WHAT’S ON

Festival

Raasleela with Parthiv Gohil

Sat 29 Sept (6:00pm onwards)

Gujarati Samaj of NSW presents independent artist, playback singer and live performer Parthiv Gohil in Raasleela at Blacktown Leisure Centre, Stanhope (cnr of Stanhope Pky & Sentry Dr, Stanhope Gardens).

Details Kiran Desai 0449 966 955.

Paada Yatra

Sat 29 Sept (5:30pm-5:00pm)

Annual walk from Sri Murugan Temple in Westmead to Sri Sai Mandir in Strath eld. Details 0433 972 160.

Kirtidan Gadhvi Gujarati Lok Dayro in Sydney

Fri 5 Oct (7:00pm onwards) Gujarati

Association of Australia presents

Kirtidan Gadhvi Gujarati Lok Dayro at Whitlam Leisure Centre 90A Memorial Ave, Liverpool.

Details 0452 337 387.

Navratri Mela by Kirtidan Gadhvi

Sat 6 Oct (5:00pm-10:00pm)

Navratri Mela in Sydney with live performance of Kirtidan Gadhvi, an eminent name in the world of folk, at Castle Hill Showground, Castle Hill. Various Food and variety stalls plus special dandia spot for kids. Details 02 9761 4567.

Navratri 2018

Sat 13 Oct (6:30 pm onwards)

Garba and Dandiya night with proceeds to Variety ISKCON, New Gokula Farm and Spunks (Super Parents of Unique Non Neurotypical Kids Support) Group. Held at Newcastle Basketball, 27 Young Road, Newcastle. Details 0432 324 465.

Navratri Garba

Sat 13 Oct (6.30pm onwards)

Gujarati Brahman Samaj of NSW presents Navratri Garba at Blacktown Leisure Centre Stanhope, (cnr Sentry Drive and Stanhope Parkway), Stanhope Gardens.

Details 0413 806 425.

Durga Puja 2018

Sat 13 - Sun 14 Oct (Oct 13 at 10:00am to Oct 14 at 8:00pm) BPA

Australia Inc hosts Durga Puja 2018 at James Cook Boys Technology High School, 800 Princes Hwy, Kogarah. Details 02 9587 1770.

Navratri Garba Dandiya 2018

Sat 13 Oct (6:30pm – 11:00pm)

Navratri Cultural Group under the auspices of Shri Shiva Mandir of Minto presents action packed Garba and Dandiya Raas. Venue Menai High School, 40 Gerald Rd, Illawong. This is Sydney’s one and only true “family friendly” Navratri function, organised by a “broad community group for the broad community.

Details 02 9543 7000

Pink Diwali

Sat 20 Oct (6:30pm – 11:30pm)

Saheli cCub presents “Pink Diwali”, a family event in support of breast cancer, at Lilys Restaurant & Function Centre, Hackney St, Seven Hills. Details Poornima 0435 007 581.

India Club: Grand Diwali

Celebration

Sat 20 Oct (6:15pm – 10:45pm)

India Club Sydney celebrate Diwali with extra zeal, lively entertainment and superb food. Venue Cherrybrook Community and Cultural Centre, 31 Shepherds Ln, Cherrybrook. Details Shubha Kumar 0402 257 588.

Deepavali Milan 2018

Sat 3 Nov Mark the tenth anniversary of Deepavali Milan at RSL Club Hornsby with good food, Bollywood dances, raf es, doodies packs. All balance proceeds to War Widows of India. Details Col. Virender Sahni 0416 965 764

SPIRITUAL

Hinglish Stand-up Comedy Varun

Thakur & Kunal Kamra

Sun 14 Oct (6:30pm-9:30pm)

Fortune World Tours presents stand-up comedians Varun Thakur and Kunal Kamra at Bowman Hall Blacktown, Campbell Street, Blacktown. Details 0430 042 041.

STAGE

Parthiv Gohil show

Sat 30 Sept (3.30pm onwards)

Gujarati Samaj of NSW presents independent artist, playback singer and live performer Parthiv Gohil in a Bollywood concert at Blacktown Leisure Centre, Stanhope (cnr of Stanhope Pky & Sentry Drive, Stanhope Gardens). Details Kiran Desai 0449 966 955.

Bengali production Konjush

Sun 30 Sept (6:30pm-8:30pm)

Shokher Theatre presents Konjush, adapted from Moliere’s The Miser, at Brian Brown Theatre and Function Centre, Rickard Road and Chapel Road, Bankstown.

Details 0412 366 093

LAASYA by Ruchi Sanghi Dance

Company

Sat 6 Oct (6.00pm onwards) Saaya Touching Lives Inc and Australian Telangana State Association jointly organise a dance spectacular by the students of Ruchi Sanghi Dance Company at Paci c Hills Christian School, 9-15 Quarry Road, Dural. Proceeds go towards people with disabilities nurtured by TAD (Sydney), Harman Foundation (Sydney) and a charity organisation supporting disabilities services in India.

Details 0402 335 054

Majestic Brindavan: A stage production by G.O.D

Sat 6 Oct (5.00pm onwards) Kids of the Sydney Gopa Kuteeram, Global Organisation for Divinity, present a play based on a mystical land of love and trust. Durga Auditorium, Rose Cres, Regents Park. Details 0423 041 111.

COMMUNITY

Safal 2018

Wed 5-Thurs 6 Oct (6:00pm9:00pm) Australian South Asian Forum in association with The City of Ryde presents Safal 2018, a festival of lms, art and literature at next Gen Ryde 504a Victoria Road, Ryde. Details 0425 377 572.

Bangla Utshob 2018

Sun 30 Sept (11.00am-11.00pm)

Bangla Utshob Association presents live music and dance by legendary Bengali singers, performers, eye catching reworks and laser show, children amusements and kite ying. Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore South. Details 0416 784 471.

Women’s nancial literacy

Tue 9 Oct Aei4eia, an organisation for people and sustainability in association with State Bank of India, marks Diwali with an event titled Sampoorna: The Brown Beauties of NSW Revisited, including a free seminar on Financial Literacy of Indian Migrant Women and an art exhibition titled Maya: Indian Women Through Indian Art. Venue SBI (Sydney), Australia Square, Suite 2, Level 31, 264 George St Sydney. Details www.aei4eia.com.au

Blacktown Diwali Mela

Sun 14 Oct (11:00am-7:30pm)

Fun lled Diwali at Blacktown Showground, Richmond Road, Blacktown. Lots of entertainment and plenty of food.

Details 1300 338 368.

ENTERTAINMENT

Bollywood-Arabic fusion

Fri 28 Sept (9:00pm-4:00am) 50B

Worldwide presents the Punjabi rap star Bohemia live in concert at The Club 33 Bayswater Rd, Potts Point. Details 0411 537 183

Tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Sat 6 Oct (7:00pm onwards) A tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan by Rizwan-Muazzam at Orion Function Centre 155 Beamish St, Campsie. Details 0402 931 000.

Indar Nair, golden voice of Fiji

Fri 12 Oct (7:00pm – 11:00pm)

Sangam Cultural Entertainment

Sydney presents Indar Nair live with Ami Surti & Shraddha Tiwari. A night lled with music by Indar Nair, a wellknown golden voice of Australia and Fiji. Venue 2 Lane St, Wentworthville.

Details 0406 452 150.

Tribute to the Great Composers

Sat 20 Oct (6:30pm onwards) Events

Entertainment presents a musical Tribute to the Great Composers, at

Paci c Hills Christian School, Hall 9 Quarry Rd, Dural. For more details please contact 0410 734 123

SPIRITUAL

Chinmaya Mission’s Annual Retreat

Sat 29 – Sun 30 Sept Chinmaya Mission presents its annual family retreat ‘A Reality Check’ at Bundila Scouts Training Centre, Winston Hills. Details Chinmaya Sannidhi 02 8850 7400, 0416 482 149.

2018’s Biggest Kirtan & Sangeet Nite Sat 20 and Sun 21 Oct (7:30pm - 12:00am) Siya Ram

Cultural Society of Australia is organising the biggest kirtan and sangeet nite of 2018 at Bonnyrigg Sports Club 610 Elizabeth Drive Bonnyrigg. Details Avi 0434 196 420.

YOGA

Yoga for beginners Wed 1 Sept to Sat 8 Dec Sat (7.00am-9.00am) Ryde East Public School (Entry via Badajoz Rd.) 12 Twin Road, North Ryde. Sat (10.00am-12.00noon) Banksia Hall, 2 Lane Street, Wentworthville. Sat (5.00pm-7.00pm) Quakers Hill

High School, Performance Space 70 Lalor Road, Quakers Hill. Sun (7.00am-9.00am) Epping Community Centre 9 Oxford Street Epping. Details 0412 202 182.

MISC

Book launch

Sat 29 Sept (4.00pm onwards) Paul Sharrad and Meeta Chatterjee’s book Of Indian Origin: Writings

From Australia will be launched at Gleebooks. The book is a collection of writings by Indian heritage writers such as Meena Abdullah, Suneeta Peres da Costa, Sudesh Mishra, Michelle Cahill, Christopher Cyrill, Ashish Kaul, Rashmi Patel and Sumedha Iyer. Details www. gleebooks.com.au

UNSW’s Gandhi Jayanti ceremony and panel discussion

Tues 2 Oct (10.30am onwards)

UNSW presents its annual Gandhi Jayanti ceremony at Library Lawn, Library Walk (C21), Gate 11, Botany Street Kensington. Following this a panel discussion will be held on the topic ‘Relevance of Gandhi’s Principals in Australia’s Multicultural Society’ in partnership with the Australia India Youth Dialogue, at UNSW’s Tyree Room, John Niland Scientia Building (G19), Library Walk, Gate 11, Botany Street Kensington. By invite only.

Eight washed away in

Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh in late September claimed eight lives and hundreds, including school students, were stranded in the state as incessant rainfall for the third straight day triggered landslides and snapped over 200 road links.

The Chandigarh-Manali highway beyond Mandi town and the Pathankot-Chamba highway were hit. Manali, Chamba and Dalhousie towns were cut off from rest of the state.

Three people were washed away near Manali when their vehicle fell into the swollen Beas river.

Elsewhere, two people were washed away in the Parbati river in the Manikaran valley while one girl died near Bajaura. Both incidents occurred in Kullu, one of the worst affected districts by flashfloods.

A man was drowned in a swollen rivulet near Palampur town in Kangra district, while another was killed when a factory building was washed away in a rivulet in Una district.

In Chamba district, around 1,000 school students have been moved to safer places in the holy area of Chamba. They had gathered for the 23rd District Primary School Sports Tournament.

After three consecutive days of incessant rains, over 200 roads in the state’s interiors remained closed to traffic, stranding travellers and commuters.

While the picturesque tourist town

Dalhousie recorded the highest rainfall at 180 mm, it was 120 mm in Manali and Kangra each and 108 mm in Palampur.

Shimla saw 23 mm of rain.

The highway that connects Manali with Leh in Jammu and Kashmir has been closed for traffic owing to heavy snow since 22 Sept, an official said.

There are chances of moderate to heavy rainfall in the state continues as this goes to press.

As a precaution, the government has announced closure of all educational institutions in Chamba, Kullu, Sirmaur, Kangra, Kullu and Hamirpur districts till 25 Sept.

Authorities said excess water was discharged from the Pandoh diversion dam, located 112 km upstream of Pong dam, as a precaution.

The dam is located on the Beas river in Mandi district. It diverts excess monsoon water towards the Pong dam. Otherwise, it diverts water towards the Satluj which feeds the Gobind Sagar reservoir of the Bhakra dam.

The water levels in the Bhakra dam’s Gobind Sagar reservoir and the Pong dam reservoir stood at 1,655 feet and 1,385 feet respectively, an official told IANS.

Official data showed the maximum storage capacity for the Bhakra dam is 1,702 feet and 1,393 feet for the Pong dam reservoir.

Officials said more rains could aggravate the flood-like situation in Punjab and Haryana. All the major rivers of Himachal Pradeh - the Satluj, Beas and Yamuna - enter Punjab and Haryana.

The Cabinet was informed that 120 persons were rescued from Koksar in Lahaul-Spiti district. They included 12 Sikkim tourists.

Thirty-three were rescued from Phojal in Kullu. A majority of them were rescued by the Indian Air Force, an official statement said.

schools, colleges closed

Authorities in Punjab have issued a red alert in several districts following heavy rainfall in the state and the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh over the last three days, in view of the threat of flooding of rivers.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on 25 September ordered closure of all schools and colleges.

The Chief Minister reviewed the “floodlike situation triggered in the state due to incessant rains” in an emergency meeting here.

“The Army has been asked to remain on alert to help the state deal with any eventuality arising out of the situation,” a state government spokesman said.

“Deputy Commissioners have been asked to identify hot-spots with clear evacuation and relief plans to be ready beforehand. Equipment to drain out flood waters has been kept handy. Apart from these, boats in catchment areas of three rivers - Satluj, Ravi and Beas - have been arranged to rescue the affected people,” the spokesman added.

With the standing paddy and cotton crop being damaged due to rainfall in the last three days, the Chief Minister announced a special ‘girdawari’ for assessing crop damage.

The Chief Minister asked ministers and legislators to extensively tour their respective areas to assess the ground situation and tie-up with the concerned departments for immediate mitigation of the hardships being faced by the people.

He also directed the Food and Civil Supplies and Animal Husbandry ministers to appoint nodal officers for distribution of food packets to the affected people and dry fodder for animals.

The Chief Minister also asked the Financial Commissioner (Revenue) to seek assistance from the Army, Border Security Force (BSF), NDRF and other paramilitary forces, if needed.

Expressing concern over the possible outbreak of water-borne diseases including diarrhoea, jaundice and conjunctivitis, the Chief Minister asked the health department to take preventive measures by organising special medical check-up camps and arranging sufficient stock of medicines.

Taking part in the deliberations, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) Chairman D.K. Sharma said that the situation at the Bhakra reservoir was in control so far and they were regularly monitoring the water level at Pong Dam.

The water level at the Ranjit Sagar Dam, which feeds the river Ravi, was 526.65 m against the maximum level of 527.91 m.

Rescued

Thirty people, including women and children were rescued in Jammu and Kashmir during a flash flood in Kathua district, police said on 24 September.

These people were marooned in different parts of the district following heavy rains. They were rescued after a night-long operation in Billawar, Nagri, Jakhole and Chabbe Chak among others.

The rescue was carried out by the state police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams.

Incessant rains led to swollen streams and rivers in the Jammu region, but with the improvement in weather, authorities are expecting the water level to recede.

All educational institutions in the hilly district of Doda have been closed as a precautionary measure.

Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway was restored after it was suspended due to heavy rains along the Ramban sector on 23 September.

2

The 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), the External Affairs Ministry-organised conclave of the Indian diaspora, to be held in Varanasi from January 21 to 23, 2019, will be a bigger affair than all the past editions with a couple more programmes being added.

Speaking at the launch of the official website for the event, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that in addition to attending the three-day PBD in Varanasi, the participants will also be taken to Allahabad where the Kumbh Mela will be going on then and then brought to New Delhi for the Republic Day celebrations.

Giving details of the programme, Sushma Swaraj said that on 21 January, a Youth PBD will be held where Himanshu Gulati, an Indian-origin member of parliament of Norway will be the chief guest and Kanwaleet Singh Bakshi, an Indian-origin member of parliament of New Zealand will be the guest of honour.

On 22 January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the main event with Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth, who is also of Indian-origin, attending as the chief guest.

The event will conclude on January 23 with a valedictory session that will be addressed by President Ram Nath Kovind.

During the session, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman will be conferred on 30 Indianorigin individuals for their exceptional and meritorious contributions in their chosen fields or professions.

“On 24 January, we will take the participants to Prayagraj (as Allahabad is also known) for the Kumbh Mela, which has been inscribed on the Unesco’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,” Sushma Swaraj said.

Following this, the participants will be brought to New Delhi by special trains to take part in the Republic Day celebrations on January 26.

After being an annual event for 13 consecutive years starting in 2003 at the initiative of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, PBD was turned into a biannual affair after the 2015 edition in Gandhinagar.

After the 2017 edition held in Bengaluru, the External Affairs Ministry has now roped in Uttar Pradesh as the partner state with Varanasi as the host city.

Giving the rationale behind turning PBD into a biannual affair, Sushma Swaraj said that after the 2015 edition, she realised that PBD was not yielding much in terms of results as an annual affair.

“So, I suggested to the Prime Minister that it should be held every two years with the intervening year being used to hold meetings with groups of diaspora members on various issues and he agreed,” she said.

Though the earlier editions were three-day affairs ending on 9 January, the day Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa, on January 9, 2019, PBD will be observed in Indian missions across the world.

With the launch of the website, registration for PBD 2019 has started effective from September 15 and will continue till

Heavy rains in India’s Himachal Pradesh state have caused floods and landslides with most of the roads remaining closed for regular traffic. Neighbouring Punjab state remains on high flood alert. Photo: AP

November 15 when the process will close.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh said that more participation is expected in the Varanasi event than the last one in Bengaluru.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was also present, recalled his participation in the mini PBD held in Mauritius in 2012 and said that with the 2019 PBD being held in Varanasi, many participants will be able to trace their roots back in India.

Many of the people of Indian origin in Mauritius are descendants of people taken from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during the time of the British Raj to work as indentured labour on the sugarcane plantations on the Indian Ocean island nation.

Boeing setting up electronics, avionics facility in Bengaluru

Global aerospace major Boeing is setting up an electronics manufacturing and avionics Assembly facility in this tech hub at an investment of Rs 1,152 crore.

“We have allotted 36 acres of land for Boeing India to set up the facility in the state-run Aerospace Park at Devanahalli near the airport in north Bengaluru,” a senior official of the state Industry Department told IANS.

Boeing India President Pratyush Kumar met state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy at the state secretariat to discuss the project.

“As part of Boeing’s Engineering and Technology Centre in India, the facility will create about 2,600 direct jobs when set up and commissioned,” said the official.

Though the US-based aircraft maker’s investment proposal was cleared by the previous Congress government in December 2017, approvals and formalities got delayed due to the state Assembly elections and formation of the new coalition government by the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and the Congress in May.

The facility will be Boeing’s second-largest after its engineering and technology centre at Seattle in Washington district on the US west coast.

“The state cabinet approved the Boeing’s proposal early this month for land allotment and other statutory clearances,” added the official.

Boeing’s India arm plans to commence the project work in the next three months and complete first phase by 2019.

Karnataka Udyog Mitra Managing Director B.K. Shivakumar had told IANS earlier that Boeing would also be making aircraft components and subsystems at the new facility for civil and military versions. The aerospace behemoth has presence in this tech hub with a global research and development centre since a decade.

Facebook global community leaders

Adhunika Prakash, who founded non-profit Breastfeeding Support for Indian Moms in Pune, has been selected among five global leaders for $1 million award each by Facebook as part of its Community Leadership Programme.

Apart from Prakash, Chetana Misra who founded Mompreneurs India and Tamanna Dhamija who created Baby Destination were awarded $50,000 in fellowship each, as the social media giant selected community leaders in residence, fellows and youth participants from over 6,000 applicants across the world, Facebook said in a statement.

Selected for Facebook’s in-residence award, Breastfeeding Support for Indian Moms is a peer-to-peer support group primarily for breastfeeding parents. The group has more than 80,000 people from across the country.

Adhunika aims to work with hospitals in India to help train and support parents, particularly in rural areas.

Mumbai-based Mompreneurs India is a community of like-minded women, allowing them to network, share knowledge and contacts, and benefit from partnerships to start a business and take it online.

New Delhi-based Baby Destination helps mothers exchange information and support one another.

“While speaking with the community leaders, we discovered that lack of training, support and funds are common obstacles to having the kind of positive impact on their communities that these leaders envision,” said Facebook.

The three leaders are among 115 people who have been selected into the programme as community leaders in residence, fellows and youth participant to work for community resilience or issues, civic engagement health and wellness parenting education.

“At select points over the next year, the participants will spend time at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park (California), working with the team to help develop their community initiatives,” Facebook noted.

Launched in February this year, the programme is designed to enable extraordinary leaders advance their initiatives and build stronger communities through the social networking giant’s family of apps and services.

Stranded navy commander rescued from Indian Ocean

Four days after he was seriously injured and stranded in a boat race, Commander Abhilash Tomy of the Indian Navy was rescued on 24 September.

Commander Tomy was picked up by a French fishing vessel Osiris, which had responded to an SOS from a massive joint operation launched by Indian and Australian authorities since the past three days.

“Bravo! Osiris and all involved! They have Tomy onboard and he is conscious and talking,” said the Golden Globe Race-2018 in a message.

The naval sailor-cum-sportsperson participating in the GGR-2018, was caught in a huge storm on 21 September, 5,020 km from Cape Comorin, India and 3,500 km from Perth, Australia, in the Indian Ocean.

His boat, SV Thuriya, had overturned while he was virtually left paralysed with severe back injuries but managed to relay messages to various authorities from his satphone.

The rescue mission was coordinated with the help of the Australian Navy. French fishing vessel Osiris picked up Abhilash Tomy took him to the closest island I’lle Amsterdam, and as this goes to press, INS Satpura was on its way there to take him to Mauritius for treatment.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharamann posted regular updates on her Twitter account, as did Australia’s High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu on Australia’s involvement.

Ease of Living best in Andhra, Odisha, MP

Andhra Pradesh topped the chart in terms of ease of living followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, according to the “Ease of Living Index” released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

“The Ease of Living Index is a transformative initiative of the Ministry to help the cities assess their liveability vis-à-vis national and global benchmarks,” Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said.

The Minister awarded the three states as the best performing states at the National Dissemination Workshop on Ease of Living Index 2018 in New Delhi.

“The index will encourage all cities to move towards an ‘outcome-based’ approach to urban planning and management and promote healthy competition among cities,” he said and added that the exercise will lead to sustainable urbanisation.

The decision to rank 116 cities, all smart cities and million-plus cities, based on the liveability parameters was taken in June 2017 and implementation of the assessment began in January 2018.

Puri said the framework comprised four pillars, namely institutional, social, economic and physical, which were further broken down into 78 indicators across 15 categories.

In a total score of 100, the “physical” pillar (infrastructure) had the highest weightage of 45, while institutional (governance) and social were weighted 25 each, and economy was weighted five.

“Another highlight of the Ease of Living assessment standards is its close linkage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Of the 17 SDG goals, eight goals are directly linked to India’s ease of living assessment framework with SDG 11,” he said.

SDG 11 is aimed at making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and is measured through a set of 30 indicators.

Gujarat forms 64 teams to look for sick lions in Gir

The Gujarat Forest Department has set up as many as 64 teams to scan the vast Gir forests to identify sick and weak lions and move them to rescue centres in view of the recent deaths of 11 big cats in the region.

A central government team of wildlife experts has also flown in to Gujarat to find out the reasons for the sudden deaths in a short span.

As many as 11 carcasses were found from the Dalkhania and Jasadhar range in the protected Gir sanctuary between 11 and 19 September.

Gujarat forest officials claimed the lions were killed in territorial war and infighting. Later, they added that some of the big cats died due to infection.

More than 270 personnel are currently deployed in the forests.

According to the latest census in 2015, the Gir forest region has 523 lions, 109 of which were male and 201 female, besides 140 cubs and 73 sub-adults. There were 411 beasts in the 2010 survey and 359 in the 2005 census. IANS