOPIO con-ference in Kochi from 5th January.On the UQ Symposium on Indian Media, I

was privileged to be amongst such scholars,to hear them express their views on themedia situation, even though the seminarwas India centric the presenters had an

extensive knowledge of media worldwide.I completely denounce the prank call made

by Australian radio station which resultedin the alleged suicide of the Jacinta, a nurseof Indian origin. This kind of action gives a bad name to all

in the industry.I had a very interesting talk with Davide

Cottone the author of the book"Canecutter", the similarities between thecanecutters of Fiji and Mauritius was amaz-ing.What an amazing experience we had at the

play "I am here", very touching, thoughtprovoking and humorous. Director Andrew Davis is such a humble

man, what creativity and musical talent hepossesses.

Our December issue is traditionally asmaller print run, and this year is no excep-tion. Many people go away on holidays andhence the smaller print run.I must pen off now by wishing everyone a

very Merry Christmas and a happy andprosperous New Year.Until next month happy reading.Umesh Chandra.

From the Editor......I would like to wish everyone a Safe,Happy and Healthy Christmas and NewYear.It has been a pleasure to assist you and I

look forward to being of service in 2013.Trudi Tarres

THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 — 3www.indiantimes.com.auCall Trudi on 07 3356 0102

Brisbane Indian Times - January 13 DeadlinesAdvert Bookings - 7 January

Editorial Submissions - 9 JanuaryOur office will re-open on 7 January,

please send all correspondence during the holiday period to [email protected]

4 — THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 www.indiantimes.com.au Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

Significant Investor Visa The Significant investor stream has com-menced from 24 November 2012.Business migrants with $5 million ormore can invest in the Australian econo-my and apply for a provisional signifi-cant investor visa, a new stream withinthe Business Innovation and Investmentprogram. This visa stream provides several con-

cessions for meeting visa requirementssuch as a not having to meet a points testand no age restriction. Successful appli-cants are required to meet low residencyrequirements such as 160 days spent inAustralia over four years, after whichmigrant investors are eligible for perma-nent residence provided they have main-tained their investment. SignificantInvestors can also extend their four-yearprovisional visa by two years, with amaximum of two extensions.

Eligible investment types includes:Commonwealth, state and territory gov-ernment bonds, Australian Securities andInvestments Commission regulated man-aged funds and direct investment intoproprietary Australian companies.Longer Tourist visas for parents ofAustralians - towards the end of 2012From 24 November 2012, parents ofAustralian citizens or permanent resi-dents will be able to apply for Touristvisas to visit Australia for longer thanthe current 12 month restriction. Underthe new arrangements the departmentwill consider granting on a case-by-casebasis the following options:* Tourist visas of up to five years' valid-ity which provide a stay of up to 12months on each entry to those parentswho are outside Australia and are in theParent (subclass 103) visa queue* Tourist visas of up to three years'validity with 12 months' stay on eachentry will be considered for parents whoare outside Australia and are not in theParent visa queue.These changes will allow parents whomeet the criteria for a Tourist visa tohave regular extended visits with their

family in Australia without needing toapply for a new visa on each visit. Underthese flexible arrangements, in additionto meeting all legislative requirementsfor a tourist visa, parents will be expect-ed to hold private health insurance tocover any healthcare costs during theirstay and will have a visa condition limit-ing applications for further visas whilethey are in Australia. Parents who aregranted tourist visas are also expected tomaintain extended periods of absencebetween visits to Australia.Unrestricted Work Rights for CertainBridging Visa holdersThe Minister for Immigration &Citizenship has announced that visaapplicants for the following visas willnow have nil visa conditions imposed ontheir bridging visa A or bridging visa B,in effect providing the applicant withunlimited permission to work. Howeverthis is only applicable to applicants forthe following onshore visas:(a) Partner (Subclass 820); (b) Partner(Subclass 801); (c) Aged Parent(Subclass 804); (d) Contributory AgedParent Temporary (Subclass 884); and(e) Contributory Aged Parent (Subclass864).New Temporary Work Visas from 24November 2012New Temporary Work Visas have beenimplemented and will replace 12 currenttemporary work visas. Three new tempo-rary work Subclasses will be introducedand amendments will be made to theSubclass 420 and Subclass 457 visas asbelow.1. Subclass 401 (Temporary Work(Long Stay Activity)) visaThe Subclass 401 visa will replace theExchange (Subclass 411) visa, Sport(Subclass 421) visa, and Religious Work(Subclass 428) visa, and establish a sin-gle Long Stay Activity sponsorship. Thisnew visa will have the following threestreams (1) Exchange stream (forapplicants participating in anexchange of staff); (2) Sport stream;and (3) Religious Worker stream.

2. Subclass 402 (Training andResearch) visaThe Subclass 402 visa will replace theOccupational Trainee (Subclass 442)visa, the Visiting Academic (Subclass419) visa, and the ProfessionalDevelopment (Subclass 470) visa andestablish a single Training and Researchsponsorship. This new visa will threestreams: (1) Research stream; (2)Occupational Trainee stream (requiresnomination by a Training and Researchsponsor); and (3)ProfessionalDevelopment stream (requires nomina-tion by a Professional Developmentsponsor).3. Subclass 403 (Temporary Work(International Relations)) visaThe Subclass 403 visa will replace theSubclass 406 (Government Agreement)visa, the Subclass 415 (ForeignGovernment Agency) visa, Subclass 426(Domestic Worker – Diplomatic orConsular visa, and the Privileges andImmunities provisions currently in theSubclass 456 (Business (Short Stay))and Subclass 457 (Business (Long Stay))visas. This Subclass will not requiresponsorship and will have three streams:(1) Applicants covered by an internation-al government agreement, or who directthe operations in Australia of certain lan-guage institutes; (2) Applicants who areto be employed as representatives of cer-tain foreign government agencies or asforeign language teachers in Australianschools; and (3) Applicants who under-take domestic duties in the households ofholders of diplomatic visas; and appli-cants accorded privileges and immuni-ties.This article is intended to provide gen-

eral information on migration issues anddoes not constitute migration advice,and no responsibility is accepted byKiran Goel or AIEES for the accuracy ofmaterial appearing in the BrisbaneIndian Times.(Ms Kiran Goel MARN: 0639149)

Recent news about Australian Migration Regulations

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www.indiantimes.com.au6 — THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

By Devinder Bains

THE DIVALI function organised at theBanyo Library Hall on Saturday 10th Nov2012 from 3-5pm turned out to be a greatsuccess. Well over 400 people from ten dif-ferent communities and Groups from as faras Ipswich and Daisy Hill came to attend itdespite a continuous rainy weather.

It was a combined effort of Banyo DistrictCommunity Group, Banyo Nudgee IndianCommunity, Multicultural DevelopmentalAssociation(MDA), Brisbane City Counciland Lord Mayors Suburban Initiative Fund.Which donated $1100 for this function. Thelocal Labour Party representative from theNudgee Area Ms Leanne Linard opted to bethe MC along with Gurjeet Bains.The function kicked off with a slide show

prepared by Gurjeet Bains on the impor-tance of Divali to various IndianCommunities including, Hinduism, AryaSamaj, Jainism and Sikhism followed by anIndian Australian Quiz. Then started thecultural items of the Indian subcontinentincluding tabla drum display, Turban tyingdemonstration by Devinder Singh who tiedthe turban on Mr Kim Flesser the LocalCouncillor for Northgate Ward, sari tyingdemonstration by Susan Watson, IndividualIndian dance performances by Shelly

Singh, Muskaan , Janisha and ArshdeepKaur. Group Dance performances IncludedBharat Natyam Dance, Bollywood Danceprepared under the Guidance of Rajni Nairwho runs Chilanka Music Dance Institutehere in Brisbane. Bhangra Dances fromShere –e- Punjab Junior and Senior Groupsunder the Guidance of their coach GurdipNijjar. And the grand finale event of thePunjabi Giddah performed by local Punjabigirls in their beautiful attire.

Vegetarian food, water and fizzy drinkswere available throughout the performancespecially provided by Singh Sabha BrisbaneTaigum, Punjab Asian Foods & SpicesBanyo, Singh Curry House Taigum, SinghCurry Hut Banyo and K Sona PalaceZillmere. Henna application also continuedthrough the function.

The authorities are thinking on makingDivali Celebration at Banyo an AnnualGala event in the future.

APSQ Deepawali celebration

ARYA Pratinidhi Sabha of Queensland cel-ebrated Diwali on November 10 at FinnishHall, Mt Gravatt East. The event was wellattended and entry was free. The dinner wasalso provided and more than two hundredand fifty people were present. The chiefguest for the evening was Honourable IanWalker MP, Assistant Minister PlanningReform and Member for Mansfield.

Addressing the public Mr Ian Walkerthanked Arya Pratinidhi Sabha ofQueensland for inviting him and gave thefollowing message: "While Deepawali ispopularly known as the "festival of lights",the most significant meaning as I under-stand it is- the awareness of the inner light.Therefore, lighting a lamp symbolizes thedestruction, through knowledge, of all neg-ative forces- wickedness, violence, lust,anger, envy, greed, bigotry, fear, injustice,oppression and suffering. Deepawali isabout the triumph of virtue over vice, ofgood over evil, of light over darkness andof knowledge over ignorance. It is aboutunity, tolerance and understanding and,hopes and ambitions for the future. It is areminder that love, concern and respect forothers is the way to a brighter day."The message given by the President Mr

Jitendra Deo was significance of Deepawaliand he stated "Mantra from Upnishad inSanskrit is relevant: "Om asto’maa sad

gamaya" "Tamaso”maa jyotir gamaya"meaning " O! God lead us from untruth totruth" "Lead us from darkness of ignoranceto light of knowledge” Ladies andGentlemen this is the message ofDeepawali. Deepawali is celebrated on thedarkest night in the calendar month. So bylighting Diya's and candles darkness isdestroyed, Good overcomes evil and thepositive energy of light enriches the livesof all."

The MC for the evening as AruneshPrasad, Yuva Dal President. Sabha VicePresident Mr Rajesh Chand introduced thechief guest, and Secretary Mr Hari Chandacknowledged the Chief guests speech. TheTreasurer Mr Mul Chand moved vote ofthanks.The highlight of the Arya Samaj Deepawalievent was traditional and cultural items per-formed which was very thoroughly enjoyedby the general public- Welcome ClassicalDance by Ms Jaya Naidu, Diwali speechAman Chand, Tumhi Ho Mata,Pita TumhiHo, Tumhi Ho Bandhu song by JayaKumar, Bhajan by Soneel Deo and RavneelDeo, Bhajan by Mr Satish Chand, KishoreKumar hits by Mr Amar Kaushal, TablaSolo by Ravneel Deo, Classical Dance itemby Jaya Naidu, Bhajan by Keshav Chandand finally Yoga and benefits by MrAvinish Bhardwaz.

TODAY, in this busy and hectic lifestyle, aholiday means a lot for all of us. It allowsus to rejuvenate ourselves from the monot-ony of the daily life and this is also one ofthe chief reasons, we eagerly wait for avacation. However, to enjoy these holidays,it’s very important to have a proper plan-ning and this can only be done once youopt for the assistance of a travel agency. Aprofessional travel agent not only sorts outan excellent itinerary for you, but at thesame time even makes sure that you get thebest prices available. Gaura Travel, an Indian subcontinent spe-

cialist travel agent, based in Australia isone such notable instance. Since its veryadvent, it has been offering the passengerswith some of the top-notch services.Booking flights via Gaura Travel hasalways been a pleasant experience for thepassengers and this is also one of the primereasons that they have always opted for thesame instead of others. Gaura Travel’s active participation in

community events…What’s more, unlike the other travel agen-cies of these days, Gaura Travel neverrefrains itself by booking your flights only.From time to time, it has participated in thevarious community events in Australia. Beit the live-in musical concerts of GurdasMann, Babu Mann, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan,Sonu Nigam or the recently conductedIndia-Australia Friendship Fair, GauraTravel has always been an integral part ofthese events.

Of late, it even took part in the DeepavaliFair 2012, which was organized at thefamous Sydney Olympic Park Athletic

Centre on 4th November, 2012. HinduCouncil of Australia, an Australian Hinducommunity was the chief organizer of thisevent. Apart from various events likeRavan effigy burning, rides and games forchildren, one of the major attractions ofthis fair was Gaura Travel’s lucky drawcompetition. The winner of this contest wasawarded with a free return ticket to India. However, this is not the only one. Gaura

Travel also participated in the Diwali cele-bration that took place at the FederationSquare, Melbourne on 10th November,2012. Celebrate India, a Victorian non-profit community organization arrangedthis entire event. Gaura Travel has beentaking part in all the events of CelebrateIndia for the last four years and this timealso it is no exception. Apart from fire-works and traditional dance ceremonies,various fun activities for children like facepainting, craft workshop was also there inthe event. Gaura Travel Leisure…

Being the official travel sponsor of thisevent, Gaura Travel here also organized alucky draw contest, where people got thechance to win a free return ticket to India.Besides this, it even launched its exclusive“Gaura Travel Leisure” program, whichhas been solely designed to promote allthose tour packages that are meant for theIndia-Australia air route. Both these events attained a commendable

response from the local Indian inhabitantsin Australia. A large number of peoplecame to watch of these events and some ofthem even participated in the lucky drawcontest, being organized by Gaura Travel.

• From Left: Pta Usha Rai, Hon Ian Walker MP, Mr Jitendra Deo, Mr Surendra Prasad.

Diwali Celebrations in Australiabecame more vibrant with GauraTravel’s active participation

Divali celebrationsat Banyo – agreat success

www.indiantimes.com.au THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 — 7Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

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Editorial submissions 9 Jan


Courtesy KSQ

KANNADA Sangha Queensland celebrated theSangeetha Rasa Sanje Musical Evening pro-gram performed by upcoming Kannada play-back singer - Chinmai Athreyas on 11th Nov atHamilton Town Hall, Hamilton.

Kannada Sangha Queensland's committeewould like to thank each and every one whomade their gracious presence, supported,enjoyed, cheered and helped us in making thisprogram a spectacular success.It was an evening of wonderful and melodious

music accompanied by spectacular voices of oursangha's local music talents - Mrs AshaJayaram, Mrs Manjula Hiremath, Mrs PrakruthiMadhuchandra, Mrs Ramya Anil and MrNagesh RS.We had an overwhelming response in terms of

amazing guests who enjoyed, enthralled withthe melodious songs sung by Chinmai as well asour local talents. Later on some fast Hindi filmsongs made the crowd joyous and dancing pro-ceeded for some of the classic hits.Chinmai also paid vast tribute to Karnataka,

beginning with a Karnataka based song and toone of the eminent Muslim Saint - Santha

Shishunala Shariff.Half way through the program, a small snack

break was given to taste some mouth watering"chaats" - Paav Bhaji and Ragda Pattice - cour-tesy of M/s Red Peppers Catering. Thank youVijay and Vani for providing us a tastysnack. The committee would also like to thankall of our sponsors who supported and gracedour event.

For more information on KSQ please visitwww.chandana-brisbane.org or email [email protected]

• Chinmai with Asha Jayaram, Ramya Anil,Prakruthi Madhuchandra and Manjula Hiremath.

Gold Coast Hindu CulturalAssociation takes off…

THE newly formed Gold Coast HinduCultural Association (GCHCA) wasformalised following a successful inau-gural AGM on August 17th 2012. Theinterim committee organised the inau-gural AGM and it was very well attend-ed by people from South EastQueensland and Northern New SouthWales. Under the supervision of Dr.Murthy Divi and Prof. Paddy Krishnanthe following Founder Members wereunanimously elected to theManagement Committee:President - Dr Vallipuram MuthukkumarasamyVice President - Dr Pathmanathan SivakumaranSecretary - Mr S. IndrajithJoint Secretary - Mr Vidyakartik MenonTreasurer - Mr Rathinam SrinivasanAssistant Treasurer - Mr Tharmalingam SurendranDirector of Cultural Activities - Prof Thiru AravinthanDirector of Religious Activities - Mr Subramaniam BaratarajDirector of Educational Activities - Dr Elankayer SithirasenanDirector of Resources, media,Publicity and Asset Management - Dr Sanmugarasa KamalarasaDirector of Youth and CommunityActivities, Fund Raising Activitiesand Event Management - Mrs Rathika Rahuraman

The GCHCA based in one of thefastest growing regions of Australia,aims to promote Hindu culture amongthe community by being inclusive andsupportive of friendship, respect, peaceand tolerance. It will strive to promoteand foster Hindu cultural activities,classical literature, music, dance andspiritual and language education byproviding resources and facilities at theproposed “Hindu Education andCultural Precinct” for the South EastQueensland youth and adults.The GCHCA is now incorporated in

Queensland. It is a registered not-for-profit organization with charity status.The GCHCA Building DonationAccount has received Deductible GiftRecipient (DGR) status from AustralianTaxation Office (ATO) which permitsdonations of two dollars or more to thebuilding fund to be allowable deductionfrom your taxable income.The GCHCA committee is currently

evaluating land options in prime loca-tions in Gold Coast. The associationreceived an offer of a sizable land in a

prime location, but it is contingent ondemonstrating up-front sufficient fundsfor building works. The GCHCA isnow in the process of raising funds tomake it a reality. The GCHCA isrequired to present a development planwith costing and matching funds withina few months to take advantage of thisoffer. The Management Committee hasprepared initial Architectural conceptdesigns for the “Gold Coast HinduEducation and Cultural Precinct” and acomprehensive Business Plan. Furtherdetails and awareness about the activi-ties of GCHCA can be found on thewebsite: http://GoldCoastHindu.org/

Dr. V. Muthu, the President of theGCHCA, speaking to this correspon-dent was very enthusiastic about thesteadily growing GCHCA Foundermembership, but stressed that moreFounder members are needed to growthe Association. He added that theManagement Committee would bepleased to meet interested people in-person for an in-depth discussion aboutthe GCHCA’s vision and activities. Dr.V. Muthu emphasised that GCHCA isan inclusive organisation and welcomesmembers from all walks of life andfrom all communities who embrace theHindu customs and heritage and thatthe GCHCA will be a place that bringstogether Hindu customs and heritagewith Australian values of community. The committee members are available

to meet the community-at-large after

the Bajan session held 3rd Friday ofevery month (7:15 pm - 9:15 pm) theHelensvale Community Centre, 31Discovery Drive, Helensvale. They willbe delighted to meet the supporters ofthe GCHCA at this and any otherevents. They are also seeking sugges-tions and feedback on their activitiesfrom the community. The email addressfor the general public to send feedbackis: [email protected]. The GCHCA extends their best wishes

to all readers of the Brisbane IndianTimes for the upcoming holiday season.

Dr. S. KamalarasaDirector of Resources, Media, Publicityand Asset ManagementThe Gold Coast Hindu CulturalAssociation Inc.

Resignations from the QTA Managing CommitteeIT is with much regret Iannounce the resignation fromthe QTA Managing Committeeof Mr Sai Gollapudi, theSecretary and Mr ManojVemula, the Treasurer. Bothhave compelling personal rea-sons for taking this step and arevery appreciative of the coop-eration and support they have

received from the community.Mr Srikanth Chalasani

(Ph 0405 522 484) and MrSudershan Kanthakadi(Ph 0423 289 873) will imme-diately assume the positions ofSecretary and Treasurer respec-tively until a new committee isformed at a General BodyMeeting soon after the accep-

tance by the QTA membershipof the revised constitution andguiding principles being for-mulated by Professor D SPrasada Rao and DrNagulapalli Prasada Rao.

Dr Prakash Nallamilli -President, QTA. Ph 0423 234485

Courtesy Vineet Raj

QUEENSLAND Fiji Football Association(QFFA) held their Annual General meeting onSunday 2 December.

The executives were blessed by Mr SadhuPrasad (QFFA Patron) and congratulated byall the affiliated team officials.

Above are the elected executive committee.

Executives elected atQueensland Fiji FootballAssociation AGMQFFA

Design by: MIT

QUEENSLAND FIJI FOOTBALLASSOCIATION

“Connecting the Community”

President Mr Aveen Singh

Vice PresidentMr Jitendra Prasad

Vice PresidentMr Rajnish Padarath

Vice PresidentMr Avinash Singh

Vice PresidentMr Faiyum Khan

Vice PresidentMr Vineet Raj

SecretaryMr Raynold Ali

TreasurerMr Irshad Ali

Assistant SecretaryMr Abi Sharma

Wynnum Womens Club -office bearers

WYNNUM Womens Club held theirAGM in November and the followingwere elected;Mrs Parmila Kumar - PresidentMrs Mohini Chand - Vice PresidentMrs Sindh Prasad - Secretary

Mrs Shanti Prasad - Assistant SecretaryMrs Sushil Kapoor - Treasurer

For more information on WynnumWomens Club please email [email protected]

• Wynnum Womens Club members having their Dinner at May's Thai in Mayfair Villageat Manly.

Kannada Sangha Qld musicalevening a spectacular success


From page 1

A MEMORIAL in honour of theVietnamese boat people was unveiled atCaptain Burke Park in Kangaroo Point onSunday 2 December.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk along withother dignitaries cut the ribbon to mark theopening. The memorial is in recognition ofmany people who lost their lives fleeingVietnam at the end of the war. While it wasa proud moment for the Vietnamese com-munity, they were saddened by the memoryof those who had lost their lives in theattempt to flee.

Vietnamese BoatPeople Memorialunveiled Awell known local entity Adele Rice

(pictured) has announced her retire-ment at a special function to celebrate hercareer held on 23 November at NudgeeJunior College, Indooroopilly. The functionwas attended by over 400 people.Adele Rice is the founding principal of

Milpera State High, a unique school whichsince 1984 has operated as an intensiveEnglish language preparation centre, cur-rently with 250 students from more than 45countries. Since commencing, the school has catered

for over 12,000 students from 120 coun-tries.As principal of a school for refugee and

immigrant young people, Ms Rice under-stands that the migration experience ‘is themost life changing transition of all.’ But shesays that education is one of the things that

makes the biggest difference in lives, andhas the ability to change lives.Ms Rice has been described as one of the

most inspirational educators in the state andhas been recognised with many awardsincluding: a Churchill Fellowship, the Savethe Children White Flame award, a PaulHarris Fellowship (Rotary), QueenslandMulticultural Achiever award, and wasrecently named joint winner of the

Professor Betty WattsMemorial Award for anOutstanding Contributionto Teaching. She was made an honoraryFellow of the Australian College ofEducational Leaders in 2011. It is howeverher students who inspire her and shedescribes her work as an ‘amazing privi-lege.’ She is a People of AustraliaAmbassador for 2012.

Adele Rice to retire

• Staff of Milperra High singing a specially composed song for Adele.

"Canecutter" releasedSUGARCANE is a com-mon denominator of peopleof Indian origin, especiallythose who were taken bythe British to; Mauritius,Fiji, South Africa and otherCaribbean nations.Sugarcane in Australia andespecially in NorthernQueensland was also thriv-ing. Migrants from all overthe world came to work onthese farms.

People of Indian originwere amongst them, in theirindustrious manner theyworked hard and soonbought farms themselves.Davide A Cottone (pic-tured), the author of"Canecutter" mentions inhis book that his ancestorsbought their first farm off an Indian person.Davide comes from a Sicilian immigrant

family. He loved and honoured his motherand father and the family is sacred to him.Born in Australia in the bustling little sugartown of Babinda in Far North Queensland,English is his second language.Davide launched his book "Canecutter" in

Brisbane at a function organised byGiovani Porter, a prominent Northside

Solicitor. It was interesting to see the canecutting knives, the lantern and the knifesharpening files. These were the same thatcane farmers used in Fiji, Mauritius andSouth Africa. In his Book Davide talks about the pains,

the blisters on the hands of the newlyarrived migrants as they first started cuttingcane. He talks about the cane cutting"gangs" with a "Head man" again some-thing similar to that in the above mentioned

countries.Having visited cane farms in

Fiji, Mauritius, South Africaand India, I jumped on theopportunity to be part of thisbook launch and to interviewDavide. Cane farming in Indiais quite different to that of Fiji,Mauritius and South Africawhere one can see the com-monality of a shared visionand common heritage.

Copies of the book can bearranged through our office,contact Trudi on 3356 0102.

ZARA Khan, Fijian-Indian stu-dent and Taringa child care cen-tre worker, won theInternational Student of theYear Award at the 4 Decembergraduation ceremony forCHARLTON BROWN®,Brisbane’s leading communitycare training college.

The graduation ceremony,which was held at theParliamentary Annexe inBrisbane CBD, celebrated thesuccesses of CHARLTONBROWN®’s 2012 graduatingstudents.CHARLTON BROWN® acad-

emic manager, Christine Kerr,said that Zara, a Diploma ofChildren’s Services student,demonstrated her passion forthe care industry during arecent trip to Vietnam with thecolleges’ international practicalplacement program, GlobalLinkages. “Zara demonstrated a willing-

ness to adapt to new situations and is anextremely trustworthy and caring child careworker,” said Christine.

The CHARLTON BROWN® studentsgraduated from a variety of disciplines,including child care, aged care, disability

care and community services. CHARLTON BROWN®’s graduation cer-

emony was attended by a number of influ-ential members of the Queensland trainingcommunity, including the State Director forthe Department of Foreign Affairs andTrade and the CEO of Skills Queensland.

Fijian-Indian student wins awardat CHARLTON BROWN® graduation ceremony

• From L to R: Zara Khan, Rod Camm (CEO of SkillsQueensland), Kay Ganley (CEO of Charlton Brown).

Lego League State Competitionwon by Kedron State High SchoolGRADE eight studentSahibjeet Singh Bainsalong with nine of histeammates fromKedron State HighSchool took part in theFirst Lego League StateCompetition held atQUT, Kelvin GroveCampus on 17th ofNovember, 2012.

The competition con-sisted of two mainparts: Programming andResearch. The theme ofthe research component was a SeniorSolution for which student teams had topresent something that will enhance the liv-ing of the elderly people. Sahibjeet alongwith two of his team-mates came up with a‘Nursing Home Response System’ that washighly recommended by the judges.

They received the best team of the LogoLeague Championship 2012. They will nowtravel to Sydney on the 23 of February2013 to compete in the NationalTournament. The winning team will thenadvance to the World Logo LeagueChampionships to be held at Atlanta,Georgia in US in March 2013.

"I am here" staged atBille Brown StudioI AM here, the play, openedto a very receptive audienceat Bille Brown Studio on 6December. The play was ajoint collaboration betweenQueensland Theatre Comp-any at The GreenhouseMulticultural developmentAssociation and Two ThumpsUp.

The opening night wasattended by many invited dig-nitaries and government offi-cials who work in theMulticultural arena.

The MulticulturalDevelopment Association(MDA) is an independent,non-government, settlementorganisation committed toachieving the best settlementoutcomes for their clients and works active-ly to promote multiculturalism.

Warran McMillan, chairperson of MDAsaid " I am here, provides an opportunityfor MDA to share the refugee story withmainstream Australia, through the rich tal-ent and true life experiences of our amazingco-writer and cast, Pacific, Eric, Senyat,Levi, Future and Concy.

I am here is not just a show, it's a journeythat will touch you for weeks to come andmove you from tears to laughter and sorrowto joy. It will give you an insight into just

how much courage and resilience ourrefugee community bring with them as theynegotiate the various hurdles of settlementinto the community, and that their contribu-tion makes our society all more strong, rich,vibrant and dynamic."The show was created by Andrew Davis

and directed by Naomi Steinborner of TwoThumps Up. Andrew was the musical direc-tor and the sole musician for the entireshow. Under the expert lighting control ofDaniel Anderson, the actors performed nat-urally and delivered a powerful perfor-mance.

• Naomi Steinborner and Andrew Davis, thanking the cast of Iam here after the show.


‘Deepavali’ lights up Federal Parliament once again in 2012THE Hindu Council of Australia’s celebra-tion of Deepavali festival at FederalParliament on November 27 once again notonly ignited the spiritual longing of manypeople but also lit up the hearts and mindsof many who come to associate the festivalwith fun and joy - a lovely social and cul-tural occasion. Brightening the normallysombre feel of the Senate Committee room,the vibrant celebration brought warm smilesand favourable comments from theParliamentarians, esteemed dignitaries andthe most welcome attendance of theHonourable Prime Minister of Australia,Ms Julia Gillard, MP.

The Deepavali festival brings unitybetween peoples, groups and communitiesthrough its spiritual message of peace andharmony, and by giving primacy to spiritu-al knowledge over ignorance celebrates thegoodness in common humanity - the essen-tial theme being the victory of good overevil. This theme was celebrated in Parliament

House as a broad range of cultural andcommunity organisations joined together toshare the gift of goodwill and friendshipover a celebration that unifies many faithsand cultures. Mr Kanti Jinna, Vice Chairman and Mr

Prakash Mehta, Director of Development,Hindu Council of Australia, organised theevent under the kind auspice of the Officeof Senator Hon Kate Lundy, Minister forMulticultural Affairs and the Office of HisExcellency the Indian High Commissioner,Mr Biren Nanda.Senator Lundy is a welcome participant to

many Hindu community celebrations, andshares her genuine enthusiasm toward thesetime honoured cultural festivals, seen as shewarmly lit the Deepavali lamps to com-

mence the proceedings. Assisting SenatorLundy in lighting the sacred lamps wereHis Excellency, Mr Biren Nanda andProfessor Nihal Agar, Chairman HinduCouncil of Australia whilst three Priestsfrom Temples in Canberra and Sydneychanted the holy mantras. The annual event held at Parliament House

since 2004, is a celebration raising the pro-file of the various Hindu communities andis growing in stature each year. This year’s Deepavali Program was graced

by a number of prominent Members ofParliament and Senators who took time outof their busy schedules, during the lastweek of parliamentary sitting, to share inthe culture and enjoyment of this auspicious

occasion. The Honourable Members ofParliament who attended the event includedChris Bowen, David Bradbury, SenatorChris Evans, Mark Dreyfus, Ed Husic, JulieOwens, Matt Thistlethwaite, PhillipRuddock and Theresa Gambaro.

Senator Gary Humphries was in atten-dance to represent Hon Tony Abbott,Leader of Opposition. Senator Lisa Singhand Michelle Rowland, MP for Greenway,Co-Chairs of the Sub-Continent MinisterialConsultative Committee, were also present.The program was also attended by manydignitaries including the First Secretary andActing Head of Mission of the Fiji HighCommission Ms Cheryl Brown-Irava, and asenior Diplomat of the High Commission of

Mauritius Mr Yesdev Jeelall.After humorously reflecting on her small‘trip’ in Delhi, the Hon Julia Gillard spokeabout the warmth and genuine welcome sheexperienced during her recent visit to India.She emphasised her attention to buildinggreater India Australia links and was veryhappy to have the opportunity to host suchan auspicious festival as Deepavali in thenation’s capital at Parliament House. This opportunity to build friendships and

links was very valuable with more than 80organisations in attendance representing abroad range of Hindu, Sikh, Islamic andCommunity Groups such as the IndiaAustralia Association of Canberra, The Federation of Indian Associations in

the ACT, the Federation of Islamic Councilsof Australia, Royal Commonwealth Society,the Canberra Inter-Faith Committee and theCanberra Multicultural Community Forum,from as far asBrisbane and Adel-aide. Mr Surendra Prasad

(pictured right) fromBrisbane gave thevote of thanks, shar-ing his appreciationfor all those whoworked consistentlyover a number ofmonths to bring thiswonderful event together. Professor Agar summed it up perfectly in

his closing comments, that “by holding thisfestival here in Canberra, we are able tofocus on our spiritual unity, strength andsuccess in this country. We are honoured tooffer this Deepavali festival as a celebrationof cultural diversity as well as inclusivenessin our multicultural society.”

• Photo’s courtesy desi.com.au

Premier holds receptionfor Indian community

FOLLOWING on with the tradition set byformer Queensland Premiers, PremierCampbell Newman held the annual recep-tion for the Indian community onWednesday 7th November at the speakersgreen.The Premier announced his Visit to India,

Dr Maha Sinnathamby spoke on behalf ofthe Indian community in Queensland. H.E.Biren Nanda, High Commissioner for Indiaalso spoke and F.I.C.Q President NaiduBodapati delivered the vote of thanks.India is one of Queensland's biggest trade

destinations and during his five-day visitMr Newman held meetings in Mumbai,Hyderabad, Mundra, Ahmedabad andKolkata.

Former Premier Anna Bligh also choseIndia for her first trade trip, which also tookplace in China and Japan.During the trip, the Premier announced a

new deal between Sinclair Knight Merz andIndia energy giant, the Adani Group, to sup-ply engineering services.He also used a speech in Hyderabad to talk

up Queensland as an education destination,saying there were 13,000 Indian students inQueensland, contributing $330 million tothe economy.However, the most curious announcement

was the unveiling of plans to host India'sMaharaja Cup polo tournament on the GoldCoast from 2013."The Maharaja Cup is an exclusive polo

tournament held under the patronage of HisHighness the Maharaja Raghav Raj Singhof Shivrati, Udaipur, which is proposed tomove between India and Australia annual-ly," Mr Newman said.The Premier insisted his trip had planted

the seeds for many deals to come, revealinghow a chance meeting at a dinner allowed

him to introduce anIndian power stationowner to a Queenslandcoal producer."He has coal resources

that he is trying to findIndian partners for andthat is how it works," hesaid.Mr Newman said India's

energy supply issues cre-ated countless opportuni-ties for Queensland, notonly from coal exportbut also mining services.

• His Excellency Biren Nanda, High Commissioner for India delivers his address at QueenslandPremiers reception for the Indian community.

THE school of journalism and communica-tion, University of Queensland held a sym-posium on public spheres, the media andsocial change in India. Pradip NinanThomas, Co director of the centre for com-munication and Social Change at Universityof Queensland was the facilitator of thethree day program.Presenters included; Vibodh Parthasarathi,

Ramasami Harindranath, Adrian Athique,Usha Roderigues, Sevanti Ninan, VijaySelvarajan, Colin Agur, Kewal Kumar,Sukhmani Khorana, Maya Ranganathan,Nagamallika Gudipaty, Scott Fitzgerald,Sunil Kanta Behera, Daniela Bandelli,Kanchan Malik, Pradip Thomas, Eric Louw,Devaki Monani and Umesh Chandra.The line up of the speakers and presenterswas an excellent choice of speakers bothlocally and internationally. Key media per-sonnel and academic commentators fromIndia were also present.Lectures on various media related subjects

were deliberated during the three day event.A keynote speech at the dinner function wasdelivered by Sevanti Ninan on OldJournalism, new Journalism. Sevanti isamong India's most well known mediacommentators.Umesh Chandra and Devaki Monani both

touched on the handling of Indian studentssituation in Indian and Australian media,the impact of the reporting, the conse-

quences.Pradip Ninan Thomas launched his book

"Digital India" at the end of the sympo-sium.

• India media personalities from left: Kewal Kumar, Prof. Vinod Pavarala, Sunil Kanta Behera,Umesh Chandra, Sevanti Ninan, Vibobh Parthasarathi and Pradip Thomas at UQ Indian mediasymposium.

• Pradip Ninan Thomas launches his bookDigital India at UQ.

Indian media symposium at UQ


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Tulsi Vivah at Shree Laxmi Narayan Mandir“THE LORD SALIGRAM AND MATA TULSI VIVAH” wascelebrated in style by devotees of Shree Laxmi Narayan Mandir,Burbank on Sunday 25th November 2012 officiated by residentPt. R H Tripathi Ji. Baraat procession was from Pt. Tripathi Ji’sresidence to the Temple complex. Some 250 to 300 dedicateddevotees from Brisbane and Gold Coast witnessed the colourfulcelebration, enjoyed Pt. Ji’s parvachan and took part in Hawan.Prasad and Maha Prasad were served to conclude the occasion.Just a reminder to all the members, devotees and well -wishers

of Shree Laxminarayan Mandir that its Web page is at:www.laxminarayan.com.au and contains an update on variousmatters, including major programs, photo clips, rules, contactdetails, opening / closing hours – etc.Authorised by Ashok Prasad, Secretary, HMA

Brisbane "Sangeet Premi Club" turns oneSANGEET Premi Club, Brisbane'sfastest growing club of music lovers,

boast close to one hundred members.The club is headed by Yousuf Alikhan a

very well know Brisbanepersonality and excellentsinger. On their firstanniversary the club organ-ised a "Shaam-e-Ghazal" atHamilton Town Hall onSaturday 17 November. Many renowned artists like

Joseph Nand, UshaChivakula, Hemant Naik,Sulagna Basu, NeelaNazneen and Yousuf Alikhanand others sang all timefavourite melodies from leg-ends of Ghazal, MendhiHassan, Jagjit Singh and

Talat Mehmood.The singers were compli-

mented by talented musi-cians well suited for thegenre. A well decorated stageset the perfect backdrop andcreated a "mehfil" typeatmosphere.

Overall a very successfulevening set in the right moodwith receptive audience inperfect harmony.


T. 07 3420 5570M. 0438 105 640E. [email protected]


Shri Maharudramat Shri Shiv Mandir

Courtesy Akila Ramarathinam

BY Parameshwara’s grace and KanchiAcharyal’s anugraham, Shri MaharudraUtsavam was held at Shri Shiv Mandir,Minto (NSW), Australia from November 22to 25, 2012. This was a second MaharudraUtsavam held at the temple premises. Thefirst such event was held in Nov 2010 for 5days.

On this occasion, Shri Rudram from ShriKrishna Yajurveda Samhita was chanted1331 times by Rithviks in the span of 4days. On the last day, 45 Rithviks partici-pated in chanting, Rudra Homam andAbhishekam. More than 700 devotees wit-nessed the chanting event on the 4 days. With the blessings from His Holiness Sri

Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal ofKanchipuram and kind permission from theShiv Mandir Management Committee, theevent was organized by Shri Dorai Rajanand Shri Ramarathinam under the ableguidance of Shri Ramachandra Athreyarand the temple priests, Shri VenkatramaSastry and Shri Lal Bahadur Mishra.

Our special thanks to Sydney VedaPatasala (initiative of VHP Australia) teach-ers Shri Subramanian, Shri Ramarathinamand Shri Jayashankar for training manyRithviks over the last five years.Kanchi Mutt Silver pendant coins and tem-

ple prasadam were distributed to all theRithviks and sponsors.

Shri Murali and his team took care ofcatering arrangements on all the 4 days andprovided delicious lunch and eveningprasadam for all the visitors and Rithviks.Shri Nirmaleswara Gurukkal delivered lec-

ture on Siva Puranam on one of theevenings. Smt Lakshmi Narendra presenteda Veena Concert on another evening. SriRudra Krama Archana was performed onanother evening.Sydney Shiva devotees have been witness-

ing Ekadasha Rudram and Maharudram inalternate years since 2009 at the templepremises. We hope this trend will contin-ue for years to come with the support ofSydney devotees.

Om Namasivaaya

No room at the inn?

By Peter Lane Rai

DID you know that there are approximately250,000 Indians living in Australia, makingIndians the fourth largest migrant commu-nity even surpassing Italians? I've met some of them like Jagbhir a cook

in the Valley, Sukhdev an IT worker in thecity and Amrit, a single Fijian Indian Ph. Dstudent. They miss their home, even thoughlife back there was not that easy. Life isalso challenging here coping with a totallydifferent culture. Amrit and her family are Christians. Whenshe arrived in Australia she had severalweeks accommodation at theUniversity and then had to find anew place to “lay her head".

It was very unsettling, awayfrom her family for the first timeand looking for a place to live.

Yet she really understood theChristmas story in Luke 2: 4-20where, for a pregnant, temporaryhomeless Mary wondering whereher baby would be born, “therewas no room at the inn” for herand her husband Joseph.

Some places Amrit looked atwere either too expensive or too

far from the University.Then through another Indian Christian

friend we met and Amrit lived with ourfamily for a few years. As we are still goodfriends, recently we and other friends wentfor a weekend to a Dalby farm, four hoursdrive from Brisbane, to brand, tag and cas-trate cattle and go kangaroo hunting at nightwhich was all quite an experience!

So to really live out the Christmas storythen this year, be a friend to the lonely,invite them into your home for a meal. Thiswill show them the peace, joy and good willwhich Jesus came to bring.

• Breakfast at the farm with Peter, Amrit and Karen Amritand friends.

2012 Members of ParliamentNational Volunteer Awards VOLUNTEERS make apositive difference in thelives of millions ofAustralians. They con-tribute to a sociallyinclusive society, inwhich all Australians feelvalued and have theopportunity to participatefully in their communi-ties.Community volunteeringcan be a thankless task attimes, ones who do this,do it for the love of it ,for the satisfaction of havingserved the community, tomake a difference in thelives of the underprivi-leged.The 2012 Members of

Parliament NationalVolunteer Awards is anopportunity to recognize the contribution oflocal volunteers to communities all overAustralia. Members of Parliament aroundthe nation are took part by presentingawards to volunteers in their electorates. Teresa Gambaro MP, Federal Member for

Brisbane presented three awards to verydeserving volunteers at a ceremony held atNew Farm Library on Friday 7 December.The awardees are as follows; 1. Claude

Harvey – AKA – The Mowerman – for hisincredible efforts volunteering and single-handedly raising an astonishing $474,000+for Bravehearts over the last 11 years. He isa true hero who pushed his trusty lawnmower all the from Toowoomba toCleveland in October.2. Carmel Williams, who lives as indepen-dently as possible in a house with one ofher sisters and their family. She suffered amotor bike accident as a student nurse andhas been in a wheelchair ever since. Overthe years she has tirelessly pursued volun-teer activities eg Sporting WheeliesAssociation, and represented Australia inwheelchair sports. In more recent years she

has offered that same selfless dedicationand service to The Karuna Hospice Serviceat Windsor. Nothing is ever too much trou-ble; her enthusiasm and commitment isunflagging despite her own increasingphysical limitations.

3. Ms Katrina Porter, who has spentalmost two decades enriching the lives ofresidents at Hilltop Gardens, an aged carecentre situated at Kelvin Grove, Brisbane.She still insists that she gets so much moreback from the elderly people whom she vis-its. A single lady who never married, she isconsidered "one of the family" by manyresidents at the Queensland Baptist carewho hold her in high esteem. Ms Portersparents both worked as chaplains at HilltopGarden and while accompanying her fatheron his visits, Katrina realised that thissomething she found very rewarding andfulfilling.

Umesh Chandra, a community volunteerand Hindu Chaplain at University ofQueensland, assisted with judging and pre-sentation of the awards.


DEAR Brisbane Indian Times readers, wewelcome you to a new and exiting journeythrough Inspired Indians column.What is the purpose of this article? The main purpose of this article is to

inspire our BIT readers and families toexcel in their life, work and be proud citi-zens of Australia.Additionally, it is to explore the deeper

potential for which we have been created.To find insights, wisdom and understand-ings that will help us make better choicesdaily.Today we live in an information explo-

sive society. At our fingertips we havemore information that may make us crum-ble and humble. But seldom this informa-tion helps us to be a better citizen of thisnation.

Therefore information alone will notbring transformation to the nation.Information cannot bring inspiration,which we need, to tackle our life issues.We must learn to renew our mind; we

must develop a quest for application oftrue wisdom in order to navigate throughlife’s challenges.Let’s begin this inspiration journey with a

simple question. Do you know your truepotential? Or do you understand your truepurpose in life?

Potential is…untapped talent… hiddenstrength…dormant ability…unused suc-cess. Potential is unexposed ability andlatent power according to Dr. Munroe,noted author and a teacher. This further illustration from Dr. Munroe

about the word ‘potential’ will shock youand inspire you to reach your dreams.Take a look at the Australia’s miningpotential, it was buried waiting to beexplored and profited from its value.Can you identify a wealthiest spot on this

planet? Is it gold and diamond mines ofAfrica? Or is it oil fields of Kuwait andSaudi Arabia? No, none of these.Want a surprise? The wealthiest deposits

on our planet may be just a few blocksfrom your home or suburb. They rest inthe local cemetery or graveyard.Do not go digging, but dig deep inside

your mind to think outside the box. Buried beneath the sacred soil of the

graveyard are the dreams that never cameto pass, songs and books that were neverwritten or published, paintings that neverfilled a canvass, ideas that were neverused, visions that never became realities,inventions that were never designed tofinal product, plans that never wentbeyond the drawing board of the mind.Our graveyards are filled with rich poten-tials. That is a national tragedy. Let’s journey together and learn how to

be inspired so we can fulfill our potentialbefore we end up at the local graveyard.For the Wisdom will enter your heart andthe knowledge will be pleasant to yoursoul.Point to ponder: I will not waste my timeaway with pity excuses any more, but lookat the creation to renew my mind andreach my potential before my last breath.See you here next month, until then be

inspired you are full of potential.Share your thoughts and inspirations by

emailing: [email protected]


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Schoolkids Bonus only weeks awayTHE Minister for Families, Jenny Macklin,and the Member for Reid, John Murphy,visited Homebush West Public School on10 December to encourage parents withkids starting primary or secondary schoolnext year to go online and update theirdetails to ensure they get the newSchoolkids Bonus in January.“The Schoolkids Bonus will help lighten

the load of back-to-school costs for nearly7000 local families,” Ms Macklin said.

“It helps parents buy uniforms, shoes,school books and stationery, as well asother costs like school excursions, musiclessons and sports registration fees.“Each year eligible families will receive up

to $410 for each child in primary school,and up to $820 a year for each high schoolstudent paid in two instalments – just whenfamilies need it most.

“The first Schoolkids Bonus paymentcomes in January, so parents only have afew weeks left to let Centrelink know thattheir child is starting primary school nextyear to get their payments on time.“If Centrelink doesn’t know their child is

starting school, families will miss out on$410.“And if their child is starting high school

we also need to know so they can get the

higher secondary school payment.“Christmas and January are a busy time for

many families, so that’s why we want par-ents to update their details now before thesilly season kicks in.”Families with kids starting primary or high

school next year need to make sure theirchild’s schooling details are up to date withCentrelink by 31 December to receive theirSchoolkids Bonus entitlement in January2013.Families with children already in primary

school and high school don’t need to doanything.Mr Murphy said many families are feeling

the pinch right now and need a bit of extrasupport.“The Schoolkids Bonus replaces the old

Education Tax Refund, which too manyfamilies were missing out on,” Mr Murphysaid.“The Schoolkids Bonus also means fami-

lies do not have to collect a pile of receiptsor fill out that extra paperwork at tax time.“All they need to do instead is check andupdate their children’s school details online,then receive their Schoolkids Bonus in timefor the new school year.”Families receiving Family Tax Benefit Part

A, as well as young people in school receiv-ing Youth Allowance, and others receivingcertain income support or veterans’ pay-ments are eligible for the SchoolkidsBonus.

• Minister Macklin and the Hon John Murphy with community leaders, parents and students fromHomebush West Public School For the latest information about the

Schoolkids Bonus and other familyassistance measures, visit

www.australia.gov.au/schoolkidsbonusor ‘like’ our Australian Families

Facebook page.

Australia Day isn’t just about celebrating our beautiful beaches and wide-open spaces. It’s not just about celebrating our rich diversity of cultures, or the fact we take our sport more seriously than we take ourselves. And we’re not just celebrating because we have a day off to share with our family and friends. Wherever our personal stories begin, we’re celebrating on January 26, because tomorrow we get to live it all over again. To find out about celebrations near you, visit AUSTRALIADAY.ORG.AU

CELEBRATE TODAY LIVE IT AGAIN TOMORROW

SAGAR Parikrama is the envisaged cir-cumnavigation of the globe solo andunder sail by Indian Naval Sailing Vesel(INSV) Mhadei being skippered byLieutenant Commander Abhilash Tomyof the Indian Navy. INSV Mhadei willbe sailing single handedly around theworld south of all the great capes vizCape Leeuwing, Cape Horn and Cape ofGood Hope, covering a distance of21600 nautical miles, crossing the equa-tor twice and starting and finishing itscircumnavigation from the same port.While about 5000 people have summit-

ed Mount Everest and 500 have goneinto outer space, only 181 individualshave solo circumnavigated the globe andonly approximately 80 have done sowithout any stops. This naturally indi-cates the level of difficulty of solo cir-cumnavigation ventures.Sagar Parikrams 2 began

it’s voyage on 1November 2012 fromMumbai and the voyageitself should last sixmonths.The skipper AbhilashTomy is an alumnus ofIndia’s Naval Academyand was commissionedinto the Indian Navy on 1July 2000. He is a mar-itime reconnaissance pilotby specialisation and haslogged in approximately

1300 hours of flying.A yachtsman by hobby, Lt Cdr Tomy

has taken part in various national andinternational regattas. In 2008, he wasappointed as the Yacht services managerof for the Volvo Ocean Race Stopover atKochi. In 2009, he had volunteered toassist the skipper of INSV Mhadei dur-ing Sagar Parikrama 1. He has loggedapproximately 27000 miles of oceansailing out of which 25000 miles are onthe Mhadei.Follow the Voyage - Sagar Parikrama IIcan be followed on:-• Facebook -www.facebook.com/www.mhadei.co.in• Blog -www.sagarparikrama2.blogspot.com• You tube channel - Sagarparikrama2

Follow the voyage of Sagar Parikrama II


Indian TimesBrisbane

A Divi sio n ofQld Multi cultural Time s

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JAN 13 ISSUE

Booking Deadline - Advertisers - 7 January 2013Editorial Submissions - 9 January

Please email [email protected] by the above dates


Wayne Swan: Visit to Indiato discuss the opportunitiesof the Asian CenturyIF most people had to name one thing thatshows how close Australia’s relationship iswith India, many of us would say ourshared love of cricket.

As the Australian summer heats up,there’s a tinge of sadness that MS Dhoniand the Indian Cricketers won’t be touringAustralia this year, despite the stiff com-petition that South Africa and now SriLanka are laying down for the Aussies.As I visited India last week, I was remind-ed of how much the close relationshipbetween India and Australia has grownover the past decade, moving well beyondthe traditional battle for the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

The fact that the Australian PrimeMinister and Deputy Prime Minister havevisited India with five weeks of each otheris an indication of how highly we valueour friendship with the Indian people.Australia and India have a strong bilateralrelationship. India is our fourth largestexport destination, and the fifth largestsource of foreign investment in our coun-try. As Australia’s eighth-largest overall two-

way trading partner in 2010-11, our tradeand investment links with India are thebackbone of our relationship. In fact, trade between Australia and India

has more than doubled in the past six yearsto around $20 billion, and we have set agoal of doubling trade to $40 billion by2015. Last year, over $11 billion of prospective

Indian investment into Australia wasapproved, representing a tenfold increasesince 2001 and there are now around 150Australian companies with a corporatepresence in India, similar to the total num-ber of Indian companies in Australia.

The truth is that as the world’s thirdlargest economy, India continues to under-go a remarkable transformation. While global economic conditions remainchallenging and our future is not assured, Istrongly believe if we work with the keyeconomies in our region and invest in ourown productivity both our countries willcontinue to prosper. The past few years have seen change on a

massive scale, not just in terms of the ebband flow of the global economy, but inhow many of the world’s developingeconomies have continued to ride thewaves of growth.

As the Asian Century unfolds, and asIndia continues to grow, so too will ourrelationship.

When the Government talks about theAsian century, too many in the media

automatically assume that what we arereally talking about is China. While it’sclear China figures prominently in any dis-cussion about economies in transition, themainstream media often overlooks thestunning evolution of the Indian economy.

India is an absolutely key part of ourambitious plans to prosper in the AsianCentury.As one of the world’s key economies,

India is one of our most important part-ners.If trade and investment are the backboneof our relationship, skills and educationrepresent its lifeblood. This was drivenhome to me as I stood in the streets ofDelhi, where vast numbers of children intheir school uniforms were rushing tomake it to school on time. These were notwealthy neighbourhoods; they were chil-dren from all walks of life. But our relationship goes beyond trade,

investment and education. Australia has ahuge Indian community, our people arevisiting one another’s countries in growingnumbers and this visit is one in a series ofexchanges between the two governments.I know in my own local community on

Brisbane’s Northside there are many peo-ple who have emigrated from Indian andare now helping Queensland form stronglinks with India.Both our countries have much work ahead

of us – and both our countries have somany opportunities to share as we headinto the Asian Century.

Wayne SwanDeputy PM, Treasurer and Member forLilley

Indian World Supermodel 2012 winner announced30 OCTOBER, New Delhi - India:Australian based photographer andtalent mentor, Raj Suri, is the co-founder of Indian World Supermodel(IWSM). Raj brings IWSM to Indiain 2012. Raj Suri conducted a pro-fessional, targeted campaign involv-ing auditions and a live media eventannouncement in New Delhi with aVIP guests in the month of October2012.The winner of the first ever Indian

World Supermodel 2012 (IWS),Aasttha Ssidana, was announced byAward winning actor Mr Sanjay Suriamongst VIP guests including India’sleading fashion designers Rohit Baland Varun Bahl, Anurag Verma (fdci)and other reputed personalities fromthe fashion industry on Monday 29October 2012 at an exclusive, byinvitation only, party announcementat Shroom, Crescent in New Delhi.The event officially was hosted byIWSM National Director, Raj Suri.Aasttha Ssidana was over the moon

on hearing her name and being facil-itated by a bouquet of flowers, andholding the prestigious title of IWSM2012.

The Indian World Supermodel 2012five finalist, who were selected onthe basis of auditions, carried by tal-ent mentor Raj Suri, were: KarinaAhuja, Priyanka Gusain, AastthaSsidana, Monali Chaudhary,Aradhana Nayar.Aasttha Ssidana, airfares to Australiaand Fiji has been sponsored by RajSuri Global

Sanjay Suri said “Now for yearssome Indian Models have been mak-ing their presence felt onInternational Platforms and contestlike IWSM only makes it better forthem by giving them the opportunityto reach out to a global audience".The World Supermodel Australiateam is anticipating with great expec-tations her visit to Sydney.

The IWSM co-founder, nationaldirector Raj Suri, says “ I was over-whelmed at the turn out of the talentand VIPs guests at the party and feltwelcomed by the media and guests inmy country of origin – India. He said“IWSM offers representation on theworld platform as Indian talent hasmuch to offer to the world”The auditions for the Indian World

Supermodel World 2012 were con-ducted by Raj Suri in New Delhifrom 20th October to 25th October2012. Mr Raj Suri, who himself has been a

talent mentor in Australia for past 10years, founder of Miss IndiaAustralia, past winners includePALLAVI SHARDA (of HEROINEfame) and VIMALA RAMAN (hascompleted 17 feature films in India).The finalists were selected on thebasis of an audition process whichincludes a catwalk round, presenta-tion to the camera, elegance and styleat a live interaction session with Mr.Raj Suri in New Delhi.The Indian World Super Model pro-

vides an international platform to allaspiring and established models torepresent their country as well asbuild their portfolios and get an inter-national exposure, mentoring fromRaj Suri, which would open up newavenues not just in the field of mod-eling but also Film and Television.

The Indian World Supermodel searchstrives to give an international plat-form for talented Indian models. • Raj Suri, Aasttha Ssidana & Sanjay Suri.

Shariah Symposium atBrisbane Convention Centre

By Anisa SunderCrescents Community Newswww.crescentsofbrisbane.org

SHARIAH Law is undoubtedly one ofthe most widely debated and yet misun-derstood contemporary Islamic issuesof today. In a time where politicianssuch as Cory Bernardi spout vitriolicmessages about Shariah, coupled withthe mainstream media often aiding inthe spreading of misinformation, it islittle wonder that so many of our non-Muslim neighbours in Australia per-ceive Sharia to be such a threat to their wayof life. What is surprising however, is howill-informed so many of us, as Muslims, areabout our own religious laws.It was with the intention to not only educate

but to discuss potential solutions to current-day issues that the Revival team, GriffithUniversity, the National Centre ofExcellence for Islamic studies and theCouncil of Imams Queensland set aboutorganising the Shariah Law One DaySymposium.

The symposium examined the meaning,sources and objectives of Shariah; IslamicLaw vis-à-vis the Common Law, and theRelevance of Abodes (Dar al Islam & Daral-Harb) in the Implementation of ShariahLaw. It also addressed the issue of IslamicFamily Law in Australia, what aspects ofShariah laws can be implemented in non-Muslim lands, and who should have theauthority to implement them and what cir-cumstances they should be implemented.

On Wednesday the 5th of December

approximately 70 people representing vari-ous Islamic and non-Islamic organisationsfrom all over Australia convened at theBrisbane Convention Centre to hear fromhigh profile specialists in Islamic Law -Dato’ Sri Professor Zaleha Kamaruddin,Shaykh Taha Karaan, Dr Ann Black,Associate Professor Dr Mohamad Adbdallaand Dr Mahmood Nathie.

By all accounts the symposium was aresounding success. The keynote speakerswere very interesting and their topics rele-vant and very appropriate in light of recentevents. Additionally, the Q and A sessionsfollowing each speaker were lively andextremely informative.Jazak’Allah Khairan to the organisers for

providing all participants with such a pro-ductive and rewarding experience.

For anyone wanting to watch a video of theSymposium IslamTV will be posting it upshortly. Snippets of the Symposium will alsobe posted on the Revival website.

An Evening with the ScholarsCrescents Community Newswww.crescentsofbrisbane.org

REVIVAL, a Brisbane-based organizationvested with the ideals of bringing Islamicissues to the local community for scholarlydiscussion, held a dinner on Thursday 6December at Michael's Oriental in honour ofthe its overseas keynote speakers who pre-sented at the Symposium on Sharia held theday before.

The function, held under the theme ofLiving Islam Today, was attended by some100 guests who included Imams, communi-

ty organization and gov-ernment representativesas well as Aboriginalelders.

Aunty Deborah Bennet(pictured left), who wascalled on to give animpromptu speech, spokemost eloquently and

appreciatively of thelong, enduring historyand association betweenthe indigenous communi-ty and the Muslims fromIndonesia andAfghanistan.

This was followed bythe effervescent andebullient Dato’ Sri Professor ZalehaKamaruddin (pictured above) who spoke onthe work her university, the InternationalIslamic University Malaysia (IIUM), wasdoing to incorporate secular and religiouscontent in their curriculum.Shaykh Taha Karaan, a scholar in Islamic

jurisprudence from Cape Town, SouthAfrica, gave a racy and inspired talk on liv-ing in a Western world with Islamic values.

The Q&A segments during the eveningdealt with a number of interesting topics thatwere equally well-addressed by the speak-ers.


Business News‘S***! I’ve Got An ATO Audit?!’ AS a Tax Agent that is usually the firstthing a client says to me when I tell them Ihave received a letter that they are to beaudited. Sometimes the words are moreexplicit. The response I get has hardlychanged in the 19 years I have beeninvolved in tax Over the last couple of years the ATO has

decided that they will investigate business-es which it considers high risk. They havepublished over 100 industry benchmarks.These benchmarks are by industry andshow what the ATO expects. For example,the ATO will expect a profit of 11%($55,000) for a discount store with turnover(sales) of $500,000. Anything less mayhave the ATO knocking on doors. Tax inspectors have also told Tax Agents

that they intend to concentrate on cash busi-nesses. Inspectors have been known to eatat restaurants, pay in cash and then at alater date return to check that their sale hasbeen included in the books. They will visita retail store and buy items over a fewweeks and pay at different tills and thenreturn to check their sale has been recorded.

They are also concentrating more onlifestyle. If declared income is low, but onehas a large home, expensive cars and chil-dren in private school the ATO may startasking how this lifestyle has been main-tained. They can ask for passports so thatthey can check holidays and ask how thoseholidays were paid for.

However, it is not all bad news.Unfortunately or fortunately, depending onwhich side of the fence you are on, the ATOis severely underfunded. You have to bequite unlikely to get picked. But it doeshappen. Last year 118,000 cash businesswere investigated and this number will getbigger. It is still a small number consideringthe total number of businesses in Australia.So, how do you avoid getting picked in the

first place?First, check to see if your industry is one

of the benchmarks published by the ATO.Make sure you are within the rangesexpected by the ATO. If you are outside theranges you may need to come up with agood reason why. Second, ensure you have maintained your

books and records properly. The ATO havereally emphasised this. Make sure yourrecords are up to date and that you have alltill receipts (not just ‘Z’ readings), salesinvoices, supplier invoices and how andwhen payments and receipts occurred.Third, make sure you file and pay all your

returns (Tax, BAS, FBT etc) on time. If you

are late or cannot make payment get intouch with the ATO and explain what ishappening. They will be more responsiveand less likely to investigate.Lastly, keep your private financial affairs

separate from your business affairs. Onlyuse a business bank account and businesscredit cards for business expenses. If youdo use a personal credit card use it solelyfor business purposes and not personal.This is because you do not want to give anyindication to the ATO what kind of lifestyleyou have. There is also less chance of per-sonal items accidently being claimed asbusiness expenses especially if you have abookkeeper or Tax Agent preparing yourbooks. Remember a small mistake found bya tax inspector can lead to more questions.

If you are unlucky to be audited, whatshould you do?Well, get a Tax Agent to do the work and

communicate with the ATO. It will beexpensive but they are experts and shouldknow what to do. You won’t. It is usually agood idea to take out tax audit insurance sothat your Agent’s fees are covered. Speak toyour Tax Agent who should be able toadvice on this.The ATO can ask for a meeting. Try and

avoid this but you may not have an option.The ATO may ask for this meeting to be atyour home. Ensure this never happens asthey want to see what is in your home.Always arrange a meeting at your TaxAgent’s office as a meeting at an ATOoffice is likely to intimidate you and youmay say things you would not normally.During the meeting if you feel uncomfort-able at any stage, end the meeting. Try toensure the meeting does not go beyond anhour and a quarter because after this timeyou are likely to let your guard down.

The ATO will send you notes or minutesof meetings asking it be signed andreturned. You are not legally required tosign and my policy is to never sign them. Finally, remember the ATO probably have

a lot more information about you than youthink. We live in a digital age of GoogleMaps and data matching. The ATO can seewhat a taxpayer’s home looks like by press-ing a few buttons on a computer at theirdesk. Try to avoid giving vague answers,tell the truth, stick to the point and onlyanswer the questions asked and nothingmore.

Article provided by Hitesh Mohanlal. Thisarticle is for information only and shouldnot been considered detailed advice.

Cops want to conduct liedetector test on Zee scribesNEW DELHI, Dec 10 (IANS) A Delhicourt sent two Zee TV network journaliststo judicial custody till Dec 22 for an allegedbid to extort Rs.100-crore from a JindalGroup firm. Police have sought permissionto conduct a lie detector test on the twoaccused and Zee Group chairman SubhashChandra, their employer.

Metropolitan Magistrate SudhanshuKaushik posted the matter for Dec 12,while issuing notice to the two journalistsand Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandraon police application.

"Since the investigating officer has notsought their further custody, they areremanded in judicial custody till Dec 22,"the court said while sending the accused tojudicial custody.Sudhir Chaudhary, head of Zee News, and

Samir Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business,were arrested here Nov 27 on charges ofattempting to extort Rs.100 crore fromJindal Power and Steel Ltd. (JPSL) inexchange for not filing news reports linkingthe firm to the irregular coal blocks alloca-tion.Police moved an application seeking per-

mission to conduct a lie detector test on thetwo journalists and Chandra, whose two-day questioning ended Sunday 9 December.The investigators also sought permission toconduct a voice sample test on the two jour-nalists.

Chandra, Zee Group managing directorPuneet Goenka and the two journalists werebrought face-to-face and questionedSaturday 8 and Sunday 9 December.

Police booked both the journalists underSections 384 (extortion), 120(b) (criminalconspiracy) and 511 (punishment forattempting to commit offences punishablewith imprisonment for life or other impris-onment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).Before arresting Chaudhary and Ahluwalia,police also charged them under Section 420(cheating).Both journalists were accused of demand-

ing Rs.100 crore from Jindal Group in theform of advertisements to the channel.Jindal had released a CD which purported-

ly showed footage in which the Zee jour-nalists were trying to strike a deal with hiscompany officials, telling them that theirTV news channel would not air negativestories on Jindal Group if the money waspaid to them.Jindal, who is chairman of JPSL, had ear-

lier claimed that the Zee executives haddemanded Rs.20 crore for four years andthey secretly filmed the meetings. Theylater raised the demand to Rs.100 crore fornot broadcasting stories against the compa-ny in relation to the allocation of coalblocks, Jindal alleged.JPSL is among the companies named in the

Comptroller and Auditor General's report asone of the beneficiaries of the controversialcoal blocks allocation.

Zee News chief executive officer AlokAgarwal at a press conference defended itsjournalists, saying "Our executives' arrest isillegal. We strongly condemn arrests of ourtwo executives."

BEIJING, Dec 10 (IANS) Wang Qinminwas elected chairman of the executive com-mittee of the All-China Federation ofIndustry and Commerce (ACFIC).The first plenary session of the ACFIC's

11th executive committee was held Monday10 December, Xinhua reported.Quan Zhezhu was appointed executive vice

chairman and 23 others were elected vice

chairpersons, including Li Yanhong, CEOof the Chinese search engine giant Baidu.The new ACFIC chairman vowed to pro-

mote industry associations and help buildharmonious labour relations.Founded in 1953, the ACFIC is a non-gov-

ernmental organisation and has over 2.9million members comprising enterprises,groups and individuals.

Chinese commerce bodyACFIC gets new head

By Arun Kumar

WASHINGTON, Dec 10 (IANS) Asia willhave surpassed North America and Europecombined in terms of global power by 2030with China, India and Brazil becomingespecially important to the global economy,according to a new US intelligence assess-ment."The diffusion of power among countries

will have a dramatic impact by 2030," saysthe fifth instalment in the US NationalIntelligence Council's series aimed at pro-viding a framework for thinking about thefuture released here Monday 10 December.

The report "Global Trends 2030:Alternative Worlds," released by the Officeof the Director of National Intelligence, theapex body of 16 US intelligence agencies,says China alone will probably have thelargest economy, surpassing that of theUnited States a few years before 2030."In a tectonic shift, the health of the glob-

al economy increasingly will be linked tohow well the developing world does-moreso than the traditional West," the reportsaid."In addition to China, India, and Brazil,

regional players such as Colombia,Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, andTurkey will become especially important tothe global economy.

"Meanwhile, the economies of Europe,Japan, and Russia are likely to continuetheir slow relative declines," the report said.

Despite their growing economic clout,developing countries will face their ownchallenges, especially in their efforts tocontinue the momentum behind their rapideconomic growth, it said.

With slowing growth China "faces theprospect of being trapped in middle-incomestatus, with its per capita income not con-tinuing to increase to the level of theworld's advanced economies.""India faces many of the same problems

and traps accompanying rapid growth asChina: large inequities between rural and

urban sectors and within society; increasingconstraints on resources such as water; anda need for greater investment in science andtechnology to continue to move its econo-my up the value chain," the report said.

"Insufficient natural resources - such aswater and arable land - in many of the samecountries that will have disproportionatelevels of young men increase the risks ofintrastate conflict breaking out, particularlyin Sub-Saharan African and South and EastAsian countries, including China andIndia," it said."Three different baskets of risks could con-

spire to increase the chances of an outbreakof interstate conflict: changing calculationsof key players- particularly China, India,and Russia; increasing contention overresource issues; and a wider spectrum ofmore accessible instruments of war."South Asia, the report said: "faces a series

of internal and external shocks during thenext 15-20 years. Low growth, rising foodprices, and energy shortages will pose stiffchallenges to governance in Pakistan andAfghanistan.""Afghanistan's and Pakistan's youth bulges

are large-similar in size to those found inmany African countries. When these youthbulges are combined with a slow-growingeconomy, they portend increased instabili-ty."However, it said, "India is in a better posi-

tion, benefiting from higher growth, but itwill still be challenged to find jobs for itslarge youth population. Inequality, lack ofinfrastructure, and education deficienciesare key weaknesses in India."How the United States' international role

evolves during the next 15-20 years was abig uncertainty, the report said."Whether the US will be able to work with

new partners to reinvent the internationalsystem will be among the most importantvariables in the future shape of the globalorder," it said.

HYDERABAD, Dec 10 (IANS) NetxcellLimited, a leading mobile value added ser-vice provider, has developed and imple-mented a subscription platform on cloud forTata Docomo, which promises to enhancequality of service to the subscribers of thetelecom service provider, a company offi-cial said.The solution, said to be first in the indus-

try, will enable Tata Docomo to provide realtime subscription services for 2G and 3Gsubscribers.Netxcell will manage the entire pack pro-

visioning and customer life cycle manage-ment solutions for Docomo across all of its18 circles including real-time alerts for sys-tem utilization and breach of key service

and performance indicators, said a companyrelease here."Netxcell's latest solution is an innovative,

very flexible and hassle-free system thatarms the operator with real-time intelli-gence on subscriber trends and usage pat-terns, thereby enabling the operator toengage its subscribers most efficiently,"said Debasis Chatterji, CEO NetxcellLimited.

Netxcell has been in the forefront of pio-neering and developing niche value-addedproducts and solutions for the mobile spaceand productivity enabling solutions for thetelecom companies, system integrators andenterprises.

Netxcell develops solutionfor Tata Docomo

China, India, Brazil toemerge as key global playersby 2030: US report


Who, What, Where, When

• GOPIO Queensland held their end of year dinner function at Simla Restaurant in Mt Gravatt.Guests were entertained by lively music by Brisbane Babas Band, Hafiza Sumi Sharmin was themain singer for the night.

• Kannada Sangha Committee of Yr 2012-13 Navin Kumar, Ravi Prasad, Nagesh RS, Gowtham D,Dattu Kulkarni, Krishna Kumar and Dr Balaji Hiremagalur.

• Double celebration for the Sharmas, Hirdesh Sharma (father) and Komal Sharma (daughter) held a joint celebration at Fountain View Room, SummitRestaurant, Mt Cootha. Komal celebrated her 21st birthday. From Left: Hirdesh Sharma, Rohini Sharma and Komal Sharma. Above Right: Komal with herfriends.

• Keith Reed (right), Chairman of Crimestoppers committee Metro South recentlypresented Surendra Prasad OAM with aCertificate of Appreciation 2012 forVoluntary Service with the Crime Stoppersprogram in Qld. Crime Stoppers is aCommunity Volunteer Organisation isworking in partnership with the police.

Mr and Mrs Hari and Indra Birbal(pictured left) celebrated their 30thWedding Anniversary

• Below left to right: Pawan, DharmaNani, Suruj Mami, Karishma, Indraand Hari, Priya and Pritika

30th WeddingAnniversaryCelebrations

• Above: Shree SanatanDharam HinduAssociation ofQueensland donatedA$1000.00 to SanatanDharam Fiji, Secretary,Mr. Divendra Prasadhanded the funds over.

• Impromptu Question Answer Session at Chinmaya Mission Trivia Night Centre: Honourable MP Graham Perett addressing the audience. Right: Doctors particpating in the Trivia Night.

• Left: Brisbane LordMayor, Graham Quirkwith Umesh Chandraof Brisbane IndianTimes at Lord MayorsMedia Xmas drinks.


Makara Jyothi Ayyappa pooja was held on 1 December at Sr Citizen Hall in Toowong, bhajansfollowed the pooja (prayer) LORD AYYAPPA, the presiding supreme deity of Sabari Hills is

worshipped by millions of devotees. Lord Ayyappa brings to the Devotees contentment, spiritualupliftment, prosperity and fulfillment of their desires and wishes.


Who, What, Where, When

• Dancing at Tiffany’s held their first end of year concert on 8 December.Left: Director / Principal Tiffany Allen with Emillia Burns. Centre: Time to celebrate...some of the students enjoy cake after the concert.Right: Jade Tahi pictured with her parents Nina and Tuhoe & brother Luke.

• From left: Robert Hoitink, Queensland State Director, Department of Immigrationand Citizenship, Umesh Chandra, 2012 People of Australia Ambassador, DrFarvadin Daliri 2012 People of Australia Ambassador, Senator the Hon Kate Lundy,Federal Minister for Sport, Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs, MinisterAssisting for Industry and Innovation, Adele Rice, 2012 People of AustraliaAmbassador, Gail Kerr, Australian Multicultural Council and Access Services. TheFederal Minister met Queensland People of Australia Ambassadors over lunch inBrisbane.

• Right: Manu Hingoranicelebrated his birthday atGOPIO Queensland func-tion, Manu is a member ofGOPIO Qld, both Manuand his wife SonyaHingorani do a lot of com-munity work, on a Sundayyou will probably find themat Shree Laxmi Narayantemple serving Dinner todevotees.

• Melody Booth and Prashat Bali were married at St Lucia Uniting Church on Saturday 10th November. The reception was held at Stamford plaza.

Chantex Christmas Party at Sofitel...

• Chantex Pty Ltd Directors Umesh & Usha Chandra. • Collin & Judy Mason.

• Chantex Accounts Manager Jazmin with partner Chris. • Sales Consultant Wendy with friend Pete Power.

• BIT editor Trudi with partner Danny. • Property Manager Leanne with husband Dave.


Heat Spells Danger, but life goes on...By Charlie Compost

AN early heatwave like the one just experi-enced spells danger for the vegetable gar-dener. Unless precautions are takenpromptly, you will lose a prize plant or two.It’s time to double check that all crops aresuitably mulched and watered daily.Restrict watering to evenings when evapo-ration is minimal. Be selective about plant-ing locations and favour spots that havesome shade protection during the hottesttime of the day. Yet cultivation must go on.White Corn/MaizeHaving grown up in Africa, this is some-thing I miss terribly. The “first worldsweet-corn,” has its merits but it lacks theearthy full-bodied starchiness of real corn.Now is a good time to get it planted and

the deadline for germination is in February.The corn plant is a voracious feeder and

will benefit from a well composted ormanured bed.Regular side dressings of a fertilizer rich

in Nitrogen is vital to success as is dailywatering.It is advisable to grow the plants in a clus-

ter as this aids pollination.Check the cobs regularly and pick when

the corn is tender. Try roasting these on thegrill of a barbecue and you’ll be an instantconvert.

For more detailed information andinstructive videos, log on to the website

atwww.worldvegetablegarden.

blogspot.com.au

If you have any comments or questions, or photos of your veggieplants to share, please email them to

[email protected]

The Funny Side - By Nury Vittachi

PICTURED the scene. A banker, reluctantto give out a large cash loan to a desperateman, asks: "But do you have any valuableassets to offer as collateral?" The applicantpoints to his upper lip, saying: "Yes. Mymoustache.""Don't be ridiculous," says the banker. But

no. That's not what happens. This is PlanetEarth, Weirdest Place in the Galaxy. Sowhat ACTUALLY happened was that thebanker said: "That'll do nicely," and handedover the money. True story.In the Arab Emirates, male facial hair is

being used as collateral for loans, I hearfrom a reporter researching facial hair. Oneof the most feared punishments for wrong-doing in that region is moustachectomy,which is the forced shaving of the upper lip,a traumatic experience which victims likento castration, although I don't suppose manyof them have actually been castrated, notmore than once, anyway.Facial hair is in, in a big way. Thousands

of people in India joined in the Australiantradition of turning November intoMovember, or "grow-a-moustache" month,and almost all were men.That's one of several problems with this

trend. First, many women find it extremelyhard to grow moustaches, so it's only a mat-ter of time before all female Earthlings takeout a class action against the organisers fortrillions of bucks.

Second, baldies (like the present writer)cannot grow moustaches as it makes uslook like gay guys from the 1970s, not agood look.Third, many men (and women) in China

cannot grow moustaches at all, becauseChinese people are more highly evolvedthan regular humans, or so a friend fromShanghai tells me. I was about to tell himhe was talking rubbish, but held back, incase he wasn't. I know for a fact thatChinese WOMEN have weird superhumanpowers, having encountered them regularly.The Shanghai gentleman said it takes him

a year to grow a moustache, and even thenit is so sparse that it looks like a long, thin,flat spider perched on his lip.Poor him. Moustaches boost male confi-

dence, psychologists say. In parts of India,police officers have even been given gov-ernment grants for moustache cultivation.(Not sure what they spend the money on,perhaps that Gro-Fast fertiliser you get ingardening shops?)

The following day I saw a report on theBBC that Turkish doctors are offeringmoustache implants for men (or presum-ably, eccentric women) who feel their upperlips are too naked. Simply book yourselfinto an Istanbul hospital and come out witha thick, luxurious Lech Walesa-style growthwhich curtains your whole mouth, filteringout bugs, acid rain, particulate matter, etc.

Fair to women and EastAsians Moustaches wars not

By Prasanto K. Roy

Don't let anyone tell you that SMS isdying! It's the only common medium

among the 6 billion mobile-phone users onthis planet after voice calls. They sent 8 tril-lion text messages last year. Two out ofthree users use SMS.SMS, which in 20 years grew to become

central to mobile telephony, does have com-petition from instant-message apps and ser-vices such as BlackBerry Messenger andWhatsApp.Yet in countries such as India and China,

which make up 5 billion of those 6 billionmobile users according to World Bank data,and where cheaper "feature-phones" domi-nate over smartphones, text is the commu-nications lifeline.

SMS, or short message service, is theworld's biggest form of written communica-tion, in terms of users. It far outstrips allforms of computer- or mobile-based email,and data-based mobile messaging services.It's been a long journey since the first SMS

text message sent in December 1992 byBritish engineer Neil Papworth, then 22. Hesent a "Merry Christmas" from his comput-er to Richard Jarvis of Vodafone. There wasno reply option on Jarvis' phone. That camewith Nokia's first text-capable GSM hand-sets phone in 1993.

The idea wasn't British. Finnish formercivil servant Matti Makkonen, the "father ofSMS", suggested a mobile messaging ser-vice in a 1984 conference. In a rare inter-view to the BBC, given entirely over SMS,the reclusive Finn says he didn't ever seeSMS as separate issue - "it was just a fea-ture in mobile communications, very usefulfor quick business needs".SMS began to take off in 1995, but slowly,

with the average user sending a mere 5messages per year. The West, especially theUS, was slow to adopt text messaging, andSMS growth remained slow until the mid2000s when mobile telephony really spikedin Asia.By 2010, five billion mobile users were

sending over 1,200 text messages each,adding up to over 6 trillion messages thatyear--12 million messages a minute. And bythe end of 2011, six billion mobile usershad sent over 1,300 messages each. That's15 million SMSs a minute, or 250,000every second, adding up to 8 trillion SMSmessages.The flurry of traffic isn't just SMSs sent

between users (peer messaging). It includes

those from banking and other entities tocustomers (service or broadcast messages).In India, as in many countries, it's now thenorm to get a verification SMS the momentyou withdraw cash, or use your credit cardto buy something.The Reserve Bank of India, the country's

federal bank, made it mandatory in 2009 touse an additional layer of verification foronline use of credit cards. The mobile pro-vides this second-level authentication formany banks, with a one-time password.This additional layer of security has madetransactions safer, and the banking sectorhas become one of the world's biggest usersof service SMS.SMS is under pressure in the West, with

increasing smartphone use. As well as inadvanced Asian economies such as SouthKorea and Japan, which have seen a shift toother apps and messaging services. Britainsaw a 3 percent decline in SMS traffic lastyear, from a nearly 40 billion peak the pre-vious year.Even in India, SMS saw a marginal decline

in traffic last year - but due to anti-spamregulation. The measures were controver-sial, and ended up shutting down manylegitimate subscription services, with thedirective that the government's national do-not-call (NDNC) registry over-rode sub-scription opt-in.Critics of India's anti-spam regulation say

that while it cut down messages from theorganized, bona-fide bulk SMS suppliers, itcreated a cottage industry of thousands ofsmaller spammers. These shadowy suppli-ers buy and sell databases, especially ofnumbers listed in the NDNC registry, andspam mercilessly.What's next for SMS? Clearly, text mes-

saging is a need that will remain as long aspeople communicate with each other, evenas multimedia (such as video chat) rises.Text is quick, cheap, economical with band-width, and non-intrusive.But text messaging is gradually migrating

from the pay-per-message SMS, toward ser-vices that ride on mobile data. I expectSMS to see a global dip two years downand then get a fresh lease of life as telcoscome up with cheap unlimited SMS plans.Service SMSs from banks and others will

continue for the decade ahead. They haveno better alternative to SMS. Nor is there aquicker, cheaper, easier way for the over800 million mobile phone users in India,and the billions elsewhere who carry $50handsets, to communicate.

SMS at 20: Quick, cheap,easy and here to stay LONDON, Dec 10 (IANS) A new

study has found playing hard to getis part of a subconscious strategy todraw a good mate.Published by the European Journal

of Personality, the research identi-fied 59 ways in which men andwomen manipulate their partners toget what they want and how andwhy these work, Daily Mail report-ed.Researches from the University of

Western Sydney and SingaporeManagement University afterquizzing 1,500 people for the studyfound the old adage -- treat themmean, keep them keen -- certainlyseems true, especially so for womenwho used the tactics more than men.

According to researchers, that can beexplained by women having more to lose ifthey fall pregnant with a partner who is notcommitted to them, or because men fearthey might lose out if they overplay the tac-tic."Because a woman risks more in her sexu-

al relationships than men do - pregnancycosts - she should want a mate who hashigher value and is unlikely to leave hersaddled with an offspring," the report said.

Among men and women, appearing veryconfident was the top-ranked tactic, fol-lowed by talking to others and third, with-holding sex.

Woman used several tactics more thanmen, including sarcasm, withholding sex,sounding busy, teasing, flirting with otherpeople, using the answerphone and turningdown the first few dates. While men weremore likely to act snooty or rude, saying allthe right things but not calling and not treat-ing their prospective partner in the rightway.

Playing hard to get is tacticto draw good mate

LONDON, Dec 10 (IANS) Researchers,after analyzing brain scans, have figuredout why some people have better insightinto their choices than others.

We're constantly evaluating our optionsand making decisions based on availableinformation. For example, investmentbankers have to be confident that they'remaking the right choice when decidingwhere to put their clients' money.Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre

for Neuroimaging at University CollegeLondon, led by professor Ray Dolan, havepinpointed specific brain areas that computeboth the value of the choices we have andour confidence in those choices, giving usthe ability to know what we want.The team used functional magnetic reso-

nance imaging (fMRI) to measure activityin the brains of hungry volunteers whilethey made choices between food items thatthey would later eat, the journal NatureNeuroscience reports.

To determine the subjective value of thesnack options, the participants were askedto indicate how much they would be willingto pay for each snack. Then they wereasked to report how confident they wereabout making the right choices, accordingto a University College statement.It has previously been shown that a region

at the front of the brain, the ventromedialprefrontal cortex, is important for workingout the value of decision options.The new findings reveal that the level of

activity in this area is also linked to thelevel of confidence participants placed onchoosing the best option.Steve Fleming, Wellcome postdoctoral fel-

low, now based at New York University,says: "We found that people's confidencevaried from decision to decision. While weknew where to look for signals of valuecomputation, it was very interesting to alsoobserve neural signals of confidence in thesame brain region."

Scans reveal why some people make sound choices


A media analysis of 2012 IDC coverage in Ba: Questioningthe questionable media treatment of the event

Thakur Ranjit Singh,Media Relations Limited Auckland

OCTOBER 2012 (Vol 18 (2) of PacificJournalism Review, a journal of PacificMedia Centre (PMC) at AucklandUniversity of Technology (AUT) runs myarticle, titled Fiji’s coup culture 1987-2006:A media perspective. In that article I raisesome pertinent issues relating to action orrather inaction and deficiency in Fiji mediabetween 1987 and 2006 that led to so manycoups to happen in Fiji and so many falseprophets masquerading as a saviours of i-Taukei. I questioned Fiji media’s inabilityto question issues, raise intelligent andinformed discussions and raise knowledgeabout what people needed to know. Ineffect, I branded Fiji media of pre-2006 assleeping on the job, especially The FijiTimes. I raise a rhetoric question; would wehave been able to avoid political instabilityin Fiji if we had more educated, effective,neutral and responsible media?Coincidently, I raise the same issues when

discussing soccer fiasco and the abandonedfinal at Inter-district Soccer Tournament(IDC) at Govind Park in Ba on the night of14th October, 2012. While other lessonsmay be learnt or forgotten, I raise the stan-dard of sports reporting both by Fiji andvisiting overseas media, especially fromNew Zealand. Most media personnel cover-ing IDC in Ba, Fiji over that IDC weekendwere either from Suva or belong to teamsBa have defeated, hence they carry animos-ity or dislike towards the most successfulsoccer giants in Fiji’s history – Ba soccerteam. Posting comments on my Facebook, Icommented that the biggest enemy for BaSoccer Team is its success and popularity.In the finals, Ba appears to have played

against 15 players - 11 from Suva team and

other 4 the match officials, including a con-troversial and questionable referee. Twogoals against Ba were disallowed in thefinal. Nobody questioned those. Why thesemedia people are harping about a decisionthat appeared questionable to the officialsand those watching the game. Fiji has novideo refereeing; hence human factors,likes, dislikes, discrimination, envy andinfallibility do come in. Mai TV’s journalis-tic standard comes into question as wellwhen the commentator and technical teamsover and over played what appeared to be acontroversial last minute goal, taken from afixed camera from only one location.However, Mai TV failed to do the samewith two controversial goals that were NOTawarded to Ba. We seemed to have had anextremely partisan media covering IDC. Itwould help sports immensely if media per-sonnel covering such games, many of whoare not qualified match officials, displayedsome semblance of media neutrality and digdeeper on issues that thwart sports develop-ment in Fiji. I commend Fiji Football Association for

making a rationale and expedient decisionin abandoning the match and summoningthe help of Police and fire brigade in case ofcrowd getting rowdy. Some may see that asan overreaction but thanks to the immediateand effective action and show of force byauthorities that prevented more adventurousspectators from taking advantage of themayhem that was waiting to happen. Hadour police and authorities being that effec-tive and vigilance on that fateful 19th May,2000, perhaps the riots in Suva City andpolitical instability could have been avoidedwhen the police were caught with theirpants down due to ineffective leadershiptwelve years ago. The immediate action andshow of force during the trouble at the

ground bolstered our confidence in thepolice force. At the same time it showedgood effective leadership of FFA to maketimely decision to diffuse a volatile situa-tion. Perhaps this may be a learning curvefor sports in Fiji where perhaps considera-tion may be given to introduce video-refer-eeing in some crucial games or where toomany questions, as in this case, have beenraised about standards of refereeing.While I agree that the referee’s decision is

final and walkout should not be condoned,these should be viewed in proper contextand perspective. The situation had beenmade very explosive, even provocative andfrustrating for Ba fans who see their teamshort-changed in a habitual fashion by anapparently partisan decision -making bymatch officials. This had left Ba fans veryfrustrated. Apart from two goals notallowed in the final match, there were otherquestionable decisions against Ba, andmedia never came on board to questionsuch supposed injustice that was damagingsports development in Fiji. In light of general standard of media in Fiji

and ethnic media in NZ, this IDC alsorevealed lack of media’s ability to grasp thetechnicalities of the game, question anyanomalies and report constructively withouttaking sides, to improve the standard of thegame. They should have raised issues aboutstandard of refereeing and resulting frustra-tion that resulted in the "hated" team walk-ing off the field in the final. They may haveinfluenced improvements and avoidedabandonment had they been more question-ing from day one. Were the media impartialand neutral with a view of reporting anom-alies to improve the standard of refereeing?I believe not, as the reporters came withtheir blinkered and partisan view of teamsthey supported, or the team (s) they hated.

Did they question other questionable deci-sions of the referee and match officials toprevent the situation that escalated? Whywere so many goals by very popular andenvied team Ba disallowed in so manycases?If one thing this IDC match reflected is the

inefficiency and failure of the local andoverseas media to be neutral and question-ing. Journalistic standards went down Bariver, they all became armchair critics with-out much knowledge of the technicalitiesinvolved and became little Gods. So howcan they question decision, many timeswithout the full knowledge of ALL facts?They just shoot off their mouths and shootthe photos without full facts. In sports, apicture can lie, if the other factors linked tothe picture are not taken account of. A ballin goal may not be a goal if it was taken inoffside situations. Ba had some three suchgoals disallowed. We do not have journal-ists parading those photos. How come somemedia are showing photos of a disputedgoal in the final, telling us to believe it wasa LEGAL goal, without full facts, and con-fusion it may have been an offside?In the past, Fiji democracy has been let

down by a partisan, uneducated, poorlytrained and inefficient media. Same seemsto apply to their game coverage of IDC soc-cer tournament at Goving Park in October,2012.

[E-mail: [email protected]](About the author: Thakur Ranjit Singh is an indepen-dent media commentator and heads Media RelationsLimited, a communications and media promotionscompany. While he hails from Ba, his analysis wasmore to prompt media to assert a responsible and neu-tral role in sports reporting that develops sportingstandards in Fiji. His other writings, views andthoughts are available on his blogsite FIJI PUNDITat www.fijipundit.blogspot.co.nz

River Saraswati: where lies the mysteryFrom Dhaval VyasAhmedabad. India

Continued from last issue...

IN a book "Sarasvati: Legend orHistory" has described the find indetails. The demise of theSaraswati, was near fatal to thepeople and civilization thriving onthe banks of the river. The scarcityof water forced the people tomigrate. Saraswati-Sindhu civi-lization did not vanish but therewas shift of population after theeconomy around the river col-lapsed. The civilization moved tothe east to the Ganga YamunaPlains, west northwest and southto Godavari plains. The Mittaniand the kassites are probably theSaraswati civilization of west .They also worship vedic gods.At lothal site a huge dock capableof handling ocean going and rivernavigable ships have been exca-vated. Also dough nut shapedanchors have been found at thissite and other sites indicatinginternal and external maritimetrade and also that rivers wereused to navigate large ships to andfrom sea. Therefore the river used for this

purpose have to be huge andshould be perennial and shouldhave the capacity to displace ahuge quantity of water. Saraswati was a similar type of

river. This river was more thanseven kilometer wide.

In 1980 the palaeo channels ofSaraswati was discovered byProfessor Yashpal using landsatimagery.

In 1996 professor Valdiya tracedthe course of river Saraswati fromwest garhwal in the Himalayas tothe Gulf of Khambat in Gujaratusing Hydro-geological studies.These two sources come to the

same conclusion regarding thecourse of this mighty river.According to this the riverSaraswati followed the course ofthe modern rivers Ghaggar, Hakraand Nara where most of the IVCsites are located. In 1997Hindustan times dated Feb 17 car-ried the research result of Dr S.M.Rao and Dr.K.M.Kulkarni ofBhaba Atomic Research Center.They tracked the course of the oldSaraswati from its source in theHimalayas and its flow throughRajastan Bhawalpur and Sindh tothe Rann of Kutch in Gujarat byusing the same lands at imagery. They undertook what is known as

isotope hydrology study whereinusing low levels of Tritium, whichis a naturally occurring radioactiveisotope they collected evidence toprove that waters trapped in theunderground channels below theancient course of the riverSaraswati belonged to that riveritself. Times Of India dated02.05.2001 carried an articleregarding the research which hasbeen on the past so many yearsroughly 15 years ago. The concert-ed efforts of about 200 scientistsbrought back this legendary riverto life. Reality. Rig Vedic riverSaraswati "ambitame, naditamedevitame saraswati" was no cockand bull story but a ground reality.This river originated from Har-ki-dhun Glacier in the west Garhwal,Bandarpunch massifs in theHimalayas along with riverYamuna. The two rivers flowedparallel for some distance laterjoined together and then proceed-ed south as the vedic mighty riverSaraswati. Seasonal rivers andrivulets including Ghaggar, joinedSaraswati as it followed the courseof the present river Ghaggarthrough modern Punjab andHaryana. The Sutlej and theShatdru, another vedic river,

joined Saraswati as a tributary atshatrana approximately 25 kilome-ters south of patiala. Saraswatithen followed the course of theGhaggar through Rajasthan andHakra in Bhawalpur before empty-ing into the Rann of Kutch ViaNara in the Sindh province run-ning parallel to the Indus river.Therefore this river which carriedthe waters of three perennial riversand numerous seasonal rivers wasa mighty river indeed "naditame"which means 'the greatest river'.The river, which had originated

from Kapal tirith in the Himalayasin the west of Kailash, was flow-ing southward to Mansarovar andthen taking a turn towards west.Even today the Saraswati flowsfrom the south of Mana [ NearBadrinath, Himalayas ], passwhich meets river Alaknanda, 3km away in the south of Mana vil-lage.Missing of a prominent river from

the map is not a mystery; it isquite natural as the natural phe-nomena evolve through environ-mental changes. A part of the riverSaraswati till now exists asGhaggar in Haryana, the rest of ithas disappeared in the fringes ofthe Marusthali or the Thar Desert.Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,Mumbai has made a breakthroughin its research for the existenceand probable location of the myth-ical Saraswati river. The RajasthanGround Water Department under-took the task to ‘unearth’ the riverwith the collaboration of BARCand Physical Research Laboratory,Ahmedabad (a wing of ISRO) in1998. If the effort is successful,the people living in the desert beltof Rajasthan will be hopefullysupplied more than 3500 year oldwater derived from palaeo-chan-nels, believed to be the mythicalSaraswati.

Prayers, peacefulmarches for TibetDHARAMSALA, Dec 8 (IANS)From prayers to peaceful march-es to appeals to the UnitedNations (UN), a number ofevents have been lined up by theCentral Tibetan Administration(CTA) to express solidarity withthe self-immolators in Tibet, anofficial said on Saturday 8December.

The CTA, the democraticallyelected government of Tibetansbased in Dharamsala, has urgedTibetans living in exile and theirsympathisers worldwide to gar-ner support for internationalintervention in the ongoing crisisin Tibet."A special prayer service will be

held in the morning of Dec 10 atthe hilltop Tsuglagkhang templein Dharamsala," CTA spokesper-son Lobsang Choedak toldIANS.He said Tibetan spiritual leader,

the Dalai Lama and democrati-cally elected leader LobsangSangay, would preside over func-tions in Mundgod in Karnataka,another Tibetan settlement Dec10, observed as World HumanRights Day.Ninety-two people have report-

edly killed themselves sinceMarch 2011 in a string of self-immolations in Tibet to press forthe return of the Dalai Lama andthe restoration of freedom toTibet, claims the CTA.

To apprise the internationalcommunity about the tense situa-tion prevailing in Tibet, the sec-ond leg of the "Flame of Truth"global torch relay is currentlytouring North America, Europe,Southeast Asia, Africa andAustralia.CTA officials said after passing

through more than 30 countries,

the torch relay would culminateat three UN locations: Geneva,New Delhi and the US."The torch relay would end with

the submission of appeal lettersand signatures simultaneously tothe UN to send an independentinternational fact-finding delega-tion to Tibet," an official said.

Meanwhile, 374,690 peoplehave joined the solidarity withTibet online campaign (www.sol-idaritywithtibet.org) launched bySangay.A video on self-immolations hasalso been viewed by over 10,000people within two days of itslaunch, a CTA statement said.The six-minute video explains

the reasons behind the ongoingwave of fiery protests.

Concerned over self-immola-tions, the US urged China Dec 6to address its policies that arepushing Tibetans to immolatethemselves.It also asked China to engage in

a dialogue with the Dalai Lamaor his representatives withoutpreconditions.

"The US is deeply concernedand saddened by the continuingviolence in Tibetan areas ofChina and the increasing fre-quency of self-immolations byTibetans," special coordinator forTibetan issues Maria Otero said.Meanwhile, a sombre mood is

prevailing over the entire localityof Dharamsala's suburb ofMcLeodganj over self-immola-tions.

Streets are lined with bannersand posters depicting pho-tographs of those who have sac-rificed their lives in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has lived inIndia since fleeing his homelandin 1959.


Courtesy Imaam Nawaaz

ALL praise is to Allah, the Exalted who hasgiven us life, enabled us to spend the month ofMuharram in peace and to witness the newmoon of the month of Safar with health andiman (faith).

Following the sacred month of Muharram,Safar is the second month of the Islamic or thelunar calendar. However, it is a month that isgreeted with caution and fear in many circles ofour Muslim ummah (community). It is consid-ered a month of bad omens, bad luck and hasbeen linked with many superstitions.One wonders why Safar has been singled out so

in this manner? We all know that our deen ofIslam is a practical way of life. Superstition andbelief in irrational omens does not fit in with theway of life defined by Allah and our Prophet(SAW). A quick look at history clears up notonly the root causes behind many superstitionsbut also clears many misconceptions that peoplemay have regarding the month of Safar.A Glance at the History Behind the Month ofSafarThe Arabs were a warring nation. Small argu-ments and disputes would turn into feuds andwars that lasted not only for years, but some-times spanned over even generations. However,even in the days of jahiliyya (Pre-Islamic igno-rance), the Arabs observed the sacred months ofRajab, Dhul Q’ada, Dhul Hijja, and Muharram,wherein there was a ban on fighting and battles.However, as soon as the month of Muharramwould end, the Arabs would resume their feudsand the men would proceed to settle scores withtheir rivals, thus leaving their houses empty,while they headed out to battles or skirmishes.Hence, the month of Safar derives its name fromthis event of Safar-al-Makaan (or empty hous-es). The literal meaning of the word ‘safar ‘ isempty or vacant.Another opinion holds that fighting the enemiesand leaving them empty handed after takingaway their possessions, may have been anotherreason for the name Safar (Sifran-min-Almata’)– i.e. they would leave their enemies’ coiffeursempty and take all their belongings away.(Reference: Lisan Al-‘Arab)Famous muhaddith (writers of hadith) and his-

torian Sakhawi states in his book, Al Mashoor FiAsma-il Ayam Walshahoor that due to thisresumption of killings and fighting in the monthof Safar, many people started regarding it as amonth of ill-fate and bad luck.Sadly, history has revealed that man has never

been able to accept what he has done himself asthe cause for his own unhappiness, and insteadhas always blamed others for his misfortune.Safar was no exception. Instead of realizing thatthey themselves were responsible for the loot-ings and killings in Safar, the Arabs blamed themonth itself to be that of misfortune and despair.The Truth about SuperstitionsAllah tells us in the Qur’an that every person isresponsible for what happens to him:And [for] every person We have imposed hisfate upon his neck, and We will produce for himon the Day of Resurrection a record which hewill encounter spread open. [Al-Qur'an-]No person, animal or object, nor day, month or

year can cause harm to anyone. All such super-stitions and beliefs have no basis in Islam whatso ever. How can any particular day or month beunlucky or be a portent of bad omens when infact months and years are formed by the alterna-

tion of days and nights which Allah hasappointed for our convenience and to help usorganize ourselves?“And We have made the night and day two

signs, and We erased the sign of the night andmade the sign of the day visible that you mayseek bounty from your Lord and may know thenumber of years and the account [of time]. Andeverything We have set out in detail.”[Al-Qur'an-Surah Al-Isra (The Night Journey): 12]Considering any time, hour, day, month or year

to be ‘unlucky’ is also disliked as Allah theExalted says: “ The son of Adam hurts me for heabuses Time though I am Time: in My Hands areall things, and I cause the revolution of day andnight.” (Sahih Bukhari)The Prophet (SAW) also negated all supersti-

tions and beliefs of the period of jahiliyah (Pre-Islamic Ignorance) concerning the month ofSafar.Abu Hurayrah (RA) narrates that the Messengerof Allah (SAW) said: “(There is) no ‘Adwa(contagious disease conveyed without Allah’spermission), nor is there any bad omen (frombirds), nor is there any Haamah, nor is thereany (bad omen in the month of) Safar… ” (SahihBukhari and Muslim).Superstitions Regarding Safar Existing inSociety Today!Although the Prophet (SAW) negated the super-stitions the Arabs had associated with Safar inhis time, unfortunately those sentiments havecrept back into our society. Some of these super-stitions are:1. This month is full of misfortune and calami-ties and one must recite Surah Muzammil 313times in order to be saved from them.2. To commence any important venture, busi-ness etc. during this month will bring bad luck.One must instead make 365 balls of flour andtoss them into the sea or rivers in order tocounter bad omens and to increase rizq (provi-sion).3. The first to the thirteenth of Safar are days ofill-fortune and evil.4. The person who distributes food or money onthe 13th of Safar will be saved from its ill-for-tune.5. The last Wednesday of Safar should be cele-brated and regarded as a holiday due to theincorrect belief that the Prophet (SAW) recov-ered from his illness on this day. 6. Unfortunately, recourse into history revealsthat it was in the latter days of Safar that the 7. Prophet (SAW) fell ill, and this was the sameillness that became the cause of his death.8. A nikah (marriage) performed in this monthwould not be successful. Again, history revealsto us that Ali (RA) married Fatima (RA) in thelatter days of Safar. Would the Prophet (SAW)have allowed the marriage of his beloved daugh-ter in a month which could have brought badluck?What We Should Do in the Month of Safar!Although specific ibadaat (acts of worship) forcertain months of the Islamic calendar havebeen defined for us, there is no such specialinstruction given regarding the month of Safar.However, we must realize that every minutegiven to us on Earth is a blessing in which wecan gain Allah ’s Pleasure and amass good deedsfor our hereafter. Whether it is the month ofSafar or any other, we must do our utmost to doas many good deeds as we possibly can.Due to the association of Safar with supersti-

tions, we as Muslims, should also make it a

point to shun all superstitions that we comeacross and direct others to do so too. We shouldshun all superstitions not only regarding themonth of Safar but also otherwise. We mustunderstand that all conditions which befalls us,good or bad, favourable, or unfavourable arefrom Allah as a result of our actions as proven inthe ayah mentioned above). Allah says in theQur’an:“And whatever strikes you of disaster – it is for

what your hands have earned; but He pardonsmuch.”[Al-Qur'an - Surah Ash-Shuraa (TheConsultation):30]We must remember that the most unfortunate

person is actually he who disobeys Allah com-mandments such as one who does not performthe five daily salawaat (prayers), not someonewho has his path crossed by a black cat or onewho weds in the month of Safar. We must notlet unimportant and baseless matters of supersti-tions occupy us so much that we forget to dowhat Allah has commanded us. Rather, weshould remember to keep things in perspectiveand follow and believe only that which has beenrevealed by Allah and taught by our Prophet, inorder to gain success in this world and the next.May Allah grant us the courage and fortitude to

follow His commands and to follow the guid-ance given by his Prophet (saw). Ameen!Marriage of Bibi Fatimah (RA.) and HazratAli (R.A.) Many of us have probably placed ourselves andeven others in difficult conditions and unneces-sary expenses only to pass through the regularroutines of life. Interestingly enough if we thinkclearly, many of these hardships we put our-selves through are rootless, and derive only froman unnecessary norm and culture that havefound its way into society affecting our liveseither willingly or unwillingly.During the era of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.)

there lived a rich man by the name of Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (RA), whom as the custom ofthe pre-Islamic era believed a large dowry (1) topresent a woman's value and her husband's supe-riority in society. Abd al-Rahman visited theProphet(S) and said, "If you give Fatimah's handin marriage to me, I will put as her dowry a hun-dred camels covered with expensive Egyptiancloth followed by a thousand gold Dinars!!(2)"Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) asked, "Do you

think I am the servant of wealth and money thatyou try to impress me with these things?"Other than Abd al-Rahman, there were many

other men from the companions of the HolyProphet who would ask Hadrat Fatimah's (ra.)hand in marriage for reasons ranging from herwell-known virtues to her relation to the Prophetand a noble family. However, all suitors wererefused for as the Holy Prophet had said, HadratFatimah's (ra.) marriage had been decreed byAllah (3). And alas with the descent of the angelof revelation, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) hadbeen commanded to marry Hadrat Fatimah toAli ibn Abi Talib (ra.) (4).Although it is true this marriage is a divine mar-riage, however Hadrat Fatimah's (ra.) characterand in general women rights in Islam for choos-ing their own husbands provided that ProphetMuhammad (S.A.W.) not proceed to this actwithout having his daughter's word in this mat-ter. When Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) dis-cussed Ali ibn Abi Talib's (ra.) proposal to her,he clearly explained his characteristics. Ali ibnAbi Talib (ra.), a man whose worldly goods and

wealth were to the least, and who did not meetthe criteria for marriage that the pre-Islamic erarequired of him, had however a character thatwas full of faith and religious virtues. This time,unlike the previous cases Hadrat Fatimah (ra.)agreed. Once Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) sawHadrat Fatimah's (ra.) agreement in marriage, heasked Imam Ali (ra.)if he has anything to placeas his wife's dowry.Imam Ali (ra.) replied, "May my parents be sac-

rificed for you, you are well aware that mybelongings are nothing more than a sword, ashield, and a camel."The Holy Prophet, who believed a small dowry

to increase a woman's value as opposed to alarge one (5), replied, "You are correct. You willneed your sword for battles with the enemies.And with your camel you must water the palmtrees and travel with it on your trips. Thus youcan only give your shield as her dowry."The Holy Prophet ordered to sell Imam Ali's

(ra.) shield. He divided its money into three sec-tions. He gave a part of it to Bilal (ra) to pur-chase a decent perfume, and he spent the other two to purchase some household items andclothes for Hadrat Fatimah (ra.). Obviously withthe money from the shield the material thatcould be bought were very cheap and simple!(6)

Hadrat Fatimah's (ra.) simple dowry and itsusage for purchasing necessities of the home canbe the biggest lesson for decreasing our expens-es and remaining satisfied with what we arecapable of purchasing.A marriage so divine, yet so simple? What are

its criteria? Where then can virtues be found?And amidst all these, how should we act? Let usbe the judge.“What comes to you of good is from Allah, but

what comes to you of evil, [O man], is fromyourself. And We have sent you, [OMuhammad], to the people as a messenger, andsufficient is Allah as Witness.”[Al-Qur'an-Surat An-Nisa' (the Women): 79]Footnotes :1- Dowry, also known as Sidaq refers to awealth that a husband offers his wife as a gift toshow his true intention. He can also choose toaccept the option of offering this dowry themoment his wife asks for it. The issue of dowrycan also be seen in other religions and cultures.However, the way it has been defined in Islamhas some differences.2- The basic unit of money in the time of theHoly Prophet (S.A.W.).3- Kashf al-Ghummah, vol. 1, chapter on mar-riage of the master of women of the two worlds.4- Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.)has said inthis regards, an angel came to me from Allah(SWT) and said, "The Lord sends his greetingsunto you and has said, I have wedded yourdaughter Fatimah in the heavens to Ali ibn Abitalib; you too therefore wed her to Ali!"5- Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 14, p.2166- History has recorded the material that werepurchased with the money consisted of the fol-lowing items: a large scarf for four Dirham,material for a dress for seven Dirham, a bedmade of wood and leaves from a date palm, fourpillows made from sheep skin and filled withleaves from an aromatic plant, a woolen curtain,a small mat, one hand mill, a leathern sac forwater, one copper flatwash, a container for milk-ing the cow, and a pitcher made from clay.

The Month of SAFAR - AL - MUZAFFAR

Can Muslims celebrate Christmas???Question: During the Christmas season, Christians all over thecountry illuminate their houses with lights, put up Christmastrees, and exchange gifts. TV is full of jingle bells and all thestores are decorated for Christmas. All this is very tempting tosmall children; children love putting up lights and decorating forholidays. Some Muslim families also put up Christmas trees and lights to

keep their children happy. They argue that Christmas is, after all,Prophet Jesus' birthday and there is no harm in celebratingChristmas as long as children are happy. When our children started talking a few years back they started

asking why we do not put up lights and trees during Christmas, itwas explained to them that we are Muslims and we don’t cele-brate Christmas; we celebrate Èids.(eid -ul-fitr, eid-ul-adha, eid-e-meelaad ) To keep our children happy and to get them excitedabout Èids, we started putting up lights (green and white) aroundthe house and decorating inside the house during Ramadan untilafter Èidul-Fitr and during Èidul-Adha as well as for the eid-e-meelaad. We exchange gifts with our Muslims friends on theseÈids. Alhamdulillah, our children now wait for Èid, not forChristmas. What is the Islamic position on these issues? Can we celebrate

Christmas? Is it OK to put up lights during Ramadan and Èid?

Answer: In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings beupon His Messenger, Muhammad (saw). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Every peo-ple have their Èid…" Some celebrations are of a religious nature,and some others are social and cultural. Some celebrations arebased on beliefs and practices that are contrary to Islamic teach-ings, and some celebrations are not of that nature. Some peopleclaim that Christmas is now a secular holiday and it is very muchan international holiday rather than a religious holiday. But it is

wrong to assume that because this holiday is national and inter-national, it has ceased to be Christian. It is true that this holidayis very popular and it is extremely commercialized; neverthelessit is basically a religious holiday. It's very name and all its sym-bolism is Christian through and through. Christians celebrate at Christmas what they believe to be the "day

of the birth of God's Son" or what they call "God Incarnate".Thus it is not only a celebration of another religion, it is alsoa celebration that is based on a belief that is totally against theteachings of Islam. From the Islamic point of view, the belief inthe "Son of God" or "God in the flesh" is a blasphemy and kufr(denial of God's Oneness). By participation in Christmas, it ispossible that slowly one may lose his or her consciousness of thisbasic point of difference. Muslims must be very careful in thismatter. The greatest danger is for our next generation, who mayslowly lose their Islamic faith in tawhid and may start believingin Jesus as "more than a prophet and servant of Allah". The argument that “Christmas is, after all, Prophet Jesus' birth-

day and so there is no harm in celebrating Christmas” is neitherlogical nor Islamic. Why should Muslims celebrate Jesus' birth-day? For us Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be uponhim) is the final Prophet and Messenger of Allah, not Jesus.Christians believe that Jesus was the last one and they say that"after God spoke through many prophets … in these last days hespoke to us through his son whom he made to inherit everything"(New Testament, Hebrews 1:1). Thus they celebrate his coming,but for us Muslims, Prophet Muhammad was the last Prophet andAllah appointed him for all people and for all times to come. TheProphet Muhammad (saw)'s birth is celebrated as an appreciationto Allah for this great Na'mah of him being the Mercy of Allah.Maulood is not celebrated like Christmas!!! We do agree that our little children are deeply affected with the

festivities and glitter of this holiday. We should try to take themto some Islamic camps and conferences at this time and give themsome other alternate programs and activities. But Muslim familiesshould not have Christmas trees in their homes, nor should they

put up lights inside or outside their homes at this time. We shouldtell our children that we are Muslims and this is not our holiday. This is the holiday of our Christian neighbors and friends. We

may give greetings to our Christian friends and neighbors on theirholiday, but we should not make it our own holiday. It is pleasing to know that you celebrate Ramadan and Èids with

lights and decoration of your home and exchange gifts with yourchildren. This is very thoughtful, indeed. It is good to decorateour homes and masjids during Ramadan and for Èids. It is men-tioned in one of the Hadiths that even the heaven is especiallydecorated during the month of Ramadan. Allah Almighty closesthe gates of Hell and opens the gates of Paradise during the monthof Ramadan. We Muslims should give special attention to ourown Islamic holidays. In this way our children will be attracted toour own celebrations rather than looking at others. Unfortunately, there are some Muslims who do not pay any atten-

tion to Ramadan and Èid. Some of them do not even come toÈid prayers and even if they come, they do not take their day offfrom work. Thus their children have no idea about Islamic holi-days or they think that Islam is a religion without any festivalsand celebrations.” Explaining the reasons why Muslims don’t celebrate and believe

in Christmas, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamicscholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada,states:

“Christmas was a pagan custom which was adopted intoChristianity; it has nothing to do with reverence and love of Jesus,the mighty Messenger of Allah that we Muslims hold in the high-est regard and respect. If Jesus were to come today, whether ornot he would identify himself with those who celebrate Christmasis a question one should ask seriously.

If we are celebrating the great teachings of Jesus or otherprophets, we must do so everyday. To do so means to practicelove, mercy, justice and compassion and to be actively engaged indoing the will of God.” Allah Almighty knows best.


DEAR reader, as welook forward to thisChristmas, let us onceagain focus our attentiontowards the real messageof Christmas. God had amessage that He wantedto communicate to us.Christmas is all about the message fromGod and the coming of our Saviour. Afterthe birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the angelsaid to the frightened shepherds "Do not beafraid, for behold, I bring you good tidingsof great joy, which will be to all people. Forthere is born to you this day in the city ofDavid a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord."This was God's message of deliverance,God's plan to act and save mankind throughJesus, who is the way, the truth and life.They were to name the baby Jesus, which

means God saves or God is our saviour.This was God's plan to save mankind fromdisaster or death (eternal separation fromGod). That is God has met at our level offaith, our level of understanding about God,our level of knowledge about God. God isbringing His presence into the world in awhole new way. That the God of theUniverse would experience human life as ahuman being. Jesus saw things throughhuman eyes, He heard things through

human ears. Jesus feltthe pain, sorrow andstruggle as a humanbeing and experiencedtemptation as a humanbeing. He even tastedfood with a humanmouth. This may seem

rather insignificant, but this was God's wayof experiencing life on our level.God knows when we hurt, and are in pain.

He understands when we lose a loved one,when we are let down or betrayed. Jesusknows what it is like to go through physicalpain. Emmanuel means we have a God whounderstands us because He has gonethrough the realities of life.The message of Christmas is Jesus coming

down to our level and to lead us back into aright relationship with God .Jesus forgaveus all our wrongdoing (sin) which only Godcan do and now is always with us theGreatest GIFT to all of mankind, that wecan receive Him with all joy and gladnessby making Jesus our Lord and our Saviour,the true message of Christmas.

A very happy and blessed Christmas &New year to all. Blessings Ps Joseph

Pastor Joseph Dass

The message of Christmas…

“OM” Name is the religioussymbol of the Hindus. But it is omnipresentin almost all the major cultures of ourworld. Another way of saying Om is Aum. Aum isthe sound of the infinite. Aum is said to bethe essence of all mantras and Vedas, thehighest of all mantras or divine word. Bysound and form, AUM symbolizes the infi-nite Brahman and the entire universe. A stands for Creation.U stands for Preservation. And finally M stands for Destruction or

dissolution.The three portions of AUM relate to the

states of waking, dream and deep sleep andthe three guans (rajas, satva, tamas). Thethree letters also indicate three planes ofexistence, heaven, earth and the nether-world. AUM can represent all the wordsproduced by the human vocal organ. A isproduced by the throat, U & M by the lips.In the Vedas, AUM is the sound of the Sun,the sound of Light. It is the sound of assent.It has an upward movement and uplifts thesoul, as the sound of the divine eagle or fal-con.

The pronunciation of theword "OM" is supposedto symbolize the totalityof all sounds as itincludes all other soundsthat humans can utter.This idea of totality also

exists in the English word "Omnipresent"that includes OM as its prefix. We also havewords like Omnipotent and Omniscient, allof which have the concept of totality intheir meanings. The ancient Greek alphabet had Omega as

its last letter. Omega written in the lowercase of the Greek alphabet, if turned to itsside, looks quite similar to the Sanskrit wayof writing Om. It is from the Greek alpha-bet "Omega" that we have the Englishphrase "the alpha and Omega", whichmeans, "to include everything". It is saidthat the word Om has been used to makeother words. Om is a well-known symbol toIndians all over the world. Almost everyIndian household owns some sort of Omsymbol. The way I was taught Om is a sym-bol of God.

Jitendra DeoPresident

Arya Pratinidhi Sabhaof Qld Inc

The meaningof "Om"

Please contact Jitendra Deo 3263 1914 orHari Chand 3345 4716 for information on

activities of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha ofQueensland or visit:

www.aryasamajqueensland.com

NOWADAYS meditation is widely advisedas a practice that helps quieten the mind,relieve it from stress, achieve higher levelsof concentration or relaxation, etc.

In this article we will see the differencesbetween meditation and chanting, whymeditation is difficult to achieve in today’stimes and why chanting is of greater valueto those seeking spiritual growth.In this article we use the term ‘meditation’

to refer to the thoughtless state. This state isexperienced after intense practice. Chantingis the repetition of God’s Name.Comparison of meditation and chantingThe table above shows why in the currentera chanting is more beneficial than medita-tion.Practical benefits of chanting comparedto meditationFollowing are some of the practical benefitsof chanting compared to meditation.Uninterrupted spiritual practice: In med-itation we need to sit in a specific posture.Consequently, if we suffer from backachesitting in that position can become difficult.Chanting is not bound by these restrictions.In addition, the time required to go into ameditative state when practicing meditationis not required in chanting.Continuity of spiritual practice:Meditation cannot be done continuously forthe entire day, but chanting can occur con-tinuously. Reduction in likes and dislikes: We canchant while eating. When our mind getsabsorbed in chanting, we tend to forgetwhat we are eating and this helps us inreducing our likes and dislikes. If we keep

chanting whiledoing everyactivity, thenall impressionsare graduallyreduced. Thisdoes not occurwhen we prac-tice meditation.

The ego isstronger andharder to over-

come through meditation for several rea-sons:* It is not easy to achieve communion withthe God principle during meditation, as theidea and experience that one is in fact sep-arate from God remains strong. The feelingthat “I am separate from God” is ego.* It is easy to have thoughts such as “I ammeditating”, “I am going into meditation”which not only increase the awareness ofoneself, mind and body, but also can lead tothoughts of being special and unique, thusincreasing ego.* While chanting, one is significantly moreaware of God. The awareness that we arechanting only due to God's grace is alsoexperienced. As a result, the ego of doingspiritual practice does not develop and infact undergoes dissolution.Completeness in spiritual practice:Chanting can be done during any and everyactivity, which means other aspects of spir-itual practice can occur simultaneously. Forexample, one can make efforts to developspiritual emotion, study our personalitydefects and ego and make efforts to reducethem, and so on. This is important becauseby and large we need to undertake spiritualpractice while fulfilling responsibilitiessuch as looking after our homes, children,profession, etc.Conclusion – meditation and chantingNowadays many people practice meditationas a psychological self-improvement tech-nique rather than a tool for spiritual growth.Due to this, the benefits derived from suchmeditation are also at a psychological level.Based on the above comparison, for spiri-

tual growth in today’s era chanting is ofgreater value.

If you are already practising meditationwith the intention of achieving spiritualgrowth, we recommend you complement itwith the spiritual practice of chanting. You can read more about this article on

http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/chanting-meditationYou can e-mail us your comments and

queries at [email protected]

Chanting and Meditation – the Difference

Submitted by Sundar Gopal Das

SRI Gita Jayanti falls on December 24th. Onthis day, about 5100 years ago, Sri Krishnaspoke Srimad Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna in thebattlefield of Kuruksetra.The Gita is the essence of Vedic knowledge

and forms the foundation for the other scrip-tures such as Srimad Bhagavatam andRamayana. Srimad Bhagavad Gita consists of18 chapters; chapters 25 to 42 of the Bhismaparva of the great epic Sri Mahabharata. Inthe Gita, Sri Krishna clears Arjuna’s manydoubts. These doubts are in fact universal andusing Arjuna as a medium, Sri Krishna isactually clearing many of our doubts.

The purpose of the Gita is to delivermankind from repeated cycle of birth anddeath. It speaks about the nature of the soul,the material nature, and the Supreme Lord.The Gita teaches how one can attain thesupreme abode and the Supreme Lord andattain eternal peace and happiness.Whilst we can achieve some peace and hap-

piness in this world, it is not eternal or last-ing. The spiritual world, Sri Krishna explains“that abode is eternal, is transcendental andnever annihilated. That place from which,having attained it, one never returns to thismaterial world.” That eternal abode has been

described as a place of eternal bliss whereone is always engaging in a loving relation-ship with the Lord.Sri Krishna explains how one can attain that

abode “Whatever state of being one remem-bers when he quits his body, he will attainthat.” So we can reach the spiritual world orthe kingdom of God if we can remember theLord at the time of death. However we canonly do this by remembering the Lordthroughout our life.While many methods have been explained in

the Gita, Sri Krishna explains that devotionalservice, bhakti yoga, is the easiest, direct andmost practical way of remembering him “Onecan understand the Lord only by devotionalservice. And when one is in full conscious-ness of the Lord by such devotion, he canenter into the kingdom of God.” The natureof pure devotional service is that it does nothave any other desires except to bring happi-ness to the Lord, it is causeless and uninter-rupted.Sri Krishna explains the process of becoming

free from the reactions of karma “One whoperforms his duties without attachment, sur-rendering the results unto the Supreme Lord,is unaffected by sinful action. You shouldalways think of the Lord, and at the sametime carry out your prescribed duties. In thisway you will be freed from bondage to workand its auspicious and inauspicious results.With your activities dedicated to the Lord and

your mind and intelligence fixed on Lord,you will attain the Lord without doubt.”

Sri Krishna promises “Those who alwaysworship Me with exclusive devotion, medi-tating on My transcendental form—to them Icarry what they lack, and I preserve whatthey have. I envy no one, nor am I partial toanyone. I am equal to all. But whoever ren-ders service unto Me in devotion is a friend,is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.Though engaged in all kinds of activities,they are under My protection and reach theeternal and imperishable abode by Mygrace.”In the end Sri Krishna declares “In all activ-

ities just depend upon Me and work alwaysunder My protection. In such devotional ser-vice, be fully conscious of Me. If you becomeconscious of Me, you will pass over all theobstacles of conditioned life by My grace.Always think of Me, become My devotee,worship Me and offer your homage unto Me.

I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions.You will attain transcendental peace and youwill come to Me without fail.”The Bhagavad Gita can be read at any time

and under any condition. Even reading averse or a part of a verse daily gives greatbenefit. Mahatma Gandhi has said “Whendoubts haunt me, when disappointments stareme in the face, and I see not one ray of hopeon the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita andfind a verse to comfort me; and I immediate-ly begin to smile in the midst of overwhelm-ing sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gitawill derive fresh joy and new meanings fromit every day.”From the Brisbane Bhakti Yoga Centre, we

wish everyone a happy and safe Christmasand may the new year bring happiness andjoy to all.

Any comments or questions, please contactus at [email protected].

Gita Jayanti 2012

www.indiantimes.com.au THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 - 31Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

By Nimisha of HetviHair & Beauty

(Mobile 0412 350 013)

HERBAL hair oil is aconcentration of herbalextracts that penetratedeep into the scalp andnourishes hair roots.The idea is to treat, con-dition, revitalize and pro-mote hair growth.Coconut oil + curryleaves recipeTake some fresh curryleaves and grind theleaves into paste. Usetwo tea spoons of curryleaf paste, then pour halfcup of oil, preferablycoconut oil into a pan orpot. Start to heat the oil in a low flame.After two minutes add the curry leaf pasteinto the oil. After some time when the oilgets heated you will see fumes coming fromthe oil. Watch when the green colour of thepaste starts to become dark just switch offthe flame. Allow the oil to cool. Then filterthe oil and pour it into a glass bottle.When you want to use the oil just take

enough oil into a heating pan and heat it.Just heat it minimum enough to apply onhair. Do not apply oil if it is too hot. Applythroughout your hair from top to end.Massage the scalp and hair well. Wait for10-15 minutes before taking shower.Hibiscus Hair oil RecipeThis is another homemade hair oil recipe. Itis made with hibiscus leaves and flowers.For this you can use the leaves and flowersof this plant. All types of hibiscus can beused. But the plant with thick leaves is bet-ter. The juicy and sticky leaves can givebetter result. This oil will increase thicknessof your hair.Get five Hibiscus flowers and three fresh

leaves. Using grinder crush it. You can get

half cup out of it. Then put this mix into aheating bowl or pan. Add one cup of yourcoconut oil and mix the content well. Heatit in low flame. Now when the fumes startscoming add three leaves of Tulsi. Add fenu-greek and see it pops up. At that timeswitch of the flame. Allow it to cool. Filterthe homemade hibiscus hair oil into a glassbottle.You should massage your hair for at least

7-10 minute. Tulsi Hair Oil RecipeTulsi hair oil is good for itchy scalp, it willalso help you if you have sweaty scalp.First make paste of fresh Tulsi leaves. Nowheat half cup of coconut oil at low flame.Add Tulsi paste into them, steer them thor-oughly. Use Fenugreek to check oil temper-ature as mentioned in above recipe. Allowthe oil to cool. Then filter the oil into bot-tle. For now try these recipes, I will continueon this subject next month. Till thenenjoy silly season.Nimisha

Herbal Hair Oil....

Health Beauty Wellbeing

My Life, My City…discovering ways tomake a better Brisbane

Courtesy Dr Danielle ShanahanPostdoctoral Research Fellow

RESEARCHERS at the University of Queensland and CSIRO are carrying out a jointresearch project to explore how city parks, bushland and other greenspaces influencepeople’s lifestyles and wellbeing. Their goal is to find better ways to plan cities forpeople’s wellbeing as well as for nature conservation.They are calling for Brisbane residents to participate in a 15 minute online survey

called ‘My Life, My City’. You can find the survey here: www.research.net/s/MyLifeMyCity_CS. You will be

helping the researchers discover better ways to plan the city, and if you complete thesurvey by 15 December 2012 you can also go in the draw to win some great prizes!

New drug halves transplant'sdeadly side-effectWASHINGTON, Dec 10 (IANS) A newdrug halves the risk of serious and oftendeadly side-effect of lifesaving bone mar-row transplant treatments, according toa new finding.

The study combined vorinostat withstandard drugs given after transplant,bringing down the percentage of patientsdeveloping graft-versus-host disease(GVHD) to 21, compared to 42 percent ofpatients who did with standard medica-tions alone."GVHD is the most serious complication

from transplant that limits our ability tooffer it more broadly. Current preventionstrategies have remained mostlyunchanged over the past 20 years," saysstudy co-author Sung Choi, assistant pro-fessor of paediatrics at the University ofMichigan Medical School.

GVHD is characterized by the trans-planted stem cells producing immunecells that attack the recipient's body. Thenew immune cells treat the patient's nor-mal cells as foreign invaders and begin to

damage the patient's organs, accordingto a Michigan statement.Vorinostat is currently approved by the

US Food and Drug Administration totreat certain types of cancer. ButMichgian researchers, led by seniorstudy author Pavan Reddy, found in labstudies that the drug had anti-inflamma-tory effects as well.Participants were older adults undergo-

ing a reduced-intensity bone marrowtransplant with cells donated from a rel-ative. They received standard drug usedpost transplant to prevent GVHD. Theyalso received vorinostat as a pill.Researchers found vorinostat was safe

and tolerable with manageable side-effects. Besides, rates of patient deathand cancer relapse among the study par-ticipants were similar to historical aver-ages. The results mirror those found inthe laboratory using mice.

These findings were presented onSunday at the 54th Annual Meeting ofthe American Society of Hematology.


Health Beauty Wellbeing

By Thilliar Varnakulasingham

IN digesting our common food, a greatamount of wind is produced in thebowels. Whether you like or not, youwill produce some gas now and then.Gas is produced when food is brokendown in the digestive tract. It is notsomething abnormal. Everyone releas-es gas. One type is smelly and isreleased quietly. The other type isnoisy but not that smelly. If you eat many eggs and if they are

not properly broken down and digest-ed, you may even release a very smellyand obnoxious gas. The gas is calledhydrogen sulphide. It is colorless. Ithas a rotten egg smell.Some foods produce more gas than

others. Beans and other plants high incarbohydrates are great gas producers.These foods produce more wind (orgas) because they are not entirely bro-ken down during digestion.

When small carbohydrate particlespass into the lower intestine, bacteriamove in and begin to feed on them.They produce a lot of gas. The gas hasto go out. It goes out approximately 14times a day.

Proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals andmedication have the potential to causegas. It is possible to keep the gas undercontrol. There are some culprits.Milk contains milk sugar called lac-

tose. Many adults do not produceenough enzymes to fully digest thesugar in dairy foods. Undigested lac-tose goes into the lower intestine. Itbegins to ferment with the help of bac-teria, causing gas.If you cannot drink two or more glass-

es of milk anymore, you can drinksmall amounts without having to avoidpublic places. It must be borne in mindthat drinking milk with meals is muchless likely to cause gas than having italone.You can buy reduced –lactose milk or

you can take lactose supplements.They supply the enzyme missing in

people with lactose intolerance.People who cannot handle milk can

enjoy live-culture yogurt or live activecultures. Yogurt contains bacteria thatcan digest the lactose for you. Themore help you get with lactose diges-tion, the less likely you are to have gas.

Dietary fibre- insoluble and soluble-is present in plant foods with varyingdegrees of each according to a plant’scharacteristics and it is not present atall in animal foods.

It includes a variety of polysaccha-rides that are not digested or only part-ly digested by human digestiveenzymes while some are partly digest-ed in the large intestine by bacteria.Besides polysaccharides, dietary fibre

contains other plant components suchas cellulose, lignin, waxes, chitins,pectins, beta-glucans, inulin andoligosaccharides.

Besides helping lower the blood cho-lesterol and triglyceride levels, it givesa feeling of fullness. But unfortunatelythey also produce large amounts ofgas. This is especially true in peoplewho have increased the intake of fibrerich foods.Some good sources of dietary fibre are

oats, root vegetables such as potatoesand yams, some fruits such as apples,bananas and berries, certain vegetablessuch as broccoli and carrots, legumessuch as kidney beans, lentils and driedpeas and psyllium seeds. These foodsare health promoting foods, but theydo release considerable quantity of gas.To get the benefits of fibre, it is a goodidea to add it slowly to your diet. Yourbody gets used to the extra roughage.If you do this way, you are less likelyto have a problem with gas.Many people get gas when they eat

cookies or ice cream. They also add fatand calories. Even if you suppress yourcravings by eating sugar- free candiesor chewing gum, you will still get gas.Sugarless gum and candies are gas pro-ducers. Artificial sweeteners help keepyour calorie intake down, but they can

also give large amounts of gas.Honey produced by honeybees, the

genus Apis, from the nectar of flowersis a sweet and viscous fluid without theaddition of other substances other thanwater or other sweeteners.Honey is Mother Nature’s own sweet-

ener. Fructose is found in honey, fruitsand juices. They cause gas. Having l to2 tablespoons of honey is enough tocause gas in some people.Even if you try to eliminate or reduce

certain foods, they sometimes producebubbles anyway. To fight back againstthis nuisance, you can add a pinch ofbaking soda to a glass of water anddrink it down.Baking soda contains sodium hydro-

gen carbonate (sodium bicarbonate)and tartaric acid. It is easily availablein supermarkets. If it works for you it is well and good.

But do not use it frequently. If youhave to go to public places where youhave to mingle with people, then youmay use it. It is good to seek medicaladvice before you take baking soda.You may want to forgo fruit at the endof a meal in a public place. Fruit aftera meal promotes gas because it causesfermentation.People have been fermenting foods for

ages, using yeasts, molds and bacteria.Our ancestors used fermentation tomake foods. Fermentation increasesflavor, medicinal value and nutritionalvalue of foods.

During the process of fermentation,gas is produced. The main gas releasedduring fermentation is carbon dioxide.If you suffer from gas, you can haveyour fruit first thing in the morning orat least an hour or so after a meal.Releasing gas is a natural process. You

should not get upset whenever yourelease gas. It is nature’s way of get-ting rid of an unwanted substance.

Reference: The Doctors Book of FoodRemedies- Selene Yeager and the editors ofPrevention

LONDON Dec 9 (IANS) Cutting down butter andcheese, biscuits, cakes and crisps and going in for low-fat diet could help shed pounds, according to a newresearch.In this way, people can get slimmer in six months

without dieting. The more fat you stop eating, themore weight is lost, says a new research from theUniversity of East Anglia (UEA).The results prove for the first time that weight loss is

possible simply by choosing foods lower in fat despitea plethora of recent publicity extolling the benefits oflow-carbohydrate and no-carb diets, the BritishMedical Journal reported.

Lee Hooper from UEA's Norwich Medical School,who led the study, said the regime led to consistentlower weight for at least seven years."The weight reduction that we found when people ate

less fat was remarkably consistent - we saw it inalmost every trial. Those who cut down more on fat,lost more weight," she said, according to the DailyMail."The effect isn't dramatic, like going on a diet. The

research specifically looked at people who were cuttingdown on fat, but didn't aim to lose weight - so theywere continuing to consume a normal amount offood," added Hooper.The systematic review included results from 33 ran-

domised controlled trials, lasting six months to eightyears, involving 73,589 men, women and children withvarying states of health.

The effect on Body Mass Index (BMI) - a score show-ing whether people are overweight or obese - andwaistline was measured after at least six months. Theresults show that eating less fat reduces body weightby 1.6 kg.

Gas: Eating to stop the wind Stick to healthydiet for weight loss

Courtesy Vinaya Natarajan

I WOULD like to talk about somethingvery simple. I would like to talk about whatyou have, not what you don't have.Somehow, we live in a time, in a society,where the belief that we all have to improveourselves is very prevalent. We have tobecome better. There are seminars, books toread, places to go, all based on the premisethat we have to improve ourselves.There was a gentleman who had a ranch in

Australia. He was very poor. He had to sellmany things just to stay afloat. Then camea time when he couldn't really afford any-thing. Ultimately, he decided that he wasgoing to sell the ranch itself. Things hadbecome so bad for him that his family hadto eat whatever was available in nature, asthere was not enough money to buy food ina store. On one of the very last days beforethe ranch was to be sold, out of frustrationor whatever it was, the man started digging.When he started digging, he found a goldmine.

This gold mine had always been there.Nobody put the gold mine there on the verylast day. He needed to dig, and when hedug, he found something beyond his imagi-nation, something he couldn't comprehend.All the time he had been involved in hisdrama, in his yearning, in his prayers tomake things better, all that he had beenlooking for was right there. It always hadbeen. Digging was the one thing he hadn't done.

Maybe he had prayed and searched andasked his friends for help. He had probablyspent many a night lying sleepless on his

bed, hoping, wishing, "Please, give me bet-ter times. Give me the power to continueon." But nothing happened. There were nosigns, no writing in the sky, nothing.Everything just kept evolving. The dayfinally came when he was going to sell theranch, but with a little bit of digging, all hisprayers and questions were instantlyanswered.I cannot help but feel that each one of us is

exactly like that. We have this ranch of life.It has seen good days and bad days. It hasseen times of prosperity, rain, and bumpercrops and it has seen drought. We, the farm-ers, have spent many a night lying in ourbeds, wishing, hoping, thinking that thegood days will come again, that somehowthings will improve again.This story can take any shape you want.

The farmer can be lying there hoping thatsomehow he will be a better farmer some-thing many people do. They want self-improvement. But all it really takes is to digwithin and find the gold mine. Peculiarlyenough, we have the ambition for self-improvement, but we are not really quali-fied for it because we don't know the self.We get caught in trying to visualize what

the improvement might be, but if we don'trecognize the self, how can we improve it?What has to be discovered and understoodis that all we are looking for is within us. If we have ever desired peace, there is an

infinite mine of peace within every singleone of us. If we have ever desired uncondi-tional love, within every single humanbeing there is an infinite supply. If you haveever desired joy in your life, within you isimmeasurable joy deeper than the ocean.

There is immeasurable joy withinevery human being. This is the reality. Peace and joy

are not new. They have beentalked about again and againthroughout history. This littledrama that we find ourselvescaught in is nothing new. The suf-fering you are trying to run awayfrom, however big or small it maybe, is the same. Generationschange. I know that a hundredyears from now, people will beplaying with gadgets I cannot evenimagine. When the gadget doesn'twork, the frustration will be exact-ly the same as it is today.If what we are trying to run away

from is within us, then what weare trying to run toward is alsowithin us. What we don't want iswithin us, and what we do want is withinus. Understanding of the self is not compli-cated. What it means is the understandingof you by you, not by somebody else.Listen quietly and hear. Hear what your

heart is saying. It is not going to ask you togo to the moon. It is not going to ask you tobuy a new car. Your heart is going to askyou for peace. It is going to ask you to befilled with joy. It is going to say to you, "Dothat which will bring gratitude to metoday." Will today be that day? Can todaybe that day? Shouldn't today be the day Ihave been waiting for in my life?We think we have the luxury of this thing

we call time. We don't understand how littletime we have until we run out of it. Whenwe are not running out of it, we think wehave all of it. When we start running out ofit, we wonder, "What happened?" Nothingnew happened. This has been happening toeveryone. When our thirst becomes so clear

that we are no longer involved in luxuries,it becomes simple. We don't even need tospeak the language to ask for water. There comes a time when thirst becomes

so great that the need for water super-sedes all barriers. It is clear. It is like flyinga kite when there is no wind. As long as yourun with the kite, it goes up, but as soon asyou stop running, it comes right back down. As long as the wind is blowing, you can flythe kite and make it dance. When the windstops, there is nothing you can do. Thewind has to be there. The wind is yourthirst, and you are the kite. If you want tofly, there has to be wind. Catch the windand go. As long as the wind is there, fly.You belong there. You don't look goodwrapped up in a box. You look good flying.That's how it needs to be for everyone.I say this to you because it is possible to be

fulfilled in your life. It is possible to haveunderstanding and peace in your life.Maharaji

http://tprf.org • http://maharaji.net • http://contactinfo.net/

Catch the wind...

www.indiantimes.com.au THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 - 33Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

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Real Estate News

AS Australians pay closer attention to howthey spend their money, property purchasesare one such area that reflects just howprice conscious consumers have become inthe past twelve months.

In the weekly RP Data Property Pulse,research analyst Cameron Kusher takes aninside look at where the biggest dollarspend based on price points is taking placefor properties, and confirmed that or theyear to August 2012, almost four in fivehome sales have been below $600,000.

“Over the past year, almost half of allhouse and unit sales in Australia were trans-acted at prices less than $400,000, whileonly 5.4% sold for more than $1million,”Mr Kusher said. Properties that sold for between $200,000

to $400,000 accounted for a majority ofsales; this price bracket accounted for 41.2per cent of sales over the year.

Property sales between $400,000 and$600,000 accounted for 30.4 per cent of allsales over the year, while the price bracketbetween $600,000 to $800,000 representedthe third largest segment at 11.2 per cent.An interesting point raised by Mr Kusher inthe analysis is that sales over $1 millionaccounted for only 5.4 per cent of all sales

compared to 7.1 per cent of sales at pricesbelow $200,000.By chiselling down to a capital city level,

the results tell a different to story to the restof the nation where 34.9 per cent of sales inthis market occurred between $400,000 and$600,000. In the same capital city markets,home sales at prices in excess of $1 millionaccount for just 7.4 per cent which is muchhigher than it is across the nation. Capitalcity sales of homes under $200,000 (2.7%)are significantly lower than the figureacross the country (7.1%). Throughout Australia, 48.3 per cent of all

homes sold were at prices below $400,000.Within the combined capital cities, just 37.2per cent of all sales were at a price below$400,000. Australia’s two cheapest cities; Adelaide

and Hobart had the greatest proportion ofhomes sold for less than $200,000 at 6.3 percent and 12.9 per cent respectively.Canberra, with very few cheap housingoptions under $200,000 recorded just 1.0per cent in sales while Melbourne and Perthboth recorded 1.9 per cent. In Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Darwin and

Canberra, the greatest proportion of salesover the year have been for properties

priced between $400,000 and $600,000.Within the remaining cities, homes pricedbetween $200,000 and $400,000 haveaccounted for the largest proportion ofsales. Looking into total sales activitybelow $400,000 across all of Australia, MrKusher confirmed that the regions with thegreatest proportion of sales below thisbenchmark are all rural areas of the countryand are generally located away from thecoast. They also have relatively low over-all populations.

Mr Kusher said that the regions whichhave the lowest proportion of home salesbelow $400,000 are typically either capitalcity markets, coastal or linked to the miningand resources sector. Most of which havemuch higher population bases and therefore

relatively strong demand for housing. “The good news is that across most regions

at least 30 per cent of home sales over thepast year have been at prices below$400,000, highlighting there remainsopportunities for price sensitive purchasers. “These opportunities, particularly in capital

city and coastal markets, are more prevalentin the unit market or within the outer sub-urbs where property prices tend to be lower.“Clearly, it will be a stretch for buyers on abelow average wage to enter into most cap-ital city housing markets. An option for abuyer in this particular group may be tochoose to look outside the capitals andfocus on more affordable options such asunits or purchasing with a partner,” MrKusher said. rpdata.com

Majority of property sales in Australia occurred under$600,000 over past 12 months

Quiet confidence continues for homeowners as housing affordability rises

THE Real Estate Institute of Australia(REIA) says the September quarter of 2012recorded a minor improvement in housingaffordability. REIA President Ms Pamela Bennett says,

“The proportion of income required to meetloan repayments decreased slightly, just 0.1percentage points to 31.8%. Housingaffordability has been improving very grad-ually for five consecutive quarters.”

New South Wales, Queensland and theNorthern Territory contributed to theimprovement and compared to the sametime last year, Victoria recorded the largestrise in housing affordability across thecountry with the proportion of familyincome required to meet loan repaymentsdecreasing 4.4 percentage points. The proportion of income required to meet

loan repayments increased 1.7 percentagepoints in the Australian Capital Territory.The Territory had the largest decrease inhousing affordability with the proportion ofincome required to meet loan repayments at18.9%, which is 12.9 percentage pointsbelow the national average. The proportion of income required to meet

loan repayments in New South Wales is36.5%, making it the least affordable stateor territory in which to buy a home. “First home buyers made up 19.0% of the

market compared to 17.9% in the Junequarter. Although increased, this propor-tion is dramatically down from the 30.8%level of the June 2009 quarter,” said MsBennett. The average loan size to first home buyers

increased 0.8% to $289,800 with rises inNew South Wales, Queensland, SouthAustralia and the Northern Territory.

The average home loan increased 1.0%over the quarter and 5.7% compared to theSeptember quarter of the previous year to$320,542. With rental affordability, Tasmania had the

largest rise with the proportion of medianincome required to meet average rentsdecreasing 1.2 percentage points.Queensland, Western Australia and theNorthern Territory recorded increases in theproportion of median weekly family incomerequired to meet weekly rent for a threebedroom house, up 0.4, 0.2 and 1.3 per-centage points respectively. “Overall, the figures show a quiet confi-dence in the market,” concluded MsBennett.

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INTRODUCTION If you buy, sell, lease or develop property, you may need toregister for the GST. This is because you may be consid-ered to be running an enterprise. An enterprise includesbusiness or activities you undertake with a view to makinga profit. Many people are actually carrying on an enterprisewhen making property transactions, but do not register forGST when they are required to do so. Even if it’s a 'one-off'transaction like subdividing land and building on it, youmay still be required to register for GST. You must register for the GST if the total value of what

you sell in any consecutive 12 month period will be, or youthink it will be, $75,000 or more. For GST purposes, property includes any of the following:

• land• land and buildings • an interest in land • rights over land • a licence to occupy land.You apply GST differently to property depending onwhether it is either:• residential, or• commercial.

Understanding GST obligations and entitlementsrelating to property transactions can be difficult. If

you are not sure, talk to a registered tax agent or call us on13 28 66.

RESIDENTIAL PREMISES Residential premises include houses, units and flats. Vacantland is generally not considered to be residential premises.’Properties are residential premises if they can be occupied,are occupied or are intended to be occupied as residences. Existing residential premisesYou do not have to pay GST on the sale of existing resi-dential premises unless the property is new (see the newresidential premises section below).If you purchase existing residential premises you cannot

claim a GST credit on the purchase. You cannot claim GST credits for anything you buy for thesale of existing residential premises. You do not have topay GST when you sell the property.If you own premises and they are used for residential and

commercial purposes, GST may apply (see the commercialresidential premises section).New residential premisesResidential premises are new when any of the followingapply:• they have not been sold as residential premises before • they have been created through substantial renovations • new buildings have replaced demolished buildings on thesame land.After a new residential premise has been rented continu-

ously for five years, it is no longer considered a new resi-dential premise. You can claim GST credits for any purchases you make to

sell a new residential premise (subject to the normal ruleson GST credits). You must pay GST on the sale of thepremises. Residential rental premisesIf you lease residential accommodation that is not new:• you do not have to pay GST on the rent you charge• you cannot claim GST credits for anything you purchaseor import to lease the premises.If you build new residential premises for sale, you can

claim GST credits for the construction.

If you build new residential premises for sale andthen rent them out while you are planning to sell

them, you need to report an adjustment to the GST creditsyou may have claimed.

COMMERICAL RESIDENTIAL PREMISES Commercial residential premises include:• hotels, motels, inns • hostels, boarding houses • caravan parks, camping grounds • establishments that provide residential premises that aresimilar to hotels, motels, inns, hostels and boarding houses.COMMERCIAL PREMISES Buying commercial premisesIf you buy commercial premises to use in your GST-regis-tered business, you can generally claim the GST includedin the purchase price of the premises.You cannot claim GST credits if any of the following

apply:• the seller used the margin scheme to work out the GSTincluded in the price• you purchase property from someone who is not regis-tered (or required to be registered) for GST• you purchase the property as a GST-free supply• you are not registered (or required to be registered) forGST.Selling commercial premisesIf you sell commercial premises, such as shops and facto-

ries, you are generally liable for GST on the price paid toyou. You can also claim GST credits on purchases youmake that relate to selling the property (subject to the nor-mal rules on GST credits), for example, the GST includedin the real estate agents’ fees.If you sell commercial premises, you may be able to use

the margin scheme to work out the GST that applies to thesale. See the margin scheme section below. If your commercial premise is being leased when you sell

it, you may be able to treat it as a GST-free sale of a goingconcern, where the “going concern” is your leasing enter-prise. See the selling a business section below. If you lease or rent commercial premisesIf you rent out property as the lessor, you pay GST on therent you charge if: • you lease a factory or shop, and• you are registered (or required to be registered) for GST.If you are renting commercial premises as the lessee, youmay be able to claim GST credits for the GST included inthe rent you pay if the following applies:• you lease the property from another person to carry onyour business, and• you and the lessor are registered, (or required to be regis-tered) for GST.SELLING A BUSINESS Going concernsFor GST purposes, when you sell a business, you are sell-ing a ‘going concern’ if you sell all of the things that arenecessary for the continued operation of the business andyou carry on (or will carry on) the business until the day ofthe sale.A sale of a going concern is GST-free if, in general, all ofthe following apply:• the sale is for payment • the purchaser is registered (or required to be registered)for GST • the buyer and seller have agreed in writing that the sale isof a going concern • the supplier sells all things necessary for the continuedoperation of the businessThe seller and the purchaser may be able to claim GST on

other expenses that relate to selling and buying the proper-ty, for example, the GST included in the solicitors' fees.VACANT LAND If you purchase vacant land for resale or use the land in abusiness-like way, you may need to register for GST.SUBDIVIDINGYou may need to register for GST if you do any of the fol-lowing:• purchase land to subdivide and resell • subdivide land – including land next to your home – andbuild on it• subdivide land and use it in a business-like way.PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT, BUILDING AND REN-OVATING Renovating for profitIf you buy a property with the intention of renovating andselling it at a profit, you may be required to register forGST at the time you sell it. However, you cannot claim anycredits for what you buy to renovate unless you are regis-tered at the time of such purchase.Building new residential premisesIf you build new residential premises for sale:• you can claim GST credits for the construction and anypurchases you make related to the sale of the premises(subject to the normal rules on GST credits) • you have to pay GST on the sale.If GST applies, you generally pay GST of one-eleventh of

the sale price. You may also be able to use the marginscheme to work out the GST you must pay.MARGIN SCHEME Generally, the amount of GST you must pay on propertysales is equal to one-eleventh of the sale price. The marginscheme is another way of calculating the amount of GSTthat you are liable to pay on the sale price. The margin is generally the difference between the sale

price and one of the following:• the amount you paid for the property• an appropriate property valuation.Whether you can use the margin scheme depends on how

and when you purchased your property as well as the GSTstatus of the sale of the property to you.

For further information, visit www.ato.gov.au/otherlanguages and view the margin scheme factsheet.

NON-RESIDENT PROPERTY OWNERS If you are a non-resident property owner who is registered(or required to be registered) for GST: • any commercial property or commercial residential prop-erty you lease or sell in Australia will generally be taxable• all new residential property you sell in Australia will gen-erally be taxable.If you are registered for GST and you own commercial

property, you can claim GST credits on purchases youmake that relate to renting or leasing your property.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information: • visit our website at - www.ato.gov.au/property - www.ato.gov.au/otherlanguages for tax and super infor-mation in 25 languages • refer to the following brochures (in English), availablefrom our website- GST and property (NAT 72957)- GST for small business (NAT 3014)• refer to the following brochures and factsheets which areavailable online in up to 13 languages- An Introduction to Goods and Services Tax (GST) (NAT74240)- Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the margin scheme(NAT 15145)• phone - the ATO business tax infoline on 13 28 66 from Mondayto Friday, 8.00am – 6.00pm Eastern Standard Time (EST)- If you don’t speak English well and want to talk to a taxofficer, you can phone the Translating and InterpretingService (TIS) on 13 14 50 for help with your call. • visit one of our shopfronts• speak to your registered tax agentOUR COMMITMENT TO YOU We are committed to providing you with guidance you canrely on, so we make every effort to ensure that our publi-cations are correct.If you follow our guidance in this publication and it turns

out to be incorrect, or it is misleading and you make a mis-take as a result, we must still apply the law correctly. If thatmeans you owe us money, we must ask you to pay it but wewill not charge you a penalty. Also, if you acted reasonablyand in good faith we will not charge you interest.If you make an honest mistake in trying to follow our guid-ance in this publication and you owe us money as a result,we will not charge you a penalty. However, we will ask youto pay the money, and we may also charge you interest.If correcting the mistake means we owe you money, we

will pay it to you. We will also pay you any interest you areentitled to. If you feel that this publication does not fullycover your circumstances, or you are unsure how it appliesto you, you can seek further assistance from us.We regularly revise our publications to take account of anychanges to the law, so make sure that you have the latestinformation. If you are unsure, you can check for a morerecent version on our website at www.ato.gov.au or contactus.This publication was current at June 2012. © COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 2012This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under theCopyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process withoutprior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiriesconcerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to theCommonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney-General’sDepartment, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 orposted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca

PUBLISHED BY Australian Taxation Office, Canberra, October 2012

Goods and services tax (GST) and property transactions

Chris McGregor elected

President of FIABCI AustraliaCHRIS McGregor of First National McGregor in Hobarthas been elected as the new President of the InternationalReal Estate Federation (FIABCI) Australia for 2013-2015. Mr McGregor has been an active member of FIABCI

for 7 years and his appointment follows the vacation ofthe position by Victoria-based Ms Robyn Waters. FIABCI is a federation of 100 national real estate asso-

ciations, including the Real Estate Institute of Australia(REIA) and the global advocate for the profession. Mr McGregor says, “I plan to continue the great work

of previous Presidents and develop more opportunitiesfor members to use the networking facilities FIABCIoffers.” Mr McGregor paid tribute to Ms Waters, who has been

President since 2008. He says, “Robyn has made animmense contribution on behalf of the profession.” “Her energetic work on behalf of the Australian Chapter

and its members has placed us firmly on the internation-al map as a force to be reckoned with. I’m delightedRobyn is staying on as Vice-President. We will contin-ue to benefit from her vast experience, her professionalfriendships, contacts and sense of fun!” Mr McGregor will continue to dialogue with the Urban

Development Institute of Australia (UDIA), the PropertyCouncil of Australia and the Australian Property Institutein an effort to have the membership base of FIABCIAustralia embrace the new World Councils of FIABCI.The World Councils encompass Managers, Brokers,Developers/Investors and Experts. REIA and FIABCI recently renewed their Memorandum

of Understanding, reaffirming the strong connectionbetween the two bodies which was formed in the 1960’s. REIA President Ms Pamela Bennett says, “We are very

proud of our long and successful collaboration withFIABCI and congratulate Chris McGregor on becomingPresident of the Australian Chapter.”


Aries “The Ram” “The Go-Getter” March 21 - April 20You look set to remain engrossed in career issues. Good

news is that you will make admirable progress. Students toowill taste success in their studies; they will manage to concen-

trate better. Your health shall improve, and you may regain a fewlost opportunities. Be ready to grab them, as and when stars sendthem your way. All said, note that you will need to keep a closewatch on your health after 21st. Take care when it comes to yourreproductive health, reminds Ganesha. The month also seems havepotent travel stars. However, ensure that your travel plans are well-thought-of and have room for plan Bs; delays are likely. Moneywise you would be better off; promotions or pay hikes are possible.Amidst your blazing schedules, make some time for your near anddear ones, specifically your spouse. Best Days of the month: 3, 4,12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 30, 31.

Taurus “The Bull” “The Builder” April 21 - May 22Planets indicate great progress on the work front, which

will, in turn, give you success and happiness. Now, you aremore sure about your career plans, and thus surge ahead with

renewed confidence. This will lead to rewards, appreciations and,who knows, even promotions. Take this opportunity to gain confi-dence of your bosses, points Ganesha. Your health shall be good,and will only get better post 21st. However, remember to exercisewell and take a good care of your vital organs. On the love front,things may not be as rosy, though. The dull, stiff vibes in your rela-tionship may be a far cry from the early glow, your bond onceenjoyed. Sigh! Try you best to get things back on the track. On thebusiness partnerships front, on the other hand, you will have aplethora of opportunities for joint ventures. Best Days of the month:5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 23, 24.

Gemini “The Twins” “The Magician” May 23 - June21 Planets indicate an enriched and a lively love andsocial life for you. Wow! You and your parter wouldunderstand and support each other well, making yourbond stronger and happier. You may also learn to appre-

ciate the diversity of thought, which will further improve your rela-tionships. On the personal front, your health will improve and soshall your mental frame and the sense of stability. If you have beenrecommended a surgery, this is a decent time to go for it, but dotake a second opinion. Career-wise, it is now a time to take new ini-tiatives, and work to achieve the goals you have set for yourself.Financially too, you will be on a better footing; you shall repay allyour debts. This month, you may strive to understand the cycle ofbirth, death and life after death and thus may seek solitude, at times.Best Days of the month: 8, 9, 16, 17, 25, 26.Cancer “The Crab” “The Caterer” June 22 - July 22 Forward

movement of planets indicate a hectic schedule this month. Aplenty of stuck projects move ahead, and you may even startsome new ones. You will be more focussed on work and

career, rather than home, feels Ganesha. Take care of your healthafter 21st. Good news is that your love stars are shining brightly,and so are the ones lighting up your social life. Singles are likely toget romantically involved with a co-worker or a superior. The sex-ual vibes shall be as strong as a reverberating electric current.Marriage, if that is the stage of your life, is likely. You may alsoexpect an expansion in your social circle. Your financial situationwill be good, but refrain from overspending. If you fail to plan well,you may face a financial trouble, later this month. However, come21st, and things shall get more stable. Best Days of the month: 1,2, 10, 11, 18, 19, 30, 31.Leo “The Lion” “The Boss” July 23 - August 22 Your period of

yearly personal pleasure peak that had started last month laststill the 21st of this month. Hence, you will enjoy life in a

grand style, and indulge in parties and socialising. However,

family issues, love life and health may have caused your muchstress, since the last couple of weeks. Thankfully, this trend endsthis month, ensures Ganesha. The planetary positions indicate thatyou would focus more on the people around you, and shall realisethe difficult task of ensuring other people's happiness, so that yourown interests are taken care of. Financially, you will get better andmoney would start pouring in. Your health will improve. Those ofyou seeking new jobs can expect a breakthrough. Your love life toowill get better, but avoid conflicts with your partner. You shouldalso be careful while driving this month. Best Days of the month:3, 4, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 30, 31.Virgo “The Virgin” “The Accountant” August 23 - Sept 22 Due

to the forward movement of planets, your love life looks set toget better. You will enjoy clarity in your relationship, and

will gain pleasure from your partner. The support you receivefrom your partner and your near and dear ones shall help you sailthrough a time of turmoil. This will help you realise that other peo-ple play an important role in shaping your life. On the career front,areas like sales, marketing, advertising and media activities maycatch your attention. In fact, they shall hold the centre stage, saysGanesha! Those of you having your own business should employadvertising to make your product or service popular. Investors canmake money in sectors such as property, restaurants, and industriesthat deal with home décor etc. Besides all these, a psychologicalevolution is on the cards for you, which will help you deal with theworld more maturely. Best Days of the month: 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 23,24.Libra “The Scales”“The Councellor”Sept 23 - October 22 Your

financial position may get strengthened this month, as yourearnings shall now be consistent. You will stay focused this

month, and will achieve all your set goals, promises Ganesha.Around this time, however, you will spend considerably on yourappearance and looks. Avoid going overboard, though. Your familymembers, especially the elderly, will be supportive of your actions.And, so shall be your friends, whose financial and emotional sup-port will be forthcoming. You should be careful about your com-munications as any misinterpretation may cost dear to you. If youare planning to undergo a surgery this month, you should postponeit to a later date, and seek a second opinion about it. Your healthmay need special attention after 21st. Spend more time with familyand loved ones; you may have been neglecting them since a coupleof weeks. Best Days of the month: 8, 9, 16, 17, 25, 26.Scorpio “The Hydra” “The Psycho Analyst” Oct 23 - Nov 21

Your family needs your attention and time, reminds Ganesha.And, your career situation would be dependent on the way you

see things. If you feel that you have already achieved enough,you will unabashedly enjoy the fruits of your success. However, ifyou feel that you still have a long way to go career-wise, you maycontinue to work harder, rather waiting for the fruits. Nonetheless,your earnings will increase substantially. Still, remain cautious inmoney matters. You will receive financial support from your boss-es, spouse or love partner and friends. Your love life will be har-monious; even singles may find love or desired company. Now,ensure that you spend quality time with your loved ones. You mayalso spend a great deal on your appearance. These are good timesfor business ventures and partnerships, but be cautious and wary ofunreliable deals. Best Days of the month: 1, 2, 10, 11, 18, 19, 30,31.Sagittarius “The Archer” “The Teacher” Nov 22 - Dec 22 Your

healing powers are at their peak now, and you will recoverquickly from any injuries or illnesses, you have been sufferingfrom. Planetary positions also indicate the yearly pleasure

peak for you. You will spend a lot of time in parties, festivities andsocialising, says Ganesha. You will also feel powerful this month,

not needing others in any case. You may also remain engrossed infulfilling personal desires or grooming yourself. Travel for pleasureis definitely on the cards. Your charm shall help you attract mem-bers of the opposite sex, and chances are that one of them may soonbecome a possible love interest. Your love life will be harmonious,and your partner will cherish your understanding nature. Yourfinances and career domains also look strong this month. Thoseseeking new opportunities shall get them in plenty. Best Days of themonth: 3, 4, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 30, 31.

Capricorn “The Goat” “The Mayor” Dec 23 - January 30With power and independence divinely driven towards you

this month, you can hope to achieve all what you had aimed for,promises Ganesha. Your dynamic personality will impress yourbosses, and they shall be all charmed. However, in your urge toscale the pinnacle of success, you are likely to ruffle many a feath-er. Remain cautious. Don't be dominating; rather be consideratetowards others. Planets also indicate your inclination towards spir-ituality; you shall experience inner calm and clarity now. Some ofyou may also find solace in charity work, and the spiritual healingwill be advantageous. As you look at the changing times in the formof coming new year, use this period as an opportunity for intro-spection, and to assess your goals and strategies. Good times beck-on you on the social and domestic front. Best Days of the month:5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 23, 24.Aquarius “The Water Bearer” “The Innovator” Jan 21 - Feb 19

You shall have a greater say in matters of family, friendshipsand work, and this will bring you a never-felt-before sense ofindependence. The energies of the universe are with you this

month, and you look set to achieve everything you desire. Greatgoing! Keep your modesty intact, though, warns Ganesha. Career-wise, you will do well this month, and you can hope to reap richrewards. Your health also is set to improve. In the domain of love,singles have chances of meeting someone special in group activi-ties. Your friends shall aid you in this process. Singles may alsoachieve success in love, if they try to express their love in anyunconventional way. Whatever be the case, your love will have aspiritual dimension to it. You may even seek the guidance and sanc-tion of the divine forces in the matter of heart. Best Days of themonth: 8, 9, 16, 17, 25, 26.

Pisces “The Fish” “The Social Worker” Feb 20 - March20 Career-wise, things may slow down this month, and you

may feel get frustrated, owing to the slow pace and unyieldingresults. Don't lose hope, says Ganesha. True that you may facedelays in all the matters this month, yet sometimes, whatever hap-pens, happens for the best. Things may be difficult in the realm oflove too. Your thoughts and actions may be misrepresented, causingyou trouble even over trivial issues. Ensure that your love partnerremains relaxed, and does not get affected by any unwanted stress.Remain careful in your communication, and that bit extends even toyour communication equipment. Health too may require caremonth. Your liver, spine and knees may be the vulnerable spots.Take care! And, garner support from your loved ones or friends.They may help you even on the career front. Best Days of themonth: 1, 2, 10, 11, 18, 19, 30, 31.

Astrology

Disclaimer: This is only a guide and is not directed towards any particular individualand the writer shall not be responsible for anything to do with the articles content.

www.ganeshaspeaks.com

Panoramic, 360-degree world of Norfolk IslandStory and photos by Rama Gaind

There’s a wealth of balance in the 360-degree world on Norfolk Island. You’ll feelprivileged as you stand at the summit ofMount Pitt and catch spectacular panoram-ic views of the entire island and the sur-rounding ocean.

In the heart of the Norfolk National Park,this 318-metre-high peak is the highestpoint (together with Mount Bates). Savourthe moment…as there aren’t many places inthe world where you can observe the wholecountry from the one point.

An untouched and unspoiled island,Norfolk is rich in experiences, a destinationwhere there’s more to do and see than peo-ple realise. Ideal for families and coupleswanting to go on long weekend escapes,direct flights can get you there in just overtwo hours from Sydney and Brisbane.

Norfolk is a pristine, petite island of 3455hectares sitting splendidly in the PacificOcean, east of the Australian mainland and1063 kilometres from Auckland.

You’ll be amicably surprised by its amia-bility, warmth, openness, and an appealingeccentricity.

Norfolk Island was where the “worst ofthe worst” convicts were sent, for this wasan infamous prison in the British Empire inthe 1800s. Discovered by Captain JamesCook in 1774, the British used it as a penalcolony, twice.

The island is inhabited by descendants ofthe original mutineers from Captain Bligh’sill-fated voyage on the Bounty.

The original township of Kingston, whichis in the world heritage-listed Kingston andArthurs Vale Historic area, still standsguard on Slaughter Bay, and comprises agolf course and a cemetery where the head-

stone inscriptions impart unsettling stories. According to the curator of the Norfolk

Island Museum Lisa Richards, “you can lit-erally immerse yourself in the amazing sto-ries of Norfolk Island in our museums atKingston—spanning Polynesian and twopenal settlements, to the current Bountymutiny descendants here today”.

Indian familyWith a population of 1800—no, make that1700 at present as the other 100 are work-ing off-shore—I was not surprised to learnthat there are a few families of Indian ori-gin living on the island.

I spent a delightful afternoon with PramodNarayan and his family. Born and bred inFiji with ancestors from Baroda in India, hecame to Norfolk in January 2008 to workfor a hotel until it changed hands. He con-tinues to work in the hospitality industryalong with his wife, Sharmila.

Their three children also enjoy the island’s

beautiful natural sur-rounds: Pooja, 19, who isworking towards becom-ing a dental nurse; Neha,16, is in Year 11 at theCentral school andAkash, 13, is in Year 8.Island highlights Here you’ll find a veryspecial breed of cow—Norfolk Blue—that is notfound anywhere else inthe world. This heritagebrand was evolved on theisland.

Robyn Menghetti firstnoticed the cattle were blue and blue andwhite. Along with her husband, Paul, theyset up a breeding program. Now the meat issupplied to their award-winning NorfolkBlue Homestead Restaurant Grill & Bar.

Robyn points out: “We are very particularas we manage from not just paddock-to-plate, but from conception-to-plate aswell”.Take time out to visit the prize-winning

Two Chimneys Winery on the eastern sideof the island against the backdrop of lus-cious tropical rainforest. It is Norfolk’s firstand only boutique vineyard and wineryestablished by Noelene McAlpine and herhusband, Rod, in 2003.

Meet Dino and Helen Bosley at Dino’sRestaurant, and along with enjoying asuperb meal, find out about their “love ofIndia”.Scenic beautyNorfolk is eight kilometres by five kilome-tres with 170 kilometres of roads, no publictransport and a surprising number of thingsto do for such a small place.

Scenic views also abound from the top of

Captain Cook’s lookout and marvel atCyclorama, the 360-degree giant panoramicpainting that follows the story of theBounty and its crew.

Driving is stress-free, with hardly any traf-fic, one roundabout, no traffic lights, a 50-kilometre speed limit (30 kilometres inschool zones), seatbelts were only intro-duced a year ago and you must not forget topractise your ‘Norfolk wave’ by acknowl-edging the passing driver with the gentlelift of the hand or one finger.

Roads have quaint names; phone numbersare five digits long; the residents are listedin the telephone book by their nicknames;and be fascinated by the special liltingNorf’k language.

Don’t forget to take your passport whenyou visit this self-governing, external terri-tory of Australia. It’s a tax haven wheretourism is the only source of income.

You’ll be bowled over by Norfolk’s sheerevergreen, sprawling magnificence!

Rama Gaind was a guest of Norfolk IslandTourism and Air New Zealand.

• Pramod and Sharmila Narayan, seated, sur-rounded by their children Neha, left, Akash andPooja at their home on Norfolk Island.

• Spectacular views across the Pacific Ocean and beyond fromEndeavour Lodge on Norfolk Island. Photo: Rama Gaind

38 - THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 www.indiantimes.com.au Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

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40 - BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

AUM - Arya Pratinidhai Sabha of Qld Inc.Tune to Radio Brisvaani on Sundays 7-7.30amfor Vedic Sandesh Program. Read about Vedasin this paper.Contact: Jitendra Deo 3263 1914 or Hari Chand3345 4716 or log onwww.aryasamajqueensland.com for further infor-

mation.Brahma Kumaris Australia, Mermaid WatersOffers Free meditation courses, Free positiveawareness courses and Free afternoon retreats.Contact 5575 2126 or email [email protected] BRISBANE BELIEVERS FELLOWSHIP“Expect Great things from the Lord and AttemptGreat things for the Lord”.Address: Zillmere Community Hall, 54 HandsfordRd, Zillmere. Worship time: Every Sunday at 9.30AM. Activities: Holy Communion (First Sundayof the Month), Sunday school, Fasting Prayer,Youth Meeting, Bible Study and Ladies Meeting.Contact:Pastor John Thomas & Mary Thomas Sanju P. (Secretary) Phone: 0402 551 220 / 0402 907 776 or 0422 815 782 Email: [email protected] Brisbane Christian Assembly, Herston, QLD.Expect a miracle from God, Come and pray forany need in your life, with us in Herston (nearRCH Hospital) every Saturday from 6:00pm to9:00pm. We are praying and God has been doingmiracles in many people’s life. Contact PastorPrakash Jacob 07 3162 5207 or 0413 347 562. Brisbane Christian AssemblyAddress: 5/15 Aberleigh Road, Herston QLD 4006Pastor: Prakash JacobEvents: Prayer, Fellowship, Worship, Adult BibleStudy, Kids Bible Study, Love in Action, and muchmore.. Saturday Schedules: 6:00pm-7:00pm: KidsBible Study, 7:00pm-09:00pm: Intercessory PrayerSunday Schedules: 10:00am-01:00pm: Worship inTruth & Spirit, Bible Study, Prayer, etc. Email: [email protected] Ph: 07-31625207, 0413347562 Brisbane Malayalee AssociationBrisbane Malayalee Association (BMA) representsthe Malayalee community in and around the city ofBrisbane to preserve and maintain the Kerala cul-ture and heritage. BMA is a non-profit, non-politi-cal, non-religious cultural organisation that has aconstitution and by-laws. BMA provides a forumfor the Malayalees residing in Brisbane and neigh-bouring areas to meet and exchange views and tofoster their friendship, goodwill, moral, social,educational, literary, artistic and cultural heritage.For more information contact Secretary Rajni Nairon 0431 299 376 or President Gigie George on0432 510 045 - brisbane.malayaleeassociation@gmail.comwww.brisbanemalayalee.orgBrisbane Multinational ChurchNEW ADDRESS - 757 Gympie Road Lawnton.Church service time if from 9.30am to 11.30am.Special times of prayer for the sick. We will bepraying for people with all kinds of sicknesses,needs, spiritual problems etc. This will be fol-lowed by free lunch, service time 9.30am -12noon.For more information please contact PastorJoseph Dass on 0424 180 240 or Assistant PastorShrish Chand on 0450 612 304.Brisbane Sikh Temple (Gurdwara)2679 Logan Rd, Eight Mile Plains. www.brisbanesikhtemple.org.auBrisbane Sikh Temple is open 7days a week, freefood (langar is served daily)Sunday Service is from 9am to 1pm. Weekdaysevening service is from 6pm to 7pm includingmeditation. Mr Baljit Singh Secretary of BrisbaneSikh Temple (for all bookings enquiries) Ph: 0412 057 554, Email: [email protected] Kuldeep Singh Priest of Brisbane SikhTemple (for all religious functions)Ph: 0422 705 936 Email: [email protected] Brisbane Tamil School – Holland Park StateSchool, Bapume Road, Holland Park. For moreinformation on the School please contact PresidentB. Saravanan – [email protected] or visitwww.brisbanetamilschool.orgBurnie Brae, a Senior Citizen’s Centre inChermside, are pleased to advise the start of a spe-cial social programme for Indian Senior Citizens.We meet on the 1st and 3rd Monday of everymonth. It is an opportunity to socialise, participatein a variety of activities and enjoy some deliciousvegetarian meals. Transport maybe provided to andfrom the Day Social Club if you live near theCentre. If you have any queries please contactSandra or Naomi on 07 36242141Chinmaya Mission Australia – Family programsevery Sunday morning at Holland Park State HighSchool from 10am-11.45am. Balahivar classes forchildren and teenagers and gita classes for adultsare conducted under the guidance of spiritualteacher, Bramachari Gopal Chaitanya. Please visitwww.chinmaya.com.au or [email protected] Pentecostal Church, Brisbane –Sunday School, Prayer & Fasting, Youth meeting& worship (Malayalam) Contact: Pastor MathewTharian07 3165 7617, 0431 413 482 or Eng. VictorGeorge 07 3359 8946, 0413 069 477.Fiji Senior Citizens’ Satsang Association of QldInc

1 Kensington Place, Wishart 4122. Monthly meet-ings will be held on th last Sunday of the month at2pm. All members are invited to attend. For fur-ther information contact President Surendra PrasadOAM 3849 5435, Secretary Raymond Saran 32900653 or Treasurer Surya Narayan 3208 5823Forest Lake AOG ChurchHindi Service - Second Sunday of every month -commencing @ 4.30pm. Cnr of Alpine Place &Forest Lake Boulevard Road. Contact Sudesh on0401 519 541. Hindi Speaking Christian FellowshipMeets at 2.30 p.m. last Sunday of each month atMerthyr Uniting Church, 52 Merthyr Rd, NewFarm All welcome. Contact Irene 3715 8659.Hindu Mandir Association of Queensland -Shree Laxmi Narayan MandirNEW ADDRESS - 46 Daymar Street, BurbankQldEvery Sunday 4pm to 6pm - Bhajan/Kirtan,Pravachan by Pt Tripathi Ji, Arati and Dinner isprovided. Every 1st Sunday of month from 2-4pm- Program by Brisbane Bhajan Group. All wel-come. Website: www.laxminarayan.com.au Forfurther information contact: Resident Priest 073216 8848, Rakesh Sharma 0411 289 202Hindu Society of Queensland Inc.Gayatri Mandir (178 Lyndhurst Rd, Boondall).Gayatri Mandir opens every Sunday from 8am to11am. Mandir opens with Punditji. WeeklyPrograms & Mandir Openings: • Every Tuesdayfrom 7pm - Ramayan & Bhajan recitals • Every2nd & 4th Friday from 7.00pm – Ramayan &Bhajan Recitals. • Open Every Sunday from9.00am – 12.00pm For further information contactPresident Prakash Shandil 0408 879 414Hindustani Language School conducts lessons inHindustani language and Indian Culture everySaturday from 2pm to 4pm, at both its major cen-tres at Calamvale Community IntermediateCollege, 11 Hamish Street, Calamvale andBoondall State School, Roscommon Rd, Boondall.Hindi is our mother tongue. Students of all ageswishing to learn: * Hindi Language *IndianCulture * Dance & Drama * Music * Leadershipand Personal Development Contact: Secretary JayHaripersad on 3243 7062 - Vice President MulChand on Mobile 0418 461 960 - or PresidentSarat Maharaj on 3263 2093 or Mobile 0407 111709Indian Church Service NewsEvery Sunday 9.30am - 11.00am. SouthernSprings Community Church 59 Marshall Road,Rocklea. Meet with Indian Christians for prayer,praise & worship. Fellowship & refreshments afterthe service. contact Ps. Sivanus Naidu (SeniorPastor) 3274 2542 or 0417 197 747Indian Senior Citizen AssociationCommittee meetings are held 3rd Sunday of everyalternate month from 2pm to 4pm. For furtherinformation contact: President: Mr Bir Sahai 33444715, Secretary: Mr Tirat Achal 0407 620 663,Treasurer: Mr Hari Prasad 3209 5174International Multicultural ChristianFellowship Elevate Church (AOG Church)Vision - Each One Reach One Worship & Word every Sunday at 9.30am to11.30am followed by free sausage sizzle - every-one welcome.Home prayer meeting every Wednesday at 7.00pmto 8pm. Fasting and prayer Thursday from 7.00pmto 8.00pm for special needs. Youth group - everyFriday 6.30pm to 8.30pm at 3, Montserrat Pl,Forest LakeKids church - special kids church every SundayMusic and food - once a month at the Forest lakestage 5pm onwards.Womens group - every thurs-day 11.00am pls contact Ps. Mavis on 0418745179Revelation 3:20 (NIV)Here I am! I stand at thedoor and knock. If anyone hears my voice andopens the door, I will come in and eat with him,and he with me.Church Address - Elevate Church, Grand AvenuePrimary School, Forest Lake 4078, Corner ofGrand Avenue and Centennial Way, Contact PastorRaj Singh with any questions about church on:Mobile 0407177117 or Email [email protected] Society of Queensland hosts ZikreMustapha programmeProgram starts from Maghrib to Isha Prayers. 2ndSaturday of the month at Rochedale Mosque -2664 Logan Road, Eight Mile Plains. Dinner pro-vided to all after Isha Namaz. For enquiries con-tact Imam Ali on 0407 156 527, Asif Ali Khan on0411 516 007 or Shamim Khan on 0403 541 012.Kannada Sangha Qld Inc

Promoting Kannada culture, Kannada activitiesand community based events and functionsFor more information contact: President Dr Balaji

Hiremagalur 0421 583 273 Secretary NavinKumar 0413 164 401, email:[email protected] -

www.chandana-brisbane.org. 52 Parkway CrescentMurrumba Downs Qld 4503.Lotus Ashram - Free yoga lessons every Friday atSunnybank Primary School, Glendower Street,from 7.00 pm to 8.30 pm. Donations are welcome.For details, email [email protected] Matha Malayalee CommunityEvery month Malayalam Mass (Qrbana) inBrisbane. An opportunity to meet with othermalyalees for Mass, prayer and spiritual renewal.For more information about up coming events.

WHAT’S ON! NOV 12 / DEC 12


Brisbane Indian Times proudly serving the MulticulturalCommunity since 2003 - proudly sponsor What’s On section!

Associations / Places of Worship...

Contact Fr. Thomas Areekuzhy 4697 3177 youthcoordinator. Siju Mathew 0432 192 558.Malayalee Association of Qld – For a detailed listof upcoming events, contact the President C KOonnikrishnan Nair on 0416 927 100 or [email protected], Dr Cyril Fernandez- Vice President on 0404 433 044 or email [email protected]. E: [email protected] or visit www.brisbanemalayalee.org.Public Zikre Mustapha programmeProgram starts from Maghrib to Isha Prayers. LastSaturday of the month at Logan Mosque - 260 3rdAvenue, Kingston. Dinner provided free to allafter Isha Namaz. For enquiries contact the chair-man Mr Nawab Khan on 3209 4627Queensland Telugu Association President – Dr Prakash Nallamilli; Treasurer – MrManoj Vemula; Secretary – Mr Sai Gollapudi;Executive Committee Members – Mr SrikanthChalasani, Mr Sudershan Kanthakadi. For a list ofupcoming events and membership information,please contact: Secretary, Mr Sai Gollapudi on0409 907 934 or email [email protected] Mat (Sant Baljit Singh)Sant Mat is a practical path based on meditation onthe inner Light and Sound, ethical values, serviceto others and love for all creation. Its goal is toenable the soul to return and merge into its source;the purpose of human life described by mystics ofall traditions. Focus and sincerity are essential, asis the help of the living spiritual Master. SantBaljit Singh, the living spiritual Master, teachesthe meditation on the inner Light and Sound toanyone who is searching for a deeper meaning inlife. We have representatives ready to talk to you.No charge at any stage. For further informationcontact 1800 462 193 or visit www.santmat.net.auSri Selva Vinayakar Koyil (Ganesha Temple)

and Hindu Education Centre4915 – 4923 Mt Lindsay H’way South Maclean.Temple Opening Hours: 7:30am – 11:00am and5:00pm – 8:30pm. Pooja times – Weekdays9:00am and 7:30pm. Weekends 9:00am and6:00pm. Contact President Vimal “Vic” Ratnam0411 594 394, Temple Priest 07 5547 7302 St. Thomas Jacobite Syrian Orthodox ChurchBrisbane Malayalam Holy Qurbono, SundaySchool and other spiritual activities. Holy Qurbonocelebrated by Rev. Fr. Jigi Varghese at 2pm on thethird Saturday of every month at St Mary’s &Joseph’s Coptic Orthodox Church, 2 HamishStreet Calamvale Qld 4116. For more informationabout upcoming events and activities please con-tact: Dr. Joy Pynadath 0431 631 397, Joy Mathew0403 114 470, Roby John 0401 900 494TOUCH Group of families Program includesBollywood dance, Sri Lankan dance, Saomoa cul-tural dance, fashion show, musical program.Anyone who would like to join can contact [email protected] or call Sripathy & fam-ily 0432 768 607, Vijekumar & family 3823 4628,Saravanan & family 3823 5037, Shanker & family 3711 3912, Sri Jayendrakumr 3272 5781 What’s on is your Council guide to what is hap-

pening in Brisbane. www.brisbane.qld.gov.au>Women of Light is a multicultural group ofwomen whose passion and desire is to reach out towomen who are looking from friends, are hurting,need help in any area. Women of Light meet everyMonday at Thursdays 11am for a time of fellow-ship, sharing and encouragement. Join the ladiesfor a free lunch every Monday. For more informa-tion contact Mavis on 0418 745 179 or 07 38799735.

Sri Selva Vinayakar Koyil (Ganesha Temple)Brisbane (South Maclean) - to view allupcoming events please visit www.sriselvav-inayakar.orgShree Laxmi Narayan Mandir - Gita JayantiCelebration - Sunday 23 December – from4pm to 6pm. For more information please con-tact Rakesh Sharma 0411 289 202 / MrSubhash Chand 0413 022 033 / Mr Pt. SureshChandra 0417 600 851Sikh Youth Australia - 15th Annual SummerCamp - 9-13 January 2013 –At Sydney Academy of Sport, Wakehurst park-way, Narrabeen. 3013 Summer camp themeNirbhau, Nirvair - Fearlessness, withoutEnmity. Gain a deeper understanding of whatthese principles mean in our daily lives. Formore information or to enrol contactSukhvinder Singh 0414 573 060 / GurpreetSingh 0416 045 309 or visit www.sikhy-outhaustralia.comAmrit Varsha in Brisbane - 18 to 20 January2013 – Enlightening talks by Revered MasterAnandmurti Gurumaa. At Macgregor StateSchool Hall, 370 Macgregor, Brisbane 4109.FREE admission. For more information contactArun Raniga 0403 301 337 or visit www.gurumaa.com

Kite Flying Festival – 13 January - atStretton State College, Cnr Illaweena Street &Gowan Street from 8am to 5pm on the ovalgrounds. FREE Entry. Food, kites & stringavailable to purchase on site. Brought to you byShree Ganesh Indian Grocery & Spice Shop.1/896 Boundary Rd, Coopers Plains Qld 4108.

For more information contact Chirag Shah on0406 070 036 or [email protected]

Every Sunday – Brisbane CommunityMarket – The Brisbane Community Market isan initiative of Acacia Ridge and DistrictCommunity Centre. This ‘Profit for Purpose’project is a response to the defunding of pro-grams that were providing education, trainingand employment pathways for members of thelocal community. The success of the marketwill enable the centre to continue to offer valu-able programs to the community. The marketwill be on every Sunday from 7.30am-1pm atMoorooka State School, Beaudesert RoadMoorooka. Food, fruit and veg, gifts, activitiesfor gifts plus more great stalls. Stalls are stillavailable, please phone 0401 027 402 for moreinformation.

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Bollywood & Entertainment

MUMBAI, Dec 9 (IANS)Debutant director AkashadityaLama, who has worked as awriter in television as well asfilms, says writers don't get anopportunity to showcase their tal-ent."There are a lot of places where

I used to go, I used to be handeda DVD and be told to writeaccording to that. So I used towonder what I am supposed todo as a writer. Also I feel that ourideas are very westernised,"Lama told IANS."We have such a rich literature,

why don't we take inspirationfrom that. We copy Hollywoodfilm stories. You can use tech-niques and all from films, but notstories. So I feel that writers don'tget opportunities," he added.As a writer, Lama has worked intelevision for shows like "Kkusum","Kumkum", "Chehra" and "Jhilmil SitaronKa Aangan Hoga". He has been a part ofmany ad films too.He is now set to make his Bollywood debut

as a director with the film "Cigarette KiTarah", which releases Dec 14. It featuresPrashant Naryanan, Yuvika Chaudhary,Madhurima Tuli and debutant actor BhoopYaduvanshi.Lama calls his transition from small to big

screen tough, as it took time for people torecognise him."It took a long time for me to make people

believe that I am a writer. When they start-ed seeing my name, they recognized me.People used to tell me that you have writtenfor TV and not films. The same thing hap-pened with direction as well. They kept ask-ing me if I have directed before... but how

will I if I don't get a chance," he said.Lama always harboured a dream of becom-

ing a director, but knew that struggle wasevident."I always wanted to be a director, but in

TV I was working as a writer. I wanted todirect only movies. I knew that no onebecomes a director in one day. It is aprocess. I knew I will have to do a lot ofthings. You need financial stability and ahold on many other things," he said.Asked how will he deal with the competi-

tion in the feature film sector, Lama said:"When a player takes part in a race, hedoesn't have a strategy to win. He just runsfast. He focuses on himself.""Filmmaking is artistic. You have to con-

centrate on what the audience wants towatch. I always look at my product fromthe observer's point of view," he added.

No opportunity for writersin showbiz industry:Akashaditya Lama

Balki or Boney? Srideviunsure for next film

By Subhash K. Jha

MUMBAI, Dec 9 (IANS) After the phe-nomenal success of "English Vinglish",both Boney Kapoor and R. Balki are keento do another film with Sridevi, but the vet-eran actress is still unsure about her nextstep.While Balki plans to cast the actress in a

sequel to "English Vinglish", Sridevi's hus-band Boney plans to produce another filmthat would do justice to his wife's tremen-dous screen presence."She is not against doing another film right

away. But she wants her next film to be asspecial. She is waiting for both to come upwith a script that would take her beyond'English Vinglish'. Both Boney and Balkiare welcome to come up with the required

script. Sridevi is game," said a source,The plans of casting Sridevi opposite Big

B in a film by Balki have also been put onhold.A source close to Sridevi and her producer-husband Boney said: "The intention is totake her 'comeback advantage' to anotherlevel. 'English Vinglish' should and mustnot be a one-off success for Sridevi."

Speaking right after the film's success,Sridevi said: "Right now I am in a daze. I'venever in my life given so many interviews.I've attended more media events and beenseen on more television shows in the pastfew weeks than my entire life. What I'd likeis to take a break, spend time with my hus-band and daughters. I've only been seeingthem sporadically.

By Subhash K. Jha

MUMBAI, Dec 7(IANS) Acclaimed film-maker Shekhar Kapurwill shoot his ambitiousproject "Paani" inSingapore.

The film is a tale ofstar-crossed lovers fromincompatible social stra-ta where the girl wouldbe an upper-class eliteof Caucasian pedigree,while the boy would be

tanned bare-bodied desiruffian with the mannersof a street urchin and thelingo of a fish seller.

Kapur is busy doingrecce for locations inSingapore."'Paani' is a cross-cul-

tural rich-poor 'Romeoand Juliet' love story setin futuristic Mumbai,when water will be thebiggest asset and themost expensive com-modity in the world.

"Wealth would bedetermined by howmuch of the city's watersupply is controlled bythe powers-that-be. Inthe film, Mumbai wouldbe divided into theUpper City and LowerCity. The rich girl wouldbe from the Upper Cityand the poor boy whosneaks into the forbid-den elitist area, wouldbe from the Lower City"Kapur, one hears from

reliable sources, hasdecided to cast a freshCaucasian girl and anew Indian boy as thetwo main leads.

"It is the only wayShekhar's love story willwork. The boy and thegirl have to be younginnocent and reckless.Both Shekhar andAditya Chopra are firmbelievers in the power offresh actors.

"Adi in fact has been

building a bank of newtalent at Yash Raj Filmsfor the past three years.Shekhar too has workedwith newcomers in thepast to great advantage.So they are both on thesame page on thisissue," said the source.

Questioned about thecast, Kapur said: "I can'ttalk about it. The 'Paani'casting is under an NDA(non-disclosure agree-ment) right now."

'Paani' to be shot in Singapore

NEW DELHI, Dec 9(IANS) Choreographer-turned-actor Salman YusuffKhan, who is making hissilver screen debut withRemo D'Souza's "ABCD -AnyBody Can Dance", saysworking with Prabhudhevawas a dream come true.

"Working withPrabhudheva has been adream-come-true kind ofexperience for me. He has apeculiar charm. He wasthere as a friend, compan-ion, teacher and supportedall of us on the sets. He hasbeen wonderful," Salman told IANS.Salman says he has grown up watching

Prabhudheva and every moment that heshared with him during the making of thefilm has been special."Every moment with him on the sets was

special. I used to nag him for everything. Ihave grown up trying his 'Muqabla' songstep, but never got it right. So when I askedhim he taught me the technique to do it anddid not let me sit till the time I got it right,"he said.

Produced by UTV Spotboy, "ABCD -AnyBody Can Dance" is said to be India'sfirst 3D dance film. Apart fromPrabhudheva and Salman, the film also fea-tures Kay Kay Menon, Ganesh Acharya,Dharmesh and Mayuresh. It will hit theatres

Feb 8 next year.The 27-year-old became

popular after winning seasonone of the dance reality show"Dance India Dance" in2009. He featured in the titletrack of the film "Wanted"and participated as a choreo-grapher in "Jhalak DikhhlaJaa 4" and "Jhalak DikhhlaJaa 5".The feeling of being an actorand that his debut film isabout to release is yet to sinkin, says Salman.

"I wanted it so badly thatnow when I have it I can't

digest it. The feeling will sink in only whenI will watch first show of the film in a the-atre and see people's reaction. That is whenI will believe that my dream has cometrue," he said."ABCD..." gave him a chance to explore

the actor inside him, feels Salman."This film gave me the chance to showcase

my talent as an actor. Everyone has seen medancing and not seen me acting. In thebeginning, it was a little difficult but notsomething that I could not achieve. It hasbeen a learning experience for me. I know Ican do better but I am satisfied with what Ihave done," he said.

Post "ABCD...", Salman will be seen inVivek Agnihotri's "Freedom".

Prabhudheva a friend, companion on 'ABCD...'sets: Salman Yusuff Khan

PATNA, Dec 7 (IANS) Bhojpurisuperstar Manoj Tiwari is set tobegin shooting for his dreamproject - a Hindi film on the lifeof emperor Sher Shah Suri, nextyear."Script of the film on the life of

Sher Shah Suri is ready. Nowwe will start its shooting inearly 2013," Manoj said.He says he will play the lead role of Sher

Shah Suri in the film."I am happy to play Sher Shah Suri, a real

hero, in the historical film and will help togenerate awareness about a ruler, who con-tributed in the development of the country,"added Manoj.The actor-singer told IANS this will be the

first Hindi film on Sher Shah Suri."Till date, several films were made on

Mughal rulers including Akbar andShahjahan in Bollywood, but none on SherShah Suri," he said, refusing to disclose thenames of other actors playing importantroles in the film.Manoj, who visited Sher Shah Suri's 16th

century tomb in Bihar's Rohtas districtThursday, is sad at the dismal state of the

monument."It is sad that proper devel-

opment of Sher Shah Suri'stomb in Bihar's Sasaramtown, district headquarters ofRohtas, was not taken so far,"he said, after visiting thetomb of Sher Shah Suri."After I visited the tomb, I

realised that it was a national heritage, butnot promoted to attract tourists," he added.Like Sher Shah Suri, Manoj too hails from

Rohtas district.A famous army general, Sher Shah Suri

wrested the throne of India from the secondMughal emperor Humayun and ruled forfive years (1540-1545) till his death.He was also a notable administrator who

built resting and watering spots and joinedexisting roads to establish the Grand TrunkRoad, which is now named after him.His historical tomb was declared a nation-

al heritage site under the AncientMonuments and Archaeological Sites andRemains Act, 1958, and the ArchaeologicalSurvey of India (ASI) has been given theresponsibility for its preservation and pro-tection.

Manoj Tiwari to start film onSher Shah Suri in 2013

44 — THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

Bollywood & Entertainment

MUMBAI, Dec 8 (IANS)Shahid Kapoor is more of afriend than a son, says veter-an actor Pankaj Kapoor, whoadmits he often takes advicefrom him.

"I consider Shahid as myfriend and there is lot oftimes I take advice from him,I take suggestions from himbecause I think you need tobe addressed with the latestthat is happening," Pankajtold IANS.

"He is a youngster and avery talented boy and a verysolid balanced head. So thereare lot of time when hecomes up with very goodsuggestions and I am proudof that fact," he added.Pankaj said he shared a similar relationship

with his own father too."I had my father as my friend and I feel

that my children, actually all the three ofthem, are friends with me. Obviously,Shahid being the oldest - there is a certainmaturity in terms of understanding eachother which naturally exists."Pankaj is now gearing up for the release of

his new film, Vishal Bhardwaj's "Matru KiBijli Ka Mandola". The actor says he shares

a comfort level with the director."If you get a good script along with a good

director, with whom you share a comfortlevel then that becomes an added advan-tage. This is what happened with me it wasgreat working with him. There is a level oftrust that exists," he added.

"Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola" featuresImran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Arya Babbarand Shabana Azmi and is slated for Jan 11release.

I consider Shahid myfriend: Pankaj Kapoor

Indian Ocean combinesmusic with a causeNEW DELHI, Dec 9IANS) It was a treatfor fans of rock bandIndian Ocean, whonot only experienceda soulful performancebut also became partof a concert whichspread the message ofvolunteering for thebetterment of society.The live concert was

at the Volunter Melaorganized by non-governmental organisa-tion VSO India, which aims at motivatingvolunteers to work in different sectors inthe country.The band is known for it's popular song

"Bandeh".The more one volunteers, the better one

becomes, said Indian Ocean bass guitaristRahul Ram, who volunteered to perform atthe event. This itself was a rarity as con-certs such as this are generally ticketted.

"I have been volun-teering for things allmy life and I think it's agreat thing to do, to getpeople to volunteer, notjust because you aredoing good but becauseyou are doing good foryourself," Ram toldIANS.

"The more you learnabout other people, oth-ers' lives, you become a

better person. It helps you in your life, ithelps you cope a lot . I think it's a greatthing to encourage people to volunteer," headded.

"We are not raising any money throughthis concert because the whole idea is to putvolunteering in the space where we wantyoung people to come, and music is the bestway to attract youth," Ratna Viswanathan,executive director, VSO India told IANS.

By UmaRamasubramanian

MUMBAI, Dec 8 (IANS)After a "sensitive" role in"Talaash", Kareena Kapoorsays she is ready to give theaudience a taste of the real"Bebo" and is looking for-ward to a light romantic com-edy in which she can play herusual effervescent self."I want to experiment with

various genres and not just domonotonous roles. 'Taalash'was one of my most sensitiveperformances, but now mynext will be a rom-com. I want to give anice flavour of Bebo to the audience post-'Talaash'," Kareena, who is nicknamedBebo, told IANS in an interview.The 32-year-old, who wed actor Saif Ali

Khan in October, is ready to get back to fullon work in the new year. She will beginwork on a Karan Johar production oppositeImran Khan in January."I love being part of Dharma Productions'

projects. There is some young and new tal-ent coming from this production. My film'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' was directed byShakun Batra, who is just 25."I am looking forward to do this new film

(to be directed by Punit Malhotra of 'I HateLuv Storys' fame)," said Kareena, whodescribes the film as a "super fun yetpoignant" love story.

The first schedule of themovie will start inBangalore.

Kareena is especiallyhappy about doing such afilm because she doesn'thave a suspense drama like"Talaash" on her mind rightnow."I don't think I will take a

suspense drama for a while.It was a brave decision tomake a film like 'Talaash',"she said.Kareena says she is thank-

ful to the audience thataccepted this genre.

"When we were making the film, my onlyconcern was the audience should accept thisgenre and we have won the battle. My yearbegan with 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu', in whichI played a very modern girl, and the yearended with a very sensitive performance in'Talaash'."She only wants to continue doing "good

projects and show different shades" of her-self through movies."Numbers don't really matter to me, what

matters is good performance," said theactress, who also features in the peppy andsaucy item number "Fevicol se" in themovie "Dabangg 2".

The song has won her rave reviews, anddirector-producer Arbaaz Khan saysKareena has done a "superb job in it".

After 'Talaash', bubblyBebo readies for rom-com


By Subhash K. Jha

MUMBAI, Dec 7 (IANS)Bollywood star AkshayKumar, with his lean lookand super fit physique,would need to lose moreweight for his role as anarmy captain in A.R.Murugadoss's remake of hisTamil hit "Thuppakki".Akshay has been asked tolose seven kgs.

The movie's shootingbegins Dec 20, since the Christmas week isconsidered lucky by Murugadoss.

"He released his 'Ghajini' in December.Since then, Murugadoss has been exces-sively attached to the Christmas season. Hewas keen on staring the Hindi 'Thuppakki'in the Christmas week, and Akshay washappy to oblige. The only problem is, hehas two weeks to lose at least five kgs, andsome more later to play an army captain atleast 12 years junior to Akshay's biologicalage," said a source close to Murugadoss.Akshay will also sport an army officer's

hairdo and look."The soldier-hero is never really shown in

the army. The drama happens while he's onleave. But we want Akshay to look like ayoung army jawaan, fit enough to take onthe villains. Not only that. We actually want

him to look like a real sol-dier," said Murugadoss."He will be getting a crew-

cut hair-styling done. Wedon't want Akshay to lookunconvincing as the soldierin any detail," he added.The demand to lose weight

seems strange for a leadingman, who is as lean asAkshay.

But Murugadoss explains:"Akshay is one of the fittestheroes in India. But to play

the soldier, we want him to be slightly fit-ter. His shoulders should become morestreamlined and his frame should be slim-mer. Akshay has the physique for the role.He just needs to lose a little more weightand become slightly sharper around theedges."For the Tamil film, actor Vijay had actual-

ly gone for commando training to play thesoldier."But Akshay is already into martial arts. So

all he needs to do is just polish up his act.He has the know-how and the physical fit-ness," says the director.Incidentally for "Ghajini", Aamir Khan had

to bulk up and add muscle to his physiqueto play the self-trained fighter. In"Thuppakki", Akshay goes the other way toget leaner and meaner.

Akshay to lose weightfor 'Thuppakki' remake

MUMBAI, Dec 7 (IANS) He hails from thesmall town of Allahabad, but has made itbig like no other. Megastar AmitabhBachchan, known worldwide for his actingprowess, believes it always helps to stayclose to one's roots.The 70-year-old feels it is important that

everyone remembers the beginning of theircareer as it helps them to face tough times."Many beginnings of our lives are easily

forgotten when there has been extremeprogress ... in our condition. I believe beingin honest touch with your start up days, it'scircumstances and conditions keeps onegrounded with reality," Big B wrote on hisblog.

Amitabh has given the film industry block-busters like "Deewaar", "Don", "Sholay","Coolie", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..."and "Black".However, the actor says he went through a

lot of struggle during his over four decade-old Bollywood career. He feels the lessonslearnt from bad experiences always help inlife."The humble days of yore, of hardships

and how they were overcome, tests and tri-als, embarrassing rejections … all go toplay an important role in the days to comeor the present times. It is good to rememberevery now and then where we began from,"he added.

Never forget your past, says Big B

MUMBAI, Dec 8 (IANS) After"Ata Pata Lapata", actor RajpalYadav is now looking forwardto the release of his first interna-tional project "Bhopal: A Prayerfor Rain".

"There is a film 'Prayer forRain' which is my internationaldebut of 2013. This is thebiggest project of my life," the 41-year-oldsaid in an interview.

"Actors, who have been nominees forOscar have worked in the film. MartinSheen, Mischa Barton and Kal Penn allhave done a good job in supporting role inthe film and luckily, I have got the opportu-nity to play the lead role in that film," headded."Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain" is based on the

1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy thattook almost 10,000 lives. It isbeing directed by RaviKumar and has been co-writ-ten by Ravi and DavidBrooks. The film also fea-tures Tannishtha Chatterjeeand Satish Kaushik.Rajpal will soon be seen in

"Four Two Ka One" and says the filmpromises to be wholesome entertainment."Audience will get a good laugh ride and

entertainment and in some parts, they willalso get to see a bit seriousness in my char-acter. But overall it is an entertainmentfilm," Rajpal said.Directed by Anwar Khan, "Four Two Ka

One" also stars Jimmy Sheirgill andSushant Singh.

'Bhopal: A Prayer...' mybiggest project: Rajpal Yadav

THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 — 45Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

Bollywood & EntertainmentSuresh Gopi enjoying newfound popularityTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,Dec 9 (IANS) Malayalam super-star Suresh Gopi is filled withjoy and confidence as he pre-pares to host the second seasonof his TV game show"Ningalkkum AakaamKodeeshwaran".

"Ningalkkum AakaamKodeeshwaran" ("You Can Be ACrorepati Too") is theMalayalam version of UK'sgame show "Who Wants To BeA Millionaire". The Hindi version is titled"Kaun Banega Crorepati" and is hosted bymegastar Amitabh Bachchan.Gopi is delighted with the way his career is

shaping up."Didn't I tell you way back in 2010 that my

best is yet to come, and see, it has started towork as my TV game show 'NingelukumAkam Kodieshweran' is entering into thesecond round, starting next month and theyhave asked me for a third round as well,"Gopi told IANS.

The first season of the TV show took

Gopi's popularity to newheights."The second round starts in

Chennai and I am bookedfor eight months and as perthe contract I will be unableto do any Malayalam filmsduring that period. But Ihave been roped in to dotwo Tamil films and oneHindi film," said Gopi.

The 53-year-old actor isleaving for Chennai Sunday

to begin shooting for the first of his twoTamil films. Directed by Tamil directorShankar, the film is titled "I".

"Honestly, when my astrological predic-tions was made in 2010, it said I will havea better year, every year from then on. Ibelieved it but with not that much of confi-dence," he said.

"And now see, it has started to work. Nextyear and 2014 will also be very good andmy time will get better every year," saidGopi speaking with a lot of fire in his eyes.

'Sivaji 3D': Rajinism justgot bigger

Tamil Movie ReviewBy Haricharan Pudipeddi

Film: 'Sivaji 3D'Director: S. ShankarCast: Rajinikanth, Shriya Saran,Suman and VivekhRating: ***1/2

WATCHING superstarRajinikanth sizzle on screendespite how cliched it appears, assome may call it, is an experi-ence worth a million smiles andthe thumping of as many hearts.Now, watching him recreate the

magic in 3D, closer to hands-reach, is a once-in-a-lifetimeexperience. Released five years after itsoriginal release in 2007, "Sivaji 3D", withshorter running time, cut down by half anhour, is highly entertaining and three timesvisually enthralling.Rajinikanth plays a US-returned software

systems architect in the film, named Sivaji,with the sole purpose to give somethingback to the society. He aspires to build anon-charitable trust through which he wantsto set up schools and hospitals for theunderprivileged.However, he's faced with illegitimate and

corrupt government officials demandingbribe at every juncture. To add to the woes,he earns the wrath of a local, well-reputedbusinessman Adiseshan, played by Suman,who becomes his biggest obstacle.The rest of the story is about one man's

fight against corruption to create an equi-table society in true 'Rajini' style.The impeccable conversion from 2D to 3D

is truly amazing and at par with Hollywoodstandards. All those who've always cribbedabout the poorly executed Indian 3D filmsshould not miss "Sivaji 3D" at any cost.Had it not been for the successful collabo-ration between AVM productions, PrasadEFX and Real Image, this visual wonderwouldn't have been possible.The opening song "Balleilakka", featuring

Nayanthara, is a treat to watch and so are

scenes involving Shriya, who appears pret-tier than she was originally. It doesn't mat-ter if you're a Rajini fan or not, you're sureto leave the theatre with sore throat fromscreaming.Tharani's sets come alive in 3D, while K.V.Anand's cinematography, originally doneusing 4k scan, a very high video format res-olution, has certainly helped the film looksuperior in the converted version.And to top it all, you have moments of

Rajinism that you can guiltlessly celebratewith everybody. Be it his trademark walk orthe dialogues that he mouths with ease andstyle or even scenes where he pounds bad-dies to pulp with one punch may appearcliched, yet entertaining.And all this happens just few inches away

from your eyes and probably with a waveof the hand; you might probably touch thesuperstar.Finally, to watch the film in Dolby Atmos,

an object-based audio platform, will trulygive the audiences a life-like, sensory expe-rience. With "Sivaji 3D", the Tamil filmindustry is sure to garner a lot of attentionfrom the rest of the world.But the biggest question that needs answer-

ing is will "Sivaji 3D" pave the way to there-conversion of many successful films into3D? If yes, how many will succeed in theprocess?

For that touch of mysticism: Bollywood'senduring 786 connect

By Radhika Bhirani

NEW DELHI, Dec 6 (IANS) The num-ber 786, revered in Islamic culture, hasfound prominence in Bollywood overand over again -- remember AmitabhBachchan's 'Billa No.786' in "Coolie"and Shah Rukh Khan's 'Qaidi No.786' in"Veer-Zaara". It returns to the screenwith Akshay Kumar's "Khiladi 786".The number is said to be the total value

of the letters 'Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim' (in the name of Allah, the com-passionate, the merciful), according toone Arabic system of numerology. InBollywood, quick to pick on what strikesan emotive note with superstitious view-ers, 786 has been used either as a conno-tation for a character's invincibility or todenote how a truly god-blessed soulovercomes tough times.In reality, however, the number is just a

"ritualistic reference"; no more than that,says Firoz Bakht Ahmed, teacher andcommunity worker.

"There is no doubt this number, 786,remains a holy number in the subconti-nent, but it started as a trend. And now ithas common acceptance."It is not some kind of force to reckon

with. It just has a face value and has a rit-ualistic reference to it, just like there isan Om, a Trishul and a Swastika... it isno more than that," Ahmed, a grand-nephew of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,told IANS."It is just indicative of a belief. Like

Sikhs say 'Wahe guru' to save themselvesfrom evil, many people use 786 for thesame reason. It doesn't mean it is god initself and nothing can happen to you," heexplained.

But for Bollywood filmmakers, stillenough to forge that emotional connect.In the 1975 film "Deewaar", Amitabh

Bachchan's character Vijay Verma car-ried a '786' billa with him in his pocketall the time. In the 1983 film "Coolie",the magic carried through and the megas-tar's character Iqbal Khan sported 'billano. 786' on his uniform.Obviously, the number's mystical pow-

ers were woven into the story."786 - in 'Deewaar', the 786 billa in his

coat pocket saved him when he was shotat... when it dropped out in the climax, he

was shot and died. In the 'Coolie' climax,the 'chaadar' draped over his body thoughshot at, saved him," Big B had onceshared with his fans on Twitter.In a transference from the reel to the

real, many fans believed that it was 786that saved Amitabh from his near-fatalaccident on the sets of "Coolie".Thereafter, the number gained immensepopularity in the country.Film historian SMM Ausaja notes: "The

number gained popularity after its intelli-gent use in Yash Chopra's 'Deewaar', andsubsequently it attained a cult status inthe socio-cultural fads. In fact, eightyears later in 1983, the number re-emerged in 'Coolie' - a film which com-pleted a mind-boggling 75-week runacross major metros."

"Amitabh sported this number on hisbadge. Even the logo of the film had thisnumber in one 'O' of Coolie. We also sawa pacemaker with this number in KetanDesai's 'Allah Rakha' (1986). Not just carnumber plates, even mobile phone num-bers bearing these digits are charged apremium by the operators," he added.There are other examples too.Chiranjeevi sported the number in the

Telugu film "Khaidi No.786", while ShahRukh's character Veer Pratap Singh in"Veer-Zaara" also bore the prisoner num-ber 786. The registration number of AjayDevgn's car in the movie "Once Upon ATime In Mumbaai" was MRH 786.The tradition continues with the upcom-

ing "Khiladi 786", in which action starAkshay Kumar apparently has '786'etched on the destiny line of his palm.

"It denotes that Akshay's characterBahattar Singh has 'Allah ki rahmat'(Allah's blessings) and how when he getsbruised, there is some upheaval allaround. There is only an undertone of thenumber in the film, it has not been exag-gerated," Rakesh Upadhyay, the film'screative producer, told IANS.

Do filmmakers use it as a matter ofsuperstition?"It is not a superstition, it's an auspicious

number in the Islamic context; thereforewhen you have a Muslim character, asso-ciating this number with any scene orincident enhances its impact," saidAusaja.

'Satyamev Jayate' has takenme closer to reality: AamirNEW DELHI, Dec 9(IANS) Superstar AamirKhan says that his huge-ly popular televisionseries "Satyamev Jayate"has taken him closer tothe reality of life inIndia."The show has brought

me in touch with realityand taught me so muchin the last two years thatit can never be measuredin money," he said onthe "Aap ki Adalat"show."As creative persons we

entertain people, but wealso feel we have to con-tribute to our society bybringing about improve-ment in the social fabricand inculcate better val-ues," he said."Two things are required to change India:

one, all of us should change our attitudetowards females, and two, we should not beself-centric and think about working in thelarger interest."The actor admits he is an emotional person

and often cried while working on the"Satyamev Jayate" show."I wept several times while shooting for

'Satyamev Jayate' and the shooting had tobe halted. It was terrible when commonpeople narrated their woes."Even when I go abroad, I feel homesick

and start weeping," he said.

The actor added that police had providedsecurity to Mahvish, widow of AbdulHakim, a resident of Bulandshahr in UttarPradesh who was apparently killed by hiswife's family.The couple had appeared in an episode of

"Satymev Jayate" and spoken against hon-our killings.Aamir said all five accused in the killing

have been arrested and Mahvish, who ispregnant, was now getting police protec-tion.A doctor and a nurse have been assigned totake care of the widow, and if required shemay be given treatment in a Delhi hospital,he added.



• Nadroga, Champions QBOG 2012.

QFFA 2012 FLASHBACK.....QFFA

Design by: MIT

QUEENSLAND FIJI FOOTBALLASSOCIATION

“Connecting the Community”

• BA, champions QCUP 2012, runner up QFACT 2012. • Vatukoula, runner up QCUP 2012 and QBOG 2012.

• Nadi, winners QFACT 2012 and QIDC 2012. • Labasa runner up QIDC 2012.• Mr Sadu Prasad presenting the IDC winners trophy. (Sadhu Prasad trophy) to Nadi Captain.

• Lautoka. • Suva. • Labasa masters.

• Levuka. • Nadroga masters. • Ba masters. (Nadi, Levuka & Rewa master photo’s were unavailable)

• Left & Above: QFFA 10 year celebration. • Lautoka masters.

THE BRISBANE INDIAN TIMES, December, 2012 — 47www.indiantimes.com.au

NOVEMBER wasanother great month forthe mighty NedFlanders Cricket Club.The month startedwell as they wrappedup a tremendous out-right victory againstGoodna’s ‘4300 Flamingoes’. The star ofthe show with the bat was veteran BrendanDillon who peeled off his first century ofthe summer with a fine 102. After the lossof early wickets, the Flanders consolidatedthrough some fine determined batting fromrejuvenated opener, Pete Simmons (23) andclub stalwart, Benny Field (39). But thenthe Neddies found themselves in somestrife at 8 for 149 chasing the Flamingoesfirst innings total of 158. It was then left toDillon to almost single handedly engineeran outright win by plundering his team to afirst innings lead of 80. He was stoicallysupported by Jayram Vasudevan, whosetenacity at number ten was matched byAdam Harris at number eleven. The two tailenders helped Dillon add 89 for the last twowickets. Broken and dispirited, the youngFlamingoes team capitulated for just 41 intheir second innings, with Harris andVasudevan extending their outstanding con-tributions with seven wickets betweenthem. The catching of debutant wicketkeeper, Cam Prosser, was again outstandingand he completed the match with a haul often catches and a stumping. The inningsvictory shot the men in maroon caps to thetop of the competition ladder.

Rain cruelled play on the followingSaturday before the Neddies took on StPaul’s Diehards. The Diehards must have

wished the rain had contin-ued because the only thingthat was raining was wick-ets. After being sent intobat, the competition newcomers lost their first ninewickets for just nine runs.

Flanders’ legends, SteveDerksen (6 for 15) and Benny Field (3 for5) ran riot with the new ball, sending noless than seven batsmen back to the shedswith ducks. It was only a last wicket part-nership of 22 that helped the haplessDiehards to a total of 31. Extras easily topscored with a sturdy contribution of 12.After the early loss of opener PeteSimmons, Leo Yin and Matt Young peeledoff the run chase in just six overs. Thewhole match only lasted 21 overs andDiehards’ score of 31 marks the lowestscore ever made against the Ned Flandersteam over their 16 seasons of competition.An even more important statistic wasachieved during the match by AndrewMcMurtrie. The 200cm giant of the clubran onto the field for his 150th career match.Big ‘Chookie’ became just the third man toachieve this amazing feat of longevity andcommitment and the whole team wasthrilled to honor the occasion with an aus-picious win. The big man’s sole contribu-tion was tragically ironic. He was notrequired to bowl or bat and he fielded justone ball, dropping a sharp catch at secondslip in the process. Never the less, it washis day. The following week, the Flanders took on

the Rangers. A long history of tough match-es exists between these two teams and thisTwo Day match is shaping up in a similar

fashion. Batting first, the Rangers workedvery hard against an accurate and commit-ted bowling attack. Yet again, championFlanders all-rounder, Benny Field chimedin with a Herculean effort, taking 5 for 49.He was ably assisted by Jon Pearce, MickMenagh, Steve Derksen and BrendanDillon who each helped out with wickets.Gloveman Cam Prosser again claimed abag of catches, grabbing four fine victimson this occasion. This match will continuesoon and I look forward to reporting moreFlanders success next month.

As Christmas rolls around, the Ned

Flanders Cricket Club would like to thankthe loyal and whole hearted support of ourfriends in the Indian community and wishall of our supporters a Merry Christmas anda Happy New Year. It is a real privilege toable to keep you all up to date with regardsto the Flanders’ progress. Yet again 2012has been a stellar year for the club, with tro-phies, titles and an international tour toUSA, Mexico and Belize. As usual, thoughthe real highlights have been off the fieldand the unique brand of mateship that existsin the club has certainly been the biggesthighlight for me as skipper.

Call Trudi on 07 3356 0102

Sports News

Flanders Cricket Team gathers momentum

• Jon Pearce and 150 game veteran Andrew "Chookie" McMurtrie complete their batting shift forthe Ned Flanders XI

KOLKATA, Dec 9(IANS) Cricket may beIndia's passion, but soc-cer is still Kolkata's reli-gion.

While the final day'splay in the India-England Test at theEden Garden drew onlyaround 3,000 people, awhopping one lakh-plusfans packed the EastBengal ground to watchan exciting clash between East Bengal andMohun Bagan."Once again soccer has scored over cricket

in Kolkata. One may arguethat the crowd at Eden wasbound to be small as Indiawere on the verge of defeat.But then, what about theprevious four days whenthe crowd never crossed30,000?" said an avid soc-cer fan, KushalChakraborty.However, the soccer fans

also had to return disap-pointed as the match had to

called off after violence broke out andMohun Bagan refused to play in the secondhalf.

Kolkatans give thumbs up tosoccer over cricket

Matt Young

By Sandip Sikdar

GREATER NOIDA, Dec 9 (IANS) The dif-ferences within the Indian OlympicAssociation (IOA) are only harming sportsand sportspersons and a solution must befound at the earliest, feels Cycling Federationof India (CFI) president Parminder SinghDhindsa.The IOA was suspended by the International

Olympic Committee (IOC) Dec 4 due to"outside interference".Talking exclusively to IANS, Dhindsa said:

"This is a very serious matter. The IOA needsto get the government, the IOC onboard andget rid of their apprehensions regarding theelections. We should avoid confrontationwith the IOC and try to get back into theOlympic movement at the earliest. The sus-pension has actually happened because of theinternal differences in relation to the elec-tions. They should sort this out. Our firstinterest is the proliferation of sports and thatour sportsmen get maximum exposure andperform at the highest level. These differ-ences are harming sports."

Commenting further on the controversialissue, Dhindsa said that unless the Indiansports ministry, IOA and IOC don't work itout together and know what each of themspecifically want, the issues will continue."All these three bodies should sit and talk it

out. We don't know what exactly the IOCwants. We just got a letter from them and wedo not know how to go about it, what allshould be done and what changes they wantin the election process. We also need to knowwhat is the demand of the Government ofIndia in relation with the sports code," saidDhindsa here on the sidelines of the Tour deIndia which he flagged off.A CFI source told IANS on condition of

anonymity that outgoing secretary general ofthe IOA Randhir Singh used his influence toget the IOA suspended as he withdrew fromthe presidential candidature.

"Whatever we know as of now is thatRandhir Singh used his influence in the IOCto get IOA suspended. People who run inter-national sports don't bother about what ishappening but they should realise that no oneis above sports," said the source.

Differences among IOAharming sports: CFI chief

SAO PAULO, Dec 9 (IANS)Roger Federer took time off fromhis busy schedule as ambassadorand participant of the GiletteFederer tennis exhibition tourna-ment by visiting football legendPele."Today I had the great honour of

meeting the legendary Pele," theSwiss world No.2 said on hisFacebook page Saturday. "He wasso nice and his energy is amazing."

With Pele beside him, Federerposed for a photo while holding a1960s-era all-blue Brazil shirtemblazoned with the Santos legend's signa-ture, reports Xinhua.In the same image, Pele held a tennis shirt

presented to him by the 17-time grand slamwinner with a personal message written onthe front."I love playing tennis and today one of the

greats of the game dropped by to say hello.Roger Federer, you are a champion on thecourt and in life," Pele wrote on his Twitter

page.The exhibition tournament in Sao Paulo also

involves Maria Sharapova, VictoriaAzarenka, Serena Williams, CarolineWozniacki, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, TommyRobredo, Tommy Haas and Thomaz Bellucci.Federer had earlier announced that one of his

prime objectives of his first visit to Brazilwas to meet the three time World Cup win-ner.

Federer takes time offto meet Pele

Commonwealth Bank One Day International

Australia v Sri LankaFriday January 18

The Gabba

See the stars of Sri Lankan cricket Dilshan, Malinga and Sangakarra take on the Aussies in

a one-dayer at the Gabba.

Enjoy all the action from the Sri Lankan fan zone, withexclusive seating and plenty of colour and excitement.

Tickets from Ticketmaster.com.au

bit dec 12 issue

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