Ten years after Pokhran N-Test, turnaround in Australia-India ties

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 15.05.2008 (IANS): Australia-India bilateral relations have a whiff of spring about them as the two countries strive to take the relationship to a “new level” 10 years after the frosty snapping of defence ties in the wake of the 1998 Pokhran nuclear test.

The Labour government wants to make the India relationship a priority, adding “depth and vigour” to it. One of the three pillars of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s foreign policy is “a comprehensive and revitalised engagement with Asia”, a far cry from the ousted John Howard-led Conservative government’s United States-centric approach.

“We stand today at an exciting juncture in the development of India-Australia relations. There is a shared desire to further expand and upgrade the bilateral relationship,” says an optimistic Sujatha Singh, the Indian high commissioner in Canberra, as both the Australian prime minister and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith have indicated that they will visit India this year.

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Melbourne’s Eureka Skydeck a hit with Indian tourists

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By Neena Bhandari

Melbourne, 19.04.2008 (IANS): Dizzying heights are not for the fainthearted, but if you can muster up the courage to be propelled to the 88th floor of Melbourne‘s Eureka Tower, the awe-inspiring 380 degree vista is an experience like none other.

As the lift doors slide shut, there is a sound of heavy breathing as some visitors squeeze palms with their eyes fixed at the red digital display. They are going up to the Southern Hemisphere’s highest viewing platform!

For an average Indian tourist, the Eureka Skydeck experience doesn’t come cheap at A$16.50 a ticket for adults and A$9 for children, though there are family deals at A$39 for two adults and two children and special student rates.

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Vaccine therapies need boost, say scientists

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 14.04.2008 (IPS): While millions of children’s lives have been saved as a result of a successful worldwide campaign to boost vaccination programmes, governments across the world are failing in following through on their commitments to health aid and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

‘’Wealthy countries such as the G8 members continue to content themselves with largely symbolic gestures. We have to make sure that the pledge made by governments (on MDGs) is followed,” eminent medical scientist Gustav Nossal told IPS.

Global resources for fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria now total eight billion US dollars a year. “The amount should be several times more than this. After all, we are only talking about the price of a couple of jet fighters. That’s all you need to save several million lives,” says Nossal, warning that despite the generosity of wealthy philanthropists and ordinary citizens governments needed their “hands held to the flame”.

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