Posts by Neena Bhandari

Towards Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Global Nuclear Disarmament

0 Comments read Features, Nuclear Disarmament

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 23.02.2023 (IDN – InDepthNews): Australia and Indonesia have committed to strengthening the global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime and cooperating in building practical nuclear safeguard capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, even as concerns remain over Australia’s push to acquire the nuclear-powered submarines.

An enhanced trilateral security pact, AUKUS, between Australia, the UK and the US signed in September 2021 will enable Australia to become the first non-nuclear country to have nuclear-powered submarines.

“These submarines set a terrible precedent, enabling transfer and/or acquisition of weapons grade highly enriched uranium by non-nuclear weapons states,” says Dr Margaret Beavis, Co-Chair of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Australia. “Safeguards are almost impossible to enforce on a stealth platform such as a submarine”.

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What clinicians need to know when treating polio survivors

1 Comment read Health & Science, Poliomyelitis

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 16.02.2023 (The Medical Republic): While Australia was declared polio-free in 2000, there is a major need to invest in medical care of many of the tens of thousands of people, who contracted poliomyelitis (polio) during the 20th century polio epidemics and are now experiencing what is known as the “late effects of polio” (LEoP) and its subset, the post-polio syndrome (PPS).

“Late effects of polio” is an umbrella term which includes the onset or worsening of residual muscle weakness, joint and muscle pain, severe fatigue, intolerance to cold temperatures and a range of biomechanical symptoms, such as osteoporosis and scoliosis, that occur usually 15 to 40 years after a person contracted the disease. Its subset, the post-polio syndrome, is a diagnosable neurological condition. Its symptoms cross over with late effects of polio and may also include loss of function and difficulties with sleeping, breathing and swallowing.

Most survivors of paralytic polio, and many of those who had non-paralytic polio and people who were never diagnosed with polio, are at risk of experiencing the late effects of polio or post-polio syndrome. Continue reading →

Indian PhD students say long Australian visa delays have put their lives on hold

1 Comment read Education

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 12.01.2023 (IPS): When Megha Jacob, who had been applying for a doctoral degree at various overseas universities, received an offer from the Australian National University’s Department of Chemistry to do a fully funded PhD, she was thrilled and immediately accepted the position. It was January 2022. She submitted her visa application and resigned from her job at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. One year later, she is still waiting for her visa to be processed.

Several international Indian students enrolled in doctoral degree courses in Australia’s leading universities have been waiting for their visas to be approved for months, some for up to two years. “The protracted delays have put our lives on hold. We seek clarity and a definitive timeline so we can plan our future,” say students from one of the WhatsApp groups formed by Indian doctoral students facing Australian visa processing delays.

Since the easing of Australia’s stringent COVID-19 restrictions, these students allege, the visa processing time for doctoral degree students has increased. “The median processing time for offshore student visa application was 18 days for the Postgraduate Research Sector in November 2022,” an Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA) spokesperson tells IPS. However, the most recent processing time on the DHA website for 500 – Student visa (subclass 500) Postgraduate Research Sector shows 90 percent of applications are processed in 10 months.

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