First ever Indian-origin candidate to stand for federal seat

Jag Chugha from the Liberal party is dedicated to giving back to the community

a lawyer. Single mother and small business owner Rose Ljubicic will contest against them as a Green’s candidate.

Acampaign launch dinner was held recently at Café Saffron Restaurant in South Morang, for the Liberal Party campaign in Scullin. The Liberal Party candidate for Scullin is Jag Chugha, the first Australian of Indian heritage to stand for a federal seat. Jag is a practising lawyer in the corporate sector.

He has lived in Thomastown most of his life and attended Thomastown Meadows Primary School and Merrilands Secondary College. Jag completed his Master of Laws (LLM) from University of Melbourne and a LLB / BCom (Accounting) from Bond University He is married to Kiran, and has two young sons.

Jag wants to give back to the community by helping reduce the cost of living pressures, supporting small business and improving local infrastructure, transport and education.

Scullin covers 169 sq kms generally north of the Metropolitan Ring Road on the northern fringe of the Melbourne metropolitan area. It includes the suburbs of Thomastown,

Lalor, Epping, Mill Park, Plenty, Diamond Creek, Hurstbridge and parts of Greensborough. Scullin has been a Labor seat since it was created in 1969.The retiring Labor MP is Harry Jenkins Jnr, who has represented this seat since succeeding his father in1986.

Harry Jenkins Jnr is now retiring, and the Labor candidate for Scullin will be Andrew Giles, also

During the campaign launch event, Jag received encouragement from various Liberal party leaders, individuals, businesses and community organisations. Liberal’s Michael Kroger was the main speaker for the event. Other speakers on the night were Senator Scott Ryan; Vasan Srinivasan, President - FIAV; Chairperson for Scullin Vincent Rizza; Chairperson for Jaga Jaga, Jacky Douglass; and Anthony Fernandez for Ivanhoe. Liberal candidate for Calwell, Dr Ali Khan; former Liberal candidates for Peter Chugha (Mill Park); and Goldy Brar (Bundoora); Scott Pearce and Shamla Ozturk, Liberal Party Administrative Committee were among those present to offer the campaign and Jag their support.

India, China hold talks for peace on border

Amid reports of fresh incursions by Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Chumar sector, India and China began two-day talks recently as part of a border mechanism to ensure peace and tranquility on their disputed boundary.

The third meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs is led on the Indian side by Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary (East Asia) in the external affairs ministry and also includes representatives of the defence and home ministries, as well as other officials.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in a statement from New Delhi that the meeting is part of a regular series of interactions between both sides. The first meeting was held in March 2012 and the last in November, 2012.

“I would like to clarify that these meetings are held between composite delegations of India and china. On our side it is being led by the ministry of external affairs, but it also has officials of the ministry of defence, ministry of home affairs and other organisations dealing with border affairs. Similarly, on the Chinese side too there is a composite delegation,” he said.

He said the meeting “deals with all issues relating to peace and tranquillity on the border since the last meeting in November 2012”. He clarified that the meeting would not deal with boundary issues “as those are being handled by the Special Representatives of both sides. Also, the meeting does not discuss the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement because there are separate mechanisms to deal with that”.

The reported incursion by Chinese troops in Chumar comes after the three-week intrusion by Peoples Liberation Army troops April 15 in Ladakh’s Depsang area. The Depsang intrusion, which led to heightening of tension between both sides, was resolved following intense negotiations through their joint mechanisms for resolving such issues.

According to reports, Chinese troops on horseback crossed the Line of Actual Control on three occasions - on July 16, 17 and 20 in Chumar and on one occasion held posters asking the Indian forces to “vacate Chinese territory”.

India is in a relatively sound position with roads and surveillance towers in Chumar, which the Chinese are unhappy over.

Enhanced trade, n-deal on table in Biden-Manmohan meet

India and the US discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation and implementation of the civil nuclear deal that was stuck in commercial negotiations, among other issues, as visiting US Vice President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met in New Delhi on July 23.

Keeping up the momentum in their ties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to visit the US by the end of September for a bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama. This was discussed during talks between Biden and Manmohan Singh, a source revealed.

“The meeting between Obama and Singh will take place in the end of September, this has been confirmed. The dates have not been fixed yet. We are working on two sets of dates,” the source added.

The prime minister would attend the UN General Assembly in New York and then visit Washington for a bilateral summit with Obama. This will be Obama’s first bilateral meeting with Singh in his second term.

Biden, who arrived here on Monday for a four-day visit, met Manmohan Singh for around an hour at the Prime Minister’s official residence - 7, Race Course Road.

Both sides “discussed the synergies between India and US on a wide variety of issues and emphasised the importance the bilateral relationship has,” the source said.

The prime minister “underlined the significance of economic exchange between the two countries in helping India to tackle the host of issues relating to enhancement of the wellbeing of the Indian people”.

Both sides held discussions on energy, innovation as well as on regional issues such as Afghanistan and the neighbourhood.

“They also discussed how to take forward the commercial aspects of the civil nuclear agreement between the two countries,” said an official source.

Ahead of his visit, the US has welcomed India’s decision to increase foreign direct investment in key sectors like defence, telecom and insurance.

Immigration issues also figured in the talks, especially during Biden’s meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj. New Delhi has voiced concerns over a bill passed recently by the Senate that overhauls the H1B provision, severely impacting Indian tech firms operating in the US such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS and Satyam Mahindra.

Afghanistan, the drawdown of the USled international forces in 2014 and the new regime in Pakistan were also touched upon during discussions on regional issues.

National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, Ambassador Nirupama Rao and Foreign Secretary-designate Sujatha Singh were present during the talks, said sources.