The Jungle Book: In Australia’s oldest rainforest

09/10/2015 0 Comments read Indigenous, Travel

By Neena Bhandari

Cairns (Queensland, Australia), 09.10.2015 (Khaleej Times): Nestled between the Coral Sea and the Great Dividing Range of mountains on a long narrow coastal strip is the city of Cairns, the gateway to two UNESCO World Heritage sites – the Great Barrier Reef and the oldest continually surviving tropical rainforest on earth.

This cosmopolitan city’s close proximity to Asia has made it an international tourist hub. It is worth a stopover either on the way in or out of Australia. The city centre lined with mangroves and mudflats, and the Esplanade, stretching along the city’s foreshore, have plenty to do for the young and old from children’s playgrounds to designated exercise and barbeques areas. The Esplanade Lagoon is a good place to cool off from the steamy heat of the Tropics.

From here, tours to the Reef and the Rainforest abound. One can choose from the itineraries on offer or custom make a tour to suit one’s needs. Most operators pick up and drop off from main hotels.

Continue reading →

Pacific Island countries want a world without nuclear weapons

22/07/2015 0 Comments read Nuclear Disarmament

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 22.07.2015 (IDN- InDepthNews) – As political conflicts magnify in the Middle East and North Africa with the spectre of brutal violence from terrorist organisations like ISIS, and the Ukraine crisis reignites the Cold War between the United States, its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies and Russia; it is imperative that nuclear-armed and non-nuclear states together work for total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The risk of use of nuclear weapons, by deliberation or accident, leading to total annihilation looms large more than ever before.

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island countries have been at the forefront of global efforts to implement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which represents the only binding multilateral commitment to the goal of complete disarmament by the nuclear-weapon states. But the Ninth Review Conference of the NPT, from April 27 to May 22, which has three main pillars – non-proliferation, disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear energy – overwhelmingly reflected the views and interests of the nuclear-armed states and some of their nuclear-dependent allies.

Continue reading →

The novelty of being an Australian diplomat of Indian heritage

03/06/2015 0 Comments read Diaspora, Features

Devanand `Dave’ Sharma was the Australian Ambassador of Indian heritage to Israel. Sharma, 39, spoke to Neena Bhandari from his home in Tel Aviv about growing up in Australia, of the Indian Diaspora in Australia and of being a diplomat in a country that almost always stirs extreme reactions.

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Dave, as he is popularly called, moved with his parents and twin elder sisters to Sydney just before his fourth birthday. His paternal grandfather had moved to Trinidad (West Indies) in 1908 from Pali village in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. His father, youngest of nine siblings, was born in Trinidad while his mother is a fourth generation Australian. His parents met as students at Kings College in London. From the UK, they moved to Canada and then to Australia.

Continue reading →