Gandhi at my school A tribute to the Mahatma on his 150th birth anniversary at Darcy Road Public School

Eighty nine years after Mahatma Gandhi performed his Salt March in defiance against the oppressive regime of the British in India, a small school community in Sydney’s west got a good feel of the sacrifice and the fortitude involved in the endeavour.

Students, teachers, parents and special guests at the Darcy Road Public School in Wentworthville huffed and puffed as they followed a bunch of students round the school campus, imitating the Mahatma’s game-changing walk.

They were led by a group of Indianorigin students, all of them dressed as Gandhi – in white robes and Gandhi caps. The main Gandhi for the day, wore a bald head cap and the trademark glasses.

They said, “This salt is made by the Indian ocean and air and water. It’s our birth right to have our salt. Let’s march with non-violence for our freedom.”

They were re-enacting Gandhi’s famous breaking of the Salt Law laid down by the British, which required Indians to buy salt from the British at hefty prices rather than produce their own.

The simple ceremony was not only a history lesson, but also a lesson to the kids that protest can be made by peaceful nonviolent means.

It is an important message and one that will be reiterated many times the world over as the Indian diaspora marks the 150th birth anniversary of its best known citizen.

The event at Darcy Road Public School also featured a photographic exhibition of the life of Mahatma Gandhi, organised in association with Mala Mehta of the IABBV Hindi School.

Presented also, was poetry recitation in Hindi, by students under the care of teacher Ekta Chanana. Kindergarten student Shivaga impressed with her poem based on freedom. Senior student Devi’s poem, another highlight, was about the Tiranga (India’s tricolour flag): she swayed her hands expansively, mentioned Ahimsa (nonviolence) in her poem and finished with a loud proud “Jai Hind”.

A roughly 40-strong choir comprised of students from Kindergarten to Year 6 sang the national song Vande Mataram with great gusto under the guidance of their teacher Kulwinder Kaur.

A group of about 12 students staged a projection of interview style quotes from Gandhi, with their teachers Ekta and Kulwinder.

Principal Trudy Hopkins said in her address that she would like the school to channel Gandhi’s ideals, and to teach its students to respect others’ opinions.

Hindi has been offered at Darcy Road Public School for two years now. Of the 27 nationalities present in the school, the majority of students are of Indian background.

Indian Consul Chandru Appar in his address observed to the students that they were polite and respectful, and were thus already following Gandhi’s ideals. He also urged the students to do their bit to protect the environment, by adopting behaviours such as reducing the use of plastic.

Mark Taylor MP was shown around the photographic exhibition, its salient points explained to him by the students.

Mala Mehta in her speech spoke about the need to introduce Hindi in more schools.

Ekta Chanana told Indian Link later, “I think it was a wonderful experience that introduced Gandhi to all our students. They have now learnt that he was a leading world figure of modern times, and that his ideals still hold a place in our lives today. I am very grateful to our Principal Trudy Hopkins and Deputy Principal Amanda Dippneaar for organising this, and to Mala Didi for her guidance and for the exhibition.”

She added, “I am very proud of my students who presented on the occasion. We worked together on their poems and songs for a month, and they truly impressed with their level of involvement and keenness to learn.”

The photographic exhibition, entitled ‘Mahatma Gandhi: My life is My Message’ is produced by India’s National Gandhi Museum and the Government of India’s Ministry of External Affairs. It was presented to IABBV School by the former Consul General in Sydney Amit Dasgupta in 2009. As an exhibition on the move, it has been seen by students in nearly 20 schools now.

Economic outlook cloudy in FY20: RBI annual report

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on 29 August that the overall economic outlook of the country appeared clouded for 2019-20 and advised to priorities the revival of consumption and private investment and structural reforms.

The central bank also expressed concern over falling rural demand amidst some surge in indices. An RBI report noted, “Rural demand, however, was affected by moderation in agricultural growth as reflected in tractors and two-wheelers sales. Indicators of urban demand revealed a mixed picture in contrast. Air passenger traffic recorded its lowest growth in the last five years.

“Passenger vehicles sales were the lowest in five years on account of increase in insurance costs, volatile fuel prices and lack of financing options due to the liquidity stress in the nonbanking sector. The production of consumer non-durables slumped to its lowest level in the past three years,” the report highlighted.

The central bank in its review said that external demand operated as a drag for the second successive year while deficit south-west monsoon and depleted reservoirs dented the performance of the agriculture sector. The rate of gross domestic savings had increased marginally to 30.1 per cent of gross national disposable income (GNDI) in 2017-18 from declines in the previous two years.

The household financial savings - the most important source of funds - had increased by 0.3 percentage points of GNDI, though it had remained much lower than 7.3 per cent during 2011-16. The rate of gross domestic investment in the Indian economy, measured by the ratio of gross capital formation (GCF) to GDP at current prices, had risen to a peak of 39.8 per cent in 201011 before a prolonged slowdown set in, taking it down to 30.9 per cent in 2016-17.

A modest recovery was seen in the following year. Although data on gross domestic investment are not yet available for 2018-19, movement in its constituents suggests that the uptick could not be sustained. Growth in fixed investment collapsed to a 14-quarter low in

Q4 of 2018-19 as production of capital goods registered a sharp contraction while imports nosedived in a coincident manner.

However, the industrial sector posted resilient growth, mainly driven by manufacturing in the first half, while the momentum in construction and financial services sustained the healthy growth of the overall services sector, the RBI said. “Going forward, priority should be accorded to revive consumption and private investment while continuing with structural reforms,” the RBI said.

On job creation, the RBI said that official estimates suggest more regularisation of employment in 2017-18 and the various initiatives undertaken by the government are expected to create avenues for employment.

Auto sales continue to decline in August

The automobile industry continued to be in the slow lane in August with all major players reporting significant declines in their respective sales.

Tata Motors reported a 49 per cent slump in its domestic sales on a year-on-year (YoY) basis at 29,140 units. The commercial vehicles’ sales dipped 45 per cent to 21,824 units, it said. It sold 7,316 passenger vehicles in August, decline of 58 per cent from 17,351 units during the year-ago month.

Maruti Suzuki India reported a 32.7 per cent decline in its vehicle sales last month YoY. The company sold 1,06,413 units, including exports, compared with 1,58,189 vehicles in August 2018.

Of the total off-take, domestic sales fell nearly 36 per cent to 94,728 automobiles. Domestic passenger vehicle sales were down 36.1 per cent at 93,173 units from 1,45,895 during the corresponding month last year, Maruti Suzuki said in a statement.

Similarly, Mahindra and Mahindra’s (M&M) local sales declined 26 per cent YoY. It sold 33,564 vehicles during the month against 45,373 units in year-ago month.

“The auto industry continued to be subdued in August due to several external factors,” Veejay Ram Nakra, Chief of Sales and Marketing, Automotive Division, M&M.

Hyundai Motor India, sold 38,205 units, lower by 16.58 per cent from 45,801 units in August 2018.

The sector has been going through a slowdown for the past few months due to several reasons including, high goods and services tax (GST) and liquidity crunch.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the GST Council would take the call on reducing the tax on motor vehicles. “One of the suggestions was the reduction of GST for the automobile sector, that of course will have to go to the (GST) Council,” she said.

To help revive the sector, the Minister on 23 August had announced that the government departments would be allowed to buy new vehicles, automobiles purchased till 31 March 2020 could avail the benefit of additional depreciation of 15 per cent, with total depreciation up to 30 per cent, and BS-IV vehicles bought till March 31, 2020 would remain operational for their entire registration period.

WhatsApp helping Indian entrepreneurs write success stories

Ice cream lover Aarti Laxman Rastogi decided that not all indulgences need to be sinful and, in March 2018, started Artinci to provide ice creams with premium, all-natural ingredients. Running a business has its own challenges and she also had to go through hardship till she joined the WhatsApp Business app.

“I have a hearing disability. WhatsApp has become a great communication enabler for me. I text my way through the planning and execution of any business day. It helps give and receive instructions in writing too, and leaves no room for misinterpretation,” said Rastogi who now has a 14-member team with five outlets in Bengaluru, and two more coming soon.

In addition to connecting Rastogi with customers, WhatsApp Business app helped the company launch a limited edition ice creams made with jaggery. “We sold out half of this batch through WhatsApp exclusively,” she added.

Ganesh Festival: Indian artists give finishing touches to an idol of the elephant-headed Hindu God Ganesha, made with coconuts, in Bangalore, 31 August 2019. The giant coconut Ganesh is 30ft high and 18ft wide. 50 artisans used 9000 coconuts, working for 21 days to finish the idol.

Several such success stories are being written via WhatsApp in India. Many Indian entrepreneurs have built something from scratch and are seeing it thrive and expand with support from the Facebook-owned app which has 400 million users in the country.

In a recent survey of Indian small businesses on WhatsApp, 77 per cent said that it helps them connect with customersincluding in other cities - while 62 per cent said WhatsApp helps them increase sales and is essential for running their businesses.

According to Abhijit Bose, India Head, WhatsApp, small and micro-enterprises are providing the majority of jobs in the country and driving economic growth.

“We’re excited to play a role in helping to match the enormous talent and ambition of Indian entrepreneurs with the opportunity of a very strong domestic consumer baseand to make it easier to tap a vibrant global market,” Bose told IANS.

Poonam Bir Kasturi has made home composting a habit for thousands of people globally with Daily Dump, India’s first home composter for urban spaces, which she designed in 2006.

Daily Dump offers pioneering solutions for decentralised waste management. Its range of composters, segregation products, books, services and awareness material enable people’s change in behaviour to harm the environment less.

The company has a dedicated WhatsApp Business number for customers to connect for any queries, support, information and other details, and also use WhatsApp Business groups to connect as a team internally and with partners in different parts of the country.

“We have many customers who reach out on our helpline with photos and we give them live demos on what to correct,” said Kasturi.

According to Will Cathcart, Global Head of WhatsApp, India is producing a new generation of small businesses and micro enterprises that are shaking up markets, growing economies and boosting jobs.

“We’re excited to see what more people are doing with WhatsApp, particularly in India, to grow their business and support their local communities,” he said during his India visit in July this year.

Publishing is another arena that has had success with Whats App Business. Amid the comic book craze, TBS Planet is working to bring Indian superheroes into the spotlight

“When I started TBS Planet in July 2016 with comic book Ved, it was a hobby,” said founder Rajeev Tamhankar.

“Soon, we got contracts from Balaji Motion Pictures and Ajay Devgn Films to create comics for their movies ‘A Flying Jatt’ and ‘Shivaay,’ respectively. That’s when I quit my job and started this venture full-time”.

Jabalpur-based TBS Planet which develops comics in six languages - Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bangla, Marathi, and English - is on WhatsApp Business app.

“Since almost everyone uses WhatsApp, it helped us scale distribution quickly. No one needed to download a new app to read our comics,” said Tamhankar.

Since they started using the WhatsApp Business app, the company has seen high growth rates, up to 40 per cent month over month. TBS Planet has approximately 14,000 subscribers - some from as far away as Dubai and the US.

Many Indian entrepreneurs, said Cathcart who launched “Gateway to a Billion Opportunities” - a collection of impactful user stories from across India, have built something from scratch and are seeing it thrive and expand with support from WhatsApp.

When WhatsApp Pay becomes a reality soon in India, these small and micro-businesses will thrive more as peer-to-peer (P2P) payments will be done within WhatsApp, keeping transactions simple and secure.

Tinsukia in Assam becomes India’s 4000th WiFi-enabled railway station

Tinsukia Junction in India’s northeast region this month became the 4000th railway station in the country to have free public WiFi.

Indian Railway has on average been rolling out WiFi in 83 stations per day. 1,000 stations became WiFi equipped in a record time of 12 days, according to Rail Tel. The last 1,000 stations were completed in 15 days.

Rail Tel CMD Puneet Chawla said, “The journey started from Mumbai Central in January 2016 and in the coming few weeks all railway stations over Indian Railway (except the halt stations) will have fast and free Rail wire WiFi.”

Designed to offer rail passengers the Internet experience, RailWireWiFi will be available to any user who has a smartphone with a working mobile connection.

Indian Railway is the largest public transport of the country, while free WiFi is a pro-passenger initiative of the Ministry which in line the Prime Minister’s ‘Digital India’ programme.

Trump nominates IndianAmerican to federal judgeship

US President Donald Trump has nominated Shireen Mathews, an Indian-American lawyer, to be a federal judge.

She is a partner with the elite law firm Jones Day, where she specialises in whitecollar crimes.

Before that, she was an assistant federal prosecutor in California serving as the coordinator for criminal healthcare fraud cases. Her nomination to Southern California Southern District federal court in San Diego was announced by the White House and her appointment has to be approved by the Senate.

Mathews is the sixth Indian-American nominated to the federal judiciary at various levels by Trump.

South Asia Bar Association (SABA)

President Aneesh called it “a historic nomination” and urged “the Senate to quickly confirm her, adding another deserving South Asian voice to the judiciary.”

Amazon's newly inaugurated building in Hyderabad, is built to support more than 15,000 employees. The new campus is Amazon’s first fully-owned office building outside the US. Taking up 3 million sqft in construction area, this is Amazon's single largest building in the world in terms of total area.

Mathews has served on SABA North America board of directors.

According to Jones Day, while she was a prosecutor, Mathews uncovered a multimillion dollar fraud in stolen medical equipment and also won one of the highest restitution awards for the Social Security (general public pension) trust fund.

Neomi Rao is the most prominent judicial nominee of Trump, who named her to the federal appeals court in Washington to succeed Brett Kavanaugh, who was elevated to the Supreme Court.

Based in the nation’s capital, that appeals court is considered the most important one after the Supreme Court and a nominee of former President Barack Obama Sri Srinivasan also serves on it.

Amul Thapar was nominated by Trump to an appeals court in Ohio that has jurisdiction over four states.

Rao and Thapar, along with federal court nominee J. Nicholas Ranjan received Senate confirmation.

Two other nominees for federal judgeships, Diane Gujarati and Anuraag Singhal are awaiting Senate action.

Taj Mahal will soon open every night for all

The glimmering Taj Mahal, said to be at its aesthetic best in moonlight, could now be thrown open after sunset for all tourists.

So far, night access to the globally renowned monument was allowed at a premium only for five nights in a month - on full moon night and on the two nights preceding and following.

Union Tourism and Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel told IANS that the Taj Mahal will remain open even beyond its 10.00 a.m to 6.00 p.m. public access time.

“We have been receiving a lot of requests to keep the monument open during the night hours. We are dedicated to make this a reality,” Patel said.

The Tourism Ministry is also planning to illuminate the area around the monument and develop other infrastructure required to deal with night rush.

Only 400 tourists - 8 batches of 50 people - are allowed on the 5 special nights so far, for which Rs 510 per adult is charged, while a single child ticket costs Rs 500. Foreign nationals have to pay Rs 750 each.

The Tourism Ministry is currently engaged in getting clearances for the new plan from various departments.

Taj Mahal sees an average of 22,000 visitors a day, with the figure running into millions annually.

The government has decided to extend the visiting hours of 10 popular monuments across India from sunrise till 9 p.m.

The monuments are Rajarani Temple Complex (Odisha), Dulhadeo Temple, Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh), Sheikh Chilli Tomb (Haryana), Safdarjung Tomb (Delhi), Humayun’s Tomb (Delhi), the group of monuments at Pattadakal and GolGumbaz (both Karnataka), the group of temples Markanda, Chamursi (Maharashtra), Man

Mahal, Vaidhshala (Uttar Pradesh) and Rani Ki Vav (Gujarat).

Meanwhile, there’s some good news also for new mums visiting the Taj: an airconditioned baby feeding room has been opened at the premises.

“It is the first baby feeding room to open at any Indian monument,” Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, Superintending Archaeologist at ASI, told IANS.

The nursing room at Taj Mahal could be the first of a series of such centres at other monuments.

An ASI official said a similar baby feeding room is getting ready at the Agra Fort, and within a month, another such centre could come up at FatehpurSikri monuments.

Munshi Premchand’s legacy

‘untraceable’ in Varanasi

He is an immortal writer whose writings live on in millions of hearts across the world. However, for one who is known as among the most celebrated writers of the country, Munshi Premchand’s legacy is almost untraceable.

In July, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation disconnected the power supply at Premchand’s ancestral home in Lamhi during his 139th birth anniversary, over alleged non-payment of dues.

Durga Prasad Srivastava, a Lamhi resident and an active organiser of the Lamhi Mahotsav since 2011, said that the power supply to the house was disconnected for almost a week.

“We made preparations for the celebration of the late master story teller’s 139th birthday on July 31 amid candle light and lanterns. It was only when the media raised the issue that the power supply resumed,” he said.

Varanasi District Magistrate Surendra Singh, however, denied that the power supply to the legendry writer’s ancestral home was ever disconnected. “The power line was snapped due to ‘carelessness’ of some labourers engaged in the painting of the tworoom house of the late writer,” he said.

There are two houses in the village linked to Munshi Premchand - one is his ancestral house and another is a museum named after him.

“The museum is managed by the state’s Culture Department, the house is a private property, which has not been visited by even the distant kin of the legendary writer,” said Singh.

The Varanasi administration, after seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interest in Munshi Premchand, has been trying to locate the family of the legendary writer.

“There are no papers to ascertain the ownership of the house and no one has ever visited the place. The local people also have no clue about the whereabouts of his family,” said an official of the Varanasi administration.

Premchand had two sons, Amrit Rai and Sripat Rai, who lived in Allahabad and a daughter Kamla. The sons, according to sources, never returned to Lamhi.

“Munshi Premchand’s life has been full of irony. His original name was Dhanpat Rai Srivastava but he was always bereft of money. People here say that his family life was also disturbed and that could be one reason why no one has claimed his legacy till now,” said Srivastava.

Munshi Premchand was born in Lamhi on July 31, 1880, and died in Varanasi on October 8, 1936.

The Varanasi Development Authority, however, has undertaken the repairing and painting of the building.

The renovation of the writer’s ancestral house began in 2015 when a Hindi teacher from Bengaluru, Vinay Kumar Yadav, met the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and asked him to preserve the memory of Premchand.

Writers and literateurs now want that the government should create a befitting memorial for Munshi Premchand in Lamhi.

“Munshi Premchand’s house should be converted into a museum. There should be a library of his works and a research centre for Hindi scholars. Munshi Premchand’s works are as relevant today as they were in the early 1990s when he lived,” said noted Hindi writer Vandana Misra.

She said that the memorial should be such that it becomes a tourist attraction for literature lovers.

IANS